October 26, 2011
Ecards- Sure to Bring a Smile
Sending an ecard to someone is a great way to let them know you are thinking about them and that you care. I especially like to send ‘thank you’ ecards. They are thoughtful, and some are interactive, some are just plain funny. Living in a rushed society, it’s much more convenient to send an ecard than it is to pick one out at a shop, mull over what it is you want to say and to send it via post. I love the interactive features, the animation, and especially the sound. It’s more like an experience than receiving a message. Granted, some cards you see in the shop play music as well, but as anyone with young children knows, this is not necessarily a good thing. My two year old snatched my musical card and I have not seen or heard it since!
From the sweet to the cheeky, everything you could want to say can be found in an ecard. There are hundreds, if not thousands of websites you can send ecards from, as opposed to the single aisle in your local shop; one of my favourites is eCards.co.uk. And let’s not even get started on the fact that the price of the cards is printed right on the back. When I send a greeting to someone I want it to say, “This is how much I love you!” Not, “This is all you’re worth to me.” That makes me think of the skit comedian Kevin James did once about buying a card for his wife. He didn’t speak a word, just acted along to music, it was hilarious. My favourite experience with sending an ecard was when I emailed one to my mum at work. It was a congratulations card with loud rap music and dancing frogs. She called me to tell me her co-worker had overheard the music and that they both got a good laugh out of it. And isn’t that what it’s all about?
My favourite experience of receiving an ecard was on our anniversary a few years back. We had just had our first baby and money was tight, so needless to say, I wasn’t expecting anything. I checked my email and received an ecard from husband and it was beautiful! It had beautiful music playing and it was a wagon full of roses and it said, “Seeing this beautiful picture made me think of you. I only wish I could have gotten these for you for real.” It was so thoughtful and sweet, I truly appreciated those emailed roses. Yes, even more than a wagon full of real ones!
October 28, 2010
How Amazing is this?
If you would like to send Amazing Birthday eCards visit www.eCards.co.uk
October 26, 2010
Christmas Tips
Shopping tips
1. Cash in your rewards
Save your supermarket savings stamps! Now that most supermarkets do more than just food; it really is worth filling up some cards with stamps through the year and saving loyalty points so that in November and December you can go on a spree with “free” money, and obviously get more of what you want/need!
2. Get cracking!
Buy your Christmas crackers just after Christmas when they are all reduced, and usually get a couple of really nice boxes of luxury ones dirt-cheap.Put them away with your Christmas decorations for use the following year. The same also works with tableware (papercloths, napkins etc).
3. Remember what you’ve bought!
If you buy presents through the year like I do, make sure you keep a list of what you’ve bought and who it is for. This saves buying a present for someone you’ve already bought for.
4. Get sprout and about!
Do your food shopping in the early hours of Christmas Eve morning. The place will be empty, the staff will be chasing each other with silly string, and it will be a dream of a shopping trip.
5. Cut costs the easy way
Save all your Christmas cards from the previous year, and cut up the cards to make instant gift tags! Simple.
6. Make a list
Avoid a stressful supermarket scrum by planning ahead. Make a list and try to buy non-perishable items on a normal shopping trip in advance. Things in tins or packets will happily keep in the cupboard. Making a list is the best shopping tip.
7. Sneaky shopper
Cook the Christmas cake in November and buy most of the non-perishable food, chocolates, tape, cards and paper throughout the year. If you don’t see most of the family until after Christmas shop in the Boxing Day sales and nobody knows!
8. Military operation
If you hate Christmas shopping treat it like a military operation! Compile a gift list noting which shops to get them in, and even plan your route to ensure that the heaviest items are bought towards the end of the ‘spree’, to avoid carrying stuff around unnecessarily! Then take yourself off for a celebratory glass of champagne – perfect!
9. Festive brainstorm
Brainstorm all the Yuletide jobs you need to do, then put them on your noticeboard. Mark them off as you do them, or add if required. Have a countdown with final dates too, and always give yourself an extra day to get everything done.
10. Shop online
Buy your children’s Christmas presents online. It is hard to shop with children in tow. By shopping online there’s no way children can see their presents!
11. Homemade advent calendar treats
Get your children involved with the Christmas experience by digging out all the child-friendly utensils such as small wooden spoons and Christmas biscuit-cutters. Spend an afternoon making little edible goodies to go into the advent calendar. They will love it and you will save money!
12. Collect boxes
All year save interesting, useful-shaped and plain but beautiful boxes to use for present wrapping. You will never have to buy expensive Christmas boxes.
13. Early bird
Shop for the small stocking fillers ahead of time – even as early as the January sales. Just remember to stick them away in dark cupboard so the kids can’t find them!
14. Stock up
Always buy plenty of indigestion tablets and cold remedy – and a few small extra presents for the people you forget! And for the perfect Christmas, always have a smile at the ready!
15. Christmas Card tip
Why not go against tradition this year and send Christmas eCards instead of physical cards? At the end of the day, they only go in the bin, and you will save loads of money and the environment – bonus! Visit www.eCards.co.uk and try it out today!
16. Freezing – a cook’s best-friend
Prepare and freeze lots of comfort food like stews and soups that can just be defrosted and heated up in the microwave in the run-up to Christmas. These are especially good to eat after a late night shopping trip when you don’t want to come home and cook.
17. Book a day-off
Save a day’s holiday for December and use it to finish off Christmas shopping and treat yourself to a lie-in or haircut. The streets are much emptier in the week than on the weekend. Take off Christmas Eve to get in the mood.
18. Stock up with power
Buy a stack of batteries – especially if you have children. There’s nothing worse than not being able to get a new toy going because you forgot the batteries!
19. Use cook’s cheats
Cook as much as possible in advance – and don’t be afraid to use convenience foods.
20. Buy wine
Buy plenty of wine! The only reliable way of being prepared for Christmas is to have large quantities of wine to hand!
October 8, 2010
Cheryl Coles Birthday present to Simon Cowell: 3 musicdal dwarfs.
Happy Simon
Cheryl Cole presented 3 singing drwafs to simon Cowell for his Birthday.
The three-piece were wearing grey T-shirts with the words ‘Happy Birthday, Love Cheryl’. To Simons delight, they greeted the X Factor super star as he arrived for studio rehearsals in London.
The trio played a violin, drum and accordion as they sang “Happy Birthday” to the blushing Birthday boy.
It turned out that Simon was so impressed with them, he invited the trio to spend the day with him.
Cheryl had booked dwarf actor Phil Holden and tiny pals Ray Griffiths and Darren Horan the night before. Phil, who is 4ft 6ins, said: “Simon saw us and asked, ‘Are you for me?’ before bursting out laughing. He thought it was the best present he’d ever had.”
I think Cheryl wanted to annoy Simon, but it backfired as he absolutely loved the dwarfs. Maybe she should have stuck to a Birthday eCard instead – it would have been cheaper!
September 27, 2010
21,000 Birthday Cards!
A 14-year-old British girl could end up celebrating her birthday with thousands after 21,000 people RSVPed for her party on Facebook. Just imagine – 21,000 eCard Birthday Cards!
Rebecca Javeleau will turn 15 on Oct. 7, and police in Harpenden, England have said they will have patrols on the street to ensure unwanted guests don’t make it to the teen’s party.
Javeleau posted her birthday party as an event on Facebook, but didn’t restrict who could attend, the Daily Mail newspaper reported. Within a few hours, the guest list was out of control and some people had even signed up fake celebrity accounts that said Justin Bieber, Stephen Hawking, Susan Boyle and Rick Astley would be attending.
The teen’s mom, Rebecca Livesay has cancelled the party and the event has been removed from Facebook. However several fake events and groups have been posted, distributing the girl’s address and date of the party.
One page with just the girl’s name says, “Her party will go down in history.”
Another group, described as a “takeover,” encourages members to “invite all your friends.”
Livesey told the Daily Mail she isn’t happy with her daughter.
“She will be lucky to get an eCard Birthday Card from me after this.”
You would not want this outside your house!
If you want to send your friends an amazing eCard Birthday surprise, visit www.eCards.co.uk.
September 17, 2010
Happy 256th Birthday!!
According to the 1933 obituaries in both Time Magazine and the New York Times, Li Ching-Yun was reported to have buried 23 wives and fostered 180 descendants by the time he died at the age of 256.
Was he really that old? Could he have forgotten his own birthday or exaggerated his claim?
The Secrets to an Interminable Life
“Keep a quiet heart, sit like a tortoise, walk sprightly like a pigeon and sleep like a dog.” These were the words of advice Li gave to Wu Pei-fu, the warlord, who took Li into his house to learn the secret of extremely long life.
Li maintained that inward calm and peace of mind were the secrets to incredible longevity. His diet after all, was mainly based on rice and wine.
From 0 to 256
Unsurprisingly, not much is known about Li Ching-Yun’s early life. We know he was born in the province of Szechwan in China, where he also died. We also know that by his tenth birthday, Ching-Yun was literate and had travelled to Kansu, Shansi, Tibet, Annam, Siam and Manchuria gathering herbs. After that, it gets a bit fuzzy…
Apparently, for over one hundred years, Li continued selling his own herbs and then subsequently sold herbs collected by others. He also (according to Time) had six-inch long fingernails on his right hand.
You might be thinking that he looked decrepit, shrivelled, leather-like and creepy, however sources at the time were astonished at his youthfulness. Was this suspect? Was Li Ching-Yun as old as he claimed he was, or was his birthday a clerical error or exaggeration?
Let’s take a brief look at both sides…
The Nine Lives of Li Ching-Yun
By his own admission he was born in 1736 and had lived 197 years. However, in 1930 a professor and dean at Minkuo University by the name of Wu Chung-chien, found records “proving” that Li was born in 1677. Records allegedly showed that the Imperial Chinese Government congratulated him on his 150th and 200th Birthdays.
So the question is, had he forgotten his own birthday? Was this even the same Li Ching-Yun?
Looking at all of this from a medical and documented perspective: Jeanne Louise Calment, a French woman who died in 1997 so far holds the title for the person who has roamed the earth the longest: 122 years, which is a phenomenal length of time.
That means, that if the records discovered by Wu Chung-chien were accurate, Li Ching-Yun’s age would surpass the official record by more than 130 years. Is this even medically possible?
The detail, which seems to prove both arguments and debunk them at the same time, is Li’s youthful appearance, noted in a 1928 article from the New York Times. Visually and physically, he appeared to look like a typical 60 year-old. Does this therefore signify a superhuman body capable of lasting one quarter of a millennium, or is the story of Li Ching-Yun based on a series of half-truths, lies or exaggerations?
lived for 256 years....apparantly....
Think of the cost of 256 birthdays! If you need to send a birthday card, make www.ecards.co.uk your first port of call!
September 1, 2010
Germany Invades Poland
71 years ago today, Germany invaded Poland – indeed, today is the birthday of the beginning of World War 2.
World War II, or the Second World War (often abbreviated as WWII or WW2), was a global military conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945 which involved most of the world’s nations, including all of the great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million military personnel. In a state of “total war,” the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by significant action against civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it was the deadliest conflict in human history that resulted in Millions of fatalities.
Why don’t you take a moment out of your day to think of loved ones that may have lost their lives in this war. Also take a moment to think about our brave and noble forces out in Afghanistan, risking their lives everyday.
Visit http://www.ecards.co.uk/ to send your loved one a Birthday Card!
August 24, 2010
Keep in touch with you mates – for free!
Post Uni Blues
Leaving university is a major life transition. It’s not simply the fact that life doesn’t revolve around lectures and essays any more. When you’re at uni, you get constant feedback on your work and you’re surrounded by a support network of friends and lecturers. The big wide world can seem less than inviting in comparison.
That’s what happened to Frankie, who studied philosophy. “I chose a course that interested me,” she says. “Employability came second but I felt proud of myself for doing it. When I started work, I grieved for my old lifestyle and the time I’d spent discovering myself as a person and expressing myself freely. I was doing a low-paid typing job and I felt I had no purpose.”
When you find yourself stroking your degree certificate after an eight-hour shift putting the heads on cotton buds, you can get quite low. Plus life gets more expensive when you leave uni and lose all those nice shiny discounts.
Feeling left behind
Psychology graduate Clare missed her friends when she left uni. “I went straight into temp working while waiting for a permanent job offer. There was no opportunity for regular meet-ups with friends and it almost immediately felt like we’d all moved on. It felt like starting my life all over again.” Clare says eCards has helped her keep in touch with her mates. “My friends and I are always using http://www.ecards.co.uk to send jokey cards when we are feeling a bit down, and we always make an effort to send birthday cards.”
For recent graduates eCards provide four main benefits:
- It’s a free service – wehey!
- It takes 60 seconds and no pen and paper
- It’s environmentally friendly
- Best of all, when your friend opens up an eCard in their inbox, a big smile will be on their face!
Don’t delay, visit http://www.ecards.co.uk/ today give a uni mate a smile!
ecards - Give an old friend a smile today!
July 20, 2010
Birthday Cards Galore
Looks like ecards has been making a load of brilliant new Birthday Cards – I especially like the Moonpig one and also the Funky Pigeon one
December 10, 2009
Break out from the masses this Christmas
Walk into any department store and you’ll see row after row of utterly boring Christmas cards.
It’s another problem with the big business approach to Christmas; in order to cater to everyone, messages get toned down and become unspecific.
Christmas is about connecting with friends and family, and an uninteresting template card isn’t the way to do it.
When you send an eCard, you aren’t just sending a Christmas greeting. No, you’re sending a message that’s completely unique, and as funny, serious, and different as you’d like!
No more worrying about finding a card that suits you – just design your own!
