Salon de Maria Blog

When I worked at Nordstrom we were required to write two Thank you Cards a day to our customers.  Back then it seemed like such a hassle - after all, any time away from the floor meant that I was losing sales.  However, it wasn't until I left Nordstrom and began working on my own business did I realize the power of Thank You.

I haven't been consistent in saying Thank You to my customers lately, but today I'm committing to reviving the art of the handwritten thank you note.  Here's an example of what I would write in a thank you card to a jewelry client:

Dear Miss Customer,

I just wanted to drop a note to thank you for your jewelry purchase.  I hope that you are enjoying the necklace!  If you have any feedback, please don't hesitate to call or write to me. 

All the Best,
Maria
"Salon de Maria"

Very short and sweet, but hopefully it puts warm fuzzies in people's hearts.  It's rare to get a thank you note these days - and handwritten to boot!

If you just don't have the time to create your own cards like I do, CardsDirect has Thank you cards that you can purchase online.

However, you don't have to have a business just to send a card - why not send a Thank You to a friend just for being a great friend? 

By the way, have I told you "Thank You!" lately for reading this blog?  I appreciate you! 

Posted by Maria Palma at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When I first embarked into the digital art world about seven years ago, I had no idea how amazing it was going to be.  I got my first digital camera and I was ecstatic that I didn't have to buy film and take it to the photo lab anymore.  And now all the excitement is back again with the arrival of my new Bamboo pen tablet.  I felt like a five-year-old on Christmas Day as I opened the box and unwrapped this little tool.  It's the little things that make me happy :)

With this pen tablet I can create freehand digital drawings and hand-write notes which can be turned into text documents in Word (although I still prefer to type...much faster).  There's a great deal of other stuff I can do with this pen tablet that I haven't explored yet.  However, the main reason I bought it was to draw freehand in Photoshop.  I bought the small version, but I know pretty soon I'll want to go "pro" and get a bigger one.

So I unleashed the creative juices today and created a couple pieces which I turned into Mother's Day greeting cards.  They're available at my CafePress shop.  Stay tuned for more!

Well, now it's back to the "drawing board" for more practice so I can start creating art like this "Cherry Blossoms" piece by Esther Kirby...



Buy your own Bamboo pen tablet at Amazon.com

Posted by Maria Palma at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The blooming flowers and chirping birds have inspired these newest Easter handmade greeting cards which I've added to my Etsy shop.

For the full collection of handmade greeting cards, please visit my online greeting card shop

Have you thought about starting your own greeting card business? Check out my Squidoo lens for resources: Start Your Home Based Handcrafted Greeting Card Business

Posted by Maria Palma at 04:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)