Greeting card you buy could be designed by your neighbor
The next time you stand in a card store, drugstore or grocery store, looking at the greeting cards and laughing out loud as you search for just the right one, don't be surprised if you see that one or more of those cards was designed by someone who could be your neighbor.
Since late 2007, Hallmark has been running periodic contests for people who want to design greeting cards. And the contests have been a huge hit, gathering an average of 2,000 entries each, according to Kristi Ernsting, a spokesman for Hallmark.
Local winners have included best friends from Hoffman Estates and residents of Grayslake, Aurora and McHenry. And dogs have been entrants' best friends, appearing on four of the five local winners' cards.
The entries are judged by teams of Hallmark employees. Winners each receive $250 and have their cards sold online. In addition, the product team responsible for the contest theme decides which of the winners will sell best in stores. Entrants whose cards are chosen receive an additional $250.
Hallmark held one contest in 2007 and that's grown to 10 this year, with topics ranging from “Birthday Your Way to “Crack 'Em Up to “Scare Up Some Fun.
The consumer-created cards have been popular, selling well both on the Internet and in the stores, according to Ernsting.
“People like the authenticity of the less polished cards, she explained.
Hoffman Estates has produced two contest winners, and they're college students who room together.
Danielle Wall and Cristina Papeck, 2007 graduates of Hoffman Estates High School now seniors at Illinois Wesleyan University, won last fall with entries using adorable photos of Wall's puppy, Sophie. Both cards have sold in local stores.
Wall said she learned of the contest from an aunt, who saw one of the cards in a store. “I'm big on entering contests and raffles, so I had to enter.
She won the “That's Motherhood contest last October with a photo of Sophie sniffing a daisy. On the front of the card she wrote, “This Mother's Day, take time to smell the flowers. Inside it said, “Just make sure you don't step in any organic fertilizer!
She and her mother spent hours considering different things to say and her mother even took several sayings to work and had her co-workers vote on the best one.
Wall won with her first entry, although she has entered several more since then that have not won.
She encouraged her best friend since fourth grade, Cristina Papeck, to enter. Papeck used a photo that she had taken of Wall's puppy standing with her feet in her food bowl, and won the “Birthday Her Way contest last November.
Papeck's card said “Splurge! on the front. Inside it reads, “Calories don't count on your birthday!
“I am a big fan of birthday cake, Papeck explained. “I have to eat cake on everyone's birthday because, of course, those calories don't count. That is where I got the idea for the card.
“I didn't expect to win, but now I have the card framed on the wall at home, she admitted.
On card racks this month is the winning Halloween entry, submitted by Shella Blue Wierema of Grayslake. It features her basset hound, Lola, dressed up in a duck costume that Wierema purchased for her baby daughter a few years ago.
“I opened the box and there was Lola, sitting there looking vulnerable, so I dressed her up in it and snapped the picture, Wierema recalled.
She stumbled across the Hallmark contest while making a photo card on the Hallmark website. The card featuring Lola was her third try and she has entered twice since then.
The outside of Wierema's winning card reads, “Sometimes a person just needs a good laugh … and inside it continues, “That said, hope this card quacks you up! Happy Halloween!
Other area winners are Mikki Kramer of Aurora and Tom Fosnow of McHenry. Fosnow won in January and Kramer in April, for the “Birthday Her Way and “Happy Anniversary contests.
Kramer's card showed her husband in his recliner, wearing holey socks, and the card reads, “ … to the only man who, after all these years, can still take my breath away! Fosnow's showed his terrier wearing bright pink lipstick, and his card reads, “And never leave the house without lipstick! Yappy Birthday!
Ernsting said Hallmark has been pleased with the outcome.
“The contests are continuing to have good traction with the public and with entrants, so we have themes scheduled through the end of 2011, she said. “We have even established a Facebook page for winners and those who submit entries to give each other tips and correspond.
Consumer-created cards are available online at hallmarkcontests.com.