“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” A. A. Milne

It’s that time of year again! Flowers are blooming, the weather is warming and Easter is near. We’re approaching the end of the school year with graduations from preschool to college and beyond. Wedding season is taking off like doves in flight. And people are shaking off the winter doldrums and shifting to spring events, entertaining, and barbeques. Friends and neighbors—come on over! I even have Easter cards if you need to thank the Easter Bunny! So, with all of these happy happenings, gratitude and thank you notes can’t be far behind!

The Positive Impact of Thank You Notes

In her New York Times article from July 20, 2018, Heather Murphy explored the effect that a simple thank you note can have based on new research, saying, “We are now going to use your precious time to share a surprising new finding: people like getting thank you notes.” She goes on to say that two psychologists at The University of Texas at Austin found the reason so few people actually send thank yous is that they “miscalibrate the effect . . . and underestimate the positive feelings it will bring.” Butler Card Company is here to help you embrace that effect and enable your stationery needs! We offer a large selection of designs for all occasions so that you can select the perfect card(s) for your recipient(s).

Original Note Card Designs

A pack of notecards--each based on my original art--is my thank you gift of choice for a host or hostess gift or if I need a small gift for some other occasion. Simply put, I love the idea of giving someone something that I created. Every once in a while, I also like to send them to people who haven’t specifically invited me to anything or aren’t celebrating anything in particular, but made me just plain happy in some way.

After watching a season of the excellent (now, sadly completed) PBS series A Chef”s Life, I decided to send chef Vivian Howard a pack of my notecards. I have a fair number of cards with watercolors or drawings that are food oriented. I thought one of those packs would be perfect to let Vivian know how much enjoyment I got out of watching her show with one of my daughters who also likes to cook. I sent them to her restaurant and didn’t think anything more about it. Lo and behold sometime later I received a handwritten thank you note from her appreciating that I had appreciated her! I was impressed on many levels. Clearly, her mother had instilled in her the importance of sending a thank you note. Vivian Howard is a very busy chef with a family, restaurants, a cookbook, and lots of other reasons NOT to waste time writing a complete stranger a thank you note. The fact that she took the time to write that note is still amazing to me and something I deeply appreciate.

So, NEVER underestimate, miscalculate, or miscalibrate the power of a thank you note!

Welcome to Butler Card Company’s First Blog Post!

Welcome to my first blog entry!

UNIQUE HANDCRAFTED ORIGINAL NOTE CARDS, THANK YOU CARDS & GIFT TAGS

Where do I begin? The simple task of note writing—I could even say the art of writing a note—is often thought of as something that needs to be done, as in a chore or a task. At Butler Card Company, we create beautiful, warm, meaningful, and, at times, whimsical note cards and gift tags. Each design is handmade—either by watercolor, pen and ink, or a little of both! The art is then printed on sturdy cardstock. With a vast selection of unique note cards and gift tags, they will be appreciated by gift givers and art lovers alike. For those of you who look at thank you note writing as a task, our cards will ease your pain, facilitate your thanks and gift giving, and definitely make an eye-catching statement to your recipient. Plus, it’s just good manners—and no matter the era, good manners are always important!

THANK YOU CARDS DEMONSTRATE CARE, THOUGHTFULNESS, AND GOOD MANNERS

A thank you note should always be sent in response to a gift, an act of kindness, a meal, or a visit. Unfortunately, more often than not, physical cards are usually replaced by an email or a text. But, the truth of the matter is, there are so many times when an email or text simply isn’t enough or even appropriate. Our mothers taught us to write thank you notes when we were growing up—neglecting that was a sign of some serious ingratitude, laziness, and/or a lack of proper manners or upbringing. No matter the reason, it reflected poorly. So, if you had one of those mothers who instilled the sense that come hell or high water, you write THE note, you know what I mean!

GENESIS OF BUTLER CARD COMPANY

I began painting watercolors in high school art class. I tended to dabble in art off and on after that, but it was not my primary focus nor a priority. When my daughters were younger, I felt that I did not possibly have time to complete a whole entire painting! I probably did, but I was just making up excuses, as one tends to do. But, the more I thought about it, I soon decided the I DID have time to paint small pictures. One of the mothers at my daughters’ school created (and still creates) beautiful drawings of customers’ homes and, with the finished product, she would include a set of notecards. So, a light bulb went off and I turned my little pictures into note cards. I’ve continued to do that and here we are—Butler Card Company.

Here’s an idea I love which is a bit of an “our Town” moment. Remember that play so many of us have read/seen/maybe even performed in high school? A character refers to the address on a single letter, but expands it to include the world and beyond to the heavens. With that scenario in mind: I create a painting or a drawing, have it printed as a card, make up a card pack neatly tied with a bow, go to a market, sell my cards, and then people send them to friends and family or give them as hostess gifts or birthday presents or stocking stuffers to people they love and then those people send cards to their friends and loved ones (or maybe regift). Anyway, I envision my little paintings and drawings going out all across the states and across the pond and I know for a fact that some have ended up in England, China, and even Australia and then there are the ones I don’t even know about?!! Where did they end up? THAT puts a smile on my face and I hope my cards make people smile. Simple! See? Writing your first blog isn’t so bad after all! And have a wonderful holiday season!