Cardly UK - Greeting Cards

This month we have chosen 3 special cards to bring you. With spring being in the air (although it is still a bit nippy in some parts of the UK) we have gone for some little gems that are perfect for the current season. Springtime is one of the best times to stock up on your cards and small gifts as there is a little bit of time between those hectic special occasions that occur once a year, in this case Mother's Day and Father's Day 2013. (view Father's Day range)

The first choice of card this month is 'Golden Spring Daffodil'. The specialties of this design is that it has a magnificent 3 dimensional embossed effect and is also coated in a fabulous gold scattering of satin foil. You are most unlikely to be able to find this type of design available for personalisation anywhere else on the web. See the detailed image below.

Read more about this product - here

Did you know?

During spring, baby birds must spend time learning how to sing. Their most important part of learning is to ensure that they know the tune of their own species.

Second in demand this month is the card shown below, which is known as 'Bird Day Greeting' on the Cardly website.

See a larger image of this product on the details page - here

Finally, such a lovely card could not be left out and this (below) is called 'Satin Butterflies'. The name is derived from the shimmering satin foil that is used on the design and the beautiful butterflies fluttering around.

See more on this lovely design - here

Click the links above to read more details about these wonderful spring designs.

Happy Shopping on our website.

xCx

Where it all began

The act of giving and receiving gifts can also be known as a consumption ritual, which means it is seen as an act of consuming goods or services based on an order of religious ceremony. Whether that be the religion of Christianity, Hinduism or any other faith, it is most certainly a fascinating subject and studying it is also interesting for many. However, just because we see a very commercial reason today for friends and loved ones to exchange presents, does not mean that this is all there is to it.

In fact many believe that the interchange of gifting dates back to the very early centuries of man and woman, even going as far back as the Darwinian theory, for example when our closest cousins in the ape family, Baboons, would use the exchange of food in exchange for sexual favours. This is a theory created by psychologists Hawkes and Ridley. In other explanations, it can also be seen as a way for individuals to express their feelings (Areni et al. 1998) without having to actually say them out loud. This may be as outspoken as a message in a card or as subtle as in the type of offering being passed to the recipient. Further reasons for gift giving include a desire to show long term interest most likely to occur in the early stages of a romantic relationship. Regardless of our motivations for giving and receiving, it is scientifically proven that by use of such acts, males and females have evolved their own well-defined psychological actions, which will in turn, enhance their social fitness. Finally, when it comes to seasonal motivations, there are many different explanations about where it all began and I will certainly be looking to delve into the details of those in future posts.

Who's Interested Anyway?

So you may now be thinking, who is really bothered about why we give and receive, or even further you may be thinking I know why I do it and that's because I want to be nice. This may be true from a peace-of-mind point of view, however there are so many groups of professional individuals that have been studying the ritual for years and years, this means there also have been and continue to be a lot of theories created, which attempt to deeply explain our inner thoughts and emotions when seeking out, purchasing, giving and receiving cards and gifts. Some of the theorists as mentioned above will include Marketers, Psychologists, Economists, Sociologists and even anthropologists. All these types of people have developed their very own ways of researching the subject. Not only professional theorists, but it is also believed that more of the general public are beginning to find fascinating information more easily accessible using the web (and our blog).

Will your kindness be remembered?

Some of the theories mentioned above look closely at the types of gifts we give and what this may mean to the recipient. One example explains that the giving of items that are long-lasting ensures the recipient will remember every time they use it that you were the person who gave it to them. Such component could be a jacket, where each time it is worn, you may say My mum bought me this for my birthday. Other conclusions say the giving of money can be seen as putting less time and effort into what the recipient may want. However, counteractions will explain that the person in receipt of the item doesn't think about the givers thoughts and therefore spending time finding the right card or present is done mainly for a sense of self satisfaction than for anything else. Giving perishable gifts such as flowers or chocolates will become removed from a persons life within a short amount of time and thereby a possibility of forgotten thoughts could be the outcome. There are lots of questions to be asked about the world choices and the giving phenomenon doesn't fall short of those.

So in conclusion, It seems there is no right or wrong answer with regards to why we give or where we even began giving, but I hope to have opened up your mind to realise that it is a fascinating subject and one which interests many. If one can understand what another wants, one can win another round easily.

If you liked our content, feel free to link back to this discussion or even leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Hello and welcome to Cardly's brand new blog. The idea behind our blog is to provide you with a valuable insight into how we as the general public go about making our decisions to buy gifts and greetings cards in our day to day life. The intriguing thought process of gift-giving is a subject that is often overlooked and some may not even be aware that it actually exists. However, this type of study has been investigated by many different psychologists for more than 40 years and there are many theories behind why we spend so much of our hard-earned cash on the treats that we buy for the people around us.

It is regularly thought that our reasons for buying cards and gifts are solely based on commercial influence, for example Christmas, Valentine's and Mother's Day or Father's Day. This may be true in many circumstances, although as already mentioned, there are so many thought processes which have fascinating influences on the decisions we make around giving and receiving.

So what will you learn by following our blog and reading these posts? Some of the things that we want to share are the secrets on giving romantically between couples. Other ideas we are looking to give you explanations on, are the intangible health benefits that are believed to be gained from giving to others as opposed to receiving. We also discuss the feelings of fulfilment when shopping for the perfect cards and gifts for the receiver you long to impress. Why does it make us feel so good?

Many of the studies that have been carried out around the psychology of gift giving, lie within huge text books and are written in some complex styles. It is for these reasons that many people are unlikely to know about the very existence of the subject, which means it's our goal to provide you with details of the outcomes of studies in a simplistic form. To do so, we will be using various forms of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus, which will in turn, enable us to use visual images, snippets of info and most importantly, articles on the official Cardly Blog – 'It's The Thought That Counts'. And who knows? We may even throw in the odd joke or two to keep you on your toes.

So that's the intro for you, I hope you're looking forward to a journey of fascinating discoveries. If you have any comments or anything in particular you wish to hear about, then feel free to drop us a line and tell us your thoughts. We would really like to engage with our readers as much as possible, as it is they/you who make this blog beneficial.