About PGC

 

Pretty Good Cards is an independent, woman-owned line of unique greeting cards and other stationery items based in Valparaiso — the one in Indiana, not the one in Chile.



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What's in a Name?

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I named this brand Pretty Good Cards — PGC for short — as a nod to my Midwestern roots and a tribute to my late mother, Pam. Those were her initials. 

A portion of the proceeds from all sales is donated to the Maggie Daley Center for Women’s Cancer Care in memory of my mom, the original PGC.

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Sweet! Who the Hell Are You?




I'm Beth, and I'm an illustrator, poet, and former teacher. I'm also a full-time mom to a 5-year-old and a stepmom to a 19-year-old, which means I'm equally conversant in Wild Kratts and shitty SoundCloud rappers.

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I started PGC in the summer of 2020 for two main reasons.



 

Reason No. 1





I couldn’t find the cards I wanted anywhere! I wanted bold and fun and fast, and I found a lot of peaches and taupes and the same two fonts over and over and over and — OK, you get it.

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My likes and needs and sentiments didn't feel represented. I wanted cards for women like me who grew up with an encyclopedic knowledge of Masters of the Universe and dreams of NBA stardom, cards celebrating under-served pop culture communities that I adore, cards dudes would actually enjoy shopping for, cards for people who admire Rae Dunn’s business acumen but want to barf every time they see a kitchen sign reminding them to EAT.



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(What was I going to do in here, Rae? Play rugby? Plot a heist? Get confused, think I was in the LAUNDRY, and try to GATHER or WASH something? The absolute horror.)

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This is an incomplete list, and I have absolutely nothing against taupe. I just wanted more alternatives on the shelves — so I decided to start making them myself.

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Reason No. 2

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Making stuff is how I keep myself (moderately) sane in a world gone mad. I’m a self-taught illustrator who has drawn and painted her entire life. By degrees-on-the-wall training, I’m a poet and a developmental English instructor. Several of the best years of my life were spent producing sketch comedy shows in Chicago with four dudes I graduated from Second City with, and the first time my son drew a picture that took him several minutes to explain, in great detail, the sort of detail only a 5-year-old can muster, my heart almost exploded.

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In short, creativity lights me up, even if it means risking an aorta-stained coffee table. And I don't know about you, but things seem pretty effing dark lately.

 

So. Thank you for helping me have some fun, and thanks for helping this wife and mom and step-mom have something for herself. I hope I can help you bring a smile to somebody's face, and I hope you'll drive to my house, package me up in a rocket, and shoot me off into space if I ever say "help you bring a smile to somebody's face" again.

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Beth
Owner, Illustrator, recovering side ponytail wearer