Sending an e-card for special occasions like the one coming up, Valentine's Day, doesn't have to mean a) you couldn't get to the store on time, b) you're too cheap to spend $1.99+ on some sappy, uninspired, cheesy greeting, or c) you never update your snail mail address book list and have lost all those return envelopes. No, it could mean that you care about the earth and don't want to add to the paper in landfills, and that you're all about creating "custom" messages when store bought won't do. Yeah, that's it.
Well, if you haven't noticed, the inspiration is lacking in 99% of the e-card sites out there. We've weeded through all the junk to help you create some of the best e-cards around.
Rattlebox - Rattlebox is really very good. They have great designs, the interface is nicely designed and the themes themselves are actually decent. You can can change all or some of the text to customize the card, and embed video cards on social networking sites, blogs, etc.
Hipster cards - another witty, well designed e-card site that you would actually want to use. Please note there are some off color options so we're going to note it as - NSFW.
Someecards - their tag line is "when you care enough to hit send." These cards are pen and ink and have funny one liners.
MushyGushy - card site where you can upload you head shot into different animated themes (think JibJab) customize, and send.
Smilebox - site where you choose from various multimedia designs and personalize with photos, video, music, words, and style and share via email, blog, or print.
delivr - send a personalized postcard from photos from your Flickr account or select from the 3 million or so Dlivr offers using the Flickr API to pull back the most interesting photos with an appropriate creative commons license.
meish.org - for the anti-valentine crowd. If you hate satin bears and VD makes you want to hurl, these non-sentimental e-cards will fit the bill for you. Oh and are they funny.
That's the extent of our list but not for lack of trying. We specifically avoided the usual suspects, like American Greetings, and any site with animated gifs. If you have a favorite site you'd like to throw in the mix, please send it in.
Thanks FF!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-20-2008 @ 2:20PM
kyle said...
ecards send a message that says "i don't care enough to put in the effort to send you a real card"
you are better off sending no card than sending an ecard.
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1-21-2008 @ 10:41AM
mikenike643 said...
I personally love that MushyGushy site the best. I love the head cutting tool and the animated ecards are very creative. Plus they provide the codes for blogs and social networking sites as well. I just made one for my wife using their "Pledge of Love" musical ecard and she absolutely loved it!
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1-21-2008 @ 10:47AM
Insomnic said...
I think ecards are good for quick "I'm thinking of you" notes. So using them for a significant other is probably not the most endearing function (as Kyle says above) but I think it's probably fine if it goes along with other stuff. They are good for casual relationships though like friends and acquaintances. Especially humorous ones.
PickleParty.com is also a decent ecard site for the more ... dirty minded individual.
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1-22-2008 @ 3:01PM
Jess said...
I send ecards all the time to touch in with my friends or for a laugh. I think it's a good way to stay connected. I like rattlebox.com a lot because they have really cool video you can use.
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1-22-2008 @ 11:48PM
Irish said...
I used to hate receiving ecards until I received a cute MushyGushy.com animated ecard from my husband. I was cracking up when I saw our actual faces in the animation. So my hubby definitely put some effort in creating the ecard with our faces and adding his custmized message and I rewarded him that night!!!
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1-23-2008 @ 9:36AM
MLM_3024 said...
I really like all these new e-card sites, some of them are so edgey! One of my favorites is MushyGushy, so personal with the pictures you can put in for the heads, I just sent one to my fiance...he sent it around his entire office!
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1-23-2008 @ 9:38AM
Jonathan said...
I have used all of the above sites but I find I get the best reactions from MushyGushy.com. I have been using them for that past few months and it has really helped in the dating world. The girls go wild seeing their faces on the animated greeting card… most of them even end up posting the ecard to the myspace or facebook profile. I can't wait to see what they come up with for Valentine's Day!
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2-05-2008 @ 5:15PM
Sarah said...
Check out
www.donate.powercampnational.ca
for e-cards with real meaning.
Every donation made supports the empowerment of young women across Canada.
POWER Camp National is a national charitable organization that inspires and supports the empowerment, leadership and healthy development of girls across Canada.
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2-11-2008 @ 9:22AM
Moppo said...
Care2.com have some great Valentine Cards: http://www.care2.com/send/categories
Sending a Valentine E-card actually generates donations that helps save the rainforest.
/Moppo
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