It snowed today, that means one thing, time to start thinking about your holiday greetings. A good quality greeting card can help show that you value your friends, family and business colleagues and skimping on your selection can be interpreted in a number of ways. Well the same holds true for your greeting cards, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Your recipients might take it as a sign that business has not been good or that they aren’t worth a little investment. For most this means minding grammar rules. Season’s Greetings Multiple holidays are celebrated in one combined season, so use an apostrophe and “s” to show that you are sending greetings of the season. Also, treat this catch-all greeting like “Happy Holidays” and capitalize both words. Snowman in Snow Storm Holiday Cards (8836B) is a charmingly abstract way to see a snowman, this clever card will make everyone on your card list smile. Partridge in a Pear Tree Holiday Cards (8972) are accented in elegant green and gold and feature a partridge in a pear tree. Inside, the greeting “Wishing you all the splendor of the Season” is pre-printed in Black ink. Damask Photo...Read More
This time of year many families are hustling to get their holiday photo cards ordered. And those of us who seemed to have slacked this year are trying desperately to book their photo shoot for their holiday card.  When it comes time to get your photo taken it’s important to realize that there is a lot more that goes into planning the perfect family photo than just showing up ready to smile.  We have researched to bring you some of the best tips out there on just how to obtain that beautiful family portrait that you will be pride to send out in your holiday cards this season.  First of all it is incredibly important to know what kind of look you want. Plan your shots. Think ahead of what kind of pose(s) you would like. Do you want a very structured straightforward look with everyone standing single file? Or would you like something a bit more organic and candid where your family is relaxed and natural looking? With plenty of time before the big day search online and in magazines for what you like. Make a Pinterest board or a small scrapbook of the photos that you like. Clothing...Read More
Purchasing gifts for older family members often proves just as troublesome as it is for those coming of age.  This can be particularly true when the gift for the older more distinguished gentleman in your life. Believe us, the dad or grand dad can prove just as hard to buy for as that picky teenager in your life. He’s just not as vocal about it. Why? Because for the most part, they have everything they want and are established enough that if they see something that strikes their fancy, they can go out and purchase said item. It’s incredibly time consuming to hunt for a gift to purchase for someone who has mostly everything they desire, let alone the fact that they can purchase whatever they would like. A fact those of us who are the primary shoppers for our family knows to well is that  quite often it is hard to buy the simple things for ourselves that we need or want to use daily. Things like fine ink pens! We offer several different outwardly colored Sheaffer pens. These stylish ink pens are all 5 ½” long and contain a push button mechanism. This sleek pen can be taken...Read More
Do you have a newly married couple on your holiday shopping list this year? It can be hard to decide what to buy for newlyweds. Chances are great that they are already had established homes prior, and that anything they really wanted they received at their shower. There is one thing that is pretty true for most all newlyweds. They love seeing their name and or monogram on things. New couples revel in the joy that is personalization. They love anything from doormats to stationery and everything in between. Nothing sets a new wife’s eyes to sparkle like seeing her new last name on all kinds of pretty things. One of the first things people think about ordering with personalization are note cards. At American Stationery as you can imagine, we have several to choose from. Consider first what is their style as a couple? Think back to their wedding and any parties they have thrown. Have you seen their home? Is there a prominent color displayed thorough out the house? A newer item to our collection is the chevron fold notes. Chevron has been an incredibly hot pattern this past year. It is seen everywhere from fashion to home...Read More
Are you by chance, old enough to remember penny postcards? Or 3 cent postcards or a nickel?  Time was, these were as common in everyday life as the newspaper.  You could go to the post office, get a pre-stamped postcard, address it and write a brief message and it would be delivered anywhere in the country for a penny.  It’s really hard to imagine these days. We have an archive of letters and correspondence that goes back decades here. One of the treasures is a penny postcard sent in 1945 that a son sent to his mother announcing the birth of his baby daughter. It struck me as odd that the son would communicate with his mother on such a momentous occasion with an impersonal method when she lived only 20 miles away! The lovely lady whose birth was being heralded by that postcard is nearing the end of her 40 year career at our company and I asked her how it came to pass that her father wrote to her grandmother in such a cold manner.  Her reply was illustrative of even my inability to comprehend the times. First of all, she was the fifth baby in the family,...Read More
When I was a kid back in the early 60’s, I had a maiden aunt who lived in my mother’s hometown of Morton, Washington.  Given that we lived in the middle of Indiana, Washington state seemed as exotic as the moon. Every few weeks, my brother and sister and I got letters from her, addressed very formally Master Michael and Master Greg for us boys and Mistress Vicki for my sister.  The letters spoke of all the family happenings, what our aunts and uncles and cousins were doing, and what it was like in the green hills of Washington.  I had never met this Aunt, nor any of my mother’s family, but those letters served as an introduction to these strange people from a land that had to be 10,000 miles from us. I remember how thrilled we were and how important we felt when those letters came. I look back fondly on getting those letters almost 50 years ago, saddened by the fact that my girls, now in their 20’s, rarely received letters in the mail. They do not have a clue what they had missed. The excitement of going to the mailbox, finding a handwritten note from a...Read More
Thanksgiving is just around the bend. It won’t be long before Tom Turkey is sitting on the table, parades are on the tube and college football fills the family room. Although, all of those things are fun, exciting and things we all enjoy, let’s not forget to take time to be truly thankful. This year take a few moments to reflect on the months past. What are you thankful for? Who are you thankful for? Share you thankfulness with others. A word of thanks is thoughtful, poignant and a beautiful sentiment to share. We suggest dropping a line of gratitude to those people who have done things behind the scenes, those who often go unnoticed for their hard work. Who are the folks behind the scenes of your life? Mail Carrier or Newspaper Deliverer They see that you get your belongings come rain, shine, snow or wind, and in extreme cold or heat. Leave a little note of thankfulness in the mailbox. The garbage man.  Tape a quick thank you to the top of your trash can lid. It’s a dirty job and someone has to do it. Aren’t you thankful it’s not you? Neighbor They’ve brought in your mail...Read More
As the years go by it seems like the holidays approach us faster and faster.  I don’t know what it is, the fact that we are getting older and in turn days go by faster? That we are all so busy and thus the holidays really do sneak up on us? Or that stores feel the need to set up a Jack o ‘ lantern display parallel to an inflatable Rudolph? Whatever the case may be, please don’t blink now; we’ll all be carving a turkey tomorrow! One of the conveniences of living in this modern day and age is that you don’t have to get out in the cold weather to shop. You need not encounter the unfortunate but very real grouchiness of your fellow man that inevitably occurs at the check out counter. No, you can shop at home in your fuzzy jammies with a glass of wine or cocoa beside you. Whether this means by mail, telephone, or computer is up to you. But at American Stationery we’ve been offering free catalogs for over 90 years! We’re still at the same brick and mortar building in a small town in America’s heartland. What does that mean? Well it...Read More
We all have people on our Christmas list that are difficult to please. But, could there be a group more difficult to please than the teenage girl? When most everything is met with an eye-roll, a fake smile, or a borderline rude hair flip, they’re nearly impossible to read let alone please. Here at American Stationery, we like to think we might have a few tricks up our sleeve for you. Below is a list of a few things that we feel are less likely to induce a hefty sigh followed up with a “you just don’t get it” face. Remember all those photos you took of her and all her best friends just before the big dance?  Upload her favorite and order a custom case for her phone. We offer four different sized covers from the item number 9596 which fit’s the iPhone 3, to the item number 9597 which fit’s the  iPhone 4 and 4s. We also have the item number 9598 which is for the Samsung Galaxy II and the 9599 which is for BlackBerry Bold. Each phone cover is just $39.00.  She can take her favorite photo with her on the go and show it off...Read More