GB2429429A

GB2429429A - Stationery pack with lipstick applicator

Info

Publication number: GB2429429A
Application number: GB0517533A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jacqueline Cowley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-08-27
Filing date: 2005-08-27
Publication date: 2007-02-28
Also published as: GB0517533D0

Abstract

A stationery pack 46 comprises one or more sheets of writing material 40 (for example in the form of a greetings card, a postcard or simply a sheet of handwriting paper) and a lipstick applicator 14 packaged together, such that, after unpackaging the sheet of writing material and the lipstick applicator, lipstick can be applied from the lipstick applicator to a person's lips and the person can then kiss the sheet of writing material to apply an image 34 of their lips to the sheet of writing material. This is visible through window 52 when the card is closed. A pen and an envelope 44 may be included in the pack.

Description

TITLE

Stationery packs

DESCRIPTION

This invention relates to a stationery pack that is a development of a conventional greetings card, postcard, writing pad or the like.

Greetings cards usually bear some sort of pre-printed picture and message. Before sending a greetings card, a sender quite often adds their own personalised message, usually (unless it is a Valentine's Day card) signs the card, and, depending on the recipient, sometimes adds one or more crosses to indicate kisses. It is also known for the sender, particularly if they normally wear lipstick, physically to kiss the card so that a lipstick image of their lips is applied to the card. This gives added impact and perhaps a sense of closeness when the card is subsequently opened by the recipient. Some women and most men and young children do not use or possess lipsticks, and many people who might like to add a lipstick kiss to a greetings card do not have a lipstick to hand at the time when they are writing the card.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a stationery pack comprising a sheet of writing material (for example in the form of a greetings card, a postcard or simply a sheet of handwriting paper) and a lipstick applicator packaged together, such that, after unpackaging the sheet of writing material and the lipstick applicator, lipstick can be applied from the lipstick applicator to a person's lips and the person can then kiss the sheet of writing material to apply an image of their lips to the sheet of writing material.

In the case where the sheet of writing material is in the form of a greetings card, it may bear a pre-printed message that refers to a kiss, such as, "A special kiss for you on your birthday." In the case where the greetings card has at least one fold, the greetings card may have a window in one leaf thereof and a distinctive area on another leaf thereof that is aligned with the window when the greetings card is folded. The person can therefore apply the image of their lips to the distinctive area, such that the image is visible through the window when the greetings card is folded. An envelope is preferably packaged with the greetings card and the lipstick applicator, the envelope being of a size suitable to receive the greetings card so that the card can be placed in the envelope after it has been written and kissed.

In the case where the sheet of writing material is in the form of a postcard, such as a picture postcard, it may also bear a pre-printed message that refers to a kiss, such as, "A special kiss from sunny Brighton." A plurality of such sheets of writing material may be packaged together with the applicator. A holidaymaker can therefore purchase a package of, say, ten seaside resort postcards, or a consumer may purchase a pack of, say ten Christmas cards, that contains a lipstick applicator containing sufficient lipstick to apply lipstick kisses to all ten postcards or Christmas cards. In the case where the sheet of writing material is in the form of a sheet of handwriting paper, it may be one of a plurality of such sheets of handwriting paper that are releasably bound together as a writing pad.

A plurality of such lipstick applicators may be packaged together with the sheet of writing material, the lipstick applicators having lipstick of different colours, so that lipstick of different colours can be applied to different persons' lips and the persons can then kiss the sheet of writing material to apply different coloured images of the different persons' lips to the sheet of writing material. Accordingly a family may compose, for example, a greetings card to a distant relative, with each member of the family applying a different coloured lipstick kiss to the card.

A writing implement may be packaged with the sheet of writing material and the lipstick applicator. This may be particularly useful in the case where the package includes a plurality of holiday postcards, because the package contains everything, apart from postage stamps, that the holidaymaker needs in order to compose their kissed holiday postcards.

The sheet of writing material and lipstick applicator are preferably packaged together by a wrapper that is at least partly transparent, so that the contents of the wrapper can be viewed before the wrapper is opened.

Specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described, purely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an isometric view of a packaged bundle of postcards (omitting to show any printing on the postcards) of a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is an isometric view of a lipstick applicator, in its opened condition, that is included in the package of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a view of the obverse of one of the postcards included in the package of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a view of the reverse of the postcard before it has been written; Figure 5 is a view of the reverse of the postcard after it has been written; Figure 6 is an isometric view of a packaged greetings card (omitting to show any printing on the greetings card) of a second embodiment of the invention; Figure 7 is a view of the front of the greetings card before it has been written; Figure 8 is a view of the inside of the greetings card before it has been written; Figure 9 is a view of the inside of the greetings card after it has been written; and Figure 10 is a view of the front of the greetings card after it has been written.

Referring to Figure 1, in the first embodiment of the invention, a bundle of ten picture postcards 10 is wrapped in a transparent plastics wrapper 12 (shown by dashed lines) together with a lipstick applicator 14 and a ball-point pen 16 to form a package 18. The ball-point pen 16 is a conventional short pen.

Referring to Figure 2, the lipstick applicator 14 comprises a moulded plastics handle 20 to which a short stick of vividly-coloured, non-kissproof lipstick 22 is attached, and a moulded plastics cap 24 that can be push-fitted onto the handle 20 so as to cover the lipstick 22. Because the lipstick applicator 14 is intended for no more than ten applications, it contains a smaller quantity of lipstick 22 that a regular lipstick applicator and does not need to be provided with an advancing and retracting mechanism like a regular lipstick applicator.

Referring to Figure 3, the obverse of each picture postcard 10 is printed with a picture 26, together with a message 28 that includes a reference to a kiss, in the example "A Special Kiss from Brighton." Referring to Figure 4, the reverse of each picture postcard 10 is conventional.

In use, the sender of a postcard can take one of the postcards 10, the pen 16 and the lipstick applicator 14 from the wrapper 12. They can then use the pen 16 to write a message 30 and the recipient's address 32 on the reverse of the postcard 10, as shown in Figure 5. They can then remove the cap 24 from the lipstick applicator 14 and use the applicator 14 to apply a layer of lipstick 22 to their lips. They can then kiss the reverse of the postcard 10 to apply a lipstick image 34 of their lips to the reverse of the postcard 10. They can then write and kiss another postcard 10, applying more lipstick 22 to their lips if necessary, or they can replace the cap 24 on the lipstick applicator 14 and return the applicator 14 and pen 16 to the package 18 ready for writing and kissing more of the postcards 10 at a later time.

Referring to Figure 6, in the second embodiment of the invention, a Valentine's greetings card 40 is wrapped in a transparent plastics wrapper 42 (shown by dashed lines) together with a lipstick applicator 14 and an envelope 44 to form a package 46. The lipstick applicator 14 is similar to that of the first embodiment. The envelope 44 is slightly larger than the greetings card 40, when folded, so that the greetings card 40 can be placed in the envelope 44 after the greetings card 40 has been written.

Referring to Figures 7 and 8, the greetings card 40 is folded into a front leaf 48 and a back leaf 50. The front leaf 48 has a rectangular window 52 cut out of it. The outside face of the front leaf 48 is printed with one of more pictures or drawings 54 and a message 56. The inside face of the back leaf 50 is also printed with a message 58, and the area 60 of the inside face of the back leaf 50 that aligns with the window 52 when the greetings card 40 is closed is delineated for example by a border or by different shading. One or both messages 56,58 include a reference to a kiss or to lips, in the example, "A Valentine's Kiss..." on the front leaf 48 and "Roses are red / My lips are too / I yearn for the moment / When they will kiss you" on the back leaf 50.

In use, the sender of the greetings card 40 can take the greetings card 40, the lipstick applicator 14 and the envelope 44 from the wrapper 42. They can then, if they wish, add their own personal message 62 to the greetings card 40, as shown in Figure 9. They can then remove the cap 24 from the lipstick applicator 14 and use the applicator 14 to apply a layer of lipstick 22 to their lips. They can then kiss the inside face of the back leaf 50 of the greetings card 40 in the area 60 to apply a lipstick image 34 of their lips to the area 60, as shown in Figure 9. Then, as shown in Figure 10, when the greetings card 40 is closed, the lipstick image 34 is visible through the window 52. The sender can then address the envelope 44 and place the greetings card 40 in the envelope 44. If desired, the sender can seal the envelope 44 with another lipstick image of their lips.

It will be appreciated that many modifications and developments may be made to the embodiments of the invention described above. For example, the window 52 may be omitted from the greetings card 40. A sound chip may be added to the greetings card 40. The invention is also applicable to sheets and pads of handwriting paper. Rather than being encapsulated with the writing material 10,48, the lipstick applicator 14 may be clipped, or otherwise releasably attached, to it.

It should be noted that the embodiments of the invention has been described above purely by way of example and that many other modifications and developments may be made thereto within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A stationery pack comprising a sheet of writing material and a lipstick applicator packaged together, such that, after unpackaging the sheet of writing material and the lipstick applicator, lipstick can be applied from the lipstick applicator to a person's lips and the person can then kiss the sheet of writing material to apply an image of their lips to the sheet of writing material.

2. A stationery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sheet of writing material is in the form of a greetings card.

3. A stationery pack as claimed in claim 2, wherein the greetings card has at least one fold.

4. A stationery pack as claimed in claim 3, wherein the greetings card has a window in one leaf thereof and a distinctive area on another leaf thereof that is aligned with the window when the greetings card is folded, whereby the person can apply the image of their lips to the distinctive area, such that the image is visible through the window when the greetings card is folded.

5. A stationery pack as claimed in any of claims 2 to 4, further including an envelope packaged together with the greetings card and the lipstick applicator, the envelope being of a size to receive the greetings card.

6. A stationery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sheet of writing material is in the form of a postcard.

7. A stationery pack as claimed in claim 6, wherein the postcard is a picture postcard.

8. A stationery pack as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sheet of writing material is in the form of a sheet of handwriting paper.

9. A stationery pack as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a plurality of such sheets of writing material are packaged together with the applicator.

10. A stationery pack as claimed in claim 9 when dependent on claim 8, wherein a plurality of such sheets of handwriting paper are releasably bound together as a writing pad.

11. A stationery pack as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a plurality of such lipstick applicators are packaged together with the sheet of writing material, the lipstick applicators having lipstick of different colours, so that lipstick of different colours can be applied to different persons' lips and the persons can then kiss the sheet of writing material to apply different coloured images of the different persons' lips to the sheet of writing material.

12. A stationery pack as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a writing implement is packaged together with the sheet of writing material and the lipstick applicator.

13. A stationery pack as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the sheet of writing material and lipstick applicator are packaged together by a wrapper that is at least partly transparent.

14. A stationery pack substantially as described with reference to the drawings.