Two New Christmas e-Cards: Little Carolers and Cheerful Greetings

As we are putting the finishing touches on our production for New Year, we are happy to let you know that we have added two more Christmas and holiday cards for you to send.

The Little Carolers in our newest card sing a delightful version of "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" for their forest friends. The animation in this card has been some of the most challenging to date, but I wanted to give you another happy and upbeat Christmas card like lasts year's very popular Christmas Vibe.

The second card, Cheerful Greetings, was not part of the plan this year, but the evening the idea for the card was conceived, I decided I simply had to start right away. When the vision for a card is entirely clear, it would be a shame not to seize the moment. And so without further fanfare, I present to you, a short card suitable for just about anyone this time of year and captures the spirit of the season. <

Little Carolers		Cheerful Greetings

Along with the other three new cards added recently to our selection and the many other previous cards, there is plenty to choose from for everyone, no matter when, where or how you celebrate the season.

It's Snowing		Warmest Wishes
Joy & Peace

And don’t forget, although our cards come with pre-written greeting options, you can always personalize your cards by writing your own greeting and including a photo.

If your membership is almost up for renewal, why not renew your membership today and take advantage of our limited time special when you sign up for two years - two whole years of sending our wonderful ecards to your friends and family plus we throw in a free gift membership. Our membership fee is still only $12 for one year or $18 for two years.

2 New Christmas eCards Reindeers and Snow

With the festive season drawing near, we have started adding the first of many new and exciting holiday cards to our site. After many, many months of working on our holiday line up, personally I am always very excited by the time we get this far.

Announcing Two New Cards

Warmest Wishes

It gets hot and steamy really fast when two reindeers decide to share a cup of hot cocoa. It is a great neat and modern card that will be sure to please just about anyone.



It's Snowing

Ever since I was a child, one of the best feelings I know is being safely tucked in a warm house, watching the snow gently falling outside, candles lit, preferably after tossing some snow around and getting red cheeks first. It's a really lovely traditional holiday card perfect for just about anyone.



These two new ecards are just two of hundreds of cards in our collection. So don't forget to check out our many other wonderful holiday ecards.

Why not renew your membership today and take advantage of our limited time special when you sign up for two years - two whole years of sending our wonderful ecards to your friends and family plus we throw in a free gift membership for a friend or a family member. Our membership fee is still only $12 for one year or $18 for two years.

Finally, remember that you can write and schedule cards now for sending at a specified future date - a great way to get your holiday cards off in good time. So preparing for the holidays is a breeze, right from the comfort of your home.

Fun Christmas eCard for kids and adults

This year I wanted to create a Christmas card that would be really entertaining for people of all ages, while staying true to our mission to create something artistic and tasteful. We started planning this card many months ago and it includes some of our most challenging animation to date - three hip-hop dancing rats with lots of personality as well as an elegant fairy all strutting their stuff to a nice up-tempo version of "Sugar Plum Fairy". The characters in the card are as proud as we are of the final results - to see what I mean watch the card. I hope you will find it truly entertaining to watch.

Christmas Vibe



We also released a second version of the card "Midnight Mass" with a different choice of music - the second version is titled "O Holy Night" and includes the Christmas carol by the same name.

O Holy Night



The holiday season is a time to give thanks, and we are very thankful for all your support, constructive feedback and comments. We still have two more cards on the way before the New Year, but my personal resolution for the coming year is to keep challenging myself to stay creative, keep learning and give your more great cards to send.

Midnight Mass Christmas eCard

The inspiration for our newest card for Christmas was a painting I did of a winter landscape at night. The reflective light of the snow creates an almost ethereal landscape as people gather for Midnight Mass. The card includes a wonderful rendition of "Amazing Grace".

Midnight Mass



Here is an alternative version of the card "Midnight Mass" with the Christmas carol "O Holy Night" instead.

O Holy Night



In addition to these 2 cards and the card "Paper Star" which was released last week, we have three more cards on the way for the Christmas and New Year holidays that will be released shortly. So there is still more to look forward to.

Here are our Christmas ecard collection and New Year ecard collection.

Christmas eCard : Paper Star

To show my appreciation for your support I created my own designs for making paper ornaments, which I have included in this new card along with instructions. I have also included instructions for making a traditional folded paper star and a woven heart and I want to share a little bit about the tradition of making these ornaments with you.

Paper Stars



My Scandinavian forbears developed traditions that helped them cope with the cold and dark winter days. One of my favorite has always been gathering with friends and family in the weeks before Christmas to make handmade paper ornaments while sipping on warm gloegg and eating aebleskiver by candlelight, tucked under a blanket and wearing big fluffy slippers. This is what we call "hygge". It is a concept that is difficult to translat but is very important in my culture:

"the word describes a particular state of mind, an atmosphere, the creation of a little mental and physical space where the turmoil and troubles of the outside world is shut out and a warm, intimate, convivial mood is created. The desire for hygge is a hugely motivating force in Danish culture and has a lot to do with the long dark winters. From the beginning of October all the way until the end of March darkness rules the country and the sunshine is a sad, pale thing. When it’s cold and gloomy outside for this long, moods tends to follow suit and to stave off an annual dip into depression, the Danes have developed the art of creating hygge into a fine art, and almost a national obsession."

To read more go to this website which is the source of this nice explanation.

The card is of course perfect for friends and family members who love crafts, but I have found that almost everyone seems to enjoy getting together with other people and folding a few paper stars or hearts while decorating the Christmas tree. The competitive in my family even went as far as trying to make the stars smaller and smaller using tweezers to see who could make the smallest star. Many of the ornaments were traditionally made to function as little baskets that were filled with nuts, dried fruits, chocolates and candies in a time when presents had not yet made their appearance under the tree because most people could not afford such luxuries. These homemade ornaments have come to symbolize the deeper meaning of Christmas to me, one that is centered around a shared experience, simple joys and a little hygge.

Here are our other Christmas ecards.

Enjoy and keep warm!

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Do you have a website or blog? Link to us! Visit our link to us page for links, banners or card of the month. Thank you for your support.

Christmas Choir eCard

We have added one more card to the site called "Choir". This is a Christmas rendition of the very popular card I created a few months ago called "Ave Maria". It still features the very detailed stained glass window I painted using watercolor for the original card, but is made more festive for Christmas with a boys choir singing "O Come All Ye Faithful".

Choir

New Ojolie Holiday eCards

This year we have gone to extra lengths to provide you with more cards for the holidays than any year before. I sincerely hope you will find several cards that are just right for penning your holiday greetings and so I am happy to announce two more cards.

"Santa's Special Night" is perhaps one of the most complex animations I have created to date, although there are a few other cards that can compete. This card was inspired by the spirit of going out of our way to delight and surprise those around us that are dear to us. After Santa leaves the workshop the little elves get mighty busy preparing for his return.

Santa's Special Night



"Jazzy Christmas" is very different from the above mentioned card, setting the mood for relaxing and getting all cozy and snuggled up to something - or someone - warm! Over hot chocolate with tons of whipped cream. And of course cats are just about as laid back as it gets, so naturally take center stage in this card. Set to a great piece of jazz on piano and sax and I think you get the picture.

Jazzy Christmas



For a limited time we are also offering a free gift membership when you sign up or renew for a 2 year membership. This way you save both on the lower membership cost of just $15 for two years and have a wonderful gift you can share with someone who might also like to use the cards. Since we have never had a promotion like this before, we are only trying it for a limited time, so take advantage of it while it lasts. See the detail of the promotion.

You may also have noticed that we have launched the site in French, Spanish and Dutch in order to reach more than just the English speaking world. So if you have friends and family who prefer to receive cards in one of these languages, you can now select the appropriate language when you send your cards. The recipient will receive their email notification in the language you selected for the ecard. If you have been using English all along and prefer that, just ignore any of this as English is the default language.

eCards for Sunny Christmas and Hanukkah

As promised we have added two more cards to our site for the holidays and three more will follow in the coming days. These cards really are the result of months of hard work and I am thrilled to finally be sharing them with you.

"Bright & Merry" was created for anyone spending the holidays in warmer climates or the southern hemisphere - or perhaps just wishes they would! It is set to a great bossa nova version of "Jingle Bells" on a beach and ... well, have a look for yourself to see the rest.



"Hanukkah" is our first card for the festival of lights. I am fond of the music I chose for it, which moved me. I think it perfectly sets the tone for a joyous celebration.



Let me know what you think!

Gingerbread House Christmas Card

In the coming weeks we will be rolling out the new cards for the holidays and without revealing too much, I can say that they are the result of months of hard work and planning. With a variety of cards we hope you will find a few that are just perfect for sending your holiday cheer. The next card to be released will be for Hanukkah, a last minute inspiration after many requests by members.

In addition we are happy to announce that another holiday card has been added to the site called "Gingerbread House" - a sweet tale of how Mr. & Mrs. Gingerbread first met.

Gingerbread House



Last week we also announced that we had added a card for Saint Nicholas Day on December 6th. You can send or schedule any of these cards right now so you don't forget. The Saint Nicholas card is also well suited as a general Season's Greeting with a little bit of interesting trivia at the end about how Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus are related.

Saint Nicholas



Have a Great Week!

The Year of eCards in UK?

Is this the year of eCards in UK?

According to The Time, "Royal Mail’s chief executive has painted a bleak picture of the industry’s future — and warned that the current strife could result in people deciding that this was the year they would stop sending Christmas cards."

I don't think people in UK will stop sending paper Christmas cards. The strike will definitely have some effect, but there are still many weeks away from Christmas. There are enough people who believe that paper cards are a special part of their holiday. For many people, paper Christmas cards are often set out on the mantel or some other conspicuous place. Try to do that with eCards.

Maybe we should add the functionality for the recipients to print out their ecards so they can put the "cards" on the mantel-:)

New Christmas eCard - Jingle Bells

We have added another new card called "Jingle Bells" featuring a horse drawn sled dashing through a winter wonderland - all handpainted in watercolor in great detail - a classical card centered around the joy of preparing for the holidays with your loved ones.

Jingle Bells


But before Tim and I can get around to the family preparations with the boys, we still have a bit of work to do to bring you several more cards for your New Year celebrations.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

As the year draws to a close we want to thank you for your support and many encouraging comments. Some of the mails we received have been profoundly touching, others immensely helpful in their constructive criticism, and either way we want to encourage you to keep sending them!

In the past few weeks we have added three more cards for the holiday season. The latest addition, "Juletide", seeks to capture some of the season's spirit in my own country, Denmark. It is inspired by one of my favorite Swedish watercolor painters, Carl Larsson. He painted his homelife in the picturesque countryside and his images very much conjure up the idyllic feeling of family, nature and of course Scandinavia. Most of the card is rendered by hand in watercolor to capture his unique style. The card is well suited for any kind of seasonal as well as secular greeting, including New Year, and features a pair of cats and a pair of mice.

JULETIDE



The second card puts a new twist on the ballet choreographed to Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. This card also features many hand rendered watercolor elements and was difficult and time consuming to animate as the ballerina absolutely had to dance gracefully in proper ballet moves!

WINTER WONDERLAND



The third card features the story of the nativity. Because this theme is so ever popular I have placed great emphasis on execution; you really must see this card for yourself, as I have tried to give it my own artistic vision and great attention to detail.

NATIVITY



We Wish you a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season & A Wonderful New Year!

How much electricity does recycling a Christmas sleeve save?

"According to the Woodland Trust, recycling just one Christmas card saves enough electricity to allow five people to watch the [UK] Queen’s Christmas day message." in ...Turn old cards into gift tags. "Last year more than 93 million cards were collected by the Woodland Trust – enough to enable the charity to plant 22,000 trees – or a forest the size of 44 football pitches."

That is a lot of tree cut down for the cards, not to mention all other related activities (turning trees into paper cards, delivering cards to stores, buying the cards, mailing the cards, etc.). The best way to save the environment is to reduce consumption.

2 new holiday ecards

We have added two new holiday cards to our site. Don't forget you can schedule your holiday cards now for delivery on a specified date, so you can focus on getting on with all your other holiday planning.

SNOW GLOBE – A Christmas card featured in three different versions

AURORA BOREALIS – Celebrating the Season and the New Year

With very best wishes for a wonderful holiday season!