Elisa Goodman started her Greeting Card company in January of 2001 as a little side business after her husband Ken left his career as an attorney and became a librarian.   Elisa’s 20 yr. career as a Casting Director for independent films and television also began to shift as Reality TV and more out-of-the-country productions helped drive her specialized area of casting into the ground.

As a solo-entrepreneur, Elisa has single-handedly created a business that has reached people around the globe.  She designs Custom Greeting ART Cards for Museum Exhibitions, specialty gift
stores as well as individual requests, using the gorgeous ART & Topics from Postage Stamps around the world, embellishing them with wonderful upholstery fabrics and exquisite papers making a unique and original handmade card or gift which can also be framed.  She is known for taking unusual topics and creating the “PERFECT” card for family & friends.

Coming from a long line of Curmudgeons, her company is named after her late father, Hal Goodman, the Emmy-Winning comedy writer, who passed away from Prostate & bone Cancer in September of 1997. Elisa thought the name was appropriate and funny, and since she inherited some of his wit and curmudgeonly nature, wanted to use the name as a kind of homage. She didn’t know anything about Branding at that time and hadn’t really settled into the kind of greeting cards she would come to be known for.  So, for now her alter-ego is known as:

THE ARTY CURMUDGEON!

Many people think the name is memorable and appealing so she’s keeping it. However, the head cheerleader of the Curmudgeon Fan Club is her mom Natalie who is definitely NOT a Curmudgeon! She is a constant source of information & support who scouts the New
York Times, checking out exhibitis where Elisa's cards might fit, as well as acting as her IVP (‘invisible card pimp’). She goes into stores, checking stock, directing customer’s anonymously her cards...She's amazing...and available for hire! You may see her at some of Elisa's Art Shows around Southern California. She's beautiful, incredibly hip and well-dressed at a spry 86!

7th Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary Definition:

Describes a Curmudgeon as a:
“grasping, avaricious man; miser or
(2): an irascible often old man 

That sounds really bad and does not adequately describe her dad so…

Here’s our definition of a Curmudgeon:

Lovable but crusty!  Someone who is a bit hard to get to know, has to “let you into their world”. If you are too clingy, needy, touchy-feely we just don’t respond well!  However, once we decide You’re In and you’ve proven you can handle our sarcasm and moods….well, then ALL IS GOOD!  Sense of humor is key!

Famous Curmdgeons include: 

George Carlin, Ed Asner, Andy Rooney, Lewis Black, & Rosie O’Donnell

TESTIMONIAL:

"As an educator & writer, there are times when I need cards to really impress someone -- mostly as an expression of gratitude. There are no other cards that do that with such style. They look deceptively simple (they're not) and elegant (they most certainly are) and without a doubt, pack a wallop. I generally prefer cards that feature classic American writers -- Robert Penn Warren, Nathanial Hawthorne, Herman Melville, F. Scott Fitzgerald & Tennessee Williams, among others. But her design for some Jane Austen cards so wowed me that I bought as many as I could afford. I suspect such a reaction is typical. The most difficult task for any prospect buyer might face would be choosing so many of Elisa's dazzling possibilities".

Jim Macak, Screenwriter & Teacher
Los Angeles & Boston (Emerson College)

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To Note: Elisa is a co-contributor in the book called: "INSPIRATION TO REALIZATION" Real Women Reveal Proven Strategies for Business, Personal, Spiritual & Financial Fulfillment, compiled by Christine Kloser. This uplifting book has stories by (41) members of the group NEW ENTREPRENEURS (the Network for Empowering Women Entrepreneurs) sharing their entrepreneurial successes and how they manifest their life's calling into a successful way of living! Elisa's chapter is called: "How to Stay in Your Pajamas All Day... and Still Run a Business." (Which she gets to do as a greeting card designer!).

If you'd like to get a copy of the book for personal, birthday or holiday gift giving , please click the "buy now" button below to pay via PayPal:

To order via check or money order, send an e-mail to her at: curmudgeoncards @earthlink.net or call toll-free: 877-395-2044. The cost of the book will be $19.95 (+ $1.64 tax & shipping = $25 (U.S).

Elisa currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband Ken their amazing 15 yr. old conure (bird), Hightop!

For more information on purchasing and for contact information of current stores that carry her cards, please go to the contact/purchase page