How To Create A Greeting Card In Word 2010

How to Write a Birthday Card Greeting

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Preparing a great birthday greeting requires more than simply penning a charming note. Several levers must be pulled to create the best greeting. Fortunately, creating unique, easy to make birthday cards is easier than you think. Whether seeking hilarious birthday songs or inspiring birthday quotes, your dream greeting is just a few clicks away. Use the power of online customization and you can design cards with messages and graphics to WOW the receiver. Plus, some online card services are free. Following are tips to get your design mojo flowing.

Medium Choice - Paper or eCard

Do you want to produce a paper card to mail or deliver personally? Or would an eCard posted to social media be better? To help you decide, consider the receiver's preferences. Gramma would love a card that you personally made for her – one that she can display on her frig and smile upon as she passes through her kitchen. On the other hand, your gym buddy might enjoy an eCard with a funny video message that you could post to her Facebook wall. Personally chosen and SO much more than the typical Facebook birthday wish, your friend will think you spent hours on her birthday greeting. But it only took you minutes…

Tone of Message

Picking your card's delivery mode is just the first step. Next, look at the tone of your message. Sometimes a light or cute message is in order. Think of cards for work associates – nothing too crazy, nothing too deep. Other times a more heartfelt message is right, especially for your special someone. Then there is the funny message, a favorite of many. Think about what is right for your birthday girl or guy, and write to their personality to make your greeting powerful.

Fonts and Graphics

The graphics selection goes hand in hand with tone to drive the right message home. A fun, light message pairs well with bright colors and animated or clip art-like graphics. (Note the art leading this article.) Fonts with a touch of whimsy like "Comic Sans" or "Happy Sans" work well with these funny, light tones. A more serious or heartfelt tone calls for stunning yet somewhat under-stated type such as script styles, coupled with a carefully selected stock photo.

Using Quotes

There are great online sources for quotes to set just the right mood for your greeting. Shutterfly and Google offer birthday quotes of every genre. A fun, light quote from Shutterfly is "Sending you smiles for every moment of your special day...Have a wonderful time and a very happy birthday!" Shutterfly also offers a variety of quotes personalized to family members - a special message for a brother, sister, Mom or Dad. Or google "birthday quotes that are not copyrighted" for a wide variety of quotes that you are free to use for non-commercial purposes.

Templates Pull it Together

Thankfully, online card designers provide templates with just the right blend of these elements, turning you into a design pro. Pick a template and then customize your message from there. Many templates even allow you to upload a photo. Use their carefully constructed message or type in your own. With these templates, you can produce quality printed cards and eCards. Leverage the professional skills of the online firms with the knowledge only YOU have of the receiver's personal tastes and interests.

A Few Online Firms to Consider

A highly renowned eCard firm that is touted for its fun and classy presentation is Jacquie Lawson, found at Jacquielawson.com. Jacquie Lawson birthday cards include great music, animation and messages. Mixing use of actors and animated animals, each production is more like a one-act play. As of 2019, for an annual fee of $14, users have unlimited access to the very unique Jacquie Lawson cards – with hundreds of designs available.

Another online card service that offers both eCards and cards that you can print is American Greeting Cards. Access them by searching for "American eCards birthday." As of 2019, they offer a free seven-day trial as well as a monthly fee of $4.99 if you just want to try them out for a short time. Annual subscriptions are available as well.

Greetings Island is a free online birthday card site. They produce a wide variety of card templates for production on your printer. Cards can also be saved in a file to email to the birthday recipient. And they have many designs that allow your upload of a photo to further customize the card. Google "Greeting Island birthday cards" for more info on their cards.