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By Rachel Kytonen
rachel.kytonen@ecm-inc.com
Mix a love of writing with a desire for extra cash and a willing co-worker—and you have yourself a winning Hallmark greeting card.
Marni Torres, of Isanti, was one of 30 winners out of 1,800 entries across the country in Hallmark’s recent “Birthday His Way” greeting card contest.
Torres’ card on the front shows a close-up picture of her male co-worker’s bald head with the words, “Welcome to the RECESSION...” Open it up and the inside finishes, “...of your HAIRLINE! Happy Birthday.”
Torres has been writing for 14 years but never pursued it and basically just threw her work into a box.
When her hours were cut at work she began looking at ideas to make some extra cash and found the Hallmark greeting card contest.
“I really put the entire idea together in about 48 hours,” Torres said. “This was the first time I had ever entered any sort of writing contest, and I was pretty excited and pleasantly surprised.”
Torres was notified in late September via phone and email that she had been selected as one of the 30 winners that were publicly announced Nov 2.
“When I saw the email I couldn’t believe it and couldn’t stop laughing,” Torres said. “I told my co-worker to come take a look at my email and he couldn’t stop laughing. This was the motivation I needed to start writing again and want to keep entering different writing contests.”
Torres said when she saw the theme for Hallmark’s most recent greeting card contest was for a guy’s birthday, she started thinking about different ideas.
“I started thinking that in general guys like to tease their buddies, it’s the recession and then my co-worker happened to walk by and I put the idea together,” Torres said. “My co-worker agreed to the idea right away.”
Hallmark creative staff judged the cards on cohesiveness (how well the image and message works together); sendability (could be sent by lots of different people); and how well the entry fits the contest theme (cards for guys).
Torres was the only winner from Minnesota with other winners from Texas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
“I had never entered a writing contest before and am pretty thrilled,” Torres said. “My husband always says I’m kind of a procrastinator and is encouraging me to keep writing which is nice.”
Torres said she is going to continue to write and encourages others to pursue their passions.
“I hope to continue my writing in many aspects and keep making money doing what I love,” Torres said. “I have a lot of ideas and would like to put them to good use, and hopefully if my writings and ideas can inspire someone to stop procrastinating like me, then my job is done. If you love to do something then stop wasting time and get going on it.”
Hallmark consumers have been submitting their own ideas for greeting cards for years and began their greeting card competitions in 2007.
All the greeting card winners from the “Birthday His Way” contest can be purchased online at www.hallmarkcontests.com and click on “Birthday His Way.”
Hallmark will announce the top 10 “Birthday His Way” greeting cards April 19, which will then be sold in stores across the country.
For more on upcoming Hallmark contests visit www.hallmarkcontests.com.
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