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Celebrity Focus
Greetings From
Celebs Adele sparked a media frenzy when she went on a greeting card buying spree in John Lewis’ Peter Jones store recently. Meanwhile, a whole host of other celebs, from Jennifer Aniston and Tom Hiddleston, to Hugh Bonneville and Mary Berry, have vocalised about their love of making cards, while other famous faces, from Barack Obama to Alan Shearer, have not held back on their involvement on the greeting card front. PG gets the celebrity scoop by sharing some famous faces’ views on the role greeting cards play in modern life. Some do it for business, others for pleasure and many for good causes... from top music stars, TV stars, comedians or even politicians, so many big names are in the ‘celebrity card club’ - which is all good news for the card trade. The press lapped up the news when Adele recently bought up John Lewis’ Peter Jones store’s entire stock of Tache Craft’s Famous Faces cards featuring her visage. Tache’s ‘You Had Me at Hello…’ design featuring Lionel Richie hit just the right note for him too; he loved it so much he tweeted and Facebooked it, wishing his followers a “Happy Valentine’s Day!” Meanwhile, still within the music world, having majored in design, female diva Diana Ross made no secret recently that she had thoroughly enjoyed crafting romantic birdthemed Valentine’s Days cards
with home guru Martha Stewart, and fellow songstress Taylor Swift also admitted that she adores making cards, saying in a press release, "My idea of a great song is a song that says how I feel better than I could. I feel the same way about greeting cards. I've always been fascinated by feelings and how we express them to each other." Craft reviver/interior designer, Linda Barker, has also come clean about how she loves a good cardmaking session. “For me, cards are small moments of pure pleasure and joy; little gems that can translate an emotion so quickly,” she explains. “I like funny cards most of all; ones that make me openly laugh out loud.” While she does make her own cards occasionally, Linda most often buys them, “Often stockpiling them if more than one catches my eye. Once I've Top: Two of Tache’s Famous Faces designs that elicited very positive responses from the celebs they depict. Above: Kirstie Allsopp has championed greeting cards, both on the crafting front as well as on the retail side, as evidenced by her licensing programme, which included being published by CardMix. Left: Actor Benedict Cumberbatch raised £2,649 for charity after designing his card design on behalf of Coram, the children’s charity. The card was sold at auction as part of a campaign launched by crafting company Stampin’ Up UK.
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
stepped into a card shop, it's difficult to leave in a hurry!” Another ‘home crafter’ Kirstie Allsopp’s inspiring, bold and original style is reflected in her cards, which exude her passion for pattern. “There is nothing nicer than a handmade card with a personalised handwritten message. It shows that real thought has gone into the occasion or celebration. Moreover, they are easy to tailor-make to individual tastes.” Other high-profile names, such as Laurence LlewelynBowen, Tracey Emin and Eddie Izzard have seen their designs launch onto greeting cards in recent years, as has musician/author Suzi Quatro. She personally designed a self-drawn collection, which has been close to her heart for many years. “I have always drawn pictures of kids, since falling in love with Walter Keane pictures as a young girl. I am very proud of my Christmas card collection, which I started creating in 1981. It became a personal family statement. I know a lot of people who have kept my cards through the years.” Gary Barlow, Joanna Lumley, Twiggy, Ewan McGregor... they’re all dab hands at designing, with impressive charity card creations on their CVs. Whether it’s a selfportrait design by Benedict Cumberbatch, an