Let me guess. Last December, you received more holiday salutations via the Net than paper Christmas greetings through the mail. With the sharp rise in the price of stamps and cards, it’s no wonder folks are hitting the I-way to express “Best Wishes.” But, e-cards don’t have to rhyme with boring clip art. Today, there are lots of new sites offering a plethora of original and creative versions that are animated, and have sound or photos. With Valentine’s Day on the agenda, followed by St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, May Day — and birthdays galore! — here are a few places to go with the coolest online messages in cyberspace.
http://www.ohmygoodness.com
Three artists launched this site to “put smiles on people’s faces everywhere.” Featured here is a gallery of beautifully hand drawn, animated and musical cards for every imaginable occasion including a few you probably haven’t considered. Listed from A to Z, there are all kinds of themes including: Breaking up, Ground Hog’s Day, April Fool’s, Sports cards, (President) Clinton cards, Pigs and the Olympics. Best yet, all these greetings are free, and sent instantaneously the minute you’ve made your selection.
http://www.audiocard.com
What could be more “entertaining” than a message with a song? Along with anniversary and birthday wishes, here you’ll find lots of “special person” cards expressing everything from friendship to love, many with a comical or quirky note. Among other excuses for a party, TGIF invites are available. Start off by selecting a card face, then pick the words that fit the bill. There’s a choice of nearly 100 different 30-second lyric clips, ranging from “Can’t By Me Love” to “Who Let the Dogs Out?” Everything’s fun and you’ll be able to send as many greetings as often as you like — totally free of charge.
http://www.rats2u.com
Here’s another fun site that promises to give you lots of reasons to send e-cards. Under each day of the week is a list of events worth celebrating (Dress up your Pet Day, Fire the Boss Week, Civil Servants Day, etc.) In addition you can select from a variety of categories: Bitch, Break-Yo, Women/Men Confuse Us, as well as the classic Anniversary, Birthday, Holiday and Valentine’s cards. Both 3-D and video are available, and you can send “specialty” messages (Bin Laden: Wanted Dead or Alive) or even order a T-shirt with the same graphic input.
http://www.greetings.yahoo.com
Yahoo features a calendar of traditional holidays for each month of the year. There are six types of cards plus special collections from the drawing boards of Garfield, Ziggy and FTD.com. You can even send international greetings from countries in Europe, the Pacific and the Americas. Better still, include a personalized photo by uploading digitized images to your own private Yahoo Photo album, then importing it into a card.
http://www.bemine.com
Send someone special a free message to say “I love you” from either the “Romantic” or “Secret Place” card galleries. Click on the hyperlink then choose either an animated or static card. You can make your own by selecting the overall design, the background, text color and heading... Then, choose a sound file and fill in the recipient’s name and email address before pressing “send.”
