» In the cards: More than 10 years ago, Havertown’s Bonnie Neubauer was working as a telemarketer. One of the people she phoned on a Friday afternoon owned a start-up company that made business-to-business greeting cards. She came away from the conversation inspired. The company agreed to look at her ideas, so she spent a weekend brainstorming, faxing a dozen concepts late Sunday night. By the next morning, she’d sold 11 of them and was on her way to a lucrative second career as an author of motivational books and online creative exercises for writers (bonnieneubauer.com).
Fast forward to last year, when Neubauer received an e-mail announcing a Hallmark greeting card contest soliciting outside submissions. Three tries—and three misses—later, she remained undeterred. When the next Hallmark contest came around, she brought her A-game—in the form of a card depicting her cats Booger and Coolio drinking from the toilet; inside, the message reads, “In honor of your special day, we spiked the punch bowl. Happy Birthday!” This clever bit of feline fun earned her $250 and the title of finalist in Hallmark’s “yourBloopers” contest.
The finalists’ cards are now available at participating stores, and the one with the most sales by Sept. 13 wins another $2,500. So stock up and help a local girl.
Have an inside line on some juicy gossip? E-mail associate editor Dawn E. Warden at dwarden@mainlinetoday.com.
