All About Barley Cards
Why did I start Barley Cards?
The answer is simple – my Mom made me.
Barley Cards began years ago when I got tired of spending hours in a store looking for the perfect card. Finally, one Mother’s Day, I made my own card using a photo of our rescue Golden Retriever named Barley. I plopped a cute photo into Power Point, added a funny caption, and mailed it off to my Mom. It was a hit, so I kept ’em coming.
Mom saved every single card. She even took her favorites and made copies of them, and sent them to her friends. She told me often that I needed to sell what we started to call “Barley Cards”. Finally, during a marathon pandemic phone call with her good friend Peggy, they decided that the world needed a big dose of Barley. I thought so too.
Why rescues?
Because they need us, and we need them.
Barley was a scared thing when we first met him. He was afraid of cars, car rides, bicycles, the vacuum, and most people. Otis, our first rescue, had been tied to a clothesline and disliked most other dogs. Jasper came to us medicated for behavior, but loves people (and their clothing accessories) so much that we have to warn people that he likes to steal things.
None of them were perfect, but all were completely lovable. All of them had issues, but love could make it better. All of our rescues loved us unconditionally, and that’s more than you can say for most humans. I’m a better human for having this reminder around me every day.
The Humans
De is the founder and Chief Nutty Officer of Barley Cards. She is an engineer who likes to think she is creative and artistic. She has a business building websites too. She is Mommy to models Jasper, Barley, and Otis. When she’s not designing new Barley Cards or building websites, you can generally find her in the mountains, on the water, with a dog, playing in the garden, doing Tai Chi, and maybe several at the same time.
Dan is Puppy-Daddy to in-house model Jasper, and to Barley and Otis while they were still with us. He is the Chief Dog Spoiling Officer in the house – any bad habits they have can generally be traced back to his shenanigans. Dan works at NCSU with bugs and crops, but spends most of his off hours teaching Jasper new adorable tricks, on a tractor at the mountain house, dreaming about tractors, or enjoying fine porters and stouts with friends.
While Grand Dog Daddy Dave cheers us on in spirit, Grand Dog Momma Jane has many roles, most importantly spoiling the grand dogs as much as possible. She not only had the original idea of starting Barley Cards, she serves as Head of Marketing Research, always on the lookout for new ideas and ways to improve the business (more Birthday cards!) She loves to play bridge, go on adventures with friends, and she makes a mean daquiri.