Saturday Gift Post--Halley's Last Greeting Card Round-Up.

Halley is off to Madison, but first she and I sat down to talk about some of her favorite cards.* I had her photograph the cards and email them off to me. They never got to me, so if they went to you instead, hope you enjoyed them.

Daniel: Your first pick is the Ryan Berkeley black bear card.
Halley: I never pick blank cards but this is great. It reminds me of the bear with a monocle pillow from Spitfire Girl that Mel and I tried to get you to order.

Daniel: I still insist it would be mistaken for furniture, and would quickly be stained and unsellable. We also have Ryan Berkley designs as Ipop magnets, and I was in a gift store in Providence that sold the Ryan Berkley prints. There's a much larger selection of animals. Only four come as greeting cards.

Halley: You could frame the cards! Now I'd like to discuss the "It's a baby shower" card from Black and White and Red All Over. I hope I don't have to give this card to anyone anytime soon.

Daniel: For all you know, you have a lot of friends that are trying to have a baby on purpose. Like cards in plastic wrap, it's blank inside, and yet all our customers try to open them anyway.

Halley: Some people never learn. You see them opening one after another and all of them are blank. This is not my favorite card from Black and White and Red All Over, but you wouldn't purchase the more vulgar but ridiculously funny ones that I enjoy.

Halley: How about this wedding card from Ghost Academy? Isn't that cute? Everyone should have Marie Antoinette hair on their wedding. I also think that "Now let us eat cake" should be the Boswell motto.

Daniel: Eating cake is a trend, not in just wedding cards, but also in birthday cards. I just brought in the "cake ninja" card from Peaceable Kingdom.

Halley: I don't think I'm familiar with this one. Could I already be out of touch?

Daniel: Ghost Academy cards are block printed by hand! I've never seen anything like them. The only thing better would be if they used potatoes.

Halley: I used to do potato prints when I was a kid. Another blank card .

Daniel: This one is from Sarah Andreacchio and is called "Swamp animals." If this sells well, there are about eight diffren designs in the line.

Halley: It reminds me of when I went to Georgia. I didn't see any alligators or poisonous snakes but I did hear a lot about them.

Daniel: You can tell these animals are not poisonous because several of them are wearing jaunty hats.

Halley: I love this thank you card from The Found. I wish we carried it when I was sending out multitudes of thank you cards.

Daniel: I generally don't like all type cards, but in this one, the letters are more like individual portraits. Laura Szumowski, the artist, has a number of different card designs. Collect them all!

Halley: Greeting cards are the new Pokeman. And now for the most hilarious card ever, at least when it comes to the ones that are in good taste.

Daniel: I know you wanted to print the punchline, but I don't want to give everything away.

Halley: I wish I were sick, so someone would give this to me. But not that sick. Get your flu shot!

Daniel: Fresh Frances cards get better and better.

Halley:  I liked them when we first got them, but the new cards are "Fresher" Frances. And now for my friendship card.

Daniel: And what is that?

Halley: That's when Mel and I find a card that we really like, but it's weird to send yourself a card, so we each buy it and send it to each other.

Daniel: My card sales are going to go down 20% after you leave.

Halley: Don't worry. I have you covered for August.

Daniel: What's the best card store in Madison?

Halley: I don't know. If anybody reading this knows the answer, please let me know!

Note, not favorite cards of all time, just of recent vintage. Otherwise, we'd have to go back to "thanks a brunch" and "dog we poppin."