Designing our Christmas Cards with The Card Gallery (& a Giveaway!)

Is it too early to mention the big C word? If it is, look away, people! Oh wait, I might have done that already when I shared my cranberry mincemeat recipe a couple of days ago. There is no going back: Christmas is on its way! We even had our first mince pies today. Why not, hey?

Even with the best of intentions, we end up rushing our Christmas cards at the last minute every single year around here. Most of the time, our friends and family are lucky if they get our card on the 24th of December, if not later!

When The Card Gallery contacted me to review their bespoke card service, I was over the moon! It gave me an incentive to start thinking about our Christmas cards early.

I really enjoy making cards with the little ones. You might think they look rough around the edges, but I like cards made by the children that actually look like cards they made themselves. They love the creative process and getting involved without having to worry about making the cards look perfect.

Once our thumbprint snowmen were ready, I scanned the three designs we had created and saved them. I emailed the one we had chosen to The Card Gallery and gave them our text for the inside of the cards.

They did everything else. They resized my image, chose festive fonts and colours for the front of the card and emailed me back the next day with a proof. I realised I had made a spelling mistake and amendments were made that same day! Our cards arrived later that week and the quality was definitely there!

We needed Christmas cards in French as well so I decided to use a printing company. I had to design the postcards myself in a specific format and it took me forever. The price did not include envelopes, proof, VAT or postage so what appeared quite cheap initially ended up costing me quite a lot. As for the final result, it was fine but nowhere near as nice as what I received from The Card Gallery.

I soon realised I needed a few more Christmas cards. I went straight back to The Card Gallery and chose one of their personalised Christmas cards I had spotted before. They really have an impressive selection of designs to choose from for a range occasions, all of which can be fully customised.

There were no added charges and I did not have to worry about the design as I would get a proof. You can check and amend your order as many times as you want before printing starts, and I find that really reassuring. Delivery was free and my order arrived just a few days after I had approved the proof sent by email.

I could not fault the service offered by The Card Gallery and I will certainly be using their services again! To me, the advantages of choosing them rather than another printing service are: the ease of the ordering process, friendliness of staff, quick delivery and getting the design we really wanted with a minimum of fuss. Turnaround is quick and they have no hidden charges.

Disclosure:
– I was sent thirty free Christmas cards for the purpose of this review and no payment was received. All opinions and photographs are my own.