Greeting Cards

Whether you collect the cards themselves or use them to enhance a scrapbook you can take benefit from greeting cards. You may think of holiday cards (especially at this time of year) like Christmas or Seasons Greetings cards, but really there are many more cards than this one season. Greeting cards are a great way to spread cheer on any occasion, or just let someone know you are thinking of them and when you receive one it reminds you of the sender. There are many occasions and each of them have their own cards that you can give or use as decoration You can find greeting cards that say thank you, thinking of you, missing you or remember a birthday, anniversary, or retirement. Valentine’s, new year’s, mother's, father's, and any other day you may think of can be remembered, but keep in mind the best card is one that comes from the heart

Only recently have greeting cards been created for all of the occasions we celebrate. I have discovered that greeting cards are becoming more and more popular because people send cards to friends and family at every opportunity. This is the reason greeting cards can be found in all shapes and sizes. Cards can come with fancy pictures or cartoons, sentimental poetry or funny phrases. Even music and pop up figures can be used as card themes.

You can choose holiday cards that are uniform and simple or, individual holiday cards suitable for each person based on personality and what holiday they celebrate. For example, if you know people who are of different religions, you may choose a uniform card that says simply "Season's Greetings" or you can choose Christmas cards for your Christian friends, and Hanukah holiday cards for your Jewish friends. etc. You can also get holiday cards specifically for children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, husbands, wives and just about every other member of your family or friends. There are romantic holiday cards, funny holiday cards, sexy holiday cards, and sentimental holiday cards to make everyone feel special and know that you are thinking of them specifically.

You can find holiday cards just about everywhere. General stores, retail outlets, discount stores, wholesale outlets, dollar stores, specialty shops and holiday stores are some of the places I have found holiday cards. You can also look for special funny or sexy holiday cards at novelty stores.
Children rather enjoy making holiday cards for their friends and family. Buying a holiday card is not nearly so much fun as making one yourself. Also, the home-made holiday card from your favorite child means much more than a uniform holiday card purchased in a store.

You are sure to find the perfect holiday card to suit just about any person's interest or hobby from Harley Davidson to Disney. You can find funny greeting cards, sentimental greeting cards, sexy greeting cards, or simple greeting cards with just a picture. Holiday cards are appreciated by receivers and collectors in every season not just those that are expected.

Collect Holiday Items

If you have not chosen what to collect yet, Halloween is a great time to start. It seems that every empty store front has gotten a new tenant. A Halloween store has taken up residence in what once was a national video chain store, a dress shop, a bookstore, etc.
These many stores (some less than a city block from each other) must be doing well because they opened over a month ago and are still going strong.

Variety is probably one of the reasons that so many stores, so close can survive for so long. A holiday once limited to the undead has now expanded in all directions. This is good news for collectors. If ghosts are your thing, you can find lawn ornaments with every possible emotion in just about any position. Items can be benevolent like scarecrows, pumpkins, and other things that are related to harvest or down right scary. A member of my family collects dolls and has a doll from one of these stores that looks purely evil.

This is a holiday that is not just for children to get candy. You can find and collect costumes in adult sizes not just kids. There are also various accessories to collect for just about any character you choose. My niece, who is definably an adult, decided long ago Halloween is her favorite holiday. She collects masks to make scarecrows and has all kinds of bric-a-brac and decorations centered around a Halloween theme,

This time of year do not forget to save those memories. Your photo album or scrapbook can include many pictures of people close to you in costume. This article is not the place to get into psychology but it is always amusing to see pictures showing which relative chooses to be scary, funny or just not play.

So collect whatever you choose but above all have fun doing it.

Teddy Bear Collections

There are many web sites belonging to teddy bear collectors. These sites show you how the owners share their home with their fuzzy buddies. They would like to show you where these 'adopted children' make themselves comfy all over the house and grounds.
At the different sites you might find links to rooms in the house and outside or even other sites. Extensive collections show how big this extended ‘family’ can become. I say family because bears become more than just collectibles.

A few web addresses are,
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Nook/8514/ A site owned by Trish, a woman who loves collecting bears. She will show you her collection, and offer you links to sites where you can find kits and accessories to make your own teddy bear, teddy bear artists and also a page linking to miniature artists.
http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/greenlawn/994/ At this site Lori will show you her collection of over 200 bears.
www.designsbyterri.com Terri’s site offers adorable, miniature teddy bears. www.tailoredteddies.com A site owned by Elizabeth offering one-of-a-kind, hand sewn teddy bears, each with it's own unique accessories. Each bear is numbered and signed on the paw by the maker.
www.tbears.de . Owned by Karin, this site offers bears with their own personality. Karin also makes miniature, crocheted teddy bears.


Some artists sell teddy bear collections, in entire groups of similar teddy bears they have designed to go together. Others sell unique, one of a kind teddy bears just right for you to start your own collection.
The choice is yours. You may begin your collection with regular size, miniature, figurines or giant, stuffed teddy bears. Or you want a collection that has a little bit of every-bear in it.
There are hundreds of sites selling unique and one of a kind teddy bears. You will also find extensive teddy bear collections. Just do a search and you will soon see how many.

Create a Unique Scrapbook with Items You Have Already

In recent years, scrapbooking has become a popular hobby. If you have looked into getting started in this pastime you have probably found that it can become expensive quickly. But using some creativity and everyday items from around your house, you can make a scrapbook that reflects your individual style and personality. You've probably looked at items around your house hundreds of times without considering their scrapbook potential. You’ve started with photos from a favorite vacation but don’t stop there. Look around the house you will probably find allot that reminds you of that trip. Even travel brochures can be cut apart and used to help build a great vacation page or section. If you're building a school days themed page, you can use report cards, awards, certificates, ribbons, graded assignments, and even notebook doodles as a base. Paper clips or crayon wrappers can be used as embellishments. When making a wedding or engagement page enhance it with pressed flowers, handwritten poetry, and clippings from magazines. Be sure to jot down details of the day you want to remember. As backgrounds for your photos use remnants from saved gift wrap and the fronts of some of your favorite cards. For baby's page, ribbons and gift wrap remnants also work well. Complete the memory by being sure to including anything that will remind you of the very early days like a copy of baby's footprints. You might also want to tuck in a corner of a baby blanket, an announcement card or a page from a favorite storybook. Commemoration pages should reflect your personal memories of your lost loved one. Make your page special by personalizing it with handwriting samples and favorite quotes. Your favorite photos can be enhanced with a description of things they enjoyed. A label from a favorite perfume or cologne, food, beverage can be used spark memories. Movie ticket stubs, buttons, newspaper articles, or funny moments jotted down on paper can mark important events. With a creative look at some ordinary items you already have, your scrapbook can take on a personal and individual style.

Sports Collecting is a Great Hobby

Everyone needs a little recreation and sports collecting is a hobby that offer a diversion to the everyday grind. Sports collecting takes many forms depending on the person. Many people collect team memorabilia, but others collect items related to a sport like fishing or golf. You need space for your collection, but people are creative about finding ways to display their collectibles. You can collect many items related to your favorite teams and display them in different ways. You can make scrapbooks with themes centered around exciting games, favorite players, and/or special interviews. Ticket stubs and photographs can also be put in your scrapbook. Some things won't fit into a scrapbook. These items will need another way to be displayed like a stand for special balls or a hanger on the wall for jerseys. You might like to collect items centered around a sport rather than a team or personality. As I wrote previously on this blog, pin collecting is a widely practiced hobby, and sports teams are one of the hottest types of collectible. Most professional teams sell pins with their logo. Another option for sports collecting is to collect antique sports equipment like vintage footballs or baseball gloves. Or focus on a theme you value. Let’s say for instance you enjoy hunting with dogs. You can decorate your home or room in a hunting dog theme. You will find there are throw pillows printed with hunting dogs, lamps that have a hunting dog as the base or even curtains made from hunting dog printed material. The same can be done around the theme of golf, horseback riding, fishing, sailboats, and other popular recreation sports. Withstanding the test of time, collecting baseball cards has been going on for what seems like forever. Sports collectors of all ages have been accumulated baseball cards, football cards, and basketball cards for many years. Whether the collector is casual or serious they find card collecting such a popular hobby that some cards are worth a lot of money. With so many options, sports collecting is a hobby that can be enjoyed by many. It can be a pastime as relaxing as the sport itself.

The Collector Needs Ebay Selling

Anyone interested in collecting, needs to get acquainted with not just buying but also Ebay selling. If you are not yet familiar with Ebay, it is a huge Internet site that allows people to buy or sell almost anything you can think of with very few restrictions. Whatever you are collecting, you will probably find what you want here. For instance, if you collect a particular type of antique you can search Ebay for exactly the piece you need to complete your set. In addition to finding the exact item you are looking for, there is a possibility you'll get it for a great price as well. Gathering more pieces for a collection is one thing, but what about when the collector inadvertently collects duplicates of the same item, gets more items than he or she can store or just doesn’t want certain pieces anymore? That's where Ebay selling can help. With Ebay you can list your unwanted items so another collector can find them and make a bid. Someone somewhere collects just about every item you can name, and they go to Ebay to search for what they want. This helps them because they get what they need and helps you make a few dollars getting rid of items you don't need or want anymore. Best of all Ebay selling is easy to learn. Ebay selling can be a hobby almost addictive as collecting itself. Ebay may be the first place you go now to buy something special for your collection but don’t forget selling. Selling you might find is almost as much fun as collecting, so be sure to try it. You are not only helping yourself but possibly someone else.