My latest greeting card collection is now live on my website! It’s called Thirsty Business and as you can probably figure out it’s a beverage themed collection. I’ve included hot, cold and alcoholic drinks, so there should be something for everyone 😃
Drinks seem to get us through so many different situations in life. I always have a cup of coffee to kickstart me at the beginning of the day (or to revive me mid-morning). If I want a bit of liquid comfort then a cup of tea or hot chocolate does the trick. A glass of wine unwinds us after a stressful day. We celebrate with a bottle of fizz. We enjoy cocktails, wine or beer on a night out with our friends. And we refresh ourselves with a cold drink on hot days. Pretty much everything we do is accompanied by a nice drink! So this card collection is a celebration of all of that.
All sorts of occasions
A wide range of occasions is covered too – birthdays, anniversaries, friendship, missing you and of course Father’s Day. I offer bundle deals where you can save if you buy 3 or 5 cards at a time, so go ahead and stock up.
Here’s a selection from the range but you can view the full Thirsty Business collection here. Why not sign up for my newsletter while you’re there? My VIP subscribers are the first to hear about a new collection and they also get a special offer each time. Plus you’ll get a discount code for 15% off your first order from my greeting card shop when you subscribe.
What do you think? Have I missed out your favourite drink? If so, let me know and you might soon see it added to the range. You can either use my contact form or send me a message on Instagram or Facebook. I’d really love to hear from you!
If you’re reading this then you’ve arrived at my new improved greeting card website – woohoo! I’m so excited to have relaunched it with my shop and my blog together in one place. Hopefully it’ll be easier for you to find what you’re looking for too 😊
The design refresh and shop integration were all handled with minimum stressing on my part by the wonderful designer/developer Luke McDonald. I’ve also added lots more new greeting cards that weren’t available before. These include Mother’s Day cards, more milestone birthday cards and a few other brand new designs, so have fun looking around.
Here are just a few of the new cards you can find in my relaunched greeting card shop:
Here’s a cute Mother’s Day card to send your mum some extra hugs, especially if you can’t be with her this year…
This peachy thank you card is great way to say thanks to someone who’s done something lovely for you.
The following birthday cards are all now available in a wide range of milestones – from 18th birthday up to 90 years old!
Of course there are lots more new cards as well as all the other occasions that were already available, so if you’re looking for something special, please take a look around. I always try to create cards that are a little different from the rest, so you can find something unique to make your favourite people smile. Expect a lot of silly puns! 😁
Get a discount code to use on the new greeting card website
If you haven’t already, now is a great time to sign up as a VIP subscriber. You can find out more about all the benefits here, but in summary you’ll get a discount code for 15% off your next order as well as various offers and/or freebies each month when I send out my newsletter. Just fill in the form on the right to join in!
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you’ll know that I launched my own online card shop in April last year. Before that I’d been selling my cards on Etsy, but wanted my own space as well. The shop has been great, but I really wanted to have everything in one place, so am now in the process of moving my shop. Soon it’ll be right here on LouLongworth.com together with my blog – woohoo!
Why am I moving my online card shop?
The main reason is so that if you’re here on my blog it’s much easier to stay and shop the cards in the same place you read about them! I think it was a little confusing for visitors when they clicked on my ‘Shop’ link and ended up on a completely different website.
It also means less jumping around for me as I’ll be able to manage everything in one place. Hopefully this will translate to more time to work on creating terrific new card designs!
I’m also hoping that it will encourage Google to send more people to my shop, as I’ve already built up a bit of trust and traffic with my blog.
What will change?
The new shop will look a little bit different, but still be recognisable with my same branding. I’m working closely with a terrific developer to create a home page that makes it easy to get where you want to go. It’ll be one click to get to the shop, the blog, my Instagram or to get in touch with me. It’ll also be easy to see at a glance what’s new in each space, as there will be feeds to show the latest blog and Instagram posts as well as a space for me to highlight my latest greeting card collections.
I’ll be using Stripe to process payments, so you’ll know that your payment info is secure when checking out. Overall the website and shop should be quicker and easier to use than it is currently, so I hope you’ll love it!
A special offer for you
If you get in touch with me before I relaunch, you can get a free card with your first purchase in the new online shop! All I ask is that you give me some feedback on how you found the new checkout process, so I can make sure it’s as user friendly as possible. Fancy that? If so, just use the contact form or click here to email me directly and let me know.
You can also sign up as one of my VIP subscribers to make sure you always get the best offers available going forward too!
I’ve been thinking a lot about learning to run a more sustainable card business. There’s so much waste in the world and as far as is practical I’d prefer not to be adding to it with my greeting cards! I’m still figuring it all out, and nowhere near there yet, but I wanted to share some of the ways I’m trying to produce less waste and make what waste I do produce reusable or recyclable.
Going plastic free
Cello bags
When I first started selling my cards my very first Etsy customer mentioned to me that she thought my presentation was unprofessional and that I should be using cello bags rather than wrapping the cards in tissue paper. Being the terrible people pleaser that I am, I was horrified and immediately went out and bought a pack of cellophane bags to put my cards in. It didn’t sit well with me though as I knew those bits of plastic would just end up in landfill.
I investigated buying compostable cello bags, but these didn’t seem like an ideal solution either. I knew that the majority still wouldn’t end up being composted! Either through lack of composting facilities, ignorance or apathy, they would still end up in landfill taking ages to decompose. And they were a lot more expensive to buy. I considered returning to my original tissue paper wrapping idea but then realised that I really didn’t need to do anything at all…
The solution?
My cards are all supplied with an envelope, so I decided that the best solution was to simply put the card inside the envelope before placing it in the shipping envelope. It seems so obvious now, but for some reason I hadn’t thought of it before. The card is protected by the envelope, the envelope is safe inside the shipping envelope, so anything more was superfluous! I’ve noticed that even in some shops the cards are bare now too, which makes me very happy. I’ve now made over 800 sales on Etsy alone and never had a single complaint about my cards arriving damaged or marked in any way.
A card within an envelope within a shipping envelope
I still have the majority of those original cello bags I bought (even though there weren’t very many). By the time I’d started to sell a reasonable number of cards I’d already shifted away from using them.
My shipping envelopes are also made from paper, with no plastic windows or padding. I’ve also recently found some really cute blue recycled cardboard boxes that I can sell packs of cards in. I want to start offering multi-packs!
Sustainable card stock
My cards are all printed on plain 350gsm card stock without any glitter or glossy coatings that prevent them from being recyclable. They’re lovely and sturdy but completely recyclable. I also feel strongly about purchasing my card stock from an FSC certified supplier. The FSC helps take care of forests as well as the people and wildlife living in them, so that way I know that the card I buy comes from well-managed and sustainable forests. You can find out more about the FSC here. I get my shipping envelopes from the same FSC certified supplier.
Ready to post
The kraft envelopes I’m currently using are recyclable but aren’t FSC certified. I’m not sure whether the paper used to make them is sustainably sourced or not. I’m planning to switch to recycled kraft cards when I next need to order more in (I have about 540 in stock!) Ultimately I’d like all the various materials I use to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
Next steps: Running my card business sustainably
I’ve just recently started thinking about how to run my business in a more eco-friendly way in general. I work from home, so no transport is required luckily! I know that there are lots of things in my business that could be changed to be more conscious of the environment though. For example practices I engage in and suppliers I use for things other than materials. I think there’s quite a bit of research ahead of me!
Let me know if you have any ideas or thoughts that could help me run a more sustainable card business. You can get hold of me via my contact form, email me directly at contactme @ loulongworth.com or DM me on Instagram. I know I’m nowhere near perfect in this regard, so happy to get all the help I can!
You don’t want to give your favourite person just any old valentine card… You love them because they’re completely unique and so the card you give them should be just as special! A card that shows that you get them, they get you and that there’s no one else in the world quite like them 😍
I’ve tried to create a range of Valentine cards to help you find the perfect card for your person. Here’s a selection to give you an idea, but you can check out the full range in my Etsy shop in the Love & Valentine Cards section.
Valentine cards for the obsessed
If your other half (and/or you) are obsessed with golf, tennis, running or cycling, then these cute cards from my Sportsy collection could be just the thing.
Or perhaps your obsession is music?
Cute and romantic valentine cards
If your thing is more cute and romantic, then perhaps you’ll find the perfect card below.
A slightly irreverent valentine card
If you’re one of those couples who roll their eyes at anything too soppy, then I’ve got you covered too. Perhaps this is more your thing…
A traditional valentine card
And if you like your cards more traditional, then you can’t get much more romantic than a red rose!
Galentine cards
And last but definitely not least, you can even find a fab Galentine card for your bestie. Galentine’s Day is usually celebrated on the 13th February and I love the idea! Friendship love is just as important (actually even more important) than romantic love, and it’s our best friends that see us through all the ups and downs of romance, whether we have someone to celebrate Valentine’s Day with or not.
I hope you’ve found the perfect Valentine card for that special person in yourlife, either here, in the rest of my range or even somewhere else. Either way I wish you a Valentine’s weekend full of all the good stuff: love, friendship, wine and chocolate 😘
If you’d like to stay in touch about new cards and products I’m adding to my range, sign up for my VIP newsletter – you’ll also get a great discount and a freebie or two.
