Going into business is always dicey, you might even say a crap shoot, but I have a habit of it. 

Back in the early ‘90s, I was also in the habit of playing poker in casinos around the southland.

I’d recently come back from a trip to Africa and used some of the photos I’d taken there to make little packets of notecards as holiday gifts. Which kind of explains why, sitting at a poker table at the Commerce Casino, I suddenly I came up with the idea for a line of greeting cards for gamblers. You know, “SLOTS of love on your birthday!” and “As friends go, you’re ACES…Happy Birthday!” Kind of tacky, sure…but perfect for Vegas gift shops, right?! 

I spent months taking photos of playing cards, dice, and slot machines in various permutations, having thousands of them printed onto cards with pithy sentiments inside, then peddling them to casino gift shops across the country. And they sold!

At first I had 24 designs. Then I began hiring real artists and came up with 24 more, some of which were actually pretty cool. Plus a series of Bingo cards (and if you’ve ever been in a Bingo parlor in Vegas, you know it’s a world unto itself).

Biggest seller overall: “It’s your birthday…hope you hit the jackpot!”

My favorite: A colorful joker with the inside greeting, “Wild about YOU!”

Oh, and did I mention holiday cards? 

 

“Twas the night before Christmas 

And all through the casino 

Santa’s elves were playing blackjack, 

Roulette, and Keno. 

 

There were several at the slot machines

You could spot them by their caps 

One or two played stud

And another one shot craps.” 

Etc.

One thing led to another and the MGM Grand hired me to design an entire line of gambling-related stationery products featuring Betty Boop (!) for their new emporium, and my then-husband and I ended up moving to Las Vegas to be where the action was.

As crazy as it sounds, this was my introduction into the world of art, be that as it may. It didn’t take long for me to outgrow the genre (and to stop playing cards), and as luck would have it, someone else thought it was a great idea and bought the business from me.

So, would I do it all over again? No dice! 

 

Not easy for a woman who hates to gamble. But nothing in life is ever a sure bet.
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I sent seasons greetings to everyone in my cabin, my friends and special teachers when I was in the High School Division at the National Music Camp from 1967-1969. It took me a long time to get through my list. I’d be done right around the new year. I gave that up for years, but when David turned a year old, in 1986, I resumed the tradition of sending a card with a current photo. I didn’t start sending a “year in review” letter until 1998. As much as people grouse about it, my family and friends seem to look forward to these. I send close to 200 each year.

My Featured photo shows a few of the most recent, as well as the first, and the stack of all through the years (don’t you know me well enough by now to know that I’ve got every one saved in a folder in my study). It becomes increasingly difficult to get something resembling a family photo, since my children live eight time zones apart and are rarely together. Last year, I used a photo of a Zoom screen. This year, there will be no actual card and it won’t go out until we return from London, so there can be photos of our granddaughter incorporated into the body of the letter. That may have to be the way forward in the future. I try to have them all in the mail by December 15. Then I can relax for the remainder of the month.

All of my first cousins, some of their children, lots of friends, neighbors, former neighbors and even a few former clients (and I haven’t worked in over 30 years) receive one. It is how they know what we have been up to. I try to stay upbeat. I learned long ago that no one wants bad news (obviously, I will share important news, but try to spin it in a positive way and not dwell on it). It must all fit on one page, double-sided. So when I include photos in the body of the letter this year, I will have to be a more judicious editor.

We used to receive loads of beautiful cards that I’d put out on my piano, the letters would be piled along side and I’d always enjoy reading them. Increasingly they come via email these days. I send some via email, though I don’t use a holiday frame for mine. It is typed as a Word document, printed at home, then taken to Staples so I can get it printed double-sided and all the copies made on a high-speed copier. Not sending via snail mail seems to be the trend. I understand, but still like the touch and feel a beautiful card, even if I don’t keep all of them (I do keep the photos from my family members). I appreciate all who reach out to me at this time of year. It is nice to hear from everyone.

Mom probably figured, “Dale has never in his life had his own package of gum. He only gets to chew a piece now and then when someone offers him a stick.
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