A new chapter is usually ordinary when you are in it: boxes, a first lanyard, a kettle in the wrong kitchen. A good card notices that without pretending it is a wedding. On Ottermagic you upload a photo from the actual week, run Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap, preview until it looks like this address or this job, then print an A5 or send the e-card. Printed cards are 148×210mm folded, 330gsm gloss, envelope included, made to order in the UK, then posted with Royal Mail to UK addresses in around 3–5 working days or sent by airmail to US addresses in around 2–3 weeks. The e-card is a hi-res, watermark-free download after payment. Start at Ottermagic.com.
First Christmas in a new home is a December cousin: first Christmas together, new home, grandparents. A year in the same role is work anniversary cards. This page is the move, the keys, and the first week at the new desk.
Which occasion you mean
| Moment | What the front should show | Style / swap to try first |
|---|---|---|
| Housewarming | The people, or the door, or both | Style Swap of the moving-day photo; Brick and Pixel Art are unexpectedly good at buildings; Watercolour if you want it quieter |
| Moving house (the slog, not the party) | Dusty grins, the van, the cat in a carrier | Photobooth or Cartoon; Pet Swap if the animal did the hard miles |
| New job / first day | A face they will still have in six months, not a stock skyline | Style Swap portrait; Face Swap only if the scene is kind and they would laugh |
| Promotion, career change, “I finally left” | Them, looking like themselves | Sketch, Watercolour, Royal Portrait; skip office in-jokes they did not sign up for |
| New chapter without a tidy label | Whatever photo marks the week | Style Swap of that frame |
Text Swap can put a name and a short line on a designed front if every photo is a blur of brown paper. If you have one decent picture, use it.
Live styles: Brick, Chibi, Emoji, Anime, Watercolour, Caricature, Cartoon, Classic Cartoon, Action Figure, Clay 3D, Retro Halftone, Retro Game, Royal Portrait, Pixel Art, Bobblehead, Sticker Sheet, Tarot Card, Photobooth, Sketch, Lucky Leprechaun.
How to make the card
- Pick a photo they would still like in a year’s time. Moving-day chaos is allowed if they look happy in it. A grim fluorescent first-day ID photo is usually unkind.
- Upload it on Ottermagic.com.
- Try Style Swap for the whole scene. Try Pet Swap if the pet is the co-tenant. Try Face Swap if you have a clear head-and-shoulders and a scene that fits.
- Zoom the preview. New glasses, new hair, the face colleagues will actually meet.
- UK: printed A5 if you have around 3–5 working days, or the e-card. US: printed A5 if you have around 2–3 weeks, or the e-card.
Preview before you pay. Support: support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day). Checkout shows pounds in the UK shop and dollars in the US shop.
You can leave the inside blank and write the new address, the job title, or nothing but “we are glad you did this.” A printed message is fine if the card goes straight to them.
Housewarming and moving
Housewarming cards fail when they could be for any new-build show home. The useful pictures are local: coats in a hallway, a slightly too-small table, the street number, the dog claiming the sofa on day one.
Brick and Pixel Art treat a façade like a toy you are allowed to keep. Watercolour and Sketch suit a calmer “you live here now” portrait in the window. Photobooth if the only good photo is the two of you on the step, dusty and pleased.
If they have not unpacked, send the e-card so it arrives while the kettle still feels ceremonial. If there is a UK letterbox and a party on Saturday week, printed A5 with the envelope in the pack is the object people put on the mantel between the bottles.
A poster or canvas of the same artwork is a housewarming gift in its own right. Check Ottermagic.com for current sizes. The A5 can go in the same week as a smaller thanks.
Pets who moved: Pet Swap. Pets who stayed with a parent for a fortnight: still Pet Swap, with a line inside about the reunion.
New job
Keep it human. Work cards go wrong when they tease a person who never agreed to be the office joke. Action Figure and Bobblehead can be affectionate in a small team that already talks like that. They can be mortifying in a first week.
Safer defaults: Sketch, Watercolour, Classic Cartoon, Photobooth. Royal Portrait if they would enjoy a little ceremony about the new title. Caricature only if you would say the same joke to their face.
Do not put salary, employer gossip, or a lanyard barcode on the front. Congratulations on the fact of the job. The inside can name the role if they are proud of it.
If they start on Monday and you thought of this on Friday, take the e-card. Printed A5 needs the working-day window.
Leaving dos and team thank-yous are a different pile: bulk, corporate, leaving and team thank-you cards.
Photos that behave
Daylight, faces large, not too much cardboard behind the head unless cardboard is the joke. Group shots of a whole house-share work on Style Swap when every face is readable. For Face Swap, crop to the person the card is for.
A picture of the empty room can be beautiful and still fail as a greeting card, because greeting cards are for people. Put someone (or the pet) in the frame.
More craft: how to choose a photo.
Print, e-card, wall
| Path | When | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Printed A5 | UK address ( | 148×210mm folded, 330gsm gloss, envelope, blank inside or printed message, recyclable stock, water-based inks, Royal Mail (UK) or airmail (US) |
| E-card | New city, new country, or the date is too close for post | Hi-res, watermark-free download |
| Poster or canvas | The portrait should stay when the boxes go | Available; live details on Ottermagic.com |
Printed cards go to UK addresses with Royal Mail and to US addresses by airmail. For family in another country, the e-card reaches them the moment you pay. See personalised cards for family abroad.
Ready when you are
Mark the move or the job with a likeness, not a stock skyline. Upload a photo from this chapter, run Style Swap, Face Swap, or Pet Swap, and keep the preview. In the UK, print A5 330gsm gloss with an envelope, or look at posters and canvas; in the US, the same A5 goes by airmail. If they have already changed postcode, take the e-card. Start at Ottermagic.com. Support: support@ottermagic.com (reply within one working day).
FAQ
What do you write in a housewarming card?
A short, specific line beats a paragraph about “new beginnings.” Mention the street, the pet, the fact they cooked in a box. The front is the photo-to-art. The inside can stay ordinary.
Can I put the new house on the card without people?
You can try Style Swap on a clear photo of the door. Most recipients still prefer a face in the frame. Brick and Pixel Art help buildings.
Is a new-job Face Swap appropriate at work?
Only if they like being looked at, and the scene is kind. When in doubt, Style Swap in Sketch or Watercolour, or Text Swap with their name.
We moved countries. How do we get a card to the new address?
The e-card reaches the new address the moment you pay, whichever country it is in. If you moved to the US, the US shop sends printed A5 cards to US addresses by airmail in around 2–3 weeks; UK addresses get Royal Mail in around 3–5 working days. For printed delivery to another country, email support@ottermagic.com.
Can the same design be a housewarming print on the wall?
Yes. Posters and canvas are available from the same artwork. Check Ottermagic.com for live fulfilment.
