Hot Card of the Day (Country Edition)

Today's card comes to us from Cambridge Street Papers in lovely Chatham, New Jersey. We custom-designed the tractor using our state-of-the-art "magic" technology, and we think it came out really cute. (Maybe in the future, someone could use two huge tire motifs for Bigfoot!)

What Not to Do

While it’s undoubtedly depressing to walk into a mall and already see holiday displays, we (at least in the custom stationery business) have resigned ourselves to the fact that we will be eating, breathing, living, and dreaming the holiday season for just under the next three months. To bring some levity into your and our lives, we present the first in a series of, let’s say, life guidelines that have been quality-tested by your kind and wise Luscious Verde representatives. Please don’t hesitate to add your own in the “Comments” section at the end of this post. Thanks, and happy freaking everything.

TOP 10 THINGS YOU SHOULDN’T MENTION IN YOUR HOLIDAY LETTER

10. The phrase "LOL"

9. Three paragraphs from your cat’s point of view

8. That you won the all-state burrito-eating championship

7. Your Uncle Pierre is now Aunt Jane

6. Your unrequited long-time crush on the girl who works at the Circle K

5. Your new business cards that say “Man About Town”

4. Getting your dog neutered

3. Your seasonal affective disorder

2. “Our kids were recently voted better than yours.” (Submitted by proofreader Ted)

1. Your date with Lisa Loeb

-- Rob @ L.V.

Hot Card of the Day (Autumn Edition)

Today's card commemorates a number of firsts, the number being "two." It was the first card ordered from our fabulous new Bar/Bat Mitzvah catalog (ordered from Michelle's Memos in Potomac, Maryland, thank you very much). And, with its light yet understated paper colors, it's a perfect choice for today, the first day of autumn. Of course, where we are, it's 80 degrees, so we're not quite in the fall mood yet. But those days of long, cool weekend walks, spiked cider and 6 a.m. college football tailgates can't be too far ahead.

On the Job: America's Next Top Designer

Like her hero Tyra Banks, Luscious Verde graphic designer extraordinaire Beth moved to New York at a young age to pursue a dream in the fashion industry. Also like Tyra, both left the fashion industry to focus on lifelong loves. Even more fatefully, both have been romantically linked to N.B.A. stars Rick Fox and Chris Webber.

OK, just kidding about that last fact (I hope her fiancée won’t kill me). Beth is a hardworking and calming influence on the design department, doling out both design wisdom and droll humor.

Beth was born and raised in Maple Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and attended Kent State University. In college, she says she “did really well, never partied, and got good grades.” (We’ll really have to take her word for that.)

She moved to New York City shortly after graduation (and a stint in a flower shop) for a job in the center of haute couture. However, she soon “started counting the days” until her lease was up, due to her dislike of city living and a blossoming romance with her high-school crush, Kevin. (They’re now engaged, with the wedding just under a month away.)

In her spare time (when not wedding planning), Beth watches “America’s Next Top Model,” while continually critiquing the contestants, a la a young Janice Dickinson. She also works on “artsy-fartsy” crafting, evidence of which is located in the picture below. Let it be known: Beth has junk in her trunk.

A FEW OF BETH’S FAVORITE THINGS

Pets: Stinky, Furby and Corky, her cats

Article of Clothing: Pair of Via Spiga shoes (and socks), Prada bag

Favorite Restaurant: Don Tequila’s

Favorite Video Game: Super Mario Brothers (the original)

Biggest Influence: “My friends”

-- Rob @ L.V.

Hey you! Yeah, you!

Don't forget the First Semi-Annual Luscious Verde Haiku Contest! First place wins a gift basket full of L.V. goodies, plus we're throwing in a special offer -- Rob from Luscious Verde will personally leave an outgoing message on your answering machine or cell phone! Bonus!

Hot Card of the Day (Philatelic Edition)

Today's hot card is really a hot stamp. You may remember this card from last week. Well, we finally received our invitation in the mail and was charmed by the custom stamp, made by Zazzle.

The customer took a photo of the pattern, sent it off to the site (which does a lot of customization work), and was able to get real U.S. postage with our design on it. It's a really cool idea that not too many people know about. (Unfortunately, for most of us, it's the only way we'll ever have our picture on a stamp.)

Hot Card of the Day (New Year Edition)

Today's hot card (an L.V. "insider" order) demonstrates the versatility of our line. The design itself is from volume two of our Bar/Bat Mitzvah line, but it's used in this instance for a wedding invitation. And it works beautifully.

Also, we're sending out notifications to all of our dealers as we post this, but this is just a reminder: We will be closed this Friday, September 14th, for the High Holiday season. Thanks!

Hot Card of the Day (Paparazzo Edition)

Today's hot card comes to us straight off the streets of Milan (via By Invitation Only in North Miami Beach, Florida), where it was evidently spotted in the uber-trendy bag of some rich and famous woman of the world. How nice it is to know that paparazzi have good enough taste to expressly take a picture of [name redacted]! We say they're all right!

(All rumors about this picture being of shoddy camera-phone quality and actually taken outside our headquarters in Cleveland are completely false. However, thanks to Marcia for use of the purse.)

Hot Card of the Day (Whiffle Ball Bat Edition)

Today's hot card comes to us from the Papery of Philadelphia, conveniently located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where it is currently a sweltering 88 degrees. It's a design from our latest baby book, and we were charmed by its understated elegance and unique paper color choices.

First Semi-Annual Luscious Verde Haiku Contest

While we like buying stuff (and I mean really, really like buying stuff), we also like giving stuff away. Coupled with our natural poetical talents, we thought of the perfect idea to get us through the historically “eh” month of September: the First Semi-Annual Luscious Verde Haiku Contest.

Haiku, if you’re wondering, is an ancient Japanese poem form in three lines. The first line has five syllables, the second has seven, and the third has five. Here’s a wonderful example haiku by lead proofreader Ted:

Example haiku

Five syllables, then seven

And then five again

Not too hard, right? Reply in the comments section with a haiku of your own, and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a Luscious Verde gift basket full of goodies that we swear aren’t just lying around our work area. One entry per person, etc. We’ll leave you with a haiku composed by estimator extraordinaire Megan:

The cutter scares me

Steel blades slicing up paper

Wish it was roast beef

Good luck!

-- Rob @ L.V.

Hot Card of the Day (Bar/Bat Edition)

First off, we'd like to congratulate Michelle's Memos in Potomac, Maryland, for being our first retailer to order something from our new Bar/Bat Mitzvah catalog. We'll feature more about the new catalog later this week, but we'll leave you with this picture of the spread on which the order was based. It's getting a little hard to be humble, judging by the response from dealers that have received the book so far (they shipped out late last week), and we definitely think it's one of our finest collections yet.

-- Rob @ L.V.