How many times have yougone shopping fora greeting card, only to browse the aisles at thestore and come away with nothing you’d actually want to buy andsend? Being Dogsters, we naturally gravitate to any card sporting a K9 image. But too often, the dog-themed greeting cardson offer are too cute, or too sweet, or both. They just don’t have enough bite.
One way around this is to visit a museum gift store and purchase postcards depicting dogs or other animals. This ensures a somewhat more unique visual, but then you have to add your own clever words (ideally without making a mistake that you have to cross out in indelible ink).It’s much more convenient when someone else pairs a compellingimage with just the right words, then offers the combofor sale.
Withseveral holidayslooming- St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, Passover on April9,andEaster on April 24- not to mentionApril Fool’s Day,plus allthe birthdays, anniversaries,engagements, weddingsand other dates of note on your calendar – Dogsters seeking to put some grrr into greeting cards are in luck.
Two online resources offer dog-themed cards with an edge. Between these twosites, there’s bound to be something unusual, witty and/or charming enough for even the most discerning Dogster.
Card Gnome of Boulder, CO, offers an impressively comprehensive selection of traditional paper cards with delightfully un-traditional imagery and messaging. How comprehensive? They even have cards for Beltane, OK? For those who prefer to minimize their contribution to our culture’s rampant waste, Card Gnomewares are”Wind powered and printed with organic ink onrecycled paper.”
Look under “Holidays” and you’ll findthe adorable St. Patrick’s Day card pictured above. The dogfeatured is not one of the many Irish breeds, mind you, but a counterintuitive K9 choice: a Chihuahua.
Under “Artists’ Shops,” you’ll find the “Pets Aren’t Rude” collection.Here, theofferings include several really lovely images of dogs paired with thoughtful text. They’re sweet, but low-glycemic. Consider “I’m Here ForYou,” at left,with the image of a dog photographed from behind, watching a distant point on the horizon, light filtering through his expectantly perked-up ears. Aw! That one’s definitely a winner.
You’ll want to bookmark Card Gnome for Valentine’s Day 2012. One cardin the “A FreshBunch” linefeatures a graphic of every dog’s favorite quarry – a squirrel – with the message “I’m Nuts About You.” Dogs are always direct, so when they like someone, they don’t mince words. For a direct approach that’s decidedly doglike – but features noanimalimagery – consider thefirst card in the “Sweet Perversions” line and tell me that’s doesn’t nail it.
For those who prefer more snark in their greetings, there’s PawedCards.com, which bills itself as “perhaps the only and as a consequence the best site for funny, sarcastic and completely inappropriate dog, cat and pet ecards.”Targeting active social media hounds, the free ecards can be sent via email or posted directly to Facebook, Twitter and Stumbleupon.
Be warned, however: There are a lot of F-bombs in the Pawedcards’ messaging. Plus, if yourancestry is Magyarlike mine,there’s one decidedlyodd reference toMark Zuckerberg and his”Hungarian shitdog.”That’s so funny I forgot to laugh; it so happens I grew up with aPuli, a.k.a. Hungarian sheepdog.AnotherPawedcard features a vintage Kotex magazine ad, coupled withthe message “Did he just sniff MY butt?”Did Ijust sniff lawsuit?
On the less offensive side,for those not afraid to wear their heart on their leash, consider a visual of two dogs standing nose-to-nose with this message: “My feelings for you have approached the fondness thatI have for wet food.” Now, that’s more like it.
Here’s hoping all your celebrations are happy – and you find just the right cards to express yourself with!
