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Age Birthday Cards – More Added

Age birthday cards

Milestone ages are always a big deal and so I’ve found that my age birthday cards are pretty popular. A while ago I did a round up of some of them here: Milestone Age Cards.

Since then I’ve created some more age birthday cards from some of my other general birthday cards too. Generally if someone is heading into a new decade, people tend to want to give a card that marks the occasion with the age on it. So I’ve started working through my existing birthday card designs to find ones that are suitable for age milestones too.

I’m planning to carry on adding the option to as many of my existing birthday card designs as are suited to it. It’ll be a gradual process, but I really think people like to have the option – what do you think?

If there is a specific card you have your eye on for someone special’s upcoming milestone birthday, let me know. I’ll push it to the front of the queue for you…

Send your suggestions via my contact form or drop me a message on Instagram or Facebook. I can’t wait to hear your suggestions 😃

Meantime here are some of the ones you can already buy in my shop. Just click on the title or image to go straight there.

Beer Hoppy Age Birthday Cards

These are based on my original Beer Hoppy Birthday Card and are now available for age milestones from 18 up to 90 years old.

Beer Hoppy Age Birthday Card

Be-Gin the Celebrations Cards

Another card from my Thirsty Business Collection that is also now available from ages 18 to 90.

Be-Gin the Celebrations Age Cards

Bunch of Flowers Milestone Age Cards

Another design that works really well for a range of ages and now comes in milestone ages from 18 up to 90 years old.

Bunch of Flowers Milestone Age Card
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Wholesale Greeting Cards

Wholesale greeting cards order being packaged up

Last week I received a couple of wholesale greeting cards orders and decided to record some of the process to share with you here on my blog. I’ve also added a new Wholesale page on my website so it’s easier to get in touch if you’re looking to buy wholesale from me.

Processing Wholesale Orders

Printing the cards

When I get bulk orders I sometimes outsource the printing to a local printer, but also sometimes print them myself if I have enough time and the orders aren’t too big. The card stock quality is exactly the same either way – lovely thick 350 gsm card stock.

Here’s a clip of my printer working on a wholesale order. It’s speeded up so you don’t die of boredom watching it as it can take a while 😁

Folding greeting cards

Whether I print the cards myself or outsource the printing, every card is then hand folded by me using my bone folder tool. Here’s another speeded up clip to show you. If only I could really fold cards this quickly 🤣

By the way, if you like watching these types of process videos, come follow me on Instagram. I often post reels like these showing what goes on behind the scenes.

Packaging the cards

Once all the cards are folded each one needs to be paired with an envelope and put into a display bag.

I only use biodegradable/compostable display bags to keep my packaging as plastic free as possible. And for retailers who prefer not to have any bags at all I can package them in belly bands instead.

They’re then ready to be put into a box and shipped off to the retailer. I find it really exciting to think of my greeting cards finding their way into various shops and online stores that I might never even have seen before 😃

Interested in my wholesale greeting cards?

If you’re interested in stocking my greeting cards in your own shop, you can head to my Wholesale page to find out more or to get in touch.

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Highs & lows of running a greeting card business

Rollercoaster - the highs and lows of running a greeting card business

I love running a greeting card business! There are so many different aspects to it, from drawing and creating the card designs to learning about SEO and marketing, and from managing a website and other selling platforms to getting the orders from each printed, packed and posted off as quickly as possible.

It’s not all fun and games though, so I thought I’d share a bit about the highs and lows of running a greeting card business, particularly a one man band business like mine.

The good, the bad and the ugly of running a greeting card business

The Good

It’s terrific to be able to do something creative and have other people like my creations enough to buy them. Coming up with new ideas, drawing the illustrations and then making them into card designs really is fun. I get to draw whatever I like, come up with silly puns to match and then see my cards in physical form when they’re printed.

And every single time I get an order I still feel that little buzz of excitement. Also, (insider info alert) both the WooCommerce and Etsy apps make a little cha-ching sound every time an order comes in – how fun is that?! It’s great when I’m sitting at the pub, out for a run or watching telly (not even working) and I hear that sound 😁

Another good thing is all the stationery, gadgets and tools I can justify buying for my business 🤣. Lovely card stock and sticker paper to drool over, my iPad and Apple pencil and my shipping label printer are just a few of the things I’ve been able to buy. They all make my business better and/or more efficient so I don’t have to feel guilty for splurging on them!

I also love it when I get great feedback from customers, whether it’s for existing cards or for custom cartoon designs. I often get to hear the back story when I’m creating cartoon portraits – who the card is for and why. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to know that that so many people out there love each other enough to go to the trouble of ordering such a personal card or gift 🥰

And one of the best things about my greeting card business is the lovely people I’ve met through it. I have some very lovely loyal customers who come back again and again (you guys are the best!) And I’m also part of a group of greeting card businesses owners. We cheer each other on, celebrate each other’s successes and help each other through the tougher times. I’ve never met any of them face to face but now think of some of them as very real friends. After all, friendship is knowing that you’ll be there for each other through both good times and bad…

The Bad

Although most of it is fun, there are still some aspects to running my greeting card business that aren’t. There are some very monotonous tasks involved in getting my products listed on my website, Etsy or wholesale platforms.

Bored Over It GIF by CBC - Find & Share on GIPHY

Trying to come up with an original description for each product (which has to be different on different platforms too), creating mockups of the card designs and uploading those, and filling in all the info for each card – ugh! These would be the first tasks I’d outsource if my business grew too big for me to manage on my own. But though these aren’t my favourite tasks, they’re a small price to pay for loving what I do overall!

It’s also hard not to take it personally when I go through a quiet patch. Greeting card sales can be quite seasonal and it’s easy to get paranoid when sales slow down during the summer. I sometimes think that it’s all falling apart 😆. But then Christmas comes along. And then Valentine’s Day. And I remember that as the business is growing overall there’s no point agonising over individual months being quieter. So I try to use these times to get ahead on stuff I won’t have time for when it gets busy.

And the Ugly…

There’s only one truly awful part of running a small business. It’s when you do everything you can to make a customer happy and they still assume you’re out to scam them… This week I had a bad review from someone in the US. They didn’t realise I was shipping from the UK and thought I was a scammer when the card didn’t arrive within a few days. And I’ve had a bad review from someone who was disappointed in the size of the card. This was despite the dimensions being listed in the item description and in the photos. There was also being a video of me holding the card (though perhaps they thought I had enormous hands 🤣).

I do sometimes make mistakes. But whether it’s my fault or not I’ll always do everything I can to sort things out and make my customer happy. So it is hard when people leave a bad review without getting in touch first to see if I’ll make things right. Especially when it was something out of my control or a mistake on their part! But I’m learning to just have a good cry and move on…

Sad Ice Cream GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Luckily these customers are very few and far between. The overwhelming majority of my customers are really wonderful and their lovely feedback makes everything worthwhile 😇.

Running a greeting card business is 99.99% wonderful

So although there are a few lows to what I do, the highs are very much in the majority. I love running a greeting card business and feel very lucky to be able to do it. I’m so grateful to both my terrific customers and my ‘Cardies’ group for helping me get to where I am. I can’t wait to see where we’re headed in the future. Love you all!!!

[Roller Coaster Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash]

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Shih Tzu Card and Labrador Card

Shih Tzu Card

These dog themed cards, a Shih Tzu card and a Labrador card are two brand new birthday designs just added to my shop. I’m going to be working on a range of pet themed cards and these are the first . What do you think?

As with most of my designs, I drew them using Procreate on my iPad. Here’s a little replay video of each one to show you the process. I use layers a lot so when things disappear and reappear that’s me hiding and showing different layers 🙂

This is the Shih Tzu drawing…

And here’s the Lab illustration.

You can see that it often takes me several attempts to get something right 😆. For example I kept adjusted the Labrador’s head as it just didn’t quite look right. I feel like it’s important to show the real process though, rather than an edited one that looks perfect but isn’t real! It’s a good job I’m an illustrator and not a sculptor using marble or some expensive medium as there would be a lot of waste 🤣

I hope you like these card designs. You can buy both the Shih Tzu card and Labrador card in my online shop. They’re available in two sizes – A6 or A5. And keep your eyes open for more designs soon…

Since Brexit, international shipping has become way too complicated for my small online shop, but International customers can buy the same designs in my Etsy shop too.

Don’t forget that if you sign up as a VIP subscriber you’ll get a great discount too!

become a vip now

What other breeds would you like to see in this range? Drop me a message on Instagram or Facebook to give me your suggestions or send me an email – I’d really love to hear from you and I always reply!

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Just Because Cards

Daisies card - hello you

‘Just because’ cards have always been around but they’ve become even more popular over the last year or so. I think that the Coronavirus and lockdowns have made us realise that it’s important to tell people how much they mean to us regularly, not only on special occasions. And because we couldn’t always do it in person, ‘just because’ cards have become a terrific way to do just that.

I know I love to get an unexpected card or letter in the post. I’m sure everyone else feels the same. It’s always nice to know that someone has been thinking about you. Knowing that they made the effort to pick a card, write in it and post it off to you can really make you feel warm and fuzzy inside!

Lots of people are struggling at the moment. Whether that’s because of losing or worrying about loved ones, feeling isolated or just general anxiety about everything that’s happening. Sending a card can help them feel less alone and remind them that we’re all in this together… Even if we can’t actually BE together.

Some Just Because cards you can send to your favourite people

I’ve picked out a few cards from my collections that are great to send to someone just because. Most of us have several people we’d like to cheer up, encourage or just say hi to. So I’m offering bundle deals to make it more affordable to buy multiple cards at once.

Take advantage of my bundle deals by choosing to buy 3 or 5 cards at once. Just add the cards you’d like to the ‘Choose cards’ box. Just use the titles of the cards in my shop so I know which ones you’re after.

You can mix and match from any ready to ship cards and delivery in the UK is free too.

3 or 5 card bundle deals

Here’s some inspiration for you to choose from!

Just because cards - Teapot and cups - I miss my best-tea
Miss my best-tea card
Just because card - I miss your mug
Miss your mug card
Just because card - I can't espresso how much you mean to me
I can’t espresso how much you mean to me card
Daisies hello you card
Daisies hello you card
Ant cheesy encouragement card - Stay strong
Cheesy ant encouragement card
Octopus miss you card - sending extra hugs
Octopus miss you card
Just because cards - You're the berry best
You’re the berry best card
Just because cards - I bean missing you so much
I bean missing you card

If you’re not from the UK you can use my Etsy shop to buy these same cards. And get the same 3 card or 5 card bundle deals!