Christmas gets growing!

The Seed Card Company director Lewis R. Stevenson talks to us about new winter collections…

Tell us about your Christmas card range?

This year our Christmas card offering has grown. We’ve added new designs to some of our most popular collections; Continuous, The Doodlings and of course the fan-favourite Plant Pot People.

This year we’ve taken some more great puns, some of our best watercolour single line drawings, and our own spin on a Christmas classic. On top of that we are launching two new collections, well a new one and a spin-off. Winter Love is our seasonal take on our popular Summer Love collection, and Winter Woolies is a nod to everyone’s festive favourite, Christmas Jumpers.

As well as our new cards, we have created matching gift tag sets and also a whole bunch of new notecard designs focusing on bright bold florals. This year we have decided to also offer packs of five notecards and envelopes so there are now two pack sizes available. Our gift tags come in packs of three, with a different design from the given collection on each tag. So how do seed cards work if they are sent at Christmas - when can they be planted?

We would definitely advise not to plant them on Christmas day, it is a tad cold! Once the decorations are packed away, make sure the cards are kept in a warm dry place, where they can’t get damp.

If you are planting the card outside, we would wait until the weather warms up a bit - spring through to the end of summer is best - but as long as it is not too cold outside you will be fine.

Our cards can be planted whole or torn into smaller pieces to fit your pot. Fill it with soil, lay the card on top and then finish with a sprinkling of soil. It doesn’t matter if a bit of the card is on show. Give it plenty of water (they are extremely thirsty) and it won’t be long until they start sprouting.

All of our Christmas cards and tags are made using our Wildflower seed card, but if you would like to try something different, we have Carrot, Lettuce, Basil and Parsley cards available with their own collections.

We understand you both design and produce your own packaging…

We do indeed. The three of us have been in the printing industry for a long time. Kay and Jit have a lot of experience in paper engineering, cutting and packaging creation for bespoke products. My expertise comes in on the print production and method side of things. Working with each other and playing to our strengths, we decided to use the tools we had at our disposal to create our own packing. Our gift tags are packaged in a kraft card wrap, which is 100% biodegradable and contains no plastics whatsoever. We create prototypes, work out the finer details and because we make it ourselves, can then make any small adjustments needed to ensure that the packaging fits the products perfectly with as little waste as possible.

When can retailers next see you at a show?

Our next show is Autumn Fair in September in Birmingham. Spring and Autumn Fair are some of our favourite shows each year, you’ll be able to spot us from a mile off by the floral ensembles!

Do you support retailers in any particular way?

Absolutely! We are very proud of our POS displays; they are a little different to the wireframe ones out there but that is how we roll. Our displays are all made from reclaimed wood and are branded with our company logo on the base. We offer a 16-20 capacity countertop display, 24, 32, 48 and 64 pockets spinners and then also something I like to call ‘The one-stop seed card shop’. These stands house cards, wrapping paper and gift tags, we have single and double-sided versions available. All of our stands come with signs explaining our cards and why they are different from your average greeting card. If a stockist has opted for some of our vegetable or herb cards, we will send a sign for their POS reflecting the seed type chosen. As we produce all of our own products, we have complete control of the process, with everything being printed, cut, creased and checked in house. This means we can keep on top of our turnaround times and also means if urgent stock is required, we are in a much better position to be able to help.

We have also moved premises and now have more room than we know what to do with (for now!) which will allow us to grow our operation and increase our production capabilities, being able to print more cards and products and work more efficiently. Why should retailers stock your cards?

We are very hands-on at The Seed Card Company. We work directly with our stockists on their orders, answering questions, giving advice on planting and instore displays, and helping meet delivery deadlines. We also have a team of sales agents covering parts of the UK so for those stockists who like to order in person and look over physical cards before ordering, so we’ve got you covered too!

What’s the best thing about being in the greeting card industry?

We would all say the people for sure. We have only been in this industry for a few years, but we have always found everyone so helpful and forthcoming. At any show we have been to we have found like-minded companies who are always happy to help and offer advice. We are now finding that people are coming to us with the kind of questions we were asking in the beginning too, so now it is our turn to pass on what we have learned.