purl this!: When you care enough to <s>send</s> <s>make</s> fake the very best

Monday, December 24, 2007

When you care enough to send make fake the very best

First, there was wallpaper. In the 1980's, wallpaper was big. Then came the borders - to complement your wallpaper, or to use alone as an accent.

Then, some time in the 90's, faux techniques became The New Thing. Smooshing, stamping, stippling, stencilling - you could look like you had wallpaper without all the hassle and expense.

At some point, wallpaper companies started to sell wallpaper that looked like faux techniques - you could look like you had done a wall treatment without all the mess and fuss.

Art imitating life imitating art, or life imitating art imitating life?

Once upon a time, greeting cards were made by the nice people at Hallmark, Carlton, American Greetings, et al.

Then papercrafts became popular - why buy a card when you could create one yourself, complete with embellishments and personalization (or at least make one with a computer and ink-jet printer)?

Last week I had to pick up some things at the drugstore (like a new combination lock, for instance), and I picked up a Christmas card for The Gambler. Today I went to wrap his Far Side Calendar, and dug out the card. I noticed that the barcode/price blurb on the back was a sticker separate from the card. I wondered if it was because the original price was different, so I peeled it off. The card was blank underneath.

Weird.

I took a look at the back of the sticker - I noticed that there were bits of glitter on it.

Odd.

I looked at the card closely - it's a simple design.

The graphics and letters on the front are green glitter, slightly raised - the effect you would get if you drew/wrote them in glue and then sprinkled on glitter.