Progressive Greetings May 2023

May

ON THE CARDS

I haven’t fully got my head around Artificial Intelligence and probably never will understand its full potential, I struggle with mediocre normal intelligence to be honest, but as PG went to press, Geoffrey Hinton, the British Godfather of AI had just quit his top job at Google over fears that the ‘scary’ tech he pioneered, “may soon be more intelligent than us.” Crikes Danger Mouse!

The arrival of ChatGPT on the scene, has resulted in some jovial banter in the PG offices between the sales and the editorial teams about how my role as editor, and those long days and weekends Tracey and I spend writing articles will be superceded by tapping in a request for a short thesis on say ‘the recent developments in the humorous greeting card sector’ and hey presto some considered commentary will be concocted almost instantaneously.

Likewise, the designs that card publishers’ studios and freelance artists spend days creating, deliberating over the subject matter, colours, wording, finishes and even envelope choice, could all be generated by AI. It is all feasible and there is some amazingly clever stuff going on which baffles, inspires and scares me in equal measure.

My colleagues on the sales side quip that no robot could ever replace them, and that their jobs will not only be safe, but elevated in an increasing tech driven AI world.

Now I am a big fan of technology and the benefits it has brought/will continue to bring to all our lives. I even admit to a feint memory of using a slide rule and the rudiments of using trigonometric tables, and so, thanks to the Progress God for the Casio calculator!

However, I am also very, very glad that our industry has at its beating heart something that no AI formula can ever replicateemotions. From that moment when someone decides to send or give a greeting card right through to it being held and read by the recipient, is a powerful surge of feelings, of care, of happiness and joy or in some cases compassion or sorrow that no invention

of AI can ever replicate. The decisions a publisher makes to create those cards or the retailer to order it may have its basis in data and previous sales figures, but a lot is down to hunch, something that cannot be quantified.

The Retas 2023 Seerevealed!finalists 18-19pages

I love that so much about our industry, it is filled with people with an enormous collective emotional intelligence that will be there in leaps and bounds at next month’s PG Live (June 6-7) - on the 200 exhibitors’ stands, in the conversations that will be had been between publishers, retailers, trade suppliers and overseas distributors.

I’ll contact Geoffrey Hinton and see if he fancies a career change for something real and joins the card trade!

Above: Highworth Emporium, near Swindon really went for it with its Coronation celebrations! (More retailers in the swing of it feature on pages 25-27)

Left: You can count on Abacus to be great hosts! PG’s Jakki Brown (left) with the publisher’s md Nick Carey and studio manager Liz Ellis in their Newmarket premises. (See pages 3839)

Right: Industry stalwart John Charlton (left) with Danilo’s md Daniel Prince at PG Live a few years ago. John will have Cardzone on his badge this year as he has become non-exec chairman of the retail group. (See page 9)

Plant

PLANTABLE SEED CARDS

23 PLANTABLE DESIGNS AVAILABLE

Card size: 140mm x 140mm | Blank inside

Unwrapped cards individually banded with a craft envelope

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9-17 News

All the latest happenings and developments in the trade.

20-21 Over The Counter Question Time

Asking and answering difficult questions is a way for us to grow as individuals and businesses believes David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi.

22-23 Cardsharp History Lessons

Cardsharp suggests that we are currently experiencing a significant time in greeting card industry history.

25-27 Viewpoints

Coronation (High) Street

PG joins with retailers and publishers in embracing Coronation fever.

29-31 PG Live Newbies

Everyone has a story…

PG shares chapter and verse about some PG Live newbies and their respective journeys into this wonderful industry.

33-37 Innovations

Publishers’ new ranges and designs.

38-39

Springwatch

Gardeners’ World with Abacus’ Nick Carey and Liz Ellis.

41-45 Focus on…Diversity and Inclusion

All Inclusive PG delves into some of the progress and developments on diversity and inclusion cards.

46-47 Deep dive into…Lucia Heffernan Picture This

Pigment’s creative director Martin Powderly focuses in on its PG Live launch of its Lucia Heffernan’s collection.

49 Art Source

Good ‘Evans

Artist Nicola Evans feels “pretty lucky” and “happy” with her life, largely designing cards…read her story.

51-52

What’s Hot?

A quad of retailers reveal their best-selling ranges.

53-63

Sources of Supply

Tracey Bearton Features Editor traceyb@max-publishing.co.uk

Jakki Brown Editor/Joint Owner jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk

Warren Lomax Joint Owner warren@max-publishing.co.uk

Ian Hyder Joint Owner ianh@max-publishing.co.uk

Tracey Arnaud Sales Manager traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

TOP STORY

John Charlton Joins Cardzone

High profile non-exec chairman to help grow the group

Industry stalwart John Charlton has taken on a senior post at the Cardzone retail group, with the news released just hours after the announcement he had stepped down as SA Greetings’ chairman following the company’s acquisition by Card Factory (see right).

John has become non-executive chairman at the Nottingham-based Cardzone group, which now has 150+ stores across the whole of the UK operating under various names and is headed up by founder/owner, Paul Taylor and his son James. In addition, Cardzone forged a joint venture partnership with Postmark in April 2021 to cover new store openings for the specialist group, headed up by Mark and Leona Janson-Smith.

John’s many years of industry experience include being non-executive chairman of International Greetings, and prior to that was senior vice-president of American Greetings together with being ceo of UK Greetings.

Commenting on behalf of Paul and himself, trading director James Taylor, said: “We are both delighted that John has come on board as chairman for Cardzone. John is a true industry stalwart with experience at the highest level which we are confident will help elevate the Cardzone business in the years to come. There are plenty of exciting opportunities on the horizon and John will be an integral part on the deliverance of our growth plans.”

Sharing his take on the current card retailing landscape, John described greeting card and celebrations retailing as being “in a very interesting position today. Card Factory clearly dominates the 'value’ market. The demise of Paperchase has removed a retailer from the 'top tier' and Clintons is in the 'middle of the road'! In my opinion, Cardzone is in a great position, because within their Group, they have the variety and ability to satisfy a number of consumer channels.”

John added that he admired Paul and James’ management style. “They have done a brilliant job in developing Cardzone, both by organic and acquisitive growth. They have a very lean management team, but they are now at a stage to implement strategies to make Cardzone Group the clear number two in the specialist celebrations retail sector. I am very excited to be joining them to help develop strategies to assist them in realising their growth ambitions.”

Postmark’s fast paced openings

Card Factory has acquired SA Greetings

Card Factory paid £2.5million cash to acquire the entire issued share capital of SA Greetings , the leading greeting card publisher and card retailing group in South Africa.

This is the first international acquisition for the UK’s largest greetings retail specialist, though it has a distribution agreement with the Reject Shop chain in Australia.

With a head office and main warehouse in Johannesburg, and sales offices in Durban and Cape Town, SA Greetings Corporation (Pty) Ltd and its subsidiaries, which trade as SA Greetings, the group also includes 24 Cardies retail stores, with four further outlets operated by franchisees, plus a roll-wrap production facility.

Of its first international acquisition, Darcy Willson-Rymer, Card Factory’s ceo, commented: “We are delighted to have completed the acquisition of SA Greetings. Under the continued leadership of SA Greetings’ MD Willie Engelbrecht, we will closely collaborate to further enhance and develop opportunities for the Card Factory and SA Greetings businesses.”

He added that “SA Greetings brings with it significant experience operating a wholesale business, which can inform and support development of our retail partnership business, and is entirely aligned with Card Factory's strategic plan for international expansion.”

As well as giving Card Factory a foothold into the South African market, Darcy said it will also be looking to utilise SA Greetings’ “mature printing, merchandising and warehousing facilities to understand how we can deliver similar local capability in other target markets.”

Above: One of SA Greetings 24 Cardies stores now owned by Card Factor.

The last few weeks have seen Postmark open five new stores, with three more in the pipeline as PG went to press, which would take it up to fourteen shops.

Capitalising on the demise of Paperchase, the London-based indie retail group, headed up by Mark and Leona Janson-Smith has seen the Postmark sign be raised above doors in Battersea Power Station as well as in Kings Cross, London Bridge, Waterloo and Birmingham New Street train station sites. Soon to follow is a store in Victoria train station as well as one in Richmond, plus another in Glasgow, which is due to open at the end of May.

“We’re going international!” joked Mark of the latter, its first store in Scotland. “It has all been exciting, if rather hectic as we opened three stores within 10 days. The logistics of getting everything in place ready for the openings has been somewhat challenging, but the sales have been good,” revealed Mark.

While up and running, Mark stressed that the new stores “will not be Postmarks as we know them for a while as we’re working with the old fittings but, once they’re all open, we will work through re-fitting them.”

All these additional Postmark stores are jointly owned by the Janson-Smiths and Cardzone, part of the joint venture agreement forged with the two retail businesses in April 2021 for future stores.

Top: John Charlton (left) with Cardzone’s husband and wife duo Paul and Christine Taylor.

Above: Cardzone now has over 150 outlets, plus the joint venture ones with Postmark.

Above: The Postmark in Battersea Power Station is the card retailer’s biggest store to date.

Right: Mark and Leona Janson-Smith are delighted, if a little exhausted by Postmark’s expansion flurry.

Hallmark Head Honcho

Graeme Karavis joins publisher as md from Tata

There’s a new man in the top seat at Hallmark Cards as Graeme Karavis has taken over as group managing director for the UK & Ireland and Australia & New Zealand operations.

Graeme has joined the Bradford-based publisher after nine years working for Tata Consumer Products as managing director for the UK and Ireland, following two years as sales director at Premier Foods and 11 years with Coca-Cola Enterprises in various roles, including business unit director for Tesco and Sainsbury’s, and European sales implementation director for Benelux and France.

Graeme commented: “I’m really excited to be joining Hallmark. It’s a great company with a rich heritage and I’m looking forward to working with the team and helping the business to achieve its ambitions.”

Hallmark’s head of marketing Jess Lovelace added: “Graeme is highly experienced with a track record of success, and we’re pleased to welcome him to Hallmark.”

Graeme replaces Tom Rolt, who resigned in March for personal reasons after seven months as managing director. He had agreed to stay on until his replacement was found.

Scribbler kiosks expand into Ireland

Scribbler’s kiosk partnership with FujiFilm is taking off as 29 of the greeting card print-on-demand greeting card machines are now in situ across various outlets and the project is now expanding into Ireland, debuting in the Harvey Norman chain. The mix of commercial trials and purchased kiosks now means the kiosks are in place in retail spaces, office premises, education sites and hospitals with more to follow.

Home goods’ retailer Harvey Norman is installing kiosks in all of its 16 stores in the Republic of Ireland.

Having started in Sydney, Australia with a single electrical appliance store Harvey Norman has expanded to a 300-strong worldwide estate. It will be one of the first retailers to offer Scribbler’s cards to the Irish consumer in a retail environment.

Scribbler and FujiFilm see Ireland as “a significant opportunity” as there is a huge convenience market primed for the benefits of a small-footprint greeting card kiosk that now holds up to 2,000 different designs from Scribbler, many of which have proved themselves as best sellers in its own 34 outlets across England, Scotland and Wales as well as its online portal.

Scribbler is exhibiting at PG Live next month (June 6-7 at the Business Design Centre, London) and will have a kiosk on its stand.

Above: Scribbler’s kiosks are already in 29 locations.

Below: Harvey Norman has 16 outlets in Ireland, including this huge site in Tallaght.

A Splimple acquisition for Otter House

After 20 years of “being silly on greeting cards”, Stuart Cauldwell has sold his card publishing business Splimple to go off and concentrate on being silly in printhaving just released his fourth novel.

Otter House took over the greeting card business on May 1, including all the licences such as Alison’s Animals.

“We’ve have had a relationship with Otter House for several years, as they’ve licensed some of our cards. They are a lovely business with similar values to us - and the ideal home for our customers.”

Specialising in humour designs, the Splimple ranges include Alison Lingley’s Alison’s Animals and World of James Herriott, plus In Yer Face, Red & Howling, Barking At The Moon, Wordies, The New Normal, Note To Self, Tales From Whipplebottom Turvey, and British And Brokeish.

Stuart left the world of advertising to set up Splimple in 2002 but has been writing for four decades, and over the past four years has released four humorous novels. The latest, An Unexpected Goose, follows Fart And Toast, A Beginner’s Guide To Dipping Your Haddock, and The Quillyings Of Young Shakespeare.

Above: Stuart Cauldwell and an Alison’s Animals design.

Eloise Hall’s cards join Holy Mackerel

Eloise Hall’s handcrafted card ranges have found a new home at Holy Mackerel with a licensing deal adding over 500 designs to the publisher’s collection.

“We’re known for our quirky, fun cards, and a range of really delicate, feminine designs has been a bit of a gap, so Eloise’s stunning artwork hits exactly the right spot for us,” Holy Mackerel co-owner Katie Meeke told PG.

“We’ve also struggled to incorporate Thinking Of You and Sympathy cards into our very light-hearted ranges and now we have some absolutely beautiful ones to offer. We’ve long been fans of Eloise’s cards and we know how much people love them, so we’re over the moon to be able to bring them into the Holy Mackerel stable.”

Eloise’s creations start with a handcrafted collage using shapes hand-cut from patterned origami paper along with ink drawings, which are then used to create luxury 15.7x11cm cards printed on 300gsm G.F Smith paper.

The Holy Mackerel business is run from its own warehouse in Pembrokeshire. As Katie added: “The Eloise move has been remarkably straightforward for us, we were able to handle orders from day one - well maybe day three! - and we worked away on the website to get all the new designs loaded.”

Above: Eloise Hall’s with some of her delicate designs.

Below: Graeme Karavis is Hallmark’s new UK managing director.

PG Live Countdown

Show Preview going out far and wide

With now only weeks to go until PG Live 2023 opens its doors, registration has been ramping up with retailers, and overseas distributors looking forward to the world’s largest specialist greeting card trade fair, which takes place Tuesday 6 June and Wednesday 7 June at London’s Business Design Centre. Once registered retailers are being sent a full colour Show Preview to help them plan their visit.

“PG Live is the best trade show I’ve ever attended as a buyer, and I’ve been to a few! I’ll be there!” exclaimed Deborah Tingay, owner of Southbourne Cards about the show, which is all set to be a wonderful two-day global gathering of the greeting card community.

Everybody who’s anybody will be at PG Live. The 200 strong exhibitor list ranges from wellloved brands such as UKG, Hallmark, Woodmansterne, Museums & Galleries, The Art File, Bug Art, Rosie Made a Thing, Abacus Cards, Carte Blanche, Caroline Gardner, Dandelion Stationery, Cinnamon Aitch, Eleanor Bowmer, Five Dollar Shake, Paper Salad, Wendy Jones-Blackett, Danilo, Emotional Rescue, Ling Design, Ohh Deer, Pigment and Belly Button Designs right through to complete newbies who will be making their debut in the burgeoning Springboard/Springboard Intro section.

The Imaging Centre, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary of

Reet Petite for Lucilla

Below: The PG Live Show Preview is being sent out to all retailers who have registered helping them to plan for their trip to the show.

Belly Button in a spin with The Christie

Belly Button Designs is spinning its expanded charity support as the Manchester-based publisher has gifted two full spinners of everyday greeting cards from its Elle and Meadow ranges for the Charity Centre, which is located on site at The Christie, its local hospital trust.

The Belly Button team is also designing this year’s official Christmas cards for The Christie Charity, which supports The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.

sponsoring the whole Springboard area has been busy printing over 8,500 free promotional postcards for many of the exhibitors, fanfaring exciting new designs as well as the show-only offers.

And the Gold, Silver and Sunshine tickets - also printed by The Imaging Centre, on board donated by GF Smithfor The Retas 2022 and 2023 nominees as well separate vouchers for The Greats award winners and finalists, plus a special money-off voucher for Cardgains members are also being sent out, giving hundreds of retailers a bigger reason to attend PG Live as these are worth up to £150 to spend on orders placed at the show.

“What we started as a one off in the early years of the show as an extra incentive for retailers to attend PG Live has become part of its DNA,” says Warren Lomax, PG Live show director. “The tickets have been a great success, with both retailers and exhibitors getting so excited about spending and receiving tickets at the show. It really adds to the buzz.”

Five new ranges are on their way from Lucilla Lavender under a new Petite sub-brand that will debut at PG Live. Petite will focus on small size cards, a first for the company that was founded 15 years ago by Lucilla herself and business partner Anneke Driscoll.

“The creation of this sub-brand allows ease of recognition for retailers who are looking for smaller designs for their shelves, together with lower price points for their customers,” explained Anneke.

There are eight designs in each of the initial five rangesPaperclips, Tableau, Little Lines, Serafina and Patchy - each birthday and blank card finished with embossing, and all are 108x152mm, smaller than Lucilla Lavender’s traditional formats.

Lucilla added: “It has been a real pleasure to design and art direct these initial five new Petite ranges. Smaller formats create new opportunities and challenges for a designerstimulating even greater clarity of ideas and messages.”

Michelle Hindle, Belly Button’s head of sales said: “In addition, we will be donating from our own charity packs this year, with 25p per pack going The Christie - we have 20 different pack designs that come in two ranges Electric Dreams and Jolly Jingles.”

Below: The Christie’s corporate development manager Anna with the Belly Button-branded spinners.

GBCC to publish Bewilderbeest cards

Describing his job title as ‘Chief nitwit’, Iain Hamilton is expanding his Bewilderbeest licensing programme with a capsule collection of 12 absurdly bonkers greeting card designs for Great British Card Company (GBCC), that will be launched at PG Live (June 6-7).

The latest deal, brokered by art licensing and design company The London Studio, follows on from Iain’s tie-up with Lesser & Pavey featuring his quirky characters on gifts and homewares after the company discovered the newbie publisher on his PG Live stand last year.

And it continues the purple patch for the talented publisher whose downright daft humorous cards made it into the finals of three categories in The Henries 2022, with Iain himself crowned Most Promising Young Designer 2022.

The GBCC exclusive collection complements Bewilderbeest’s own card ranges while enabling the brand to reach new customers both in the UK and overseas in nearly 30 countries.

Above: Iain Hamilton with some Bewilderbeest designs.

Above: There are five ranges in the initial Petite sub-brand launch. Left: It’s a return to PG Live for Lucilla (right) and Anneke (left), pictured with Marion and Mark Flaherty, of Best Wishes, Garstang.

Above: Happy publishers exchanging their Gold, Silver and Sunshine tickets at PG Live 2022.

MBO at NQP and Paper Rose

Simon Elvin, Glick and Polytint are now owned by Pillarbox Designs

Alison Butterworth and John Lowey have recently completed a management buyout of Nigel Quiney Publications and Paper Rose from Paper Design Group. This announcement coincided with confirmation that Paper Design Group, with its remaining trio of brands - Glick, Polytint and Simon Elvin Ltd - has been acquired by Pillarbox Designs, with ceo Ian Jackson remaining as a director of these companies.

Commenting Alison said: “We’re thrilled that this opportunity came up for us to acquire these two companies, which have very strong contemporary and traditional brands, along with a large loyal national and independent customer base.”

MBO from Simon and Janet Elvin, who have since continued their involvement with the Simon Elvin Ltd side of the business, headquartered in Wooburn Green.

Ian Jackson, who ran Polytint Cards with his father before becoming md when it was acquired by Simon Elvin some years ago then formed Paper Design Group to lead the 2019 MBO himself. He said of the recent NQP/Paper Rose deal: “Alison has done a fantastic job at building and maintaining a highly respected and successful publishing business. John took over as md at Paper Rose soon after I acquired the business, having been the financial director there for over 12 years. During some very challenging trading conditions, he has restructured the company while protecting this very strong brand.”

GCA gets loud and proud

As part of its commitment to diversity and inclusion the GCA has been successful in its bid to secure 50 places for the Pride in London march on 1 July.

“The Pride in London mission is to ‘unite the LGBT+ voice, amplify diversity and protest against inequality’, values that are supported by the GCA,” association ceo Amanda Fergusson explained. “We will be a 50-person walking group, supporting the LGBTQ+ community and celebrating the wonderful and diverse greeting cards that our industry produces.”

Alison stressed that the deal “has ensured a seamless transition of control for the businesses and represents an exciting opportunity for us to implement our new vision.”

With many years of product and sales experience, Alison has been managing director at NQP for nine years, as well as taking on the management of sales and product development for both Nottinghambased Paper Rose and Nigel Quiney, in Saffron Walden, with John overseeing finance and operations in the two publishers since Paper Design Group took on all the companies in late 2019, in a

Ian also explained that his own “ongoing health conditions” have meant he has had to significantly reduce his workload, leading to the acquisition of Paper Design Group by Pillarbox Designs, a company that is wholly owned by Paul and Christine Taylor. Though both Paul and Chris are also co-owners of the Cardzone retail group, Pillarbox Designs is a private investment for the couple and not at all connected to their retailing business interests.

Ian added: “Their investment will ensure further growth and long-term stability at Glick, Polytint, and Simon Elvin Ltd. This has obviously been a challenging time for me personally. The sale of PDG to private investors was quickly completed back in May 2022. For personal reasons I did not want the announcement to be made at that time.”

Archivist receives King’s Award For Enterprise

Publisher Archivist has been honoured as one of the first recipients of the King’s Awards for Enterprise for export trade.

Ohh Deer’s co-founder Mark Callaby, who leads the GCA’s diversity and inclusion sub-committee added: “I’m a proud member and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community and have been wanting to do something that really supports and showcases this part of our industry for a while. Pride in London is the largest Pride event in the UK and I’m incredibly excited that our application was successful. Greeting cards send a powerful message to anyone who receives them and as an industry we’re already producing a really rich and inclusive collection of cards that send messages of love and support.”

Publishers David Nichols-Rice, of Ricicle Cards, and Dean Morris Cards’ eponymous owner have volunteered to join the GCA Pride in London sub-committee alongside council members Mark and Amanda, plus Rachel Hare of Belly Button Designs, Max Publishing’s Jakki Brown, UK Greetings’ Darren Cave, Sarah-Jane Porter of Moonpig, and Adriana Lovesy from Mrs Lovesy.

To cover the costs of the participation, so as to make it cost neutral to the GCA, sponsorship packages are being made available as well as inviting donations. Current sponsors include T he Imaging Centre , Ohh Deer , Lucy Maggie Designs , Belly Button Designs and Hyve

(See pages 41-45)

Top: The GCA’s Pride logo, designed by Belly Button’s Rachel Hare.

Above: Mark Callaby (right) and his partner, in life and business, Jamie Mitchell.

Left: Archivist has been awarded the King’s Award For Enterprise.

Below: A commemorative Coronation match box from Archivist.

“It is with great pleasure that we can share the happy news,” Archivist owners William and Sarah Allardice said. “Some companies get there quicker, but Archivist has made it! After nearly 30 years of endeavour and fun we are incredibly proud to announce we are the recipients of the inaugural King’s Award For Export Achievement in 2023.”

William explained that, despite the hiccups caused by the pandemic and Brexit, Archivist’s greeting cards and stationery, along with its collectable matchboxes - including the latest and most appropriate Long Live The King design - have proved once again that perhaps Britain’s greatest export is its slightly off-the-wall humour.

William added: “To that end, an Archivist product always tries to harness a little bit of the spirit of Monty Python and with over 500 active accounts in both Europe and the USA it’s proof that we have found others to laugh and smile with us.”

Top: Alison Butterworth (right) with Glick md Becky Dobson at The Retas Awards 2022

at PG Live!”

*Translation: I will tolerate a trade show in return for a free lunch.

M!NT has THREE bright and original new card ranges launching exclusively at PG Live. Envelope-pushing, fun and funny, respectively – they’re well worth the short journey to or from the buffet. So see something genuinely different at the M!NT Stand 217.

TOP STORY

A Magnificent Seven

Louise Mulgrew, Paper Salad, Tache and Paper D’Art’s Louie Awards

Seven Louie trophies have travelled back across the Atlantic after four British publishers shared the spoils from the US GCA’s annual honours - with Louise Mulgrew clinching four awards.

In addition to Louise’s magnificent showing at the awards ceremony in San Francisco late on Wednesday, 26 April, Paper Salad, Paper D’Art and Tache also won categories - while US-based newbie PG Live exhibitor Fine Moments collected a trio of trophies.

“I’m so, so chuffed and shocked and happy and confused,” Louise Mulgrew told PG. “I didn’t dare hope to even win one and, somehow, we’ve come away with four, including the honour of Artist of the Year. I feel really lucky and grateful.”

won Children’s Card Above $5.50, Paper D’Art took the Birthday General Above $5.50 trophy, and Tache added Father’s Day Above $5.50 to the Best Blank Card $5 & Below it won last year.

“We are honestly so bloody chuffed,” Tache co-owner Pennie Bryant commented. “To say this is our fifth award overall is just incredible! I actually squeaked with excitement.”

Walkies with Woodmansterne

The dog lovers will be wagging their tails at Woodmansterne’s latest innovative card collection with the National Trust, as the Wag Tales range aims to help people take their pooches for a great walk.

“Britain has long been a nation of dog lovers, but the sizeable rise in dog ownership during the pandemic means that even more people have pooch pals, giving our idea for Wag Tales an even broader appeal,” explained Woodmansterne’s art director Ian Blake, who has spearheaded the range’s development as part of its ongoing licensing relationship with the National Trust.

Having been named as one of the three finalists in six of the 50 categories, and a double finalist in two, Louise’s card designs triumphed in the Congrats/Special Occasion $5.50 & Below, Father’s Day $5.50 & Below, Valentine’s Day $5.50 & Below categories, as well as her winning the Artist Of The Year award, “for her exceptional artistic talent”.

And it was a particularly good evening for Notes & Queries, the leading US distributor of UK card publishers, with three of the publishers it represents winning their categories - Paper Salad

US publisher Fine Moments is making the trip to the UK to exhibit at PG Live in June buoyed by winning the Christmas/Seasonal Humorous $5.50 & Below, Halloween $5.50 & Below, and Sympathy $5.50 & Below categories.

The 34th Louie Awards presentations took place at the General’s Residence on the campus of the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, before the US GCA’s twoday Noted greeting card trade show kicked off at the nearby Festival Pavilion yesterday and today, 27-28 April.

A judging panel of 52 card publishers, retailers, sales representatives, and stationery industry leaders from across the US selected 153 cards as finalists from the 1,016 entered, with 51 being picked from 33 different publishers as winners.

Cardie’s Lionesses honour

Football is a passion at Paper Salad so the publisher is rightly proud of warehouse operative Angie Gallimore who has recently been honoured with an England cap to mark her 35 appearances for the Lionesses.

“What an achievement!” commented Paper Salad co-founder and director Karen Wilson with Angie’s long service as player-manager at Liverpool Ladies taking the club to the FA Cup finals in both 1996 and 1997.

As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the England women’s senior team, every one of the 227 players to have represented their country since the first international against Scotland in November 1972 has received their legacy number, with Angie at 55. Angie was among the most decorated former internationals invited to St George’s Park, the English Football Association’s national football centre in Staffordshire, to watch the current Lionesses preparing for their upcoming games against Brazil and Australia.

Illustrator Adam Larkum was commissioned to create the designs which exude his natural wit and verve. However, the extra USP of this range features on the back of the card, in the paw print shape QR code which links to info about National Trust sites for people and ideal walking routes for those to take their four-legged friends.

“We’ve always wanted to use QR codes on special ranges,” Ian said, “but the technology has only recently become easily accessible through your phone’s camera rather than having to use a special app. We all know the value of a handwritten card but the QR code gives card and dog lovers added value.”

Top: One of the Wag Tales designs by Adam Larkum.

Above: The Wag Tales designs feature a quirky QR code with a link to National Trust sites.

Flame Tree moves distribution

Calendar, stationery, book and jigsaw company Flame Tree Publishing has moved its UK and export distribution facility from Marston Book Services in Abingdon to the Hachette UK Distribution (HUKD) facility in Didcot.

Below: Stationery from Flame Tree.

Above: Louise Mulgrew with her four Louie trophies. Above right: The Louise Mulgrew design that won the Congrats/Special Occasion $5.50 & Below category.

Below: Paper Salad’s Claire Williams (left) and Karen Wilson with their Louie award and winning card.

Above: Paper Salad’s Angie Gallimore (left) with England captain Leah Williamson at the ceremony.

Go(gh) For It!

After a rigorous canvassing of publishers, reps and agents for their retailer nominations and a thorough cajoling and encouraging greeting card retailers to enter The Retas, the finalists of this year’s 2023 greeting card retailers of the year can be revealed, the winners of which will be announced at a Van Goghthemed afternoon extravaganza on Thursday 6 July at the Grosvenor House Hotel, that will be attended by over 400 members of the greeting card community.

Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - London (inside the M25)

l Diverse, Brixton

l Earlybird Designs, Stoke Newington

l Gift, Crouch End

l Medici Gallery, Kensington

l Mooch, Ealing and Fulham

l Snap, Bow

Best Independent Greeting Card RetailerHome Counties

l Cards 4 Occasions, Hayling Island

l Joyce’s Best Wishes, Lingfield

l Maddy Moos, Totton

l Objectables, Folkestone

l Red Card, Petworth

l Threads, Harpenden

l Zest, Crowbridge

Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - East Anglia

l The Card Centre, Felixstowe

l Cards ‘n’ Things, Norwich

l The Eel Catcher’s Daughter, Ely

l Just Cards and Abigail’s Cards & Gifts, Norwich and Dereham

l LoveOne, Ipswich

l Sincerely Yours, Hornchurch and Shenfield

Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - South West

l Bazaar, Barnstaple

l The Card Collection, Bath and Shaftsbury

l Kingfisher Cards & Gifts, Sidmouth

l PaperGangsta, Bristol

l Stationery House & Gifts, Somerton and Clevedon

l Tickles & Co, Wimborne

Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - Wales

l Card Value, Merthyr Tydfil

l The Celtic Company, Welshpool

l Charlton Cards, Tenby

l Creative Cove, Lampeter

l Daisy Daisy, Llanishen

l Halls, Llanduff

Best Independent Greeting Card RetailerThe Midlands

l Austin & Co, Malvern

l Bentleys and Maddison, Birmingham, Harborne, Solihull and Stourport-on-Severn

l Hugs & Kisses, Tettenhall

l Set Design, Leicester

l Something Special, Kingswinford

l Wishes & Kisses, Boldmere and Solihull

Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - North West England and Northern Ireland

l Bailey’s, Ainsdale, Crosby and Maghull

l Bus Stop Cards and Gifts, Castlederg

l Celebrations, Carlisle

l The Gift Box, Hoole

l Reflections, Nantwich and Rugeley

l Wishes of Cockermouth, Cockermouth

Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - North East England

l Artichoke, Tynemouth

l Cards & Gifts, Dronfield

l Castle Cards, Barnard Castle

l Design@six, Wetherby

l Serendipity, Newcastle

l Thinking of You, Denby Dale

Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer -Scotland

l Gibsons, Haddington

l The Gift Boutique, Fraserburgh

l JP Pozzi and Bijou, Buckie and Elgin

l Paper Tiger, Edinburgh

l Pencil Me In, Elgin

l Penny Black, Glasgow

Best Greeting Card Retailer

Newcomer (opened since Jan 2020)

l The Beverley Card Company, Beverley

l Cards & Moor, Yelverton

l Dolly Daydream, Presteigne

l Jelly Armchair, Cheltenham

l Occasions, Jersey

l The Paper Collective, Belper

Best Independent Bookstore Retailer of Greeting Cards

l Barnes Bookshop, Barnes

l Bookends, Christchurch

l Chorleywood Bookshop, Chorleywood

l Guisborough Bookshop, Guisborough

l The Hedgehog Bookshop, Penrith

l Regency Bookshop, Surbiton

Best Non-Specialist Independent Retailer of Greeting Cards - North

l Archerfield Walled Garden Shop, Dirleton

l The Hollies, Little Budworth and Lower Stretton

l Mooch, Bewdley and Stourport-on-Severn

l Nest, Broughton Astley, Stoneygate, Thurlaston,

l Stationery Supplies, Marple and Wilmslow

l Utility, Liverpool and Manchester

Best Non-Specialist Independent Retailer of Greeting Cards - South

l The Bay Tree Home & Gift, Devizes and Marlborough

l Dart’s Farm, Topsham

l Lark, London and Woking

l MiMi, Wintney Hartley and Wokingham

l Natsons, Barnes

l No.14 Ampthill, Ampthill

Best Greeting Card Small Multiple (5-20 stores)

l 3 Wishes, five stores in the south

l Between the Lines, 17 stores in the south

l Henry & Co, nine stores in the Midlands

l House of Cards, seven stores in the Home Counties

l Postmark, 14 stores in London, Birmingham and soon Glasgow

l Temptations, seven stores in the Home Counties

Best Department Store Retailer of Greeting Cards

l Atkinsons, Sheffield

l Barkers of Northallerton, Northallerton

l Daniels, Windsor

l Elphicks, Farnham

l John Lewis & Partners

l Morleys Group, eight stores in the south

l Selfridges

Best Supermarket Retailer of Greeting Cards

l Asda

l Booths

l Morrisons

l Sainsbury’s

l Tesco

l Waitrose & Partners

Best Non-Specialist Multiple Retailer of Greeting Cards

l Marks & Spencer

l National Trust

l Oliver Bonas

l The Range

l Waterstones

l WHSmith

Best Specialist Multiple Retailer of Greeting Cards (20+ stores)

l Card Factory

l Cards Direct

l Cards Galore

l Cardzone

l Clintons

l Scribbler

Best Garden Centre Retailer of Greeting CardsIndependent

l Bents, Warrington

l Burford Garden Centre, Burford

l Garsons Farm, Esher and Titchfield

l The Grange Garden Centre, Melton Mowbray

l Highfield Garden World, Whitminster

l Stewarts, Broomhill, Christchurch and Titchfield

Best Garden Centre Retailer of Greeting CardsMultiple or group

l Blue Diamond, 40+ centres nationwide

l Haskins, five centres in the south

l Longacres, five centres in the south

l Klondyke/Strikes, 22 centres across the UK

l Notcutts, 19 centres across the UK

l RHS, five centres across the UK

Best Greeting Card Retailer Initiative (for a specific project or initiative undertaken by a retailer since 15 April 2022)

l Austin & Co, Malvern for its Nessa's Christmas Dog Food Drive

l Expressions, Swindon for its Scouts Post engagement

l House of Cards, Home Counties, for its Thinking of You Week activities

l Milford Cards & Gifts for its Turkey Earthquake Appeal acivity

l Nickery Nook, Bedale for its upcycling cards programme

l Stationery Supplies, Marple and Wilmslow for its Festive Friday Design a Christmas Card Competition

l Swagger, Chipping Sodbury, for its charity Swagbags

Best Greeting Card Wholesaler

l Archway Cards, Norwich

l Budget, nine branches nationwide

l CAPS, Bury

l Crosswear Trading, Enfield

l Greetings House, Walsall

l Jackson’s, Sheffield

Greeting Card Retailer of the Year

All winners of The Retas 2023 categories are contenders for this award, so, as such no finalists are revealed until the awards event on July 6.

Question Time

A couple of weeks ago I saw an entry in my diary that had been made by my office manager ‘Interview with Shaun’. There was no other explanation, no clue as to who Shaun was or what it was about. What followed was the best hour of my week during which I was put on the spot and asked probing questions about my business by a plucky 16 year old.

A few days later, it was my turn to be question master, meeting up with Matthew James, newly appointed to the role of director of independent field sales of UK Greetings, to probe deeper into the publisher’s relationship and commitment to us indies. Both meetings reinforced that asking and answering difficult questions is a way for us to grow as individuals and businesses.

My ‘Interview with Shaun’ was with a young man who has some learning challenges. He works closely with a scribe/classroom assistant but has completed his NAT 4 Business among several other practical courses. He arrived full of energy to speak to me as part of his NAT 5 course work.

Shaun started by asking me about the recent business award we had won and luckily I had the trophy in the office. What followed was a brilliant conversation during which he asked many questions relating to margin, our best selling items, my interaction with staff, local competition and product life cycles.

I have a lot of conversations with a lot of people about lots of things, but this conversation really lifted me.

Shaun was so keen to learn, but actually I think I got more out of answering him than I think he did from listening to what I had to say. The questions he asked had a simplicity to them which made me really think about how I maybe over complicate things at times.

Seeing this young lad smiling and telling me how amazing it was that our

business had won a national award made me focus on the reality of it all a bit more. Sometimes you simply forget how far you have come.

Shaun’s questions also made me realise that of all the things we do as a business, that selling greeting cards and the very good margin they offer are key. It is also one of the most fun parts of my job; working with

publishers of all sizes to source the latest products, trends and fashions into store.

Questions of course come in many forms. I can clearly remember during an English lesson at High School discussing closed and open questions, but there are many other types - funnel, leading, rhetorical, recall, divergent and probing to name but a few. However, the real skill to questions is actually to listen to the answers and respond to the comments rather than ask parrot fashion what you have prepared.

A few days after this I found myself in the company of the recently retired ceo of UKG, James Conn and the new director of independent field sales, Matthew James, who reports into Darren Cave who is now heading up the whole of the publisher’s sales side.

Inspired by Shaun I decided to quiz Matt about UKG and where he sees the future of indie card retailing.

Matt started by chatting through his history from his first card job in 1992 as a sales exec on the East Coast of Scotland to five years later moving up to sales manager in the indie sector. He then discussed being brought into managing national accounts. In 2010 he moved from this role as, in his words, he was worried about online and the direction of his current employer at that time.

Leaving cards he spent three years with a small stationery company in Edinburgh as a sales manager involved in all aspects of the company. The stationery company only had 12 employees so each

BY DAVID ROBERTSON OF JP POZZI, ELGIN AND BUCKIE.

Above: There are often more questions than answers in life, but to keep asking questions can lead to a lightbulb moment.

Below: David Robertson (centre) with UKG’s Matthew James (left) and the company’s recently retired ceo, James Conn.

one had to be motivated and be on top of their job.

A short stint in the car industry followed before he returned to cards leading to his landing the main role at UKG of looking after the indie sales team and their retail customers.

Matt and I have known one another for over two decades so I know first hand that he has a wealth of experience both in and out of the card world, with the knowledge from outside the industry shaping his thinking as much if not more than his time spent in cards.

The automotive world for example saw Matt engage and recruit new younger sales people. This has been something he has willingly been doing at UKG.

Dealing with the 21 salespeople in the field and keeping that very diverse team motivated is key for Matt and it means that we, as indies, can see product, discuss slow sellers and have someone dedicated to our account. We discussed at length the ongoing need for this and what I felt would be the ideal call from a rep from a retailer’s point of view and likewise he discussed it from their publishers side.

People still buy from people and one of UKG’s great strengths has been the relationship its reps forge with retailers.

He pointed to the varying levels of retailers’ knowledge and how each sales call could be very different, but the two main things that we want as customers of UKG are quite simply product and service.

UKG develops a lot of products purely for indies and he feels that he has never left a call at any point where the product has been criticised or been a problem. He pointed to The Henries’ Best Service to the Independent Retailer Gold award as vindication of what UKG does and he

believes indies are right at the heart of UKG and are still hugely valued.

I asked what edge UKG had to offer us as indies, something he summarised as “breadth of product”. He spoke about the five companies/sub brands within UKG and he said listening to customers and then responding to their requests with the right product mix is crucial. He again referred to the sales calls and how each rep is an indie’s voice into the company. “Tell them what you need and what you want and if it makes sense, it will be actioned,” he assured.

To qualify this, he spoke about milestone ages and anniversary packages that were developed directly from feedback from the field. He also mentioned a specific sympathy caption which will launch shortly as a result of a request by an independent customer. At this point the whole of Scotland shouts: “We need more Granny cards!!!”

On the support front, the marketing team and Matt are currently working on a new Point of Sale package that will launch later this year. Fixturing is still an option where stores can be improved but only if this is an investment that really works.

We touched on the pricing of product the effect of the large chains and grocers offering cards at cheaper prices. Matt believes that consumers do choose to shop with indies for their knowledge and product depth.

With time running out we moved to the quickfire round. This covered...

Product life cycle of a design? “You would be mad to replace evergreens, but most designs are refreshed every two years.”

OVER THE COUNTER

Bottom

Below:

The fact that other publishers highlight that they only supply indies? “A stick to beat UKG with at times. Perhaps we need to improve the marketing of our ranges!”

Biggest challenge facing the industry? “Staying relevant to younger consumers.”

Matt believes you hit a stage in life that you become heavier card senders, but we need to stay relevant to the TikTok generation.

My two biggest takeaways were how passionately Matt spoke about fresh blood in the industry, harking back to his own beginnings at the age of 22.

This made me think clearly about Shaun at 16 years old with his challenges and despite being brilliant where would his opportunities lie? At some point someone needs to give Shaun and other young people like him the chance to get into a role

and contribute and I would like to think our industry is one where everyone can be included and valued.

Difficult questions are only difficult if you are not prepared to have an open and honest discussion to shape things moving forward. They remain unanswered when you aren’t prepared to look at yourself and your team in a detailed way to get the best out of them. For me honesty is the key and of course being willing to apply your findings.

So, ask yourselves the difficult questions regularly… as it is the only way to grow.

To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.com

Left: The thank you card that Shaun sent to David after their Q&A session.

left: Ensuring cards remain relevant to the Tik Tok generation is something Matt James believes is a key challenge facing the greeting card industry.

Always be prepared to ask questions and importantly, listen to the answers.

Lessons History

The middle of the 1990s was certainly one of the big periods in the greeting card industry history. It was a time when the two big American publishing giants, Hallmark and American Greetings, having divested themselves of their retail chains, both went on buying sprees, the scale of which has never been replicated, by acquiring many of the major publishers around. The result is the publishing dominance of the big two US giants we have today.

Another momentous time was in the late noughties, when high street greeting card chains like Clintons, Birthdays, and Cardfair struggled to compete with the fast-

emerging vertical sourcing model of Card Factory. This led to the business failure in one form or another of all of these chains.

Both these periods were times of great transition, and it feels like we are in one of those years now. A lot is happening and Cardsharp feels there is plenty more to come.

But to put this in perspective we need to reflect on how much has changed in our greeting card world in the last few years. After all it was only three years ago that we were in the middle of our first Covid lockdown. Online and supermarket card sales were booming, while the hitherto omnipotent Card Factory saw its share price drop to 18 pence and there was even a question mark about whether it would have to break its banking covenants.

Those days seem like ancient history. Card Factory is now riding high again. A recent very positive set of financials, settled management team, and a share price that has risen well above the £pound mark again indicate its real resurgence post pandemic.

Yet a new very strong contender in greeting card bricks and mortar is emerging. Nottingham-based Cardzone has been growing steadily for the last few

Cardsharp likes to think of himself as a bit of an historian, both of world events generally as well as the specifics of the greeting card industry. He reflected recently that although certain dates in British history are engrained in his mind, like 1066, 1940 and 1945, there is no one big ‘greeting card year’ that really strikes a chord.

Instead however, there are batches of two or three year periods in the recent history of the greeting card industry during which some pretty dramatic changes have occurred. He ponders whether now is one of those.

years and its joint venture with Postmark has enabled it to successfully infiltrate the unique London market. And Postmark, already having secured some of the best transport hub locations that were formerly occupied by the now defunct Paperchase, will further strengthen its position.

And it is not only London where Cardzone seems to be flexing its muscles. It would appear that Clintons has been shedding some more of its

Top: The fact that The Battle of Hastings took place in 1066 is engrained in most people’s minds, and the Bayeux Tapestry is there to remind us of it all.

Above: Card Factory has recently opened a store in Evesham.

Above right: Postmark’s brand new store in Kings Cross, in the former Paperchase site.

stores. Although the Clintons organisation has become increasingly reticent about sharing its news, Cardsharp estimates around 40 stores have closed since last year, and he bets a chunk of these will taken up by Cardzone. This would bring the combined Cardzone/Postmark store portfolio to over 200 stores.

But there is another recent development that has intrigued Cardsharp. Last month, the management of publisher Nigel Quiney and Paper Rose completed a management buyout from the Paper Design Group. This made the headlines, but it was the small print that caught the eye. The rest of the Paper Design Group, which owned iconic wholesale publisher Simon Elvin, major supermarket supplier Polytint and the Glick

products. Cardsharp wonders whether Pillarbox Designs’ acquisition will enable Cardzone to source a lot more of its own products, rather than buy them in? In effect a kind of hybrid vertically integrated model? Or at least an increase in the percentage stocked of its own products.

While it has been stressed very strongly that Pillarbox Designs’ acquisition is a private investment, Paul Taylor is a great strategic thinker and would not miss an opportunity within the field he knows best.

Meanwhile, is Card Factory going in the other direction? Although Cardsharp does not expect the retail giant to eschew its highly successful vertically integrated model, he has noticed more and more publishers are supplying Card Factory in some shape or form. This gives the Card Factory offer greater variety and ranges with higher retail prices. This seems to be particularly prevalent in difficult specialist areas like cute, humour, and inspirational sentiment. While more evident in its new central London stores, Cardsharp feels learnings from this testing ground will no doubt filter out into the wider store estate where applicable.

So, with Cardzone expanding at an impressive rate and Card Factory seemingly on a roll are we looking at a new clash of two retail titans, or is it merely a strengthening of greeting cards’ presence on the UK high streets with two different profiles?

other players who will be protecting their territory and in some cases looking to advance. The aforementioned Clintons, owned by the Weiss brothers, former owners of American Greetings, still has around 180 stores and cannot be discounted.

And to Cardsharp’s mind another one to watch is Cards Direct. Slowly and steadily over the last ten years, this Hertfordshire-based card chain, has been growing. Cards Direct operates a similar largely vertically integrated model as Card Factory, designing in its own studio and printing in its Hemel factory.

giftwrapping business, was sold to a private investment company, Pillarbox Designs, the shareholders of which are Paul and Christine Taylor, the owners of Cardzone.

This raises some interesting questions. In the 1990s and 2000s Simon Elvin, as well being the leading wholesale publisher, was a major supplier to now defunct retail chains such as Birthdays, Cardfair and even Card Factory, before it pursued at the time, its transformative vertically integrated model. Both Simon Elvin and Polytint are masters at producing high quality value

Delving back into the past, Cardsharp remembers the 1990s, when the Ron Wood-owned Birthdays chain and Clintons competed head to head, until Ron Wood sold Birthdays and it went into rapid decline. However, given the steers at the top of Cardzone and Card Factory, Cardsharp does not foresee this particular bit of history being repeated. Adding to the scene, however strong Card Factory and Cardzone have become in multiple specialist greeting card retailing, there are of course

In Cardsharp’s opinion, the stores are impressive; well fitted out with good lighting, merchandised with care, and with low prices to boot. Cards Direct has expanded from its Home Counties roots and is gradually making its way northwards with recent openings in Solihull and Wolverhampton taking it up to the 50 store mark.

With online sales dropping significantly from pandemic levels and the grocers’ sales of cards, although massive not as buoyant as they were in Covid times, and shopping habits slowly reverting to normal, there is a focus once again on the high street and shopping malls.

So, 2023/2024 is all set to be turning into one of those ‘historic’ years. And with negotiations still underway on several key former Paperchase sites, Cardsharp feels sure there will be some more surprises along the way as the coming two years unfold!

History has a habit of repeating itself, what lessons we learn from it all remain to be seen.

Top: Cardzone’s Seaford store on the south coast.

Above left: Among Card Direct’s recent openings is its branch in Wolverhampton.

Above right: The bright interiors of a Cards Direct store.

Right: History reimagined on a Woodmansterne Hysterical Heritage card design.

Coronation (High) Street

It’s been a right royal affair over the past few weeks with Coronation fever fully kicking in as soon as greeting card retailers got Mother’s Day and Easter ticked off.

PG shares some of the wonderful windows as well as some ‘crown jewels’ of comments from around the industry.

Royal seal of approval

Have you noticed the front cover of this issue of PG? Think the pic of Paper Salad cofounder Claire Williams and the King is Photoshopped? Absolutely not!

The photograph proves Paper Salad received the royal seal of approval even before the company officially started, with Claire and business partner Karen Wilson giving the then Prince Charles one of their first ever birthday card designs.

“It was back in 2003, two years before we launched Paper Salad, but we were designing greeting cards within the industry.” Karen explained, “We were lucky enough to be one of two businesses, of around 70 in total within our first premises, to have the chance to meet him. We were based in an old cotton mill in Stockport which had undergone a massive renovation, a project he’d been very much involved with.

He spent quite a bit of time with us and was interested in what we were doing. As it was his birthday a couple of days later, Claire presented him with one of our designs and told him to “put it on his mantlepiece” - so that explains the photo on the front cover!

As we have PG’s front cover in the month of King Charles’ coronation, we couldn’t not use it.

We have also designed a special card as a promotion to honour the occasion, and we’ve sent it out to customers to use as they wish, whether to send to their customers or make bunting for their window displays.”

Sun shone on Milford

The Sun has been shining on indie retailers Kayleigh and Sinan Hisim’s coronation efforts as their Milford Cards & Gifts shop has been featured in the national newspaper’s coverage of the big event and how people were starting to celebrate.

Snapper Chris Balcombe was commissioned by The Sun newspaper to find a shop for the feature, which ran in the 20 April issue of the paper, and having noticed the magnificent amount and variety of coronation stock their shop had after seeing photos Kayleigh had taken and posted on Facebook, he got in touch.

“The Sun was over the moon with the pictures, which had to be organised and shot within a few hours of the picture desk ringing me. The family was only too happy to help and were fantastic to work with. Their business deserves every success.”

Kayleigh added: “It’s been really good, we were featured in The Sun and we’re hoping to be featured in our local paper too so that really helps with the unexpected advertising - and it’s free!

“We got in £1,500 worth of stock and the way it’s going we’ll sell out. It was the same with the jubilee, when it was hard to find items. It’s a gamble though as to what’s people go for.

It’s definitely the bunting that’s the most popular, but I have bought a lot.”

Left and above: Claire Williams with the then Prince Charlesand PG’s May front cover.

Above right: National coverage for Kayleigh, Sinan, Arif, 10, and Yusuf, six. (Picture credit: www.chrisbalcombe.com)

Right: The special card Paper Salad has sent to customers.

VIEWPOINTS

Art of commemoration

After Hannah Dale’s memorial artwork for Queen Elizabeth II went viral last year, the artist behind Wrendale Designs was happy to be inspired by the new King’s Coronation.

“It was a real challenge to decide exactly how to approach this,” Hannah said. “I didn’t want to go down the route of reproducing the usual iconic royal imagery as I felt this wouldn’t be unique enough. I also felt the piece had to feature an animal of some description in order to be true to our brand.”

Hannah decided to try to paint something subtle and reflective that attempted to capture King Charles’ charm and character.

“I researched extra details such as his favourite flower being a delphinium and I knew King Charles was fond of the Jack Russell dog breed - he and Camilla have two rescue terriers, Beth and Bluebell - and this was the final piece of the puzzle,” revealed Hannah. “We’ve never attempted to create a commemorative gift collection before but the response we had to the artwork I painted in memory of the Queen was so overwhelming we felt it was something our customers would appreciate.”

Once Hannah was happy with the piece, the Wrendale team got to work to complete the collection of prints, mug, tea, tea towel, shopping pad, and cross stitch kit - most of which have already sold out.

The one and only

As befits a monarch, Wendy Jones-Blackett has sent an exclusive design to the King to mark his Coronation, keeping up the tradition the publisher began with his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

Wendy explained: “We’ve only made one of these cards as they’re not for sale, this is an exclusive design which we’ve sent off to Buckingham Palace.

We’ve sent cards for the Diamond and Platinum Jubilees and also for royal weddings, and I was delighted that our Diamond Jubilee card made it into a special card display at Sandringham.

Whether you’re going full quiche-and-bunting or just looking forward to an extra day off, it’s a momentous day for the nation and, as a beneficiary of the Prince’s Trust, we wish King Charles and Queen Camilla all the best for the big day.”

Window wonders

Stephen McHale co-owner, Bentleys & Maddison, Birmingham, Solihull, Harborne & Stourport

“We’ve all been looking forward to the Coronation. We are very patriotic and will be wearing either Union Jack waistcoats or aprons as our uniform in the run up. Along with the usual bunting that’s available we have been selling high-quality stitched flags, cushions, handbags, door stops, tea cosies, draught excluders, mugs, keyrings, pens, rugs, oven gloves and much more. It’s the Bentleys’ 70th anniversary this year and we’ll have a window display but we’ll do this after the Coronation, being a patriotic business that always flies the Union Jack on the front of the store. A lot of Coronation product was bought back in September last year but it had all sold through before Christmas so we were more than happy to reorder. The sales have been predictably strong and are rising by the day. We’re happy to be promoting and selling goods that are patriotic and celebrate this great country - long live the King!!”

Above: Flags galore for Bentleys Great Western Arcade store.

Above: Hannah enjoyed painting the design (right) to mark King Charles’ ascent to the throne.

Left: Wendy J-B’s unique card for the King.

Sean Austin owner, Austin & Co Malvern

“As soon as our Coronation-themed window went in, it seemed to wake people up to the fact the Coronation was imminent. We received lots of admiration from passers-by for its simplicity but also getting the message out. It certainly has driven sales of our only two Coronationthemed lines - tableware and bunting from Talking Tables and, the star of the show, the Coronation Chicken soft toy from Best Years! Not on the same scale yet as the Platinum Jubilee last year but there was a late surge then when customers were scouring the town for bunting. If it's not to be for the Coronation, the bunting will be remarketed for Eurovision parties the following week!”

Above: Austin & Co’s simple display and products caught the eye.

Donna Stocks owner, The Beverley Card Company, Beverley

“I’ve had stock of Union Jack partyware since March. The King Charles bunting sold out weeks ago and was only £2! Right now I am hoping to re-stock for the lastminute rush. Paper plates, napkins, flags, streamers and balloons have all literally flown out. The demand is not nearly as high as it was for the Queen’s Jubilee but it’s certainly boosted sales on the rainy days we’ve experienced recently. My King Charles mug sets have all sold out and I only have a couple of single mugs left. Overall if the forecast is promising, I think people will be holding last-minute garden parties.”

Above and left: Stock has flown out for Donna Biggs.

Kaye Thurgood owner, Sincerely Yours, Shenfield & Hornchurch

“It’s really strange in both our shops at the moment as the Coronation vibe hasn’t really kicked in yet. Our themed windows are attracting a lot of attention locally but in-store customers aren’t really engaging. We’ve sold bunting, flags, etc, and our Coronation books for children are selling particularly well. Sad to say, it’s not particularly buzzing yet! Hopefully that will change as we go into the final week. Maybe our expectations were too high after the amazing jubilee set a precedent - after all, we’ve never experienced a Coronation.”

Above: Kaye has her fingers crossed for a great final week.

Jo Barber

owner, No.14 Ampthill

“What started slow, soon gathered pace and has been a great revenue injection into what would have been a quieter month. Having an additional bank holiday in May isn’t ideal, but will hopefully mean people are in a good mood, off work and looking to spend.

We’ll be open all Coronation weekend and hope there’s not too much of an impact on Saturday trading, it’s a rare event!

Our decorations and table accessories have been super popular and restocked and our children’s books, Little People Big Dreams: King Charles and Paddington At The Palace sold out as soon as they arrived, thankfully we’ve just had a restock of those too. And one of our super-talented customers has written a beautiful book too, Angus And Nellie And The King’s Coronation.

Online has been busy for Coronation memorabilia too, we’ve been posting all over the UK. I think I got my order quantities about right, any accessories left over will do for Eurovision parties the following week!”

Above and left: No.14’s window and book bestsellers.

Below: Celebrations, Leominster.Below and right: Cornucopia, Worcester.Below: House of Cards, Penkridge.

Everyone has a story…

With next month’s Progressive Greetings Live (June 67, at London’s Business Design Centre) seeing a whole array of publishers making their debut at the show, especially in the Springboard/ Springboard Intro areas, PG was all ears to hear chapter and verse about some of these PG Live newbies and their respective journeys into this wonderful industry.

From retailer to publisher

Sophie Edwards, founder of Petimo…

Once upon a time: “I think I was always destined to become a greeting card designer, I’ve just taken a while to get around to it! Petimo is the product of my lifelong love of cards. I collected them as child and my teenage bedroom walls were covered in a collage of cards rather than pop stars.

I’ve been a professional greeting card buyer for almost three decades for my shop, More Than Just A Gift [in Narborough Hall]. For years I’d dismissed the idea of designing my own greeting cards as there is so much amazing talent out there already. Finally, I’ve decided to ignore the nagging imposter syndrome, feel the fear and do it anyway, so here I am!

Having the opportunity to test the designs in my own shop first has been invaluable. The customer response has been amazing. It’s given me a lot of confidence that there’s an enthusiastic market for my cards as they’re consistently featuring in our best seller list.”

Your product plotline: “I am launching with a lot of cards! I’ve effectively had a 30year apprenticeship in greeting cards and now that I’ve started designing I just can’t stop! My aim is for Petimo to be a one-stop-shop for every kind of card that retailers need. On my website, so far, there are 11 different ranges, encompassing around 400 cards, and I’m adding to them all the time. My stand is going to be groaning under the weight!”

A show of stories

Progressive Greetings Live 2023 will bring together over 200 greeting card and allied companies, from the largest leading brands right through to brand new start-ups, each with a tale to tell.

This vibrant show takes place on Tuesday 6 June and Wednesday 7 June at London’s Business Design Centre. To register, go to www.progressivegreetingslive.com

Happy ever after: “Firstly, I’m hoping to take some orders for my cards! I’m also really looking forward to seeing what it’s like on the other side of the fence after so many years as a buyer.

I absolutely love trade fairs, they’re incredibly inspirational. Its amazing to be around so many creative people, all with a shared passion for greeting cards. I can’t wait!”

Above: Looking to build on the success of her longstanding retailing business, Sophie is embracing card publishing too.

Right: Just a few of Petimo’s extensive greeting card collection.

Inset: Behind every card company is a story to tell.

Ornithological lessons

Monica Gabb, founder of Twenty Birds

Once upon a time: “I have been working as a college lecturer and designer for 15 years. Six years ago I set myself the challenge of creating a screen print design incorporating 20 abstracted birds. The motivation was to expand my knowledge of colour mixing, creating pattern and layering within screen printing. However, the more I observed birds and interpreted their patterns, the more I wanted to push the design. I used triangles for their bodies and adapted additional features for each bird using straight lines to give each one unique qualities.

And this was to be the beginning of Twenty Birds. I found that the birds had individual potential and so I went on to create a greeting card range with the designs and my love for these birds has just kept growing and evolving ever-since!”

Your product plotline: “PG Live is my first trade fair and I am launching with a mix of my classic designs and new ranges especially for the show. I have also recently completed my 12 days of Christmas collection. This previously stopped at five with the view to evolve, but I have up-dated existing designs, adding text to all and designing some special foil elements into three of the designs. I have also scaled these down to small cards which are available as packs.

In addition to this I have some new everyday cards and giftwrap featuring new bird designs, including swans, guineafowl and flamingos.”

Happy ever after: “This business has been my side hustle alongside my teaching role from the beginning. I am really hoping that PG Live can help me to grow my business and introduce me to a wider trade audience. I'm so grateful for the Springboard section at PG Live, it is the perfect way for small independent designers to be introduced to trade events. I expect to learn a lot from the experience. “

Longstanding friendship

Sally Hamilton and Natalie Gladstone, co-owners of Happy Street Cards…

Once upon a time: “The beginning of Happy Street Cards’ evolutionary story is that we first met many years ago while working together designing and art directing at Paperlink.

We became good friends, admiring each other's diverse styles as we come from different art backgrounds. [Sally as a textile designer, trained and worked in fashion for many years while Natalie has a strong graphic design background].

We both left Paperlink after a number of years of working together and set up www.sweetdimple.co.uk selling personalised prints and framed gifts. Sweet Dimple is still our baby and is doing well. However, we have both have had long-held dreams of designing and publishing our own greeting cards, that passion for cards runs deep!

So, earlier this year that we decided to take the plunge, follow our dreams and launch Happy Street.

Since starting our card company, our knowledge of the industry has flooded back, along with learning new advances, such as the total bliss of ‘print on demand’!”

Your product plotline: “At PG Live this year we are launching seven new ranges which combine our individual styles and provide an eclectic freshness, with the aim of offering a broad mix of designs that reflect the current trends.

Buttons is our small square range with a craft envelope, the simple button has a strong appeal to all ages, especially with the current interest in all things crafty. We pored over our vast collection of buttons to create this little gem of a range!

Paper Trail is a bold and modern college-inspired square range while Strawberry Hill is a smart gold foiled everyday range. Our Apple Tree Lane collection offers the cutest mini friendship cards, in contemporary shades with quirky messages that are perfect for the cat, plant or tea lover.”

Happy ever after: “Our hopes and dreams at PG Live are to meet up with all the lovely people in the industry, get some juicy orders and great feedback enabling us to continue our journey in this fabulous industry. It feels terrifying and amazing all rolled into one.”

Above: Happy Streeters, Sally Hamilton (left) and Natalie Gladstone with Maggie, the company cat.

Right: Just a taster of what Happy Street Cards will be launching with at PG Live.

Left: Monica Gabb in creative mode.

Below: One of Monica’s abstract birds that features in the Twenty Birds greeting card portfolio.

A real page turner

Zoe Spry, founder of the eponymous illustration, card and stationery design studio…

Once upon a time: “I started creating cards during my time at Uni studying textile design (almost 10 years ago, oh my goodness!).

After graduating I became a full time children's book designer to gain industry experience in the world of publishing and design before following my dream to create and publish products under my own name!

My mission with the brand has been to create designs which are fun, thoughtful, on trend and of a high quality - and I love, love, love doing it!”

Your product plotline: “I'm coming to PG Live with brand new designs across all occasions, but the ones I’m particularly excited about is a new range of children's age cards. I designed them away from the typical blue vs pink stereotype to aim to achieve fun designs which can work for everyone!”

Above left: Designing cards is defo Zoe Spry’s ‘cup of tea’.

Above: Just a few of Zoe Spry’s on trend card designs.

Happy ever after: “I’m really looking forward to meeting some of my stockists and industry pals face to face. Working alone 99% of the time can be a bit of a mental test so I’m really excited at the thought of being at the show.

I’d love to have the chance to meet industry experts and buyers both big and small to hopefully help my brand grow. Do come see me at on Stand 722 in the Springboard section to say hi!”

Legally green

Kerry Linacre, co-founder of Greentings…

Once upon a time: Solicitor Kerry Linacre is a self-confessed greeting card nut but became so “sick of throwing them away after one use” that together with her husband David and award-winning tattoo artist brother Richard S Smith came up with the idea of including a trio of removable inserts so each design can be used at least three times - and so Greentings was borne.

“We decided to create the concept of regifting recyclable greeting cards and saving a digital memory of the card to cherish. At one time people wouldn’t dream of reusing a paper gift bag but as that is now commonplace, we believe now is a great time to introduce reusable greeting cards as a mainstream eco-card option.”

Your product plotline: “We are launching with a range of reusable cards with over 25 different designs from four artists. Greentings maintains the personal touch of a traditional card but we’ve added removable inserts, meaning that the love can continue to be sent, forever.

So many greeting cards are thrown away, however, there’s a certain magic to be found in the thud of post on the doormat and deciphering the writing on the envelope. We’ve launched with the purpose of creating a happier, greener and more connected world. Slow down, put pen to paper and show loved ones they care, the old-fashioned way - with a nice modern twist.

What makes our cards really special and appealing to the younger tech-savvy folk is that every card has a unique serial number printed inside which customers can input into their account on our website to see where in the world their card ends up!

Each customer simply needs to replace the removable insert and re-send the card to a new recipient together with all spare inserts and envelopes.

And on the website the customer can also save a 3D digital version of the card so they have a memory to cherish long after the card has been sent on.”

Manufactured by Loxleys Print, in Sheffield, where Greentings is based using recycled post-consumer waste board and envelopes and plant-based inks, and packaged using recyclable materials and biodegradable twine.

For customers who want to keep these little works of art, Greentings also sells doublesided glass frames made by a fair trade manufacturer in India - and it’s partnered with TreeNation to plant one tree for each card sold, and two for each frame to offset emissions, while its website is classified as net zero.

Happy ever after: “We would absolutely love for retailers to see the benefits of offering their customers an eco-reusable card option! We’re also excited to network with other publishers in our fabulous industry. We will even plant a tree for every 10 cards sold at PG Live so we hope that coming away from the show, we will have planted a vast number of trees to help build a better planet for the next generations.”

Left: Kerry holding one of the Greentings’ designs.

Above: The circle of life for a Greentings card.

Below: Greentings is looking to ensure the grass is always greener!

A selection of products being launched to pep up retailers’ displays.

Take Note

Paper Shed Design has ventured into Notecard Packs. These handy little packs are avaiable for 20 of its best-selling designs. Each pack contains five small 125mm square cards, printed on quality FSC credited board with recycled brown envelopes, wrapped in biodegradable cello.

Paper Shed Design

0118 9744283

www.thepapershed.co.uk

PG Live Stand 180

Figure of Speech

Just Saying is a brand-new contemporary calligraphy range from Noel Tatt created by the talented Letters by Julia. Encompassing 18 5” square format open birthday designs, the range joins the publisher’s existing Boutique Collection while the 18 occasions and relations designs are in a 5”x7” format. Each design depicts a captivating message in striking coloured hot foils and emboss. Printed on a luxury FSC-certified board, they come complete with graphite grey envelope with the option of being wrapped or unwrapped.

Noel Tatt 01227 811600

www.noeltatt.com

Female Form

Having clinched The Henries 2022 Best Male Range award with its Graphic Form collection, Rocket68 has come up with a female counterpart range. As Jill White, Rocket’s owner says: “Not all women like fluffy & florals, do they?” so the new Graphic Form - Her, features bold shapes, patterns and type.

Rocket68 01935 829015

www.rocket68.com

Sweet as Candy

Windowsill Wonder

Tapping into the enduring love of indoor horticulture, The Pop Plants range from Cake & Crayons is inspired by the bright bold colours of Fauvism and Pop Art. Set against a white border, the colours of the plants really do ‘pop’. These 14 gender neutral designs, all 120mm x 170mm, cover birthdays, thank you, good luck and new home. The cards are supplied naked with a kraft envelope. Cake & Crayons

07717684153

www.cakeandcrayons.com

PG Live Stand 12

Trot On

The new Arena collection from Deckled Edge fills the gap for cards for the equine competitor, covering dressage, eventing, jumping as well as some general horse designs. The 10 new designs feature watercolour illustrations with arena markings, test sheets and an incentive message for the rider. The cards, which are blank inside, measure 120mmx170mm and come supplied with a blue envelope.

Deckled Edge 0800 771 0771

www.decklededge.co.uk

Candyfloss is a bright and vibrant range of female everyday and relations cards from The Handcrafted Card Company. With pops of bright pinks and oranges, this watercolour-based range of 44 designs incorporates gold foiling and star embellishments. All printed on 300gsm smooth board, the cards come with a neon berry envelope.

The Handcrafted Card Company 01782 639733 www.thehandcraftedcardcompany.com

It was a really enjoyable experience attending PG Live. We found many new brands, and the food was great!

I am already looking forward to attending in 2023.

PG Live is one of the most important shows for us as we use it specifically to find new and upcoming publishers, and this year was the best ever! The show continues to be one of our favourites, not just because of the density of high quality suppliers but also because it’s such a pleasurable experience to attend.

Greg Rose, co-owner of Maybugs, Eastbourne, Hailsham and Bexhill-on-Sea

PG Live was so fresh, it kicks off the summer buying season with a great start. There is nothing like seeing the product directly and I am a huge advocate of in person trade shows, they are so important to us. We came away from PG Live really happy after such a productive day!

Samantha Gibbs, owner of Nest, Stoneygate, Broughton Astley and Thurlaston

Priya Crowe, co-owner of Lark London

A selection of products being launched to pep up retailers’ displays.

Badge of Honour

Oh Squirrel doesn’t believe birthday badges should just be for kids and so has come up with a new badged card range for grown-ups that they'd actually want to wear on their birthday. The designs, which cover milestone ages and phrases, are inspired by the signwriting on old ice cream vans and appropriately use sorbet colours.

Oh Squirrel

020 8444 6386

www.ohsquirrel.co.uk

PG Live Stand 119

Apple of their Eye

To coincide with the beginning of its licensing journey with Lightbulb Licensing, Crumble & Core has created a stunning collection of apple blossom designs that are in keeping with the company’s brand and logo.  With a much stronger colour palette than previously, the artwork really stands out on this range that covers all the major occasions on greeting cards, jewellery cards as well as candles.

Crumble and Core 01825 841412

www.crumbleandcore.com

A Light Touch

Highdown is IC&G's brand new range of 13 open birthday cards. All designs feature delicate, freestyle art featuring florals, cakes, pretty glasses and fashion accessories. The subtle colour palette and simple editorial follows through to the inside of the card for a cared-for send. All the cards are code 50/HH and available to order now for delivery in June.

International Cards & Gifts

01202 897494

www.icgcards.com

PG Live Stand 303

Making the Cut

Top Scoring

As the mother of three boys, Georgie Palmer, founder of White Cotton Cards is never far from a football. The publisher’s football greeting card range has been selling for years, but it has recently been augmented with new designs. The collection now spans over 400 different football teams, each with a coloured envelope to match the team colours.

White Cotton Cards

07909 911229

www.whitecottoncards.co.uk

PG Live Stand 225

Wild at Heart

Fay's Studio has not only expanded its popular In The Wild hand-illustrated wildlife 155mm square card range, but has also improved their sustainability credentials. All products will now be printed onto 100% recycled board and come wrapped with a 100% recycled envelope. Any bags used are compostable and all of the cards are handfinished with biodegradable glitter. Orders are also only sent out reusing packaging and protective stuffing to keep the waste down to an absolute minimum.

Fay's Studio 07817 412086  www.faysstudio.com

Paper Bird Publishing’s Bijou range of postcard sized cards has been lavishly extended to include a lovely collection of lino cut garden birds by illustrator and printmaker Ian Cunliffe. Ian has more birds planned and he's also designed a gorgeous Blackbird and Robin gift wrap. The cards are 150mmx105mm and come with a kraft envelope packed with a clear paper band.

Paper Bird Publishing

020 8613 8085/07766 164 807

www.paperbirdpublishing.co.uk

PG Live Stand 164

A selection of products being launched to pep up retailers’ displays.

Spreading the Love

Bexy Boo is building on the success of its fabulous fashion range, Lily Loves and has expanded it into Christmas. Each card is handfinished with a woven satin, printed 'handbag’ label, just like the ones you find in the neck of your jumper. The 12 brand new designs covering open Christmas and female relations. All printed on 350gsm FSC board, they come with a vivid red envelope and bio cello wrapped as standard.

Bexy Boo

01565 830 546

www.bexyboo.co.uk

PG Live Stand 178

Boxing Clever

Following the success of Toasted Crumpet’s Mini Moments collection, the company has introduced 16 new boxed sets of six cards. There are 12 everyday designs covering birthdays, thank you and thinking of you, as well as four designs for Christmas. Each set is presented in a sustainably sourced, plastic-free and carbon balanced gift box that also has a euro slot for hanging display purposes.  Completely cello-free and 100% recyclable in paper recycling, any foil coating on the cards is so thin that it dissipates during the repulping process.

Toasted Crumpet 01372 383436

www.toastedcrumpet.co.uk

In the Swim

Out of the Box Cards is in the flow with the passion for wild swimming, having recently launched a capsule collection of designs, featuring illustrations by Daisy Mojave Holland that cover this feelgood sport. The Wild Women Swimming range is perfect for those who can't resist plunging into cold water and celebrating the joys of swimming outdoors. The gloss laminated cards are 10cmx15cm and come with a white envelope with naked, clasped or cellowrapped.

Out of the Box Cards 07887 506498

www.outofthebox.cards

Rays of Sunshine

Clever Cut Through

Dive into woodland and hedgerow with Roger la Borde’s new range of elegant laser cut cards, featuring reworked classic Roger la Borde illustrations. Each card showcases British wildflowers and wildlife – including badger, red squirrel, hedgehog and fox – in the form of stunningly intricate laser cut greeting cards. The cards are printed inside and outside in full colour, with a dedicated panel on the reverse for writing your message.

Roger la Borde 0207 328 0491

www.rogerlaborde.com

Sense of Place

Pink Pig is giving retailers the option of being able to add their own town name and suitable text to any of the card designs in its popular Three Up range. Having recently doubled in size, there are now over 40 cards in this fun range which features popular hobbies and pastimes in both male and female designs. The cards are all 150mm square, printed on recyclable FSC board, supplied with ecokraft envelopes, and available naked, with an eco-clasp or cellowrapped.

Pink Pig 0779 5574548

www.pinkpigcards.co.uk

The latest collection from Sunshine Llama features artwork from designer Rebecca Jenkins. This Rebecca Jenkins Artist Series features a stunningly modern and one-of-a-kind assortment of greeting cards that captures the essence of individuality and creativity, using unexpected textures and a muted natural colour palette. The cards are all printed on 350gsm textured board, supplied packed in cello or plastic free.

Sunshine Llama 07763239731

www.lucymaggiedesigns.co.uk/ sunshine-llama-home

PG Live Stand 770

Public interest in the countryside, gardening and nature generally is at an all-time high. Our appreciation of natural history, the outdoors and our own natural spaces that was heightened during the pandemic has not abated as the viewing figures of the BBC series Countryfile, Gardeners’ World and Springwatch/ Winterwatch attest.

As the longstanding greeting card licensee for this trio of BBC brands, PG enjoyed a natural conversation with Abacus Cards’ managing director Nick Carey and studio manager Liz Ellis.

Chicks are cheeping in their nests, lambs are frolicking in the fields, gardens are bursting with colour and badgers are snuffling in the woods… spring has arrived and is all around us. And bringing the outside into our sitting rooms, with an authenticity matched with engaging content, are a trio of treats from the BBC, namely Springwatch, Countryfile and Gardeners’ World.

Nature Counts

Left:

Liz Ellis, studio manager of Newmarketbased Abacus Cards.

Other than its relationship with the humorous Harold’s Planet brand, which Abacus Cards has published under its Clare Maddicott division since acquiring the latter, the publisher steered clear of licensing relationships, having created its myriad of greeting card collections in its in-house studio since its inception three decades ago.

“It was back in early 2015 that Bev [Cunningham], our then creative director first highlighted the merit of being able to tap into the consumer awareness and popularity of BBC’s Springwatch series, recognising that it would complement and enhance our reputation for photographic cards,” recalled

Gardening tips

Tulip Meadow, one of the images in Abacus’ Gardeners’ World range. It was taken by photographer Clive Nichols. He shares his background as well as his approach for photographing gardens…

“I try to shoot at sunrise and sunset when the rich, low angled light washes an image in a warm glow, throwing shadows across the picture. In terms of composition, I like to shoot along paths and borders to create a sense of depth in my pictures.”

“An introduction to Brands With Influence, the licensing agency who works in partnership with the BBC on some of its brands, including Springwatch and Countryfile, got things off the ground, and we then set to work to create the inaugural ranges,” explained Liz.

The first BBC Springwatch range from Abacus launched in July 2015 followed by a BBC Countryfile collection in 2016 and a BBC Gardeners’ World collection launched in 2017.

Instead of using actual stills from the TV series, the greeting cards are based on photographic images inspired by the programmes that adhere to the BBC’s strict guidelines.

“Through our experience of publishing successful photographic

Right: A beautiful shot of a spring flower meadow captured by Clive Nichols that appears in Abacus’ BBC Gardeners’ World range.

Above left: An adorable design in Abacus’ BBC Springwatch range.

Embodying that yearn to escape to the countryside features in some of the designs in Abacus’ Countryfile collection.

Below: Abacus’ Nick Carey devised the innovative spinner which displays all three of Abacus’ BBC card and notecard ranges, with a dedicated ‘side’ for each brand.

Bottom left: The growing popularity of ‘grow your own’ is reflected in Abacus Cards’ BBC Gardeners’ World range.

ranges such as Posies and Petals, Graphite and Rapture, we already had relationships with many talented wildlife, landscape and garden photographers, but we have further expanded our contacts in the photographic natural world,” adds Liz.

Talking specifically of the Springwatch collection, Liz reveals that just like nature itself, the range has been something of an evolution.

“I recall that in our very first Springwatch greeting card range we included a stunning image of an adder while another featured a bird of prey in flight. As impressive as these photographs were we found that it was the friendlier-looking animals and birds that people see in their gardens, that were more popular, so we have ensured we have included more of these in our subsequent launches,” revealed Liz.

While the Springwatch range focuses on wildlife, all of which are native to the UK, in

presented, either with a translucent paper bellyband or in a Nativia bio bag, while the rear of each card incorporates detailed information about the species featured or the location.

As Liz summed up: “We feel privileged that through these card ranges we can play our part in supporting the BBC and the fabulous work it does in championing British wildlife, our wonderful countryside as well as our domestic gardens.”

Hare raising

Landscape photographer Bernard Noblett captured the shot of Brown Hares in Croston, Lancashire that appears in Abacus’ BBC Countryfile range. He shares his motivation and inspiration…

“I spend a lot of time in the countryside and like to capture what I see. I try to get to know where wildlife can be found, and I tend to do most of my photography early in the morning when it is quieter.

I can have ideas for photos floating around in my head for months or even years, light and weather conditions are very important so I find locations I like and then work out where the light will be at certain times of day throughout the year.

I personally like to get some context into the image, if there is wildlife in my photos, I prefer it to be something that is in the image rather than being the image, so I like to get some sense of the surroundings rather than just getting close up of animals.”

Below: Bernard Noblett captured this shot of Brown Hares in Croston, Lancashire which features in Abacus’ BBC Countryfile range.

keeping with the programme, the BBC Countryfile licence enables Abacus to feature UK landscapes, coastal scenery, agriculture and country pursuits.

“The broad reach of Countryfile means that we can tap into specific farming scenes as well as some dreamy rural landscapes that chime with the feeling of escapism that so many currently yearn,” says Liz.

The grand dame of the triumvirate of BBC licences Abacus holds is BBC Gardeners’ World, the signing of which as Nick Carey, managing director summed up has been a perfect fit for two reasons. “The fact that our sibling business is Mr. Fothergill’s Seeds, plus that we sell a lot of cards in garden centres, on top of our other retail stockists, has made Gardeners’ World a great licence,” says Nick.

High sustainable credentials run across all three ranges, including how the cards are

Capturing the moment

Julian Rad is the wildlife photographer who took the stunning image of a Red Squirrel with a tulip that features in Abacus’ BBC Springwatch range. He reveals more about life behind the camera…

“Taking images of wild animals always requires a great amount of patience and time, because you never can predict when the animal is coming near to you or if it will be around at all. Unlike with other types of photography, you cannot control the subject or the environment in which it appears. You have to be prepared to wait for long periods of time to capture the perfect shot.

I have spent countless hours sitting in my photo-hide to photograph many different wild animal species and one thing that I’ve learned over the years is: Be patient and do not chase the animals, let them come to you. You have to study the animal's behaviour and movements in order to anticipate the best moment to capture the shot. That is exactly why nature photography is so challenging - you need empathy, knowledge of species, patience, endurance and a pinch of luck.

I believe that photography is a particularly powerful tool for raising awareness about wildlife conservation and inspiring the public to get involved in wildlife conservation.”

Above: One of Julian Rad’s photographs which features in Abacus’ BBC Springwatch range.

Above: Liz Ellis, studio manager of Abacus is a keen gardener herself. Left: Abacus’ managing director Nick Carey during a Spring walk with Pip the Jack Russell and Rex the Border Terrier.

All

to ‘unite the LGBT+ voice, amplify diversity and protest against inequality’, values that are supported by the GCA,” association ceo Amanda Fergusson explained.

Mark Callaby, head of the GCA’s D&I sub-committee and md of Ohh Deer reinforced: “Greeting cards send a powerful message to anyone who receives them and, as an industry, we’re already producing a really rich and inclusive collection of cards that send messages of love and support.”

As the finalists in the Best Diversity & Inclusion category in The Henries 2022 awards testified, card publishing activity

PG delves into some of the progress and developments on diversity and inclusion cards.

Just as there’s a card for every occasion, there’s now also a design for every culture, creed, gender, language, and excluded group - the designs might not be as visible as many would like, but progress, thank goodness, continues to be made on the D&I front by mainstream and specialist publishers as well as major retailers, indies and online platforms.

The GCA’s Diversity & Inclusion subcommittee has taken on a broad role, facilitating improvements, a better

understanding and fair representation within the industry. As detailed in the news section in this edition, this July sees the GCA officially participating in Pride in London, having secured 50 walking places on the march, which will see participating publishers distributing greeting cards to celebrate D&I in the industry. “The Pride in London mission is

continues to give a greater voice to all, irrespective of skin tone, sexuality, religion or disability, the trophy being won by Hallmark for its Feel the Love braille cards, developed in collaboration with RNIB.

UK Greetings and Dyson Design are two other publishers who have taken the diversity theme to heart with card ranges for people with vision difficulties.

According to NHS statistics more than two million people are living with sight loss in the UK so, when Dyson Design’s founder Helen Dyson’s mum joined that number, she deliberately worked on a collection her mother could still enjoy.

“Each card is rose perfumed,” the Dyson Design founder explained, “I originally designed them with my lovely mum in mind who lost her sight towards the end of her life.”

What makes us different is what makes people human and ensuring that everyone feels included is a major driver of the modern world, something in which the greeting card industry very much has a part to play.

Left: The GCA is proud to be marching at Pride In London under the logo designed by Rachel Hare of Belly Button Designs.

Above: (5th right) Head of the GCA D&I committee, Ohh Deer’s Mark Callaby with GCA’s Adriana Lovesy (4th right) and panellist Georgina Fihosy, of AfroTouch Design, (far right) with some of the Black-owned publishers who were pitching, including (3rd and 4th left) StreetGreets’ Siobhan Wauchope and Naomi Nicholas.

Above middle: The rose perfume on this Dyson Design card is appreciated by those have lost their sight.

Above right: Skin tones matter for Laura Niles. Right: Braille helps UK Greetings cards to be accessible to the poorly sighted.

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Helen approached English rose breeders David Austin Roses to see if they’d like to collaborate on the range which is still going strong today, 12 years on. “We know by all the compliments we get that the cards are especially appreciated by those who live with sight loss,” commented Helen.

UKG has taken a different approach, introducing designs that incorporate the caption in braille. “Working closely with our retailer customers we’re encouraged by their continued enthusiasm towards having an offering that covers all consumer needs,” commented UKG marketing assistant Alice Cass. “Our range of braille cards is an excellent example of how we use standard techniques such as embossing innovatively to ensure our cards are accessible to all.”

Above: Everyone needs to feel included, and greeting cards play a part in this.

Left: Natiscreations has been concentrating on men and mixed race.

Below:

Laura has also extended her collection of LBGTQ+ designs and wants to broaden the range further to include designs that recognise disabilities, an area she feels is very limited. “Everyone has a right to have a card they can connect to,” believes Laura.

Molly Mae’s latest Joyful Festive Baubles Christmas range has taken a cue from its successful wedding and anniversary titles to include diverse designs such as Pride, Aunties, Uncles, Daddies and Mummies, with each proudly featuring the Pride flag colours on the baubles.

Bringing accessibility to life, it was chats with her neighbour over the garden fence during Covid that helped frame Laura Niles’ ideas for her eponymous company. “My neighbour mentioned that she felt under-represented in lots of areas of her life, including with skin-toned lingerie, children’s books and greeting cards.”

Laura accepts getting it right is not simple. “There are 110 different skin tone shades that Pantone has included in its SkinTone Guide,” Laura said, “that’s a lot of under-represented people!”

Knowing me, knowing you

Longtime pioneers of ethnic cards, Davora produces a free year planning calendar (given away free with PG mag each January) detailing key multicultural celebrations, as well as cheat sheets on different religious events. This makes it easy to learn about all various occasions and buy cards catering for Ramadan, Eid, Diwali, Rakhi, Vaisakhi, Chinese New Year, Jewish New Year, Passover, Hanukkah, Polish and Welsh captions, Thanksgiving, saints’ days and even Halloween!

Website and social media manager Emily Holmes explained: “We’ve been producing cards for gay weddings for a few years now, then moved into anniversary and Valentine’s which have also been great, and we feel that, as Christmas is such a special occasion of celebration, this was the most natural next step for us to take, and for us to offer it to trade customers.”

Natiscreations is a publisher that is embracing both the gender/sexuality and ethnic sides of diversity. As owner Fatima Bonnah commented: “It’s important the greeting card industry recognises and celebrates diversity and inclusion by creating cards that not only reflect people of diverse backgrounds, but includes cards for different ages, gender, festivals of different culture, and sexual orientations.”

She said that Natiscreations offers cards “that aren’t normally widespread in terms of Black and brown people, but also cards for parents, grandparents, babies, children, men, women including mixed-raced couples and individuals as well as Muslim women and children.”

Having concentrated over the past year on creating cards for men and mixed-race individuals following customer requests Fatima is now looking to fill the gap in the market for Black Muslim cards, as well as

Right: One of Davora’s Polish designs.

Molly Mae is now proud at Christmas. Below left: StreetGreets is expanding its diverse captions. Below right: A UKG’s designed in collaboration with Eastern Print Studio.

expanding with more designs for the LGBTQ+ community.

She added: “We want to make sure everyone has a sense of belonging and with our commitment to diversity we hope to make a positive difference.”

One publisher which most certainly has made a positive difference on the D&I front is StreetGreets, headed up by the ebullient sister duo Siobhan Wauchope and Naomi Nicholas, whose recently requested for son and daughter captions have been so well received they’re now also on sale in Sainsbury’s.

As Naomi stated: “Diversity and inclusion means being seen and celebrated for your authentic self, without any prejudice or judgement from others. We’ve been approached by major greeting card platforms and retail outlets who are eager to showcase our designs which has been surreal and amazing!”

The publisher is currently planning to expand its portfolio to accommodate more religious festivities, such as Eid, Diwali, and Kwanzaa.

“No matter what colour, background or culture you’re from, everyone needs to be loved, feel included and not left out, that’s what diversity and inclusion means to me,” said Heather Ellis, who runs My Authentic Self Cards.

And Heather is very happy to change hair and skin colour of characters on her

Hello Anoela

designs to meet a customer’s preference, while she’s also looking at requests for Asian children on birthday cards.

At UKG, creating a diverse and inclusive product offering is a key part of its product strategy. As Alice Cass, marketing assistant elaborated: “We’re continually looking to introduce new designs which support D&I, and work with lots of very talented artists across all ethnicities.” She highlighted how the publisher is “especially proud” of its “beautiful collaborations with both AfroTouch Design and Eastern Print Studio, these ethnic-inspired ranges have proven to

be very popular, and their success is testament to the diverse audience to which they appeal.”

Georgina Fihosy is the creative maestro behind AfroTouch Design and is very happy with the UKG collaboration which has resulted in her designs being sold in Tesco and Sainsbury’s. “The cards have been well received - it's good that the leading supermarkets are not just thinking about inclusion but actually acting on implementing it when it comes to their product offerings and suppliers,” says Georgina.

She’s also still producing her own collections using African print fabric designs to give them a cultural edge and make them appealing to anyone who loves vibrant colours.

Georgina explained: “The whole inception of AfroTouch Design was based on a need to have cards that represented my culture on the High Street. Walking into stores and not seeing cards representing my family and the individuals to whom I regularly give cards was frustrating. If I could pick up a card with a cute little white baby, why couldn't I equally find a card with a little black baby on?”

Summing up, Georgina said: “With inclusion comes a sense of belonging, and the provision of a more diverse greeting card selection is so important, particularly as the population is so ethnically diverse.”

Based in Nigeria, Anoela Cards expanded into the UK over a year ago with a desire to represent people of colour along with their values, cultures and religions.

Co-owner Leona Adesanya said: “As a large target audience of ours is Nigerian, we have also made sure to create more designs that cater to that demographic, by adding elements of Nigerian culture such as the languages and traditional attire.

“Recently we launched our 2023 Ramadan collection, which is an ode to our Muslim customers and community - the feedback has been amazing, with our Muslim customers buying in bulk and sharing some of the designs on social media.”

Above: Different ethnicities feature on Bexy Boo’s Lucy Loves range. Left: AfroTouch also collaborates with UKG. Below: Scots for congratulations.

Inset: Culture matters to Anoela Cards.

“I had been aware of Lucia Heffernan’s work for some time as it was cropping up on people’s Instagram streams with an increasing regularity - including endorsement from celebs Drew Barrymore and Viola Davis. I really liked the detailed illustrations coupled with the silliness of the situations which I felt would really lend themselves to greeting cards,” reveals Martin Powderly, creative director of Pigment. “So, when Lisle Licensing, the licensing agent for Lucia’s

A King Charles spaniel wearing a crown, fluffy yellow chicks striking yoga poses, an owl contemplating a glass of fine red wine and a rabbit enjoying a sumptuous breakfast in bed are just a taster of the humorous fantastical creations by artist Lucia Heffernan which are debuting on a greeting card collection from Pigment. PG caught up with Martin Powderly, Pigment’s creative director to find out more about the publisher’s latest artistic menagerie.

work in the UK, contacted me to see if we would be interested in publishing some of her work on greeting cards, it was a case of serendipitous timing,” added Martin.

Amazed by the breadth of Lucia’s portfolio, which includes well over 1,000 of her artworks, as extra reassurance Martin and Pigment’s coowner and sales director Steve Baker selected a few images to gauge reactions from the publisher’s sales side, colleagues in the design studio and its retailer testers.

“From the offset, the reaction we had to Lucia’s work from our own sales team, our small ‘test’ groups with whom we poll new collections and buyers was fantastic,” commented Steve. “It seems like such a great fit for us.”

As Martin elaborated, animal-themed greeting cards have been a mainstay for many publishers, including

Top left: Lucia Heffernan’s Yoga Chicks have attracted huge attention far and wide.

Above middle: Martin Powderly.

Above right: Pigment just had to include this King Charles Spaniel image by Lucia in its inaugural greeting card collection featuring her work. Inset: Lucia Heffernan now has created over 1,000 paintings many of which have fanfared in 20 exhibitions in the last three years alone.

Pigment, as evidenced by its long running Animal Antics photographic range which has evolved over time.

As Martin highlighted: “You have to be very careful these days about including photographs of animals that could be deemed to anthropomorphise. There has been some earnest pushback from consumers about photographic animal cards where the animals are wearing clothes or shown in unnatural ‘human’ scenarios as this goes completely against the dignity of the animal, their natural needs and instincts."

As Lucia’s imagery is clearly illustrative and not photographic and somewhat surreal in the scenarios, this means it does not upset the sensibilities of animal lovers.

illustration pops up, like we have found in Lucia, it’s a breath of fresh air.”

Martin reveals that making the selection as to which images were to feature in Pigment’s card range has involved some “frankly ludicrous” conversations among the publisher’s design studio team to come up with the inaugural collection of 32 cards that will be showcased on its stand at PG Live in June (67 at London’s Business Design Centre).

Lowdown on Lucia

“The main focus of our Lucia Heffernan greeting card range is to bring a smile,” states Martin. “We knew the King Charles spaniel design would obviously have huge resonance coinciding with the Coronation and we knew the Yoga Chicks would be good sellers, but other earnest conversations, which to anyone from outside our greetings world would probably sound ridiculous, included much debate about whether a walrus in the bath would be suitable for a Mum card. I said “no” but was outvoted. All in a day’s work of a card publisher putting together a funny, silly range that will cheer people up!”

Born in Taiwan in 1966, Lucia was inspired to paint and draw at a very early age by her mother, who was a watercolour artist.

The young Lucia was fascinated by animated cartoons which led her to art school.

She graduated from Binghamton University, New York in Fine Arts & Design and then established LDD, a $multimillion award-winning creative design agency.

Lucia moved to Utah in 2000 where her creative focus shifted from digital design to oil painting.

She has achieved widespread acclaim for her art, which has been featured in 20 exhibitions in the last three years alone.

She has 180,000 followers on social media, 20,000 of which have come on board in the last three months.

Celebrity Drew Barrymore is among those to have shared Lucia’s Yoga Chicks images with her 16.7 million followers on her social media channels and actress Viola Davis is another big fan of Lucia’s work.

Lucia is a prolific artist, now with well over 1,000 artworks she has made available to licence, with Lisle Licensing representing her in the UK.

“Lucia’s work is obviously fantastical and wholly illustrative which allows us to have more fun with the animals as characters,” says Martin. “The imagery and illustration style really is classic greeting card material. It’s upbeat, fun, silly, inclusive and really sendable. For whatever reason there does not seem to be anything like it in the mainstream UK market right now,” he adds.

As Martin points out: “Nowadays there really aren’t as many painted character brands in the greeting card arena while there has been a surge of trend graphics and editorial/type-led lines. So, I’d like to think that when a body of bright full-on silly

In addition to Pigment, which has the licence for greeting cards in the UK, other licensees include Wentworth Wooden Puzzles for a jigsaw; Izy for waterbottles; Purrfect Cat Gifts for cat gifts; Ecell for phone cases; Pinko for fashion; Paris Baguette for a range of bakery goodies; American Greetings for greeting cards in the US; MC 2 Barth for swimwear and T shirts, Buffalo for games and puzzles; Esta Home for homewares; Eurographics puzzles for jigsaws; Hatber for a calendar; iCanvas for wall art; Eagle for arts and crafts and La La Land

greeting cards, coasters, fridge magnets and giftwrappings in Australia.

Above:

in

for

Born

Taiwan, Lucia now resides in Utah in America. but her childhood fascination for drawing animals shows no signs of abating.

Left: Drew Barrymore is just one celebrity who has latched onto Lucia Heffernan, championing her artwork on social media.

Left: Pigment’s studio in Harrogate which has worked with Lucia’s UK licensing agents, Lisle Licensing to develop the greeting card range which is launching with 13 open designs and 18 captioned cards.

Far left: Quirky humour is at the fore of the Lucia Heffernan designs Pigment has licensed for greeting cards, with designs for females (pictured) and males.

Art Source

Good ‘Evans

Working from a garden studio, by the coast in East Sussex, where artist Nicola Evans lives with her husband, two children and two cats, provides her very own creative space where she can happily experiment with colours and textures, explore new techniques and materials and best of all, make as much mess as she likes! Here, Nicola shares more about her creative life and loves.

“I think if you do something that you love for a living then you are pretty lucky and I’m happy to say that I’ve been able to do just that.

Growing up I spent a lot of my time happily drawing away by myself and at school the art room was always where I felt the most at home. I guess even then it was always clear that I was going to do something creative.

After my A levels and completing a BTEC in Art and Design I went on to complete a BA(Hons) in Graphic Design and Advertising, specialising in illustration graphics. Several months after leaving University I couldn’t believe I had landed my first card range. At the time I was juggling early morning shelf stacking, working in a bar in the evenings while in the day trudging my portfolio round London and beyond to meetings.

It was only through developing a good working relationship with my first client that they mentioned about getting an agent and they suggested giving Advocate Art a call. I’m so pleased I did. After joining, my career took off and 24 years later, I am still Illustrating full time.

Today I work from home on the South Coast with my husband, two children and our two cats Bluebell and Mabel.

A lot of my early work involved children’s illustration, but more recently I have developed a passion for drawing florals and other organic forms. I love gardening and my favourite place to visit for inspiration has to be Kew Gardens. Sussex is also surrounded by some beautiful countryside and historic landmarks

and fortunately the beach is only a short walk away. All these things play heavily in what I like to draw the most.

The majority of my commissions over the past few years have been from greeting card publishers who I really enjoy working with.

Plus, I’m incredibly passionate about keeping the tradition of sending cards alive and I still love receiving them myself.

However, I have also Illustrated books, stationery, gift wrap, tableware, CD covers and puzzles to name a few. Occasionally, I also take time out to paint large paintings which I sometimes exhibit. It’s fun to get the big brushes out and do something more spontaneous, totally different and messy!!

A lot of my work now is digital, but I do miss painting. I used to have real fear of moving to digital but nowadays I quite like to be able to have a mix of the two and it works really well for me.

Being an Illustrator can sometimes be quite lonely so over the past few years I’ve taken the leap into joining several art courses online. Although a little apprehensive at first this has really helped to open me up to new ways of working which perhaps I never would have tried before. Equally it’s a great way to receive critique from other creatives. It’s been a really positive experience for me and I plan to make this a regular thing.

Looking back through my career, I have worked with so many wonderful clients worldwide. It really is a great environment to be a part of and I’ve learnt that not everyone will like what you do, but as long as I can keep selling my work and I do what I enjoy then that’s good enough for me!”

l Nicola Evans is represented for licensing and commissions by Advocate Art.

If you are an artist, photographer or verse writer and would like to be considered to appear in Art Source, please contact PG’s Jakki Brown on jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk. This is an editorial feature and as such is free of charge.

Left: The majority of Nicola Evans’ work in the last few years has been for greeting card publishers.

Top: Celebratory icons always have a place in greeting card designs as Nicola proves.

Above: A delicate touch and soft colour palette features in this Christmas design.

Left: A love of nature and greeting cards combine in this design buy Nicola.

Above middle: Typography features prominently in some of Nicola’s designs.

Above: Nicola’s versatile style extends into contemporary cute.

Far right: Nicola is adept at creating step repeat patterning for giftwrap and other products.

Beautiful, brand new Flower Press designs

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A collection of delicate wild flowers

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PG ASKED A SELECTION OF RETAILERS FOR THEIR BEST SELLERS

Elizabeth Wilson,

Category Name of Publisher

Alex Clark

Jonny Javelin

Words ‘n’ Wishes

Woodmansterne

Lucilla Lavender

Rachel Ellen Designs

IC&G

Lucilla Lavender

Woodmansterne/Card mix

Noel Tatt

Pigment

Abacus Cards

Product/Name Range Comments

Sunshine

Generally New Baby

Quentin Blake

Human Beans

Little Darlings

Year You Were Born

Birdiculous

Irene and Gladys

Bree Merryn

Life in Pencil

BBC Springwatch; BBC Countryfile;

“Covers so many different interests from running and baking to horse-riding.”

“The photo-realistic illustrations and lovely verses are big sellers for us.”

“Lovely cards to celebrate the arrival of new Great-Grandchildren which are proving increasingly popular.”

“We’ve seen a trend towards more fun anniversary cards and these two ranges hit the spot.”

“They make everyone smile - fun and colourful.”

“Nostalgia sells really well for us - our customers love the facts that feature.”

“The penguin biscuit design has been especially popular.”

“A consistent seller - customers love the humorous take on works of art.”

“Cute animal designs do well here. Sometimes our customers buy these by the handful.”

“Farming and countryside ranges, especially any cards with dogs or Land Rovers are big sellers.”

“Incredibly popular. Our customers love seeing local sites like Whitby Abbey featured.”

Sally Matson, owner of Red Card, Petworth, West Sussex. A well-loved card and gift shop in a picturesque town full of indie shops, with a customer base of loyal locals as well as many tourists. Everyday

The Art File

Louise Mulgrew

Harriet Watson

ArtEco Designs

Redback Cards

Stormy Knight

Woodmansterne

Ohh Deer

Green Pebble

I Drew This

Bear

Mini Cards

Generally Anne Taintor

Zeppelinmoon

Bloom

Emma Bridgewater

Cath Kidston

Generally

Landmarks

“There is something for everyone in this everexpanding range.”

“Beautiful little cards that people buy by the handful.”

“The artwork is so beautiful.”

“Designs in the new release have been flying out.”

“Our best-selling humour range - wonderful, crazy cards.”

“These seed stick cards are perfect for the planting season.”

“The tulip design is our best seller - the embossing, colours and quality are fantastic.”

“I really love these pretty cards that sell for everyday birthdays as well as occasions.”

“Being in Land Rover Defender country, Chris Williamson’s Riding Shotgun design is a best seller.”

“This range featuring local, London and UK landmarks sells so well.”

Art Photographic Children’s Relations and Occasions

Giftwrappings

The Art File

Cardmix

ArtEco Designs

Katie Phythian Design

Glick

Toby the Dog

Scream

A-Z Collections

The Potting Shed

The Fruit Collection

“Stephen Hanson’s artwork captures the heart.”

“Easily my favourite photographic range right now.”

“The A-Z of dinosaurs design is especially popular.”

“Quite different to KP’s other ranges.”

“Strawberries, lemons and other fruits feature in this gorgeous range.”

ecommerce manager of Nickery Nook, Bedale. A long-established card shop selling gifts, chocolates and balloons in a historic Yorkshire market town.

Above right: A contemporary ‘still life’ from Jonny Javelin!

Right: A classic from Irene & Gladys, from Woodmansterne.

Above right: A new Anne Traintor design from ArtEco Designs.

Right: Who could resist this Toby the Dog design from The Art File?

Category Name of Publisher Product/Name Range Comments

Everyday

Female Birthday

Male Birthday

Special ages and occasions

Humour

Children’s

Think of Me Pigment

The Proper Mail Company

Toasted Crumpet

Molly Mae

Caroline Gardner

Think of Me Pigment

Woodmansterne

Toasted Crumpet

Belly Button Designs

Rosie Made a Thing

Pigment

Pigment Paper Salad Paper Salad

Janie Wilson

Molly Mae

Rosie Made a Thing

Caroline Gardner

WOW

Happy Jackson Small cards

Dark & Stormy Painted Brush Strokes

WOW!

Stella

Life in Pencil

Amy Eastland

Country Gent

Luxe

Babble

Fox & Butler Badinage

Cuckoo

Jamboree Ages; Are We Nearly There

Yet?

Milkshake

Snapshot

Cheeky Chops

Little Monsters

“Popular due to their simplicity.”

“Bright and colourful with mass appeal.”

“Beautiful designs.”

“They really stand out.”

“So popular.”

“Modern, simple and striking.”

“Stylishly simple designs.”

“Eye-catching designs.”

“Bold and colourful.”

“Arty with soft humour.”

“Beautiful statement cards.”

“They love a giggle at these.”

“Humour with class!”

“A cheeky range.”

“Fun-filled rainbow coloured cards.”

“Fun 3D cards.”

“Beautifully designed cards for kiddies.”

“Cards with broad appeal.”

“Fun and Cheeky.”

“Perfect for those little monsters!”

Art

Photographic Giftwrappings

Gifts

Sandra

Periodic Society

The Art File

Noel Tatt Belly Button Designs

Deva Designs Belly Button Designs

Generally Nature Trail; Natural Phenomenon

Cube

Bubble

Tissue

Mimosa and leopard print stationery

“Gorgeous range of art cards.”

“Striking screen-printed style cards.”

“Excellent photographic images.”

“Bags in all sizes and shapes in the most fabulous designs.”

“Wonderful packs that are a great add on sale.”

“These have sold particularly well; we all need colour in our lives.”

Category Name of Publisher Product/Name Range Comments

Everyday

Humour

Children’s

Relations & Occasions

Adult ages

Art Keeping in Touch

Giftwrappings

Gifts

Earlybird Publishing

Little Dog Laughed

Two Bad Mice

Rachel Ellen

The Art File

Sarah Kelleher

Toasted Crumpet

Sarah Cemmick Lino

Cuts

Green Pebble

Penguin Ink

Museums & Galleries

Roger la Borde

Toasted Crumpet

Museums & Galleries

The Art File

Toasted Crumpet

Flametree Publishing

Nadia Generally

Humorous designs Generally Generally

Florals

Age Cards Generally

Valériane Leblond

Letterpress Cards

Notecards

Flat wrap

Flat wrap

Rollwrap

Rollwrap

Soaps and hand creams

Notebooks

“Bought by the handful.”

“A sure sale - so relatable.”

“Tasteful. The funny ones sell well.”

“Bright, fun and eyecatching.”

“A stunning modern selection.”

“Floral designs with a touch of gold.”

“Classy with the intricate detailing.”

“Stunning, soulful and mesmerising.”

“She is from Mid Wales and depicts local images.”

“They exude a quality like no other.”

“A broad range of well known artists and brands are included.”

“The artwork matches the card and stationery.”

“Good quality. Customers want to wrap in style.”

“The scent, the packaging and the price are perfect.”

“There’s a cover for everyone.”

Kerri Sorbie, retail manager of Archerfield Walled Garden, Dirleton. Tourists and locals flock to this 18th Century Walled Garden in East Lothian which used to grow produce for Archerfield House.

Jarvis, owner of Creative Cove, Lampeter. An arts, craft, card, stationery, gifts and party shop in the university town in Ceredigion, Wales.

Top: A design from Earlybird’s Nadiya range.

Above: A Sarah Cemmick Lino Cuts’ card design.

Top: A Molly Mae Brush Strokes design.

Above: One of the Scottishthemed cards from Periodic Society.

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud

T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

sales@glick.co.uk glick.co.uk trade.glick.co.uk

from the

Including firmfavourites and brand new designs

Brands include: Keepsakes,Words ofLove, Jelly Beans, Bella Rose, Champagne and many more

Tel: +44 (0)115 986 0115 customerservices@paperrose.co.uk www.writefromtheheart.co.uk

Hallmark Cards PLC Dawson Lane, Bradford, BD4 6HN UK&NI: 0800 90 20 900 ROI: 012 480 104 customerqueriesUK@hallmark.com

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