Gabriel Wilkerson, 6, records a Mother's Day greeting for his mother during the Hallmark Cards' Military Support Day on Tuesday at Fort Bliss, Texas. Gabriel's father, Spc. Samuel Wilkerson, is stationed in Qatar.

Kansas City, Mo. ? Looking to follow up on the success of its greeting cards that play music and sound clips, Hallmark Cards Inc., is letting customers get into the act.

On Monday, in time for Mother’s Day, the nation’s largest greeting card seller is releasing a line of recordable cards that allow the sender to save a 10-second message on a computer chip embedded in the card, followed by a 15-second snippet of music.

As part of the release, Hallmark is focusing on mothers deployed overseas with the military. The company plans to travel to five U.S. military bases – the first visit was Tuesday at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas – and allow the children of military personnel to record greeting cards, which Hallmark will then mail overseas in time for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

“It’s an emotional value,” said Sarah Gronberg, publicity manager for the Kansas City, Mo.-based company. “We found the strongest reaction from parents. When they see this sort of thing exists, it (resonates) because if you can capture your kid’s voice when they’re little or when they’re not around you, that’s when you see the largest emotional connection.”

The cards, which sell for $5.99 each, use a voice prompt to instruct users to press and hold a button inside the card and record a message, which is then followed by the music.

Once the senders are satisfied with the message, they tear out a paper insert to lock it into the sound chip’s memory. As long as the insert remains in the card, the message will be erased when the card closes and can be rerecorded.

Andre du Broc, an editorial director for the line, said that feature prevents card store shoppers from leaving “inappropriate” messages on the cards before they’re purchased.

The card’s battery has enough power for 220 plays, he said, and the card can be rerecorded multiple times.