Sending cards and letters seems to be making a bit of a comeback. There’s something really thrilling about getting a card or personal letter through snail mail. Much as we all love email and social media, they’re just not as special…
Everywhere you look there is advice on how to do a ‘digital detox’ or stop social media from taking over your day. It really has become too much of a good thing (and that’s now a bad thing! 😆) We’re starting to once again prefer physical correspondence over screen time and the art of letter writing and the popularity of greeting cards is growing once again.
Why we love getting & sending cards & letters
What is it about getting a card or letter that’s so exciting? I think part of it is that it is a physical thing that you can actually hold in your hand that proves that someone was thinking about you! You know that the sender deliberated over which card to send or what writing paper to use and then put the effort into writing a personal message to you (there’s no delete or undo button so more thought has to be put into what to say when hand writing something). And then they paid for postage and walked to a postbox to mail the card or letter to you. That’s a lot more effort than quickly typing a “You ok hun?” or pressing a like button!
Most of us have kept special cards or letters that we’ve received and we treat them like treasure. We put them in a special box for keepsakes or tuck them safely away in a drawer so that we can pull them out and enjoy them over and over in the future.
Cards and letters are just a lot more persona. In an age where everything is so impersonal we need that. And of course since the pandemic started we are craving that personal connection even more than usual… And I wrote in my review of last year that we are once again starting to see the value of greeting cards as a result.
So I say “Yay!” to snail mail making a comeback! Let’s make the effort to remind our favourite people how special they are to us by sending cards and letters, and not just on special occasions either. I’m off to send my bestie a card right now! 😃
I’m happy to announce that my new 5 a Day greeting card collection is now available. 2020 wasn’t the best year and 2021 isn’t off to a great start either, so I figured we all need a bit of cheering up and that’s what this collection is all about. It’s full of silly puns and the easiest way ever to get your five a day. After all, we’ve got enough to deal with without worrying about new year’s resolutions 😆
Greeting cards to make you smile
We all need a boost right now, and my hope is that these fruit and vegetable themed cards will do just that. I’ve collected loads of daft puns, drawn all sorts of cute and silly fruits and veggies to illustrate them and created a range of greeting cards to make you smile. And when you give them to someone else, they’ll smile too. And we can all be happy bunnies for at least some of the time in these crazy times!
The 5 a Day collection covers a range of occasions, including Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day as well as the usual birthday, anniversary and other occasion cards. And of course there are some that can be sent just because you want to say thanks, or tell someone you miss them.
Here’s a small sampling of some of the cards, but you can see the full range in my shop, and I’ve been gradually adding them to my Etsy store too.
Get 5 of the 5 a Day greeting card collection and save
Perhaps you can’t decide which one you like best. Or you’re the organised type who likes to have a stock available so you can give a greeting card at a moment’s notice. If so, you can save with my bundle deals. Buy three or five A6 cards at once and you’ll pay less.
My VIP subscribers also get special deals every time I launch a new collection. This time they’re getting an extra card when they buy 5 in the bundle deal, as well as a 15% discount. You can still get this deal if you sign up and purchase by Sunday 10th January 2021.
(If you’re too late, it’s still worth signing up as you’ll still get the discount on all future purchases and special deals on all future collections. I treat my VIPs very well! You’ll also get a monthly newsletter with the latest news and a roundup of recent blog posts.)
I hope you love this collection as much as I’ve loved creating it! I’d love to hear what you think so feel free to get in touch on Instagram or by email.
I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas despite the restrictions. This is my last post of 2020 so I thought chat to you about what this past year meant for my greeting card business and for me personally. This post is a bit more personal and serious than usual, but you’ll get to know me a bit better by seeing that side of me 🙂
Trying to be positive about 2020…
We all faced challenges of one type or another during this weird year. I was lucky enough not to lose anyone to the pandemic. I did worry a lot about my parents though, particularly my Dad’s health which makes him especially vulnerable even if he just gets a cold, never mind something as serious as the coronavirus. He’s now been one of the first to get the vaccine so that’s a bit of comfort to me.
There have been some things that turned out well for me though, so it wasn’t all bad. So rather than focus on all the negatives I’m going to tell you about some of the good stuff, especially as it relates to my greeting card business!
Working from home
I work part time at my day job and the first big change was that I started working from home during the first lockdown. My boss was actually brilliant as he’d already decided we’d both work from home a week before the lockdown was even announced, so we’d been taking stuff home and were more prepared than some.
This has actually worked out really well for both of us. Instead of working three full days a week in London, I now work every afternoon. This helps my boss as he has the support he needs everyday. And it’s great for me, as I now get every morning to work on my greeting card business! I’ve loved the consistency of this and I think it’s really helped me to take the business more seriously. It’s also meant I can get orders turned around and posted quicker, which is good for my customers too 🙂
Trying new things in my greeting card business
I’m really NOT a phone person, I’d never used FaceTime before this year and I’ve always tended to avoid cameras and video as much as possible. This year though, there was often no other way to stay in touch with the people most important to me. As a result I’ve gotten more comfortable with calling people and hopping on Zoom or FaceTime video calls. This has also made me slightly less terrified of being on camera or video which has been positive for my business as well as my social life… I even did an Instagram Live video where I was interviewed about my greeting card business! That would have been inconceivable to me a year ago 😱
Since then I’ve noticed that when I post a photo on Instagram with myself in it, I get a lot more people jumping in to comment. So I’m planning to be braver next year and get on camera more. That way I can get to know you and my other customers and followers a bit better as we chat more often.
This year I also decided to join a ‘mastermind group’ specifically for greeting card businesses. It’s been one of the best things I’ve ever done for my business. I’ve learned a ton, found some new online buddies who understand what it’s like, and really started to focus on growing my business and being much more professional.
Seeing the value in greeting cards
I always used to think that greeting cards were kind of frivolous. That designing them was a fun hobby for me, but not really contributing anything great to the world. This year has really changed my mind about that. People have really turned to greeting cards as a way of keeping in touch, sending love and celebrating with those closest to them when they couldn’t be there in person. I’ve had from customers who have said how amazing it was to be able to send a personal message to someone special. This has really reminded me that greeting cards play a key role in relationships when people can’t be together.
I’ve even found myself sending more greeting cards than usual. If you subscribe to my newsletter you’ll know that in the past I’ve tended to only give cards on the most special occasions, but this year has been different. It’s been a brilliant way of reminding someone that you’re still thinking about them even though you haven’t seen them for what feels like AGES!
So now I’m really proud to be creating a product that makes people feel terrific! I’ve been working on my next collection for the new year and have really tried to design cards that will cheer people up and make them smile (or perhaps even giggle), whatever is going on. I can’t wait for you to see it!
I really hope that this year also brought you a few positives as well as whatever challenges you had to face. Thank you for all your support throughout. Looking forward to chatting to you more in the new year. Let’s hope that 2021 will be a bit less crazy!
Happy New Year!!!
I’m very excited to let you know that my new Christmas card and seasonal greeting card collection for the holidays is now available in my shop. This collection is for those people who you want to give an extra special card to this Christmas or holiday. People like significant others, parents, best friends. The ones you love the most!
If you buy a lot of cards for a lot of people then I hope you’ll support a charity by buying your cards from one of their shops. My cards are for when you need something a bit different for your very favourite humans! They’re all A5 sized, which is quite a bit bigger than a standard card but can still be posted with an ordinary letter stamp.
You can see the full collection in my greeting card shop, or take a look at a selection below.
Cards for your significant other
For your other half you can choose from a selection of romantic, cheeky or cute cards…
Of course if you have a small business, your top clients are also very special, so why not send a holiday card that stands out from the usual corporate seasonal greetings? They’re A5 size so there’s plenty of space for everyone to sign.
You can also order these in a smaller size in bulk, or have an inside message printed – get in touch with me for a quote.
Unique to 2020
And finally, we’re all going to remember the 2020 holiday season as the year of the pandemic. That’s no reason not to make this Christmas as special as possible anyway though!
I hope you like the new Christmas card and seasonal collection. I’m always happy to quote for completely custom cards too if you have something very specific in mind.
I also offer bundle deals to buy 3 or 5 ready to ship cards at a time, which give you a bit of a discount, as most of us have more than one special person in our lives 🥰
I decided to try and avoid buying wrapping paper as much as possible a while ago, as it seems awfully wasteful. As a result I’ve been investigating more eco-friendly gift wrapping ideas and, although I’m still learning, I thought you might like to hear about some of them.
Not everyone realises that the majority of wrapping paper isn’t recyclable. While plain paper is, most gift wrap has plastic coating, glitter and/or synthetic inks added which means it’s destined for landfill rather than recycling. As a very general rule if you crumple the paper up and it stays crumpled then it may be recyclable, but if not then it’s almost certainly got plastic in it.
The great thing about switching to more eco friendly gift wrapping is that it is also usually more economical, so even if you’re just a cheapskate it’s still worth it 😆
Reusing for more eco friendly gift wrapping
Reuse old gift wrapping
The most obvious way to do this is by reusing gift bags and the wrapping paper that gifts you receive come in. If the wrapping paper is a bit wrinkled, then an iron can sometimes help with this. If the paper is plain and a bit wrinkled, then you can also crumple it up really well then flatten it back out again for a lovely crinkled effect. Add some ribbon and a gift tag and you have something that looks like it came from a boutique!
Save up bits and pieces
You can create some really gorgeous gift wrapping by saving up odds and end to reuse. As well as you can reuse tissue paper from clothes and other package deliveries as well as newspaper. I’ve seen some truly gorgeous gift wrapping ideas on Pinterest using newspaper so decided to try it myself. Here’s my effort using scraps of ribbon and two sprigs of lavender, which I think looks quite acceptable:
However I will add that newspaper looks best with just the text. And these days it is quite difficult to find large sections of text without photographs so it’s more suited to a small gift. You also have to be careful what text is on there. Obituaries or bad politics can give the wrong message 😁. One tip I’ve come across is to use foreign newspapers, which seems like a good solution if you can find one.
And of course if you don’t have any newspaper lying around already then buying some only makes sense if you’re going to use the majority of it for something else…
Old boxes can also be decorated to create lovely gift boxes of all shapes and sizes. You can paint them, cover them with fabric or paper scraps (or newspaper), or if they’re pretty enough leave them as is and just cover any logos up with a sticker or gift tag.
You can even use old toilet roll tubes to make cute little gift boxes! Take a look at this video to see how…
Other things that are worth saving to decorate your gift wrapping with are ribbons, string, buttons and fabric. As well as being more eco-friendly you’ll be known for always wrapping gifts beautifully! I have a drawer with all sorts of little bits and pieces in that I’ve kept, including stuff like the twist ties on Christmas crackers and the ribbon and bells that come with Lindt bunnies.
All these odds and ends would usually go in the bin, but this way they get used at least one more time before this happens. You might inspire the recipient to reuse them again too when they see your gorgeous gift wrapping! 😃
Use charity shop finds
You can also gather up gift wrapping supplies from charity shops. As well as reusing old stuff you’ll also be supporting the charity. They’re usually pretty inexpensive too. Look for sheet music, old maps or fabric for wrapping in. And any type of haberdashery, faux flowers/leaves and brooches are all great to decorate with. Some clothing that has seen better days could also be cut up and used if the fabric is pretty.
You can easily make a fabric gift bag by sewing a rectangle with one end open. Either sew a seam to thread ribbon or string through and gather, add a button and loop to fold the top over, or just create ribbon handles.
Oxfam also often sells fair trade and sustainable gift wrapping options. If you don’t want to buy second hand it’s worth taking a look around there.
Other eco friendly gift wrapping ideas
You could use these pretty recycled sari shopping bags from Oxfam to wrap a gift and it can then be used by the recipient afterwards too.
If you are giving a scarf as part of a present, use it to wrap the rest of the gift in. There are loads of videos on YouTube to show you how to do this.
Another very eco-friendly idea is to use a Furoshiki cloth to wrap present in. You can read all about Furoshiki techniques for wrapping gifts here. You can use any square piece of fabric for this or buy one like this example on Etsy.
Furoshiki wrapping cloths from TabithaEveCo on Etsy
Furoshiki cloths originated in Japan. The tradition is for the recipient to return the Furoshiki cloth to the gift giver to be reused. However even if you don’t get it back they’re unlikely to throw out something so pretty!
Recyclable options
Use plain brown or white paper – it can be more easily recycled. It’s definitely preferable to buying decorative wrapping papers that are likely to end up in landfill. A brightly coloured ribbon and gift tag is enough to make it look pretty (see below), or use any other bits and pieces, such as buttons, string, dried leaves or flowers, to decorate with. You can also draw or stamp onto the paper to spruce it up if you like.
Seed paper is another terrific eco friendly option which also looks very upmarket. The paper contains seeds in it and can be planted afterwards. You can even print on some of them with an inkjet printer, like these from LittleGreenPaperShop on Etsy:
Plantable seed paper from LittleGreenPaperShop on Etsy
Other considerations
Ribbon or string is a much more environmentally friendly way to secure your gift wrapping than using sellotape. However if you do need to use some tape then try paper washi-tape. It’s pretty as well as being easier to recycle.
Finally, it’s also worth considering the environment when it comes to cards. I tend to only give cards to extra special people on extra special occasions and I make sure that all the greeting cards I create are printed on FSC® certified card stock. This means the materials used to make the product have been ethically sourced from well-managed and sustainable forests.
What ideas to you have to make your gift wrapping more eco friendly? I’d love to see your ideas on social media so please tag me if you post something along these lines.
