Snotes Ideas & Successes

Snotes

Create Your Own Secret Message Birthday Cards, PostCards & Gifts

Login/Enter
Español

MENU

Spies and Secret Messaging

By

spy1The very idea of “spies” conjures up sleek daredevils ready to jump from a plane at any given moment or masterminds creating innovative spy technologies used to listen in on an enemy’s secret conversations.

Movie spies like James Bond have plenty of interesting spy gadgets at their disposal. Spy gadgets are not just the things of movies; some such gadgets actually did (and do) exist! Let’s take a look back and find out some old school tools spies used to gather intel and send their own secret messages.

Lipstick Pistol: Used in the 1960s by the KGB, these lipstick cases delivered a “kiss of death.” The case contained a 4.5mm single shot weapon. Sure to help any lady spy find a quick way to deliver some real lip service.

More Ways to Pack a Pistol: Packing hidden heat came in many other interesting forms including gloves, tobacco pipes, and mobile phones.

Spy-Coins: Not a form of payment accepted only by spies, instead spy-coins provided an ingenious way to send secret messages, hold suicide poisons and transfer microfilms.

Transmitter Shoes: Get Smart fans will immediately think of Maxwell Smart’s shoe phone, but transmitters in shoes were a real “heel” deal. A conversation could be transmitted to a monitoring station, leaving the shoe-wearing spy to walk all over his enemies.

Spy Umbrella: It’s sure to be a rainy day for the target that meets up with this umbrella. AKA the Bulgarian Umbrella, the shaft of the umbrella was modified to deliver poison via a tiny pellet. One was used to assassinate Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian dissident.

Enigma Cipher Machine: Invented by the Germans, the Enigma Cipher Machine was essentially used to create secret messages through letter substitution; another letter would be substituted as each letter was typed – the one who knew the deciphering code could retrieve the resulting message, leaving the rest to only imagine.

During World War II, and quite possibly the event that finally helped to end the war, the Enigma Code was cracked by a mathematician named Alan Turing. You can get your own taste of creating coded messages – then challenge your friends to crack the code.

A Snotes Premium Account provides users with themed animations that offer a special twist – your Snote message will be automatically scrambled so that the individual you’re sending it to will have to type in the letters shown on each line and use our Secret Decoder to unscramble it for them! Get started creating your own secret messages today!

Snotes are Secret Notes                   

By

snotesSecrets are intriguing; from celebrity beauty secrets to hidden messages in famous pieces of artwork, we love to learn about secrets. The internet is filled with revealing secrets found in logos, nature, songs and more. Let’s take a look!

Logos: You may know that Amazon has everything from A – Z, but did you notice that their logo actually spells it out for us? Have you ever noticed the arrow in the FedEx logo? There’s some rather ingenious design in the logos we see everyday. See the thought behind these two and learn about many others here.

Ads: For decades, advertisers have worked to capture our attention. But have they also attempted to make impressions that dig a bit deeper into our psyche? Check out these ads.

Songs: Some of those beloved tunes may not be about what they seem to be on the surface. We leave you to be the judge. While you’re at it, here are a few more.

Movies and TV Shows: What we watch on both the big and small screens are often filled with a variety of secret messages. The hidden messages may be to show gratitude, share an inside joke, or just be plain fun. The practice has been around for a long time, even the infamous Alfred Hitchcock is said to have taken a part in it. Also, check out a few more of these secret messages hidden in the background.

Artwork: Secret messages have even shown up in some of our most treasured pieces of art like the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, the Sistine Chapel and more.

Social Media: Facebook has a secret message folder – you could be receiving messages and have no idea. This folder is meant to keep spam at bay, but you may want to take a peek; you never know if someone you wish to connect with has sent along a message. Some other social media sites have a few secrets of their own as well.

Remember Magic Eye? Intrigued by Optical Illusions? Did you love finding the hidden objects in Highlights? If so, then you’ll love Snotes!

Snotes stands for “Secret Notes”. At first glance, a Snote looks like some form of art, but in reality it is a secret message where the “art” is actually an interesting configuration of letters. In order to read the secret message, you’ll need to be shown. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to learn.

Create some Snotes today and have fun sharing your secret messages with friends and family! Who knows, you might figure a way to use them to create your own da Vinci code.

Happy Mother’s Day from Snotes!

By

IMG_4780Throughout history we have celebrated mothers. Anna Jarvis, who in 1908 held a memorial ceremony in honor of her own mother as well as all mothers, created the holiday. She wrote numerous letters to businesses, various churches and politicians to promote the day. Her efforts led people in the United States to begin to recognize Mother’s Day, and the celebration spread to other countries. In 1914, Woodrow Wilson made it official and declared the second Sunday of May as Mother’s Day in the USA.

Mothers nurture us, teach us, feed us, clean up after us, fund our fun and education, and put us before themselves. They ask for little in return. Moms tend to see your happiness and well-being as payment for all their hard work. Of course, they deserve at least one day of recognition, and this year we will do so on May 8, 2016.

So how will you celebrate your mother this year?

In the USA we make mom breakfast in bed or take her to brunch. Many times there are flowers, if not jewelry involved. Mom is to do no work on this day. Other countries, like France for example, celebrate Mother’s Day in much the same way.

In Mexico, Mother’s Day is serious business. It is by far the busiest day of the year for restaurants. The day is filled with great food, much celebration, flowers (an absolute must) and music by way of serenading mariachis.

Brazilians will tell you that Mother’s Day is second only to Christmas when it comes to gifts, church gatherings, and performances. Moms can expect a fabulous barbecue in their honor on this day.

In Japan, moms are given carnations, which represent the gentle strength of mothers. Children will typically create a drawing for mom; several areas even hold art contests. Of course, kids do the chores for the day, leaving mom to rest and relax.

Australians also present carnations to mom. Mother’s Day in Australia is also a day for raising funds for women’s causes.

Ethiopians celebrate mothers as part of a three-day festival, which celebrates clear skies after the rainy season. Daughters traditionally gift mom with vegetables, butter, spices and cheese, while sons bring meat.

In Serbia, lots of rope sales take place in December, which is also when the holidays of Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Children’s Day are celebrated. Children are tied up and must agree to behave before being let loose on Children’s Day. Next it’s mom’s turn; on her day she is tied up and must supply treats and gifts to the children before being untied. Dads are also tied up on their day and not set free until they provide Christmas gifts to their family.

No matter your way of celebrating Mom, a few loving words from you, and crafted into a colorful and animated Snote, is a great way to celebrate and honor her.

With a Snotes Premium account, you can create and print your own customized greeting card with a true message from the heart. Or you could get really creative and print out all kinds of Snotes to Mom – leaving them taped to the refrigerator, at the kitchen table, on top of the washer or dryer or delivered on a tray when you serve her breakfast in bed – all with the message of no cooking, no cleaning, no washing or drying – today all you do is get loved.

The wonderful thing about Snotes is that we supply the canvas and leave you to come up with more creative, unexpected ways to surprise Mom and to let her know again and again just how much she means to you.

Learn how easy it is to make a Snote, and send along your love to mom today!

Welcome to April!

By

earth+day+2016April showers bring May flowers, but with Snotes you can bring flowers any time of year. Our animations include flowers with butterflies, fairies, dragonflies and humming birds. Help your friends welcome in this lovely month of spring by sending them a Snote. Remind them they are a breath of fresh air, that they put a spring in your step and that being with them is like walking on sunshine.

April also brings Earth Day on April 22. As the stewards of this planet, we certainly need at least one day to tip our hat, take a bow and go outside to be with our home and thank the earth for providing us with everything we need to be happy, healthy and wise.

Snotes animation themes provide you with several ways to share your celebration of earth; a view of our lovely blue planet from space or several themes that feature natural scenes and earth’s amazing animals. We also have animations depicting some of earth’s popular places to visit; New York, London, China, Paris, Egypt, San Francisco and Snote’s own hometown of St. Louis. Plus, since Snotes are created and can be delivered digitally, you will not need paper resources or transportation. Look at you – reducing your carbon footprint – way to go!

Here are some other ideas on how to celebrate Earth Day:

  • Step up your recycling program with these apps.
  • Plant a tree! Trees for the Earth is the theme for Earth Day 2016.
  • Vow to give up bottled water; fill and carry your own water with you.
  • Remember to turn off the lights when you leave a room.
  • Don’t leave the faucet running when brushing teeth and fix leaky faucets.
  • Attend an Earth Day Fair.
  • Buy local as much as possible.
  • Choose to pay bills the paperless way.
  • Organize a community cleanup.

Just a few easy ways to go green and celebrate our Earth!

Educated Guests

By

smartOur Snotes team celebrates each new person that signs up for a Snotes account. Recently, we were flooded with new sign-ups! Of course, our curiosity was peaked; we had to know where all this sudden attention was coming from. Imagine our excitement when we found out that the new account holders were made up of teachers and educators!

From its inception, Snotes has always included an educational component. One of our first major developments was Snotes Quotes; a fast action trivia game app where the quicker the player can read and answer the author of the quote, the higher their score. One of our more recent developments is SmartSnotes; an innovative way of incorporating Snotes into the class curriculum, in the form of flash cards, game cards or through online or mobile learning apps that could be spin-offs of our Snotes Quotes game. SmartSnotes are still in the concept stage, in need of a licensing partner. Educators, a school system or a curriculum development company would be ideal for this opportunity.

But, one step at a time! To suddenly be the “talk of the town” amongst teachers thrilled us. We came to learn that during a recent GAFE (Google Apps For Education) conference, Snotes had been introduced at one of the breakout sessions, which was presented by Breakout EDU. Breakout EDU uses keys, locks and secret codes to help students complete their tasks, which in turn teaches critical thinking, teamwork, and complex problem solving. A number of educators are part of Breakout EDU’s very active Facebook Group as well; when one of its members posted a link to the Snote they created, several signed up for Snotes right away. Between Snotes being talked up at the GAFE conference and shared on social media, we became quite popular!

The educators involved with GAFE and Breakout EDU are clearly committed to pioneering new and creative ways to capture and keep their students attention, while simultaneously imparting valuable skills. Snotes being considered a great tool for education is just another reason to celebrate. We greatly value educators; it sure is wonderful to be valued by them. We eagerly look forward to what’s next.

Snotes Patty’s Day

By

snotes patty day blogHappy St. Patty’s Day to you! Today we celebrate the Irish and the Irish at heart. There will be parades, dancing, corned beef, cabbage, shepherd’s pie, Irish soda bread and a whole lot of green. In all that green you are sure to see some of the more traditional symbols of the day:

• Shamrocks are three-leafed clovers native to Ireland. Legend has it that St. Patrick used shamrocks to illustrate the doctrine of Trinity; today many people consider shamrocks a symbol of good luck.
• Leprechaun literally means “little body.” A leprechaun is an Irish fairy and is usually dressed like a shoemaker donning a crooked hat and a leather apron. It is said that the leprechaun knows where the pot o’ gold is hidden.
• Green is the color of the day. The original color was blue, but in the 19th century green became the color of Ireland due to its beautiful green landscape.
• The Harp is an ancient musical instrument. The instrument appears on Irish coins, the presidential flag, state seals, uniforms and official documents.
• The Celtic Cross is a combination of the Christian cross and a sun; the sun being a powerful Irish symbol. St. Patrick created the cross during his time in Ireland when he was converting the Irish to Christianity. It is said that his success in conversion was due to the fact that he did not ask the Irish to shun their old beliefs (i.e sun symbol), but instead combine them with the new beliefs (i.e., Christian cross).
• Erin Go Bragh, though not necessarily a symbol, is a common St. Patty’s Day phrase seen on t-shirts, buttons and other memorabilia of the day. The phrase is translated as “Ireland Forever,” and is a way to express an allegiance to the country.

On this day, Irish eyes are sure to be smiling! Our questions for you are; who makes you smile? Who brings you luck? Who deserves a greeting from you today? This special person certainly deserves a top o’ the mornin’ or Happy St. Patty’s Day greeting from you. Share that greeting in a Snote! When you share a Snote, you share yourself; do so with the one that brings you luck.

Spring Break will be here soon

By

spring (1)Soon schools will be on break. Whether your family is staying in town or traveling, the kids will require entertainment. Electronic devices definitely have the power to keep boredom at bay, but we know that parents are always on the lookout for games that not only entertain, but also require kids to use their brain – maybe even learn something new. With that in mind, here are some ideas for you!

Snotes Quotes: This free game can be downloaded from iTunes or Google Play. In Snotes Quotes there is a hidden message, which is read by rotating the Snote counter-clockwise. Each message features a famous quote and challenges players to guess the author. Guess quickly and correctly to earn top points; challenge friends to beat high scores. Included is an online leaderboard, where the top competitors vie for the top spots. Those that master the game will surely wish to share their scores on Facebook and Twitter!

Snotes Messenger App: What kid doesn’t enjoy sharing secrets? This is yet another free offering that can be found on iTunes or Google Play. The Snotes Messenger App provides kids with a fast and fun mobile conversation! Participants type in their message and then choose a color scheme; a unique Snote is then created right before their eyes. The Snote can then be sent to a friend via Facebook, Messenger, Twitter, Email – or even better app to app – get your friends to download the app and become their Snote friend as well. Once the friend receives their secret message Snote, it can then be manipulated in order to discover the secret message hidden within. Now it’s their turn to make their own secret message and send one right back.

Snotes On-Line Generator: Via a laptop or tablet, kids can take Snotes to a whole new level of design at Snotes.com. Choose from several different animated backgrounds, shapes, fonts, colors and more; there truly is something for everyone. Snotes are easy to create and share and so much fun for the recipient to read! This quick tutorial is a great place to start. Snotes offers free accounts, fans will surely wish to upgrade to a premium account, for a one-time charge of only $1.99. A premium account provides even more artistic flexibility, offering dozens more animations, colors and the ability to make Snote reading even more challenging by scrambling the message or using our Secret Decoder.

The possibilities are endless. We made Snotes fun and easy, so you can make them secret and special!

So Much to Celebrate       

By

celebrateIt seems we’ve gone crazy with days to celebrate! Just this month alone we saw National Thank a Mail Carrier Day (February 4th), National Send a Card to a Friend Day (February 7th), even National Gumdrop Day (February 15th). It may seem that our celebrating has become a bit out of control, but really, it’s so fun to have something to celebrate each and every day. It also provides a perfect reason to touch base with someone and send along an e-card!

At Snotes, we make it easy to create e-cards in minutes. We provide you with a unique, fun and interesting platform from which to launch your own personalized e-cards. We offer you a free account, giving you the opportunity to play around with Snotes and see how fun it is to create and share custom messages!

The free account includes colorful animated backgrounds, shapes, fonts and colors, so you can pick those that best illustrate and/or enhance your message. Once you have created your Snote, you have the option to send it along to the recipient via email, text, Facebook or Twitter. The first time you send along a Snote, you may also wish to share this video, which shows how to Read a Snote. For a one-time cost of $1.99, you can graduate to a Premium Account, quadrupling your choices in colors, animations and more.

Before you know it, you’ll be sending along greetings every day! If you’re not sure what to celebrate, check out the National Day Calendar, which lists a plenitude of national daily and monthly celebrations. Did you know you can even register your own National Day? Check it out and do so here.

Even without National Days, there truly is something to celebrate each day. Celebrate love, friendship, joy or grace. Celebrate snow, rain, sunshine or blue skies. Celebrate vacation, work accomplishments, new starts and traditional ways. Whatever you wish to celebrate you can do so with a Snote. It’s all right at your fingertips, so try it out today!

A Message from the Heart

By

heartsEven though the history of St. Valentine’s Day and its patron saint are shrouded in mystery, what we do know is that it is a day to be celebrated with the one you love. Many will purchase buy chocolates and flowers and the like, but the most cherished and memorable part of the day may just be in the message you send to your Valentine.

We suggest you think outside the heart-shaped box and surprise your sweetheart heart-felt message delivered in a Snote. Your message can profess your undying love, or be flirty or just plain fun. If you are planning to make reservations at a special restaurant for a Valentine’s Day feast, or perhaps you’ve decided to don a chef’s hat and cook up a romantic dinner, send an invitation via Snote.

Our free accounts include one animated romantic theme for your February 14th love note. Premium account holders can choose from eight romantic themes – not to mention several font choices and shapes, as well as dozens of colors – let your creative side go wild.

Even though creating a Snote is easy, your Valentine will find your Snote message especially meaningful. First of all, Snotes are definitely unique; second, you will want to take some time to craft a message that truly speaks from your heart. Check out these the ideas we’ve found for you:

  • Add a love quote to your Snote.
  • Find wonderful Valentine messages here.
  • Check out these fun sayings – many of which could be used with one of our dozens of animated themes that go outside of the romantic themes.
  • This page shares fun rhymes for your Valentine.
  • Most Snotes are 4 lines long, here is a page dedicated to 4 line verses.

Also, be sure to take a peek at our Pinterest page, where we share all kinds of Valentine ideas for every taste.

Fleur de Lis Group/Snotes is excited to announce our new partner, Regiolatina

By

Monterrey, Mexico1Fleur de Lis Group (FDL) has appointed Regiolatina as its exclusive agent for marketing Snotes products in the country of Mexico. Regiolatina is based in the city of Monterrey which is considered to be a top tech center for the country.   Many of Mexico’s largest companies are based in Monterrey because of its strong emerging technology presence, active entrepreneurial spirit, a vibrant cultural scene, and it is home to several universities.

Last June (2015), Snotes participated in the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. The expo is designed to connect “the world’s most influential entertainment, character, fashion, art and corporate brand owners and agents with consumer goods manufacturers, licensees and retailers.” It’s a global marketplace where positive strategic partnerships are built, creating a win-win for all involved.

While there, top representatives from Regiolatina visited our booth. They were immediately captivated by Snotes and could envision the endless possibilities. The potential for Snotes is truly endless! They are perfect for businesses looking to gain attention and exposure, and can be used on coupons, direct mail pieces, website traffic drivers, and in-store promotions. Due to their artistic and appealing design, Snotes make wonderful jewelry pieces and add charm to wedding items, games, monogrammed gifts and more. We even have SmartSnotes, which take Snotes directly into the classroom for use on educational flash cards and learning apps. Snotes gets an A+ in capturing and keeping students’ attention, providing them with a new way to engage in the learning process.

Regiolatina’s intention is to explore licensing opportunities with Mexican companies. We are confident that this alliance will open Snotes to new prospects, and in turn, to a whole new audience. We already have plans to translate our current website into Spanish, so that we may appropriately represent our new community.

Our management team is very enthusiastic about this venture. We have met with senior members of Regiolatina and are extremely impressed with their track record and their ability to find and create beneficial licensing agreements. They are a confident and knowledgeable group. It’s a partnership with great potential.

Contact Us