á la cards Wins GCA International LOUIE Award

Benicia, CA May 22, 2006 – á la cards handmade greeting cards made the winners’ circle in the Greeting Card Association’s (GCA) 18th annual International GCA competition, the “LOUIE” Awards. This year’s competition, themed tiny masterpieces, drew nearly 1,100 entries in 55 categories from about 160 U.S. and international publishing companies.

“Every greeting card, invitation and imprintable is a tiny masterpiece – a miniature work of art,” says Lisa Samar, vice president, Great Arrow Graphics (Buffalo, NY) and chair of this year’s International Greeting Card Awards. “The LOUIEs honor the talented designers, illustrators and writers whose craftsmanship is evident in these products. The LOUIEs are about achieving excellence through visual imagery and the written word. It's about creating products that are, indeed, tiny masterpieces ... tangible and sharable ways for people to connect with one another."

á la cards won a LOUIE award in the 'Thank you'
(above $3) category and was a finalist in two additional categories, 'Creatively Finished' (above $3),
'Handmade' (above $3).

“This is an important milestone for us,” says á la cards founder and CEO Mari Branzuela. “We are very honored to have this recognition. It inspires us to expand our design and product offerings for our customers.”

About á la cards

Dedicated to artistry in personal greetings, á la cards offers retailers a distinctive line of handcrafted three-dimensional greeting cards, gift cards and invitations. á la cards designs range from the endearingly whimsical to the classically formal, covering such traditional holidays, events and designs as Birthdays, Weddings, Christmas, Gift/Place and Baby.

á la cards features the mother-daughter design team of Suzette and Victoria Keet. Suzette’s handmade greeting cards have been sold around the world for almost a decade. Her talent and energy built the operation from a small individual enterprise to its present international position. Daughter Victoria brings bold youthful concepts to the á la cards line.

For information, visit www.alacards.com, call 707-748-0338 or 800-549-8995, or e-mail: info@alacards.com.

For information about the Greeting Card Association and the LOUIE Awards, visit www.greetingcard.org.