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Law & Order

Today had an interesting start. I was driving to work which is a short 2 mile drive and was at a stop sign waiting for someone to cross in the crosswalk. Just as I was about to proceed, another pedestrian had stepped into the crosswalk. I decided to wait for him as he meandered with his coffee cup across the crosswalk, apparently going to the gym across the street. When he got just past the median he noticed I was waiting for him and gave me a big smile and waved me on. I smiled back, nodded and went on to the next intersection which was a light and waited until it turned green. Right as it turned green and I started through it, a police car behind me turned his lights on. As I pulled over I had no idea why I was being pulled over. I thought maybe the registration on my plates had somehow expired without me knowing it. He got out of his car and walked to my car and proceeded to say "Do you realized you did not wait for a pedestrian back at the stop sign?" I told him politely "Officer, I did stop for 2 pedestrians and the 2nd one waved me on." He said "I was monitoring you and did not see him wave you on." I told him nicely that I am an honest person and would not lie to a police officer and that yes indeed this man waved me on. He went on to tell me that even if he had waved me on, it is still the law that I should wait for him. We went back and forth a little bit and then out of the blue, my good looking pedestrian had walked up to this intersection to tell the officer "Officer, I waved her on." How cool is that! This stranger took the time after seeing I had been pulled over to back me up. The officer immediately added a slight friendliness to his tone, told me it is the law that I should not proceed when waved on, but he was not going to write me up. I was so relieved and love stories of good people out there willing to take a stand for even a little injustice like this almost was. Smile at a few strangers tomorrow and see where it takes you!

The Diamond Bathtub

One of my sisters has always been artistic and very creative. She has an interior design business and has helped me a lot over the years decorating my home and always making improvements with ease. A few years ago she got an idea and has spent the last 3 years worked on making it a reality- The Diamond Bathtub. She has hand applied over 40,000 pink Swarovski crystals to a cast iron claw foot bathtub to create this unique one-of-a-kind bathroom centerpiece. It has been a labor of love that is now showcased in the window of a local store- Fleur de Lys in Costa Mesa. In person this creation is amazingly pretty and someday will be a perfect fit in a unique bathroom. It will be auctioned on E-Bay in the next few weeks.

New! Personalized Clipboards With Your Photo

As featured on the NBC Today Show, we are excited to offer Whitney English ClipSheets™ with printed photo! A stack of 75 personalized 5 x 7 loose ClipSheets™ come with a clear acetate clipboard that measures just slightly larger. Your picture will be cropped to fit right into the design and printed for you all at once. The set, as shown here, with a grosgrain ribbon, will be placed inside a Whitney English signature box with tissue paper, making gift wrapping for this darling gift a breeze! ClipSheets™ with photo are ideal for your own to-do lists, honey-do and grocery lists, and also make great teacher gifts, stocking stuffers, hostess or bridesmaid gifts! 12 different styles to choose from.

Flameless Candles- New at Charming Cards!

I had a great time at the New York Gift Show last month and came home with some fun new products. One are these flameless candles which just arrived yesterday- I love them! This unique gift is perfect to put anywhere you would love the ambiance of a candle, but where it might not be allowed like an office, dorm room, or boat. They look like a real candle and with 3 led lights, even flicker and come with a timer function for automatic on and off. They are $19.99 and $22.99 at Charming Cards.

Get Organized In The New Year With Decorative File Folders!

To compliment our wide variety of designer file folders, we recently added a line of desktop magazine/file folder holders. These sturdy decorative holders are perfect for your home or office desktop that will look great with your pretty file folders sitting in.


We have also added some fresh new designs and have stocked up on of all 42 different styles of file folders we carry from vendors like Whitney English, Galison, Knock Knock, International Arrivals and Blue Ink Designs.

And to help you jump start getting organized, they are on sale 15% until midnight January 13th! only!

Sale on Sweet Pea Stationery- Twice as Nice Sale!

2 for 1 sale! One of my favorite vendors- Sweet Pea, is having a twice as nice sale on their foldover notecards until January 31st. Order a set of notecards and you will receive double the quantity for free! This is the perfect time to send your holiday thank-yous and stock up on thank you notes for your family. This special section of my website allows you to typeset your notecards so you can see exactly what they will look like and play around with different typestyles before ordering. Offer ends January 31st.

What to do with your holiday cards

Happy New Year! Here is a re-post of a blog from prior years that is appropriate once more as I am tidying up for the new year...
With the holidays ending, I used to wonder what I should do with all of the holiday cards I received. I hated tossing them, but was anxious to clean up for the new year. I found an appropriately sized container to hold my cards and I keep them set out all year. Guests in my home always enjoy sorting through my cards and admiring the wonderful pictures of family and friends I received. Even in the summer your holiday cards can be a source of conversation. Make a family activity out of it by pulling a card every week and vowing to call, write, or pray for the lucky winner!

It's A Wrap For The Season

This is my 10th season selling holiday cards and the week after Christmas is always a time business-wise to sigh and reflect on the season and look at everything that went right and learn from anything that went wrong. I will share 2 of my favorite holiday card orders from this year. Both of these cards use somewhat non-traditional photos of their children that are sure to catch attention and be shared over the holidays. Both of these photographs seem to be candid and are just darling. I loved being involved with both of these for their thinking out of the box approach.

This year I also ended up knowing the 800 number to UPS by heart. I had 2 situations with UPS this season - one that saved the day, the other I was pulling my hair out and my very sweet customer never did receive her darling holiday cards. The first was a situation where holiday cards were delivered a few doors down from my customer -an error by the card manufacturer. I thought this would be simple, just walk on over to the neighbor and get the package. Not so simple as the residents were out of town for an extended period of time and no one on the street seemed to know who was taking care of their mail or where her package might be. After I contacted UPS, the driver not only remembered the delivery, but knew the name of the maid who accepted the package and my customer figured it all out and retrieved her cards. The second situation involved a customer who inadvertently transposed 2 digits of her zip code when placing her order. She had 3 different shipments of things and UPS easily corrected 2 of them. But her holiday cards are still lost in transit after at least 20 different phone calls to UPS over 7 days trying to help them deliver these cards. This was very frustrating and my customer was very patient and is now picking out a New Years card. Orders placed in December for holiday cards leave little time for error and every year I contemplate cutting off my orders at the end of November so there is enough time to deal with problems I cannot anticipate or control.

But overall the season was great with lots of happy customers, some who take the time to email me to tell me how pleased they are with their cards and the service. I love this business and my charming customers who keep me going and striving to give my best.

12th Daily Deal- Table Topics On Sale!

Table Topics are 40% discounted today only! These conversation starter cards make a great hostess gift, for your neighbors, teachers, girlfriends, gift exchange gift....everyone loves them! 4 Editions available- Original, Family, Teen, and Girls Night Out. Some customers keep a stash in their gift closet for an easy to store gift on hand all year.

This is the final of the December Daily Deals. It has been fun again - thank you and enjoy your holiday season!

11th Daily Deal- Nest Candles on Sale 40%!

These awesome smelling candles by NEST are on sale 1 day only including the hard to find special holiday candle. Scents are Holiday, Bamboo, Moss & Mint, and Grapefruit. Regularly $30.99, today just $18.50.

10th Daily Deal- Big Ass Book of Crafts- 40% Sale!

Our 10th Daily Deal is 40% off our Big Ass Book of Crafts, today only! This 384 page book is packed with ideas for sprucing up your living space; concocting fabulous, all-natural body products; designing your own unique stationery; and creating countless other crafts that will convince your friends and loved ones that you're the secret love child of Martha Stewart (only much, much cooler). Regularly $19.95, now just $11.95 for today only!

9th Daily Deal - Toss Bags on Sale 50%

For 1 day only all Toss bags are 50% off! I get stopped at the airport all the time asking about my bag similar to this rolling duffel bag.

I use this exact bag for my laptop when traveling and love it!

Offer ends midnight PST 12/09/09.

8th Daily Deal- Thanking Out Of The Box Stationery 40% Off!

For 1 day only our unique ribbon adorned Thanking Out Of The Box thank you cards are 40% off! These cards sell out at boutiques and gift recipients always come back for more. There are 8 unique cards in each box with ribbon and colored envelopes. It also comes with a white pen to address your colored envelopes. Super cute! Supplies are limited and these will go fast!

7th Daily Deal - Designer File Folders 40% Off Today!

One of my best selling products on my website are designer file folders. For one day only they are discounted 40%! Bring your style into your office, or give a stylish gift. 38 styles to choose from. Offer expires on midnight, 12/07/09.

6th Daily Deal- Great Tweenage Gift for only $7.99

If you need a gift for girls ages 10-14, this a great gift they can use to bring the fun to a slumber party. Or stock up for presents for their birthday parties coming up. This Slumber Party box of questions and Truth or Dare Game (G-rated) regularly $19.99, but on sale for $7.99 1 day only!

5th Daily Deal- Paper Taffy Chunky Notepads 35% off!

The 5th daily deal this year are Paper Taffy (formerly Mud Pie Paper) big chunky notepads for 35% off. I spent all day at a boutique today and these were my number 1 best seller and sell consistently all year long. These chunky 7" x 7" pads make a fabulous quick gift! 300 pages make it a substantial chunky pad with cute quality ribbon. These are great gifts in many different designs. Regularly $21.99, just $14.29 today only!
expires midnight PST 12/05/09.

4th Daily Deal- Reusable Shopping Bags 35% Off

Today's daily deal is our cute and versatile reusable shopping bags at 35% off today only! These are handy for the store, but also cute to carry your items to the gym, kids sleepover party, or anything! 6 different styles to choose from
expires at midnight 12/04/09

Daily Deal #3- MomAgenda and Kitchenfolio- 1/2 Price!

For 1 Day only you can give the gift of organization for your Mom friends at half price! I love these products-

The MomAgenda - Along with calendar and scheduling features for mom and up to 4 kids, includes the favorite websites section, space for notes on books, movies, fashion, and music, vacation and party planning pages, and more. Runs August 2009- Dec 2010. Comes in pink, brown and lime green.

The Kitchenfolio- this handy binder includes forms for: Important Information, Important Phone Numbers, Home-Related Phone Numbers, Family Medical Information, birthdays/Anniversaries, and Babysitter’s Information. You can also store class lists, school schedules, sports schedules, menus and more in heavy-duty, clear plastic page protectors. With 48 pages and 24 interchangeable tabs, there’s a place for everything! My favorite part about this planner is that I have the pdf files for the standard forms that I email you upon purchase so you can neatly type the information on the form to print out and save for updates later. I wish I had this when my kids were younger. Come in pink and blue.

Supplies are limited on both. Offer ends at midnight December 3rd.

2nd Daily Deal of Christmas - Holiday stickers 30% off!

Today's daily deal is our holiday stickers 30% off today only. We have hundreds of holiday stickers by Boatman Geller, Noteworthy, and Picture Perfect. These are perfect to use as return address labels, or label your gifts. Offer expires at midnight.

12 Daily Deals of Christmas- Day 1!

Last year we had a lot of fun and success with our Charming Cards 12 daily deals of Christmas. We have been looking forward to doing this again and it starts today! For the first 12 days of December, we will put an item on special for 1 day and advertise it to my blogger friends. The discounts are big!

Today, our first daily deal is our designer clipboards by Macbeth. These clipboard are 50% off for one day only! There are 12 styles to choose from and come in 2 sizes. The smaller ones are only $10, and the larger ones are $12.50. Quantities are limited- these come wrapped in a cello bow and make a great gift.