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Come and test our new iPad app at Touchnote HQ, London

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We're looking for people to visit us in Camden Town London to try out our new iPad app.

(It doesn't matter if you've ever used an iPad before or not.)

What's involved

We're running half hour sessions where we want to watch users trying our new iPad app, and you can tell us what you think.

Where and when

It all takes place at 17-19 Bonny Street, Camden NW1 (map) on Tuesday May 7th, between 13:30 to 18:00.

Pop in and say hello, we'd love to meet you.

Tea, coffee and doughnuts

Will be provided, naturally :-)

If you're interested, please email freddie@touchnote.com

Touchnote on iPad

When should I order my Mother's Day card?

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Mother's Day has different dates in countries across the globe. For the UK, it was March 10. For most countries it is the second Sunday in May.

Remember our greeting cards take longer to arrive as they are only printed and posted from the UK - please see delivery advice below.

We've also listed some Mother's Day dates. For a full list of dates, please see the WikiPedia Mothers Day page.

 

Mothers Day on Sunday 12 May, including:

United States, Germany, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, India, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland (see full list)
 

Mothers Day on Sunday 26 May, including:

France, Sweden (see full list)
 

Postcard arrival times

UK: 1-3 working days
USA: 1-4 working days
Australia: 1-3 working days
Germany: within 1-3 working days
Western Europe: 2-4 working days
Rest of the World: Within 1-2 weeks
 

Greeting card arrival times

UK: 1-3 working days
Western Europe: 2-4 working days
Rest of the World: within 1-2 weeks
 
Example of postcards for Mother's Day

New! A fast way to add or upload addresses from a spreadsheet

What's the news?

You can now upload hundreds of addresses in a couple clicks, thanks to our latest new feature. (Many of you have been asking for it...)   It's especially handy for big events, such as:

  • Wedding invitations or save the dates

  • ‘We’ve moved house’ cards

  • Party invitations

  • Christmas and holiday cards

  • Thank you cards

And, of course, it’s just easier to send any card once you have everyone’s address in your Touchnote address book.

 
How does it work?

The idea is simple: rather than adding addresses one at a time, you can use a spreadsheet to add lots of addresses to your address book in one go.

To do this you'll need to use a CSV spreadsheet. If you don't know what CSV means don't be worried by the acronym. CSV is a type of spreadsheet that is a widely used for exporting information like contact details and addresses. If you use Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail or most other email clients, you can export a CSV of all your contacts.

Uploading CSVs available via touchnote.com only - not via our apps. Click here to try it in your address book.

 
Address book speadsheet upload - how it looks


What do you need to do?

If you're a bit techy and already have a CSV spreadsheet of your addresses, sign in to the Touchnote website and head to your address book. You'll see the new Upload Address Spreadsheet feature when you get there.

 
Make sure it’s formatted correctly

When you upload a CSV spreadsheet of addresses the structure, will need to be similar to that used by Touchnote. A quick way to find out is to upload your CSV and see how it looks. If there are small errors, you can make edits.

However, if the structure is completely wrong, the easiest way to correct it is to download our sample spreadsheet, then copy and paste the addresses from your existing spreadsheet into it. Then upload your new spreadsheet.

We included our address as an example, to show you how to format your addresses. Feel free to send us a postcard :-)

 

How the CSV looks when you open it
 

What if you keep your addresses in a traditional address book, not in a spreadsheet?

Good news! You can still use a spreadsheet to quickly upload a large number of addresses.

Step by step guide:

1. First download the sample spreadsheet and open it up in MS Office, or a similar program.

2. You'll see 8 columns (as above), each corresponding to a different part of an address. You'll see the example address that we've included to make it easy to see how the structure works.

3. Now enter each of your addresses as a separate row in the spreadsheet, using the same structure as the example address.

4. Then save the spreadsheet and upload it.

Just like that! Huzzah!

 

Here to help!

If you have any problems, please do get in touch via help@touchnote.comOne of our team will be very happy to help - we can even format your spreadsheet for you.

Go to your address book now (web login) >>

PRESS RELEASE: 4-year-old set to sell app to Facebook for an estimated $120 million

SAN FRANCISCO / LONDON


4 year old Bill Dapps

Touchnote, brainchild of 4-year-old Bill Dapps from his London home, sends photos as real cards to anywhere in the world.

Facebook is rumoured to be about to snap up mobile postcard start-up Touchnote, the latest in a string of acquisitions intended to improve the social network's photo services.

Touchnote allows people to send their photos as real postcards to any address in the world, and sent over 1m cards in 2012. 

"I came up with the app to send photos of my Mum to my Grandma from my iPad.” 

Dapps, a pupil at King's Nursery in East London, near to London's Silicon Roundabout, said he was unperturbed about moving from a startup to millionaire.

“Obviously my mum’s helping me with the important conversations because I’m too young. I’m looking forward to signing a contract, as I’ve just learned to write my name with a real pencil. But I’m really pleased that my app is helping millions of people to share their photos as real postcards."

"I'm really looking forward to going to Facebook because they've built a really great play area for toddlers," he said.

For now, however, Dapps will be balancing his focus on pre-school, continuing to write code during playtime, and keeping tabs on his team of techies at weekends.

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, though technology blog TechCrunch reported that Facebook was offering to pay roughly $120 million, citing anonymous sources. 

The price of our greeting cards is changing

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We launched our beautiful new greeting cards last December, at the amazing introductory price of just 1 credit per card (including free postage to anywhere, as always).

But that offer will come to an end on April 4, 2013. From then, each greeting card will cost 2 credits each.

So that's still just £2.98, $2.98 or €2.98 per card.

Or, if you buy a credit pack, you can save up to a third.

The price of our postcards is not changing though - just one credit each.

 

UK severe weather - some orders delayed by a day

There is currently some very stormy weather at our UK printing centre. This means that the delivery of some order willl be delayed by 1 or possibly 2 days.

This affects only orders placed between Friday 8 and Sunday 10 March, which are printed and delivered from our UK centre. We're really sorry!

Which order types are affected?

  • Greeting card orders made during the above dates
  • Postcard orders excluding: USA, Australia and Germany addresses

Any questions?

Please contact our help team: help@touchnote.com.

You can check our usual delivery times here.

Stormy weather in the UK - photo credit Jim Weir, Flickr

Ideas for sending a card mum will adore – Mother’s Day 2013

Touchnote Mother's Day card

In the UK and Ireland, Mother’s Day is on Sunday 10 March 2013. (For other countries, see here)

To help you tell mum how awesome she is, here’s some easy ideas for your card. Just choose your photo, select one of our greetings card themes and add your message to the front and inside. (Or you can leave the front as a plain photo)

Last order date for UK addresses: to arrive by Sat 9, orders need to be placed by Wednesday 6 March 2013 (cards take 1-3 working days)

1. Remind mum of when you were young

We all love our digital cameras, but there’s something unique about old photos. Pro tip: if you don’t have a scanner, try just taking a photo of an old photo!

Mother's Day card idea - send an old photo (vintage example shown)

2. Send a photo of you

I bet mum doesn't get as many photos of you as she used to? And all mums love photos of their kids, whatever their age.

Mother's Day card - photo of son

Or you could show her your appreciation like this :-)

Card idea - Thumbs up! Best mum ever!

You and mum together

Nothing shows that you’re wishing her a happy Mother’s Day like a photo of you both.

Mother's day card - mum and daughter together photo

Or even from all the siblings:

Daughters kissing mum - Mother's Day card idea

Dads - help the little one send a card

Touchnote may be easy enough for a 2 year to use, but not all 2 year olds have credit cards… So that means it’s down to you, dad, to thank that mother in the family. You’ve got tons of great photos you could use, or you could just take one now…

Baby photo - Mother's Day card

Or them both together:

Mum and son - Mother's Day card

Create your own card for Mother's Day, via web, iPhone or Android.

 

So who was St Valentine anyway?

Ever wondered why February 14 is the day everyone sends Valentine's cards to their lovers? It's a little mysterious, but there was one note which is believed to have started it all...

Will the real St Valentine please stand up?

Apparently there were at least three different St Valentine's. But it's agreed it's all associated with love and fertility, and involves the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera in Ancient Athens, though most of the legend comes from Ancient Rome.

Goats and wine

Let's not forget the festival of Lupercus, the ancient Roman god of fertility. The priests of Lupercus used to perform a purification ritual where they would slaughter goats to the god, drink wine and then run through the streets of Rome holding aloft the skins of the goats. Young women flocked to the streets, looking to touch the priests to improve their fertility.

Bishop Valentine

This is where it gets romantic. A former Roman Emperor claimed that married men made poor soldiers, so banned young citizens from tying the knot. However, Bishop Valentine disagreed, and soon became notorious for his undergroud, clandestine weddings.

He was soon jailed, and ultimately beheaded – though not before falling madly in love with the jailer's daughter. Legend has it that on the night of his execution, he passed his love a note which said “from your Valentine” - and thus the tradition was born.

New Valentine's cards from Touchnote

Not every love story has the drama of Bishop Valentine’s love note, but sending your own photo on one of our new Valentine’s themes is the next best thing :)

Two examples of Touchnote cards

Just upload your photo, choose a theme, add your personal message to the front and inside and hit send. We print on gorgeous textured card and send in quality ivory envelopes – satisfaction guaranteed. And our greetings cards are still just one credit each, including postage to anywhere, just like our postcards.

Love it or hate it, Valentine's Day is here. And now you know (more or less) who to blame/thank! :)

Thanks the BBC for their great Valentine's content, which was the source for this post (click here for the full article).

Birthday cards - tips and ideas

Birthday cards have probably been our most requested feature ever. Handy, then, that our lovely new greetings cards are ideal for them - folded cards printed on thick paper, sent in premium envelopes, to anywhere in the world.

Example Birthday cards from Touchnote - family scene (left), vintage kids party (right)

Get birthday reminders

The hardest thing about birthdays is remembering them. But at Touchnote we like to make things easy, so we offer reminder emails. Just enter the dates, and we'll send you an email a week before.

On iPhone or Android apps: go to your account, then go to your contacts, and you can set reminders for any contact.
On touchnote.com: sign in to your account, click on your address book, then choose your contact and click edit.

Birthday card photo ideas

Our elegant, super easy greetings cards make any photo look great. Whether you're a pro or a happy snapper, sending a personalised card to someone is always special.

You can use our templates to customise your design and write your own message, or go for a simple, plain photo on the front. Then just write your own message on the inside.

Happy birthday from us
Sometimes people say only a hand written card is truly personal. But how much hassle is that? And how is that more personal than a photo of the, erm, persons? Well, maybe if you painted a portrait, packed it up and posted that...

Birthday card with family photo - happy birthday from all of us!

Send an old photo
I don't know about you, but I preferred my birthdays when they were in single figures. If you're lucky enough to have some old photos available, they always hit the spot :)

Vintage birthday photo on greetings card

In fact, we love old photos so much, we couldn't resist adding another. Maybe you know someone who always complains about their birthday...?

Waaaaah! Screaming birthday kid - happy birthday!

 

Say it in the photo
When I was a kid I used to make cards for my parents. They would involve coloured paper, glue, glitter and all sorts. I guess I could still do that now... but sending a photo of it would make much more sense. Or I could write a message like this one:

Photo of fridge letters, spelling "happy birthday mum"

But really, you can send *any* photo
It doesn't have to be clever. Maybe you have a photo of a place you've both been, or of something you know they like? For example, I have a friend who just loves cows...

Touchnote birthday greeting card - cow photo

Credit multipacks - the easier and cheaper way to send cards all year

It's even easier when you have credits ready in your account. How many birthday cards should you be sending this year? A single credit is £1.49/ $1.49/ €1.49, but check out the savings on our multipacks... And remember credits can be used on our postcards too...

Everyone loves a snow photo - especially when it's printed and delivered to their door

We've had "once in a decade" snow in the UK this week. It's beautiful.

When I check my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram I'm greeted with wonderful winter wonderland photos from everyone.

Remember playing in the snow?

I still get that excited feeling when I open the curtains and see a white world outside. It reminds me of when my dad used to take me and our plastic sled to our nearest downhill slope.

Man having fun on sled in snow

Send a real card with real memories

Loads of you from the UK and beyond have already been sending magical photos as postcards and greetings cards.

Why not send a real card to your parents, or whoever you used to build snowmen with? Remind them of the time you used to spend in the snow with a printed photo that they'll cherish. It will last a lot longer in the memory than sharing a photo online...

And after all, you've probably already taken a good snow photo... So what are you waiting for? ;)

Send real memories, via iPhoneAndroid or our website.

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