I thought about perhaps writing a couple of Christmas cards this year, for my nearest and dearest and then I thought better of it. The thought of the cards being thrown in the bin shortly after Christmas, the waste of paper, the time and effort it took to write every single person’s name down and not forgetting the long heartfelt messages letting everyone know what we’ve been up to lately, etc. etc. Nothing that you wouldn’t know by logging on to Facebook or Instagram or even perhaps my blog every once in a little while! Then there’s also the dreaded feeling of missing someone out and I don’t want to be one of those who hands out Christmas cards to a number of colleagues in the office and not others.
I was recently approached by a company called Paperless Post, one of the first companies to approach me where I actually felt like this is for me! They asked if I could review their site in exchange for a budget to use on their Paperless Post website, so I’ve not been paid to do this but thought I’d share my experience and introduce you to an brand that perhaps many of you had never even heard about.
You’re probably wondering what on earth is Paperless Post and what does their company do? Well, I’d say their name kind of gives them away just a little and they do exactly what they say on the tin! They create paper-less post. You design a card or invitation online, using their templates and you send them to your contacts via email. There are a huge selection of designs to choose from and different occasions to use as your template. I absolutely love playing around with the prints and the colours, which is obviously more tailored to your taste than going into a card shop and choosing a card from a shelf. The names, dates and messages can all be personalised so that it makes it that extra special and I guess if your friends/family did want to get the card’s printed then you always could, especially if you manage to capture some beautiful family portraits of kids and pets, then it’s a lot more sentimental than your standard blank card.
We now all live in a world where emails are exchanged on a regular basis and the digital world is a lot more prominent than we’d maybe have hoped. Plus, I’d like to think we are all making small changes in protecting our world, even if it means using less paper, less plastic and of course less money on postage fees! Can you believe it now costs 67p for a first class stamp?! That’s a whopping £6.70 on just 10 Christmas cards! Ps. aren’t I just great at maths. So, after figuring out how to use their website I sent Josh a Christmas card via email. First thing, it is not the same as receiving a ‘proper’ Christmas card. It perhaps doesn’t feel all that personal and to some it could perhaps feel as though not much time or effort has gone into it. However, saying that most people do not have the time to sit and write a dozen Christmas cards now, do they? I think the whole idea is great for the younger generation but I’d stick to pen and paper when it comes to your Grandparent’s, unless their super tech savvy.
You can find their website here www.paperlesspost.com.