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5 Tips for Designing Your Own Holiday Greeting Cards

No you’re not reading this post wrong – it’s October and yes we’re talking about the holidays already! But take our word for it, now is the perfect time to start working on your holiday greeting cards. Especially if you’re planning to send cards to elsewhere in the world, you’ll want to get an early start so that they arrive on time. And getting them done early also allows you to spend a bit of time personalizing your cards to make them extra special!

Sending personalized greeting cards to family and friends is great way to spread some holiday cheer, and update everyone on what you’ve been up to over the past year. And while we love the internet, we think it’s better to skip the e-cards and go for traditional mailed cards for the most thoughtful and personal holiday message. Our LDExperts have rounded up their top tips for designing your own holiday greetings cards, to help get you started:

1. Be conscientious of your recipients’ traditions

As you’re going through your list of people you’d like to send greeting cards to this season, make notes of what type of holiday card should go to each person. Our Photolab has a variety of personalized greeting card options with Christmas, Hanukkah and general Winter-themed templates, so no matter what their family traditions, you can find a beautiful card to customize for them.

2. Pick a favourite photo (or two!) to personalize your card

Once upon a time, we would slide a print photo or two into a generic holiday card, as a way to keep our family and friends updated on how things have changed over the last year. After all, a lot can change in a year – whether it be a fast-growing newborn, a furry new addition to the family, or you and your better half celebrating your first Christmas together. Holiday cards are the perfect opportunity to share those important moments from that year with the people you love.

With our personalized greeting cards, you can take that all to the next level! Just choose a photo, or two, and add them to any of our greeting cards, through our Photolab site, in-store kiosks or through our London Drugs Photolab App. We have specially crafted holiday templates so you can simply drag and drop your photos, creating a perfectly personalized design in seconds. You know your mother-in-law will be impressed.

Some options for photos are:

A photo of your family from earlier this year
A photo from last year’s holiday celebrations
A styled photo from your own holiday photo shoot!

3. Share a special message from the heart

The key to a truly special holiday greeting card is a heartfelt message. Are they celebrating their first Christmas as a couple? Is their little one celebrating their first Christmas? Or maybe they’re away from home during the holidays? With our personalized greeting cards, you can add your own message for the recipient that is 100% unique, and touches on an aspect of their life. Create one individually for each person on your list – it’s guaranteed to make their mailbox a little merrier.

If you’re strapped for time, or aren’t one for words, even a simple message wishing them a wonderful holiday will go a long way. And you can easily order multiple copies to pop in the mail for all your family and friends.

4. Give your greeting cards a professional finish

Choosing a higher quality paper material won’t just wow your recipient, it will also be more durable, so they’re less likely to be damaged when sent by mail or when they’re opened.

When ordering double-sided cards, folded cards, or postcards from our Photolab, you can choose from either traditional card stock or one of our 6 specialty papers, which will give your cards that extra special touch – literally. Our specialty papers come in linen natural white, linen white, matte soft white, matte white, shimmer silver, and shimmer soft gold

5. Add your personal signature

Add a final personal touch by signing each card by hand. It might seem like a small detail, but it can really make your card stand out. Just make sure to give it a few seconds for the ink to dry, before closing your card and putting it in the envelope. You don’t want to smudge things, right at the very end!

Once your personalized greeting cards are ready to go, make sure to get them in the mail early! Ideally, you want your greeting cards to reach their recipients by early to mid-December, and the further they need to go, the sooner they should be put in the mail. Luckily, we offer Canada Post services at many of our London Drugs locations, you so can drop them off the next time you’re in the store!

Tricks & Tips for Taking Better Halloween Photos

From costumes to jack-o’-lanterns, Halloween presents some really fun photo ops for you to capture great family memories. So dust the cobwebs off your camera, and follow these tricks and tips from our LDExperts to help you snap Halloween photos that won’t come back to haunt you!

Tips for Better Halloween Costume Photos

Kids grow up so fast, and if we’re being honest, some of our favourite photos to look back on are the Halloween photos. Their cute costumes immediately show us what their favourite movie character was at the time, what their childhood idol was, or even what they wanted to be when they grew up. Point being: capturing your kids’ Halloween costumes means you’ll have lots of great memories to look back on! For the best costume photos, follow these handy photography tips from our LDExperts:

Shoot with natural light

Natural day-time lighting will be the most flattering for your photos, so avoid taking them on Halloween night once the sun’s gone down. If Halloween lands on a weekday (as it does this year), most kids will have the chance to dress up in their Halloween costumes and wear them to school. That’s your best chance to snap some daylight photos of them all dressed up. That, and because they’re not actually going out trick-or-treating yet, they may not be bundled up with jackets and hats like they will be when going door-to-door. If before-school photos aren’t an option, then why not do a costume test-run with them a few days prior to Halloween, and take the photos then?

Take a knee

For the best photos of your kids, you should be taking the photos in line with their eye level, or just above it. That might mean taking a knee so that you’re on their level. This way, you’ll be able to show off them in their costume head-on, as opposed to having a more obscured view from above.

Don’t use flash

Ideally, you can follow Tip #1 and shoot in the daylight, but if you decide you want to shoot some photos of your little ones in their element while trick-or-treating, there a couple of things to keep in mind. First, is to avoid using flash. If you already have some nice spooky lighting to work with, a flash likely won’t do it any favours. Instead, work with that ambient lighting and simply use a high ISO or your camera’s Night Mode. The high ISO will allow you to snap your photos with less light available. Some DSLRs will be able to go up to an ISO of 3400 and let in plenty of light while not creating too much image noise. However, as a general rule of thumb, keep your ISO as low as you can go without the photo blurring, and set your camera on shutter priority mode. If you’re photographing your kids in action while trick-or-treating, we recommend a shutter speed of at least 1/200.

Limit your movements

For the best results when shooting photos at lower light with these settings, you’ll want to stand as still as you can while taking the photos. It’s best if your subjects aren’t moving around too much either. Ideally, use a tripod if you can, as this will help make your photos as sharp as possible.

If you’re chasing your little trick-or-treaters from house-to-house, and staying still just isn’t possible, embrace the blurriness and have some fun creating ghostly images!

Once you’ve got the perfect Halloween costume photos, it’s time to choose a favourite or two and create something fun with them! Our Photolab has Halloween-themed templates available for a bunch of different customizable products, from photo mugs and cards to photo books and even aluminum metal panels.

Tips for Better Jack-O’-Lantern Photos

Carving out pumpkins to make jack-o’-lanterns is a time-honoured Halloween tradition, and for many, it’s a family affair! It’s always fun to look back on Halloweens past to see how the kids’ pumpkin carving skills have advanced – and maybe yours too! To capture your jack-o’-lanterns at their spookiest, follow these handy photography tips from our LDExperts:

Choose a dark room

A good jack-o’-lantern photo is all about letting the candlelight shine, creating that spooky, glowing face. We recommend choosing a location that doesn’t have very much light (the less the better). For the spookiest results, use a surface that will reflect some of that ghoulish light – like in the photo above.

Create that spooky glow

Light your candles and pop them into the pumpkins. You’ll want to make sure you have enough light coming through the pumpkin carvings, so if you need to add another candle or two to make the light really pour out, then go for it!

Work in Manual Mode

Just as we discussed above when shooting photos of your kids’ Halloween costumes, in low light, you’ll need to adjust accordingly. Again, stay away from flash here. Keep your ISO as low as the camera is able to (let’s say around 100 ISO), otherwise you may see too much noise in your pictures. In Manual mode on your camera, adjust your aperture to the desired depth-of-field. Be careful not to allow your aperture to be too wide – it will make any bright spots, like the glowing eyes and mouth, take over the rest of your image. Finally, select your shutter speed. You may want to choose a slow shutter speed, although if you are using a tripod, which we recommend, the shutter speed shouldn’t matter as much.

Shoot at Twilight

If you want to shoot your jack-o’-lantern while it’s on display on your porch, the best time is twilight: 20 minutes or so after the sun has gone down. At that time, your glowing jack-o’-lantern will generally produce about the same amount of light as what’s in the night sky. This will make it easier for you to capture the spookiness of your jack-o’-lantern without worrying about losing too much sharpness and detail in the photos.

Once you’ve mastered that spooky jack-o’-lantern shot, just imagine what it’ll look like printed! Our Photolab’s aluminum metal panels have the option of Halloween-themed templates, and the infused dyes will make that fiery pumpkin glow look even more vibrant.

5 Creative Ways to Share Your Smartphone Photos

Let’s be honest, for most of us, our smartphone has also become our primary camera. It makes sense – our phones are always with us, and so we’re naturally more likely to pull them out to capture moments happening around us. That’s why we created the London Drugs Photolab App, to help you easily share those smartphone photos beyond just your Instagram or Facebook!

We’re excited to announce that our Android Photolab App has just been updated to include creative products, so whether you use our iOS or Android version, you will now be able to order not only prints, but everything from photo books and calendars, to pet bowls and canvas gallery wraps.

To give you some inspiration for all the amazing things you can create with your photos using our App, check out these ideas from our LDExperts:

1. ‘Best Eats’ Photo Book

We’ve all done it: before you dive into that delicious looking gourmet burger, you’ve got to take a snapshot of it first with your phone. By now, you might even have a collection of photos of all the best eats you’ve had around town! If so, why not upload them to our App and create your very own ‘Best Eats’ photo book? You can even customize the photo book to include your personal reviews and other notes (ex. ‘best truffle fries I’ve ever had!’). Next time you’re struggling to pick a good restaurant for dinner, you’ll be able to flip through your book, and see which photo makes your mouth water.

2. The Sweetest Birthday Card

Your BFFs birthday is coming up, but rather than scouring through the card aisle, why not make a customized birthday card for them, right from your smartphone? Find a priceless selfie you’ve snapped with your BFF and add it to any of our templated birthday cards. Even add your own personalized birthday message inside! Your card is guaranteed to stand out against the others and will show her just how special she is to you.

3. Customized Your Calendar

If you’ve got a whole bunch of storage on your smartphone, you probably have photos that have been sitting on there for quite a while…maybe there’s photos that have been sitting on there for a year! Do a quick dig and pull one favourite photo from each month, and create your own customized calendar with them. The best part? Our calendars can start on any month, so no need to wait until the New Year. No excuse not to stay organized now.

4. Get Fine Art in a Flash

Have you ever taken an artsy photo with your phone and thought ‘Wow, that’s the money shot!’? We can help you turn that perfect photo into something you can proudly hang on your wall – yes, directly from your smartphone! Choose from our textured canvas gallery wraps or even a high-gloss aluminum metal panel to showcase your incredible shot in all its glory.

5. Treat Your Furry Friend

If your phone is brimming of photos of your pets why not put some of those adorable snaps to good use? Among the wide range of creative products our Photolab offers is personalized pet bowls! You can order a small or large pet bowl straight from our App, and customize it with a photo of your furry friend. You can even add their name! How cute.

There really are endless ways to share and display your smartphone photos. Just download our London Drugs Photolab App for Android or iOS to explore the full selection of prints and creative photo products we offer!

Beautiful Canada: 10 Stunning Places to Enjoy Fall Leaves

For many, autumn means falling leaves for crunching underfoot or raking into a piles for canon-balling. For us, autumn’s colourful by-products are a full sensory experience. Right now, trees all over the country are exploding in shades of red, orange, and gold. Canada is a beautiful country year round, but the fall leaves bring something special.

Whether you’re in the middle of the city, out in the country, or deep in the mountains, trees are celebrating the change in weather and giving us a spectacular show. And we’re giving them a standing ovation!

Nicely done, Canada. Nicely, done.

Here are 10 stunning places to enjoy autumn – and the fall leaves – in beautiful Canada.

1. Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia

Stanley Park - Beautiful Canada: 10 Stunning Places To Enjoy Fall Leaves

Photo via Fionalucyw

There’s something quintessentially West Coast about wandering around a drizzly Vancouver seawall with a pumpkin-spiced latte in hand, and enjoying the coziness of Stanley Park.

2. Cassidy, British Columbia

Cassidy calibreus - Beautiful Canada: 10 Stunning Places To Enjoy Fall Leaves

Photo via Calibreus

Who wouldn’t want to take a fall adventure down this path in Cassidy, B.C.? It’s the perfect blend of colours, transitioning from summer to fall with rustic elegance, and just a hint of mystery. How exciting!

3. Kelowna, British Columbia

Kelowna - Beautiful Canada: 10 Stunning Places To Enjoy Fall Leaves

Photo via Robyn-Nikx

You, too, can bundle up in Kelowna and enjoy the crunchiness of leaves, warm sunshine, and a rambling stream before the weather turns colder. Just pack up the truck and take a quick drive out to Mission Creek Regional Park to explore!

4. New Denver, British Columbia

New Denver - Beautiful Canada: 10 Stunning Places To Enjoy Fall Leaves

Photo via The Back Country Foodie

If this isn’t the perfect weekend, we don’t know what is. Nothing says fall coziness more than an afternoon in the park with our fur-babies. Who packed the picnic?

5. Princes Island Park, Calgary, Alberta

Princes Island Parrk, Calgary - Beautiful Canada: 10 Stunning Places To Enjoy Fall Leaves

Photo via Hasina.Kassam

Even in the middle of the city, Calgarians enjoy the ambiance of fall nature and people watching in Prince’s Island Park.

6. The Rocky Mountains, Alberta

Photo via The_traveling_life_gast

Want to get away from it all? The Rocky Mountains in Alberta are the perfect fall getaway from… everything. Nothing but rugged wilderness out here!

7. Waskasiu Prince Albert Park, Saskatchewan

Waskasiu Lake, Saskatchewan - Beautiful Canada: 10 Stunning Places To Enjoy Fall Leaves

Photo via Herry.with.an.e

Frost is showing up in some parts of Saskatchewan already – like here, in Waskasiu Prince Albert Park. But that doesn’t stop us! The gold in those trees makes us feel like we’re treasure hunting!

8. Mont Pinacle, Quebec

Mont Pinacle Park - Beautiful Canada: 10 Stunning Places To Enjoy Fall Leaves

Photo by Captured_by_nico

Now that’s a view! While we love the scenery in Mont Pinacle, it’s the cozy rainbow of fall colours the trees are displaying that warms our hearts.

9. Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton, Ontario - Beautiful Canada: 10 Stunning Places To Enjoy Fall Leaves

Photo via Argenel

We think we’ll stop and sit a while. Right here. If you bring the hot cocoa, we’ll meet you there.

10. Nova Scotia (or out your own back door!)

Halifax Canada - Beautiful Canada: 10 Stunning Places To Enjoy Fall Leaves

Photo via Seandmcmullen

Leaves are a brilliant red in Nova Scotia this time of year. It has us all fired up! But chances are, if you look out your own backdoor, they’re just as colourful. We’re sure lucky to live in such a beautiful place.

How are you enjoying our Beautiful Canada this fall?

Share your Beautiful Canada and fall leaf inspiration and tag us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or YouTube !

October Book of the Month: China Rich Girlfriend

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

In China Rich Girlfriend, Kevin Kwan’s glitzy sequel to the New York Times bestseller (and blockbuster movie), Crazy Rich Asians, Kwan once again takes us on a dizzying journey into a world of wealth and privilege that few of us will ever experience first-hand. Kwan’s descriptions of luxury designer brands and excess are jaw-dropping and, as you turn the pages, you may find yourself in turn entranced and horrified by the over-the-top affluence of the world he describes.

At the end of Crazy Rich Asians, Nick Young, the fabulously wealthy, dashing heir to a Singapore fortune, proposed to his modestly-raised American girlfriend Rachel Chu, and fell out with his meddling relatives. China Rich Girlfriend picks up two years later as Nick and Rachel prepare to head to the altar in a comparatively low-key but (of course) luxurious Californian wedding surrounded by Rachel’s relatives.

At the wedding rehearsal dinner, the couple is visited by Nick’s scheming mother Eleanor Young, who has hired a private investigator to track down Bao Gaoliang, a wealthy politician in China who claims to be Rachel’s estranged father. Rachel’s world is thrown into a tailspin as she learns that she has a family she never knew about in China. Gaoliang is now married to Bao Shaoyen and they have a son, Carlton, who is the spitting image of Rachel.

Once the shock wears off, Rachel and Nick decide to honeymoon in China to meet her new extended family. Of course, things don’t go all that smoothly when Rachel turns up. Shaoyen is threatened by her husband’s oldest daughter and she makes her feelings clear, forbidding anyone in her family from associating with the newcomers. Carlton and his girlfriend, Collette Bing, ignore her request and spend time getting to know Rachel and Nick, even travelling to Paris with them. Without giving up too many spoilers, events take a turn for the worse and there are tearful confessions, arrests, someone is poisoned, and more than one of the characters will fall from grace.

Elsewhere we learn that Nick’s beautiful and alluring cousin, Astrid Leong, is struggling as her marriage to Michael is crumbling. Her family’s wealth has always been a bone of contention between her and her self-made husband. As his business has become more successful he has grown increasingly abusive, and in despair Astrid turns to her former fiancé, Charlie Wu, for comfort. Will she succumb to pressure and stay with her husband to avoid disgracing her family or will she break away and finally be with Charlie?

In Crazy Rich Asians we met Kitty Pong, former soap actress. In the sequel we get to know more about Kitty and her desperation to be accepted by Singapore’s elite. Kitty, who is married to the mysteriously absent Bernard Tai, hires Corinna Ko-Tung, a well-connected woman from a respected family to help her make the right connections and make some headway with Singapore’s high society. Kitty’s struggle to fit in and the scandal that seems to follow her wherever she goes makes her one of the more interesting characters in China Rich Girlfriend, and you’ll find yourself rooting for her on her journey of self-discovery.

China Rich Girlfriend will appeal to readers seeking an escapist novel, but the numerous characters and side stories can be confusing at times. You will need to concentrate to remember who is who and how they’re connected. Overall it is an entertaining romp through a world like no other with glamorous stops in Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Paris.

Book of the Month

Every month we will be featuring a book to be showcased in our Book of the Month. Staff members and friends will be reading the book and posting their reviews. We’d love to hear what you thought of these books as well. Post your comments and let us know. China Rich Girlfriend is available at London Drugs along with many other great titles and is on sale for the month of October.

6 Last-minute Halloween Costumes Your Friends Will Love

Yikes, did you just get a last-minute invite to a Halloween party? Or did you spend so much time planning the kids’ costumes that you completely forgot about your own? Don’t worry, because we’ve got some ideas for fun Halloween costumes for the whole family that you can easily put together and still impress your friends!

Box of Timbits

Last-minute Halloween costumes for the whole family

Photo from huffingtonpost.com

Who doesn’t love Timbits! You’ll be the hit of the Halloween party, especially if you carry a real box of the little morsels with you. Bonus: get your BFF to paint a plastic garbage can brown, and you’ll have your Double Double!

More last-minute Canadian Halloween costume ideas here.

Spider Web

Photo from marthatstewart.com

Everyone has a bag of that fake spider web in the decorations box, right? Wrap some around your kid, add some plastic spiders and spooky makeup, and you’re ready for tricks and treats.

More last-minute Halloween costume ideas for kids here.

Rosie the Riveter

Photo from brit.co

Rock this iconic symbol for women’s equality with a denim shirt, work pants, red bandana, and an up-do.

Don’t forget hair and makeup! Here’s a super easy tutorial:

Party Animal

Photo from goodhousekeeping.com

For this one, all you need is an animal mask, a party hat, and a drink. Take it uptown with some formal wear!

Lots more easy Halloween costume ideas here.

Pizza Slice

Photo from u-createcrafts.com

This one is more easy-ish, but the cuteness factor makes it worth the trip to the fabric store. Bonus: the kid can help with the glueing! We’ve got the step-by-step tutorial for you right here.

The Flash

Photo from brit.com

Grab a full-length body suit from the party store and get glueing. Or, if you’re really in a pinch, pull out those red long johns from the ski bag.

More fun DIY Halloween costume ideas for men here.

This Halloween, no matter what you wear, have fun, be safe, and don’t eat too much candy. Or do, we won’t judge.

Enter for a chance to WIN a Dyson V6 Origin Vacuum

Dyson V6 Origin Vacuum Contest

Together with Dyson, we’re excited to be giving away one Dyson V6 Origin Vacuum! See below for full Terms & Conditions and how to enter.

Dyson Facebook Contest Terms & Conditions

To enter: Comment with the answer to “If you won a V6 Origin cord-free vacuum, where would you clean first?”

Contest is open to all residents of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba who, as of the date the prize draw is made: (i) have not won a London Drugs contest since October 25^th, 2017; (ii) have reached the age of majority in the province in which they reside as of October 19th, 2018; (iii) are not employees of London Drugs, their respective advertising and promotional agencies, the independent judging organization (if any), or any family member living with any such employee.

No purchase necessary. Limit one (1) entry per person per social network per contest. Entries must be received no later than 11:59 PM Pacific Time October 25^th, 2018. London Drugs is not responsible for entries that become lost or misdirected. All entries become the property of London Drugs Limited and will not be returned.

One (1) winner will be randomly chosen on the day the contest ends (see dates below) in Vancouver, British Columbia, from all eligible entries received per contest. To win, selected entrants must correctly answer a skill-testing mathematical question and must sign London Drugs’ declaration and release confirming compliance with the contest rules and acceptance of the prize(s) as awarded, releasing London Drugs from liability in association with the contest and prize and consenting to the use of their name, photograph, voice and statements for promotional and publicity purposes.

There will be one prizes of

ONE (1) Dyson V6 Origin Vacuum (L0153863, valued at $399.99)

See details and contest date below. Prizes must be accepted as awarded, are non-transferable and no substitutions are permitted. Prizes will be awarded at the closest London Drugs location to contest winners.

Contest date – Friday, October 19^th, 2018 – Thursday October 25th, 2018, 11:59 PM Pacific Time

Draw date – Friday October 26^th, 2018

Only one prize may be won by any one person and household. In the event that any selected entrant incorrectly answers the skill-testing question or is otherwise unwilling or unable to comply in full with these rules, a new entry will be drawn.

Selected winners will be contacted by email or on the social network they were drawn from. No correspondence will be entered into except with selected entrants. If the winners do not respond then they will be notified for the second time, 3 (three) days after the first notification. If the winners still do not respond within 3 days of the second notification, a new winner will be chosen in the same manner until a winner is successfully contacted.

The chances of winning a prize will depend on the number of eligible entries received. Decisions of the judges in respect of all aspects of this contest including, but not limited to, eligibility of entries and correctness of answers given to the skill-testing question, are final.

London Drugs and their respective advertising and promotional agencies, the independent judging organization, and their respective agents are not liable to an entrant in any manner relating to the contest or the awarding and use of the prize(s).

This contest is subject to all federal, provincial, and municipal laws and regulations. By entering the entrant consents to the collection of all personal information included on their entry and agrees to the use and disclosure of such information by and between London Drugs, an independent judging organization, and their agents. The winner(s) also agrees to the collection, use, and disclosure of their name, entry, photographs, voice, and statements for London Drugs’ publicity purposes without further compensation. All personal information collected from entrants will be used only for the purposes of administering the contest and for marketing and promotional purposes as contemplated by these rules; under no circumstances will any personal information be sold or rented to third parties. All personal information collected by London Drugs will be kept in accordance with the privacy policy of London Drugs, which can be viewed at www.londondrugs.com, and in accordance with all applicable privacy laws.

The right is reserved by London Drugs to terminate this contest, in whole or in part, and/or modify, amend or suspend the contest, and/or these rules in any way, should any cause beyond the reasonable control of London Drugs or its agents affect the proper administration thereof.