Progressive Greetings Worldwide_July 2018

JULY 2018

July

2018

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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JULY 2018

July

2018

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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APPOINTMENTS

+Something Classy + EXCLUSIVE GIFTWRAP

Established sales agents required, nationwide Something Classy imports exclusive giftwrap, guaranteeing that we can offer our customers something different.

Our collection includes high quality paper, metallic, and holographic designs, with complementary gift dressings.

Extensive stock holdings, and UK & European suppliers, enable us to offer next working day delivery on the majority of our collection.

Successful candidates will be introducing an exciting collection of gift wrap and accessories to the market.

Candidates with contacts in the stationery and gift trades, not currently carrying giftwrap, may be offered the unique opportunity to join us. Early application is advised to secure your established territory.

We offer competitive rates of commission, always paid promptly, and offer full commission for repeat and direct orders.

Interested? Email your CV to sales@somethingclassy.co.uk, or call Ian Raybould on 01543 480914

www.somethingclassy.co.uk We look forward to impressing you

FABU A ULOUS OPPORTUNITY!

Are you looking to upgrade your product po�folio with fast

PROFESSIO ONAL SALES AGENTS REQUIRED COUNT TRYWIDE Y

cardovation@ ca @btconnect.com m TEL: 0195 54 260728 BON BON Pu ublications Ltd CAMBR RIDGE UK

Account Manager Trade: www.trade.cathtatecards.com | Retail: www.cathtatecards.com

:H DUH ORRNLQJ IRU D SURDFWLYH $FFRXQW 0DQDJHU WR MRLQ RXU /RQGRQ RIĂ€FH full time, Monday- Friday 9am-5pm.

Established over 35 years ago and run by mother and daughter team Cath and Rosie Tate, Cath Tate Cards specialises in humour cards and gifts.

As a small business what each member of the team does can be quite Ă XLG :H VXSSO\ D ZLGH UDQJH RI 8. DQG LQWHUQDWLRQDO VWRFNLVWV DQG WKH $FFRXQW 0DQDJHU LV DW WKH KHDUW RI RXU VPDOO VRXWK /RQGRQ RIĂ€FH WHDP The Account Manager will be the main point of contact for key customer accounts, involved in dealing with new product submissions to shops and dealing with key accounts across all aspects of our business with them. You will also be involved in other aspects of the business, including product development, stock management, social media, and website maintenance and development. :H DUH ORRNLQJ IRU VRPHRQH G\QDPLF SHUVRQDEOH DQG D Ă H[LEOH WHDP player. We are looking for someone who appreciates our product. The LGHDO FDQGLGDWH ZLOO KDYH H[SHULHQFH RI ZRUNLQJ ZLWK SURGXFW HLWKHU IRU wholesale or retail. An interest in design and knowledge of design programs DV ZHOO DV H[SHULHQFH RI WUDGH VKRZV ZRXOG EH D ERQXV

6DODU\ GHSHQGHQW RQ H[SHULHQFH The ideal start date would be late Aug 2018 Please email your CV to rosie@cathtatecards.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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APPOINTMENTS

+Something Classy + EXCLUSIVE GIFTWRAP

Established sales agents required, nationwide Something Classy imports exclusive giftwrap, guaranteeing that we can offer our customers something different.

Our collection includes high quality paper, metallic, and holographic designs, with complementary gift dressings.

Extensive stock holdings, and UK & European suppliers, enable us to offer next working day delivery on the majority of our collection.

Successful candidates will be introducing an exciting collection of gift wrap and accessories to the market.

Candidates with contacts in the stationery and gift trades, not currently carrying giftwrap, may be offered the unique opportunity to join us. Early application is advised to secure your established territory.

We offer competitive rates of commission, always paid promptly, and offer full commission for repeat and direct orders.

Interested? Email your CV to sales@somethingclassy.co.uk, or call Ian Raybould on 01543 480914

www.somethingclassy.co.uk We look forward to impressing you

FABU A ULOUS OPPORTUNITY!

Are you looking to upgrade your product po�folio with fast

PROFESSIO ONAL SALES AGENTS REQUIRED COUNT TRYWIDE Y

cardovation@ ca @btconnect.com m TEL: 0195 54 260728 BON BON Pu ublications Ltd CAMBR RIDGE UK

Account Manager Trade: www.trade.cathtatecards.com | Retail: www.cathtatecards.com

:H DUH ORRNLQJ IRU D SURDFWLYH $FFRXQW 0DQDJHU WR MRLQ RXU /RQGRQ RIĂ€FH full time, Monday- Friday 9am-5pm.

Established over 35 years ago and run by mother and daughter team Cath and Rosie Tate, Cath Tate Cards specialises in humour cards and gifts.

As a small business what each member of the team does can be quite Ă XLG :H VXSSO\ D ZLGH UDQJH RI 8. DQG LQWHUQDWLRQDO VWRFNLVWV DQG WKH $FFRXQW 0DQDJHU LV DW WKH KHDUW RI RXU VPDOO VRXWK /RQGRQ RIĂ€FH WHDP The Account Manager will be the main point of contact for key customer accounts, involved in dealing with new product submissions to shops and dealing with key accounts across all aspects of our business with them. You will also be involved in other aspects of the business, including product development, stock management, social media, and website maintenance and development. :H DUH ORRNLQJ IRU VRPHRQH G\QDPLF SHUVRQDEOH DQG D Ă H[LEOH WHDP player. We are looking for someone who appreciates our product. The LGHDO FDQGLGDWH ZLOO KDYH H[SHULHQFH RI ZRUNLQJ ZLWK SURGXFW HLWKHU IRU wholesale or retail. An interest in design and knowledge of design programs DV ZHOO DV H[SHULHQFH RI WUDGH VKRZV ZRXOG EH D ERQXV

6DODU\ GHSHQGHQW RQ H[SHULHQFH The ideal start date would be late Aug 2018 Please email your CV to rosie@cathtatecards.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Occasion Greeting Cards Designed by icon.

www.icon-art.com

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Leader

On The Cards As PG went to press we were days away from finding out the champions of a fiercely fought battle. No, not the World Cup, silly… The Retas greeting card retailer awards of course!

By the time this issue of PG lands on your doormat, the winners of The Retas will have already been announced (on July 11), while there are still a few matches still to go on the ‘other one’ aka the football World Cup. Just like football teams, the greeting card retailer ‘World Cup winners and finalists’ demonstrated to great aplomb their diverse talents, recognised the importance of working as a team and formulated a strategy that has outflanked their competition, while playing fairly and squarely to the rules.

Just as some of the World Cup nations’ teams have exceeded expectations, their prowess has seen them progress through the competition on their own respective merits, so The Retas Awards provides a credible opportunity to champion the industry’s talented retail players.

I had the good fortune of being with a whole league of top cardie ‘players’ at last month’s PG Live. The buzz at The Retas/The Greats Champagne Reception for starters was something akin to a football stadium roar. I loved it… hearing all the stories, listening in as indies swapped tips and experiences.

“Sometimes people come in to buy a card, but end up leaving with a Labrador too!” was one of the aural golden nuggets. It was uttered by Jo Sorrell, owner of Cardies, whose fostering of Labrador rescue dogs (as well as her own pet Labs), are very much in evidence in her Hertfordshire shop and gives her shop something of a special four-legged USP. It was rather special to catch up with Robert Petrie, owner of Kairds in Kirkwall, who together with his wife Caroline had made the pilgrimage from the Orkneys down to PG Live, reminding me how he came to the very first PG Live just as he was about to dip his toes into greeting card

www.max-publishing.co.uk THE HOME OF MARKET LEADING TRADE MAGAZINES

EXHIBITIONS

@Prog_Greetings

Above: A whole host of retailers and overseas distributors collectively pronounced the 10th anniversary PG Live officially open.

Right: (Second left) Wendy and (far right) Steve Jones-Blackett have exhibited at all 10 PG Live shows. Seen here with PG’s (left-right) Gale Astley, Warren Lomax and Jakki Brown.

Below: Kairds’ Robert Petrie and his wife Caroline (right) and daughter Lorna at PG Live.

retailing. “I saw it as a bit of fun initially,” Robert admitted. Now look, a decade later this plucky retailer has built up a loyal following, not just on the island, but from overseas too. “We sell a lot of Polish cards from Davora to those who come in from the ships,” he explained. “You have to cater for all needs and tastes you know up here.”

So, while Scotland didn’t make the finals in the World Cup, it sounds like Robert Petrie’s ‘fancy footwork’ is scoring goals on many fronts.

Card retailing and publishing is certainly a beautiful game, that lasts a lot longer that 90 minutes and thankfully does not involve penalty shoot-outs!

THE HOME OF MARKET LEADING TRADE AWARDS

Max Publishing Ltd, United House, North Road, London N7 9DP Tel: 020 7700 6740 Fax: 020 7607 6411 www.progressivegreetings.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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NEW SMALL CARDS 24 NE W BLANK AND BIRTHDAY CARDS PRINTED ON A LUXURY TE XTURED BOARD

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F O R A F R E E C AT A L O G U E T E L E P H O N E : 0 1 4 8 0 4 3 5 5 6 2 W W W. T R A C K S L T D . C O M cards are sold in units of 6 | sale or return | free spinners available All orders over £160 are carriage free. All orders under £160 will incur £7.99 + VAT handling charge

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Contents

What’s Inside?

Within This Issue: SPOTLIGHT ON ART CARDS

61

35 11-25

46-47

News

In Conversation with... Card Factory

26-27

Inside Card Factory’s Cupboard

Over The Counter

Decisions, Decisions Independent card and gift retailer, David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi in Scotland, reveals his PG Live discoveries and discusses decision fatigue.

PG catches up with Karen Hubbard, ceo of Card Factory, to pick the ‘bones’ out of the news emanating from the UK’s largest greeting card retailer.

Cardsharp

A Prescription From The NHS - Greeting Cards Twice A Day Cardsharp muses over topical events happening in the industry.

Focus On Art Cards

Art House

48-49

PG ‘frames’ some current art cards news.

Spring Seasons Trends 2019

28-29

71

Spring Watch

72-75

A flock of trends observed on next year’s Spring Seasons card designs.

Spotlight On Art Cards

A Change Of Scene A look at the current art cards landscape.

51-59

Innovations

77-79

Art Source

60-61

31-33

Publisher Focus

80-81

Viewpoints

The Big Blue

What’s Hot?

Making A Difference

Diving into the new Museums and Galleries’ BBC Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II ranges.

82-94

A number of enterprising indies reveal their best business decision of the year so far.

Classified

63-65

95

35-37

Retailer In Profile

Trusted Values

Appointments

PG Live In Pictures

Jumping For Joy

The National Trust’s card buyer Bianca Mastrodomenico explains the significance of greeting cards to the conservation organisation.

Relive the buzz of last month’s 10th PG Live.

39-45 Retailer Highlights

67-69

The Show Stoppers

Jeremy’s Journal

Retail visitors to this year’s PG Live reveal what greeting card delights they discovered.

Jeremy Corner of publisher Blue Eyed Sun takes on some new challenges.

New Challenges

65

Progressive Greetings is a monthly business magazine.

SUBSCRIPTIONS:

UK subscription: One year £50 Two year £85 Three year £110 Overseas subscription: One year £75 Jakki Brown

Warren Lomax

Gale Astley

Michelle Board

Editor

Advertisement Director

Deputy Editor

News Editor

jw@max-publishing.co.uk

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michelleb@max-publishing.co.uk

Copyright© 2018. While every effort has been made to ensure the information in this magazine was correct at the time of publication, the publishers cannot accept legal liability for any errors or omissions, nor can they accept responsibility for the standing of advertisers nor any organisation mentioned in the text. Views of contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers.

SUBSCRIPTIONS ENQUIRES: maxsubscriptions@marketingreinforcements.co.uk Tel: 020 8943 9541

Use your smartphone app to scan the QR code to visit our website.

PG is the official magazine for the Greeting Card Association GCA: Sharon Little 0203 370 4865 Email: gca@max-publishing.co.uk www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

7

Hello from

the LITTLE brown bear

Barley is currently available across 40 key relation and occasion captions.

All designs have highly detailed emboss and foil finishes and are printed on a high quality board.

The collection ranges from price code 50 – 125, RRP £1.59 - £2.99

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The Barley stand alone collection comprises of 26 designs, is available as a package and will be delivered with POS. The collection features a mix of birthday, friendship and love designs. Each card is printed and finished to the highest standard and comes with a bespoke Barley envelope.

Prices range from code 50 – code 75 sending love from

the LITTLE brown bear

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NEW!

come and see our unique new ranges at Harrogate, DP1 C28 www.reallygood.uk.com | ello@reallygood.uk.com | 01235 537888

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NEWS Clintons Father’s Day PR

TOP STORY

Who’s the Daddy?

Father’s Day sales were better than expected for card retailers Contrary to many of the worries about Father’s Day dwindling in popularity, this year many retailers were pleasantly surprised by the sales.

“We had a great Father’s Day, finishing 6% up ompared to last year,” revealed Lizzie Batchelar, John Lewis’ assistant buyer of cards, giftwrap and seasonal events. She said that “trade overall was strong and steady throughout the period - much less last minute than Valentine’s, Mother’s Day and Easter!”

On the indie front, Deborah Tingay, owner of Southbourne Cards in Bournemouth, was even more cockahoop. “We had great sales on Father’s Day - all growth in greeting cards!” She experienced a “double digit increase on the four days leading up to” the event and “almost a complete sell through on Paper Rose and Woodmansterne”, with Dandelion and Rachel Ellen’s ranges also performing well.

Liz Killick, owner of Calladoodles in Carshalton also had a cracking Father’s Day and refutes that it is an event in decline.

“Each year we are seeing an increase in interest and sales, which I am guessing is aided and fuelled by social media. Our

Left: Calladoodles’ Father’s Day window display.

Below left: Dandelion’s designs were hot sellers for both Southbourne Cards and Snape Maltings.

Instagram engagement is steadily rising, in addition to a more locally focused interest via Facebook.”

Liz says that she ordered more ‘Dad’ cards than ever this year yet despite this they all sold through. “Next year we are hoping to see more choice for the associated groups - stepdad, father-in-law, mum being mum & dad etc!”

Savita Marsh, co-owner of Northwood Cards, Northwood, also hailed Father’s Day as “a huge success” with sales rolling in, making for “a very busy week, which we were delighted by.”

Down in Honiton, Maggie Wynn, owner of Just Cards is another retailer who gives Father’s Day 2018 the thumbs up, though they were less prepared down in her neck of the woods. It was “very last minute” with sales building to a crescendo in the last three days before the event.

She was gratified that the average price spent on cards was on the up while gift sales were more erratic.

Jane Hall, buyer for Snape Maltings reported that “Father’s Day was great” for the Suffolk retailer. “We had a deeper selection of Father’s Day cards than previously and we finished with hardly any left.”

Clintons attracted attention for its ‘From ‘Homo Erectus’ to ‘Homo Click-andcollectus’ press release which demonstrated how Father’s Day cards chart the changing roles of dads.

The premise of the release is that Dads who were born in a pre-IKEA world are more likely to be involved with construction, plumbing and carpentry for their children.

Above: A Clintons promotional post on Facebook for its Father’s Day collection.

Hoots Cardzone!

Greeting card multiple Cardzone has taken over a group of four greeting card and gift shops in Scotland as part of its ambitious expansion plans. The final store in the Card & Gift/Something Special mini-group came under Cardzone’s wing in early June. The stores are located in Broughty Ferry, Inverurie, Cults and Uddingston.

Prior to these four stores Cardzone only had two shops in Scotland (Hallmark factory outlets in Gretna and Livingston) but the aim is to grow this to 20 stores in Scotland by the end of the year.

The Cardzone team has wasted no time bringing the new stores into the fold, with the Inverurie and Broughty Ferry stores getting a mini makeover with investment in new LED lighting, signage, new paintwork with further changes to layout to come later in the year.

Below: The new look Something Special in Uddingston, Glasgow.

Father’s Day cards for Mum ‘Father’s Day cards for single mums? In these feminised time, we dads get little enough recognition without sharing our one day!’ was the headline of a full page article that appeared in the Daily Mail on June 8 referring to Paperchase’s launch of Father’s Day cards for mums.

Columnist Tom Utley’s article kicked-off with a barbed comment directed at Scribbler, based on a supposed anecdote of an elderly friend who, having gone into a branch of Scribbler to buy a sympathy card had to ask the shop assistant: “Do you sell any cards that don’t have the word f***k on them?”

The journalist, a self-confessed ‘stick-in-the-mud traditionalist’, then got stuck into his main beef, about Paperchase stocking Father’s Day cards aimed at single mothers.

The cards, designed by 29-year old Stevie Rowing-Parker, who lost his father when he was only five years old, includes the captions: ‘Who needs a dad when your mum has balls’ and ‘Who said the best dad in the world can’t be a mum?’

Above: Tom Utley’s column in the Daily Mail.

The article included a quote from Stevie who explaining that his decision to develop the designs followed years of buying Father’s Day cards and replacing the word ‘Dad’ with ‘Mum’.

While Tom Utley was gracious enough to say that he has a ‘great deal of sympathy for single mothers’ he did not hide his disdain for Paperchase (the newspaper and the retailer fell out over a Christmas rollwrap promo), writing ‘I have deep reservations about the people who run Paperchase’ suggesting that the retailer was only stocking the cards for commercial reasons, feintly praising the multiple for ‘spotting a highly lucrative and hitherto under-exploited money spinner.’

However, the majority of the media was full of praise for Paperchase’s inclusive policy on its Father’s Day stocking with The Sun, Good Housekeeping and Radio 4’s Women’s Hour being among those who gave reams of coverage to the cards.

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NEWS Kindred spirits in UKG

TOP STORY

It’s A Wrap!

PG Live’s 10th anniversary show shone sunshine on the sector The sun shone and the greeting card ‘stars’ were out in abundance (both people and products) at the 10th PG Live, which took place last month with visitors and exhibitors hailing the show as a great celebration of the global greeting card industry.

Over 270 exhibitors showed thousands of brand new designs and ranges to multiple and indie retailers, agents and overseas distributors at PG Live at the Business Design Centre in London. Some of the big names who visited included: Paperchase, John Lewis, Scribbler, Clintons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waterstones, Oliver Bonas, Waitrose, WHSmith, Card Factory, Cards Galore, Harrods, Selfridges, JoJo Maman Bébé, Amazon, TKMaxx and Ocado.

“What a fantastic achievement and great contribution to the industry. A fantastic show with loads of new, creative and inspired cards... Loved it!” was how Paperchase’s deputy chairman, Timothy Melgund summed up the show. Timothy followed John Simson, co-owner of Melbourne-based Simson Cards in giving a speech at the official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, paying tribute to the significance of PG Live and its contribution to celebrating all that is great about the global greeting card industry.

Adding his endorsement, Rajesh Shah, founder of Cards Galore, said that PG Live 2018 had: “Really positive vibes - great show, great products, great

Left: PG Live’s 10th anniversary was hailed a very memorable show!

Below: Postmark’s Mark Janson-Smith with The Art File’s Ged Mace at the show.

location, great opportunity to catch up with everyone.”

Award winning retailer Postmark’s Mark Janson-Smith proclaimed this year’s PG Live the best yet.

“It is such a great show for new talent and also a real focus for the industry giants to make sure they have new lines to release for the show - it really can't be missed,” he said.

And on behalf of the overseas visitors, Jenny Cummins of Sydney-based Macmillan Cards stated: “It’s been a ripper!”, adding that when translated from Aussie to British ‘English’ it means “It’s been an absolutely spiffing show!”

Next year, PG Live 2019 will take place Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 June.

(See pages 35-37 for PG Live in pictures and pages 39-45 for retailers’ top product picks from the show).

Paperchase awards On the Cards winners The winners of the prestigious On the Cards greeting card competition for creative undergraduates were presented with their awards at PG Live on Tuesday.

The On the Cards competition is organised by Paper Rose/The Art Group, paper company GF Smith, Sherwood Group and Paperchase, each year promotes the career opportunities in the greeting card industry by inspiring undergraduate students from leading art colleges the chance to design a greeting card range -with the chance of seeing them on sale in Paperchase as well as a cash prize and work placements.

The first prize winner (third left), Luna Paszliewicz (of Nottingham Trent University), and second prize winner (centre) Emily Rogers (of Leeds Arts University), were delighted to be invited to PG Live and be presented with their certificates.

Luna, who is in her last year at Nottingham Trent Uni, said she was “overwhelmingly amazed to have won” the On The Cards competition and is interested in pursuing a career either in children’s books or stationery.

Left: The winners with members of the Paperchase, Paper Rose, GF Smith and PG team.

UK Greetings’ entire stand at PG Live was dedicated to its new standalone brand Kindred. The Kindred greeting card collection (of 200+ designs) taps into the spirit of mindfulness, wellbeing and the urge to connect.

The feeling of wellbeing came back to the card publisher from one of its retail customers recently.

As part of its promotional drive to support independents, Kirsty Brooks, owner of The Guisborough Bookshop in Guisborough, North Yorkshire was the winner of UKG’s second £500 Golden Ticket. Having got over the lovely surprise of discovering the valuable voucher in her card order, Kirsty then had to decide what UKG product to spend it on - and she plumped for the new Kindred range after seeing it at PG Live. “We have ordered from the new Kindred range as it is a completely new and a different look for UKG. We are massive fans of the publisher’s products and think it fills a gap within the UKG portfolio - there is something for everyone within the range.”

As PG went to press there were two UKG Golden Tickets yet to be discovered by its indie customers, one for all orders placed in June and the other among those ordering in July.

Above: Kirsty Brooks from Guisborough Bookshop with her Golden Ticket from UKG. Below UKG’s creative director Frances Billington with director of independent sales, Darren Cave, on the Kindred stand at PG Live.

Danilo’s Love Island!

The first episode of this year’s Love Island was the most-watched show on ITV2 ever as 3.4 million people tuned in.

Danilo has nailed its colours to the Love Island mast with a new range of cards now out.

Due to the flexibility of Danilo and its partners, these official Love Island cards have been printed and delivered to retailers in under four weeks, allowing fans of the show to get their hands on these great designs while the current series is still on our screens.

Richard Bacon, managing director of Loxley’s, which printed the Love Island cards on behalf of Danilo, states: “Using our digital printing techniques, we are able to provide guaranteed speed to marke.”

Above: One of Danilo’s new Love Island designs.

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NEWS TOP STORY

Carte Blanche Integrates Is It Art Single salesforce to carry CBG, BMA and Emotional Rescue Just over a year since it acquired greeting card distribution/sales business Is It Art, Carte Blanche Greetings has announced that it is to fully integrate the two businesses, with the enlarged portfolio handled by one salesforce. There are no job losses as a result of the change.

Emotional Rescue and Blue Mountain Arts’ products will continue to be carried by an expanded Carte Blanche 25+ people strong salesforce (made up of full time reps and agents).

However, Danilo and Gemma (both of whom were represented by Is It Art for the independent sector), by mutual agreement with CBG, have made alternative arrangements for their respective companies’ representation for indies (see separate stories below and right).

As Alister Marchant, ceo of Carte Blanche explained: “The new set up will

Left: Alister Marchant, ceo, assures that the integration will provide a better service to independents.

ensure that we can provide the highest levels of service for independent customers offering them a strong portfolio of brands.”

He added that while part of the company’s strategy is still to move into planning, the current focus is to ensure that the integration of the Is It Art side is finalised with minimal disruption to customers.

Grace Elphinstone, marketing manager of CBG added: “We are delighted that our new long-term agreements with Emotional Rescue and Blue Mountain Arts bolster our existing brands, including Me to You, Hotchpotch Publishing and Wishing Well Studios, to create a truly comprehensive offering to the independent market well into the future.”

Danilo signs distribution agreement with Words ‘n’ Wishes Danilo is to be distributed by greeting card publisher Words ‘n’ Wishes for the independent sector, following the news that Is It Art (which has been representing Danilo in the independent channel for the past 18 years) is to be fully integrated into the Carte Blanche business. With mutual consent, the two publishers have amicably agreed that it is the right time to sever links.

Commenting on the new partnership, Danilo’s managing director, Daniel Prince, said “We have enjoyed an excellent relationship with Is It Art over the last 18 years but felt the time had come for a different approach to the independent market. We would like to thank Alister [Marchant, ceo of CBG] and the wider team at Is It Art/Carte Blanche for their work over the years and wish them the very best of luck for the future.”

Brett Smith, sales director of Danilo explained that having watched with interest, the work Words ‘n’ Wishes has been doing in this sector over the past 12 months, “particularly in a difficult trading climate”, an approach was made.

“We feel Danilo’s strong portfolio of brands, along with Words ‘n’ Wishes’ outstanding reputation and customer service, will lead to a fantastic partnership ensuring our independent customers receive the products and service they deserve,” said Brett.

Rod Brown, joint managing director of Words ‘n’ Wishes, revealed that “When Danilo approached us to discuss the possibility of distributing its products through the independent market, we were immediately excited and flattered,” recognising that adding Danilo’s strong line up of licensed products could “only further enhance the strength and quality” of its offering to the independent sector.

The Words ‘n’ Wishes salesforce of 24 agents will be carrying all the key elements of the Danilo portfolio, including a calendar offering commencing for 2020.

Danilo will be contacting all customers over the next few weeks with further details of the transition to Words ‘n’ Wishes, however up until July 31 it is business as usual and orders should continue to be placed with the Is It Art sales force.

Left: Danilo’s Daniel Prince (second left) and Brett Smith (far right) with colleagues Martin Carter (second right) and Dan Grant.

Gemma to reinstate an independent salesforce Gemma International is to reinstate an independent sales force to represent the company’s core Gemma portfolio as well as others for its new Studio by Gemma brand that was launched at PG Live.

This news coincides with the announcement that Is It Art (who previously represented Gemma International for the independent sector) is to be integrated into Carte Blanche Greetings.

Amanda Parkin, managing director of the licensed greeting card publisher reinforces the importance of its independent customers and explains that the company has been investing in ensuring that its inhouse distribution and logistics facilities at its Andover HQ is fully prepared to provide a swift and efficient service for indies.

“We have never taken our focus away from our independent customers and with the very positive response we have had to Studio By Gemma, we feel the time is right to bring sales and distribution to the independent sector back into the heart of Gemma,” states Amanda.

“We are a business that originated from my parents’ vision some 30 years ago to offer outstanding products to the independent specialist sector and we understand what independents require in terms of exceptional differentiated product and great customer service.”

Both Gemma International and Studio

by Gemma products will be distributed from the in-house facilities, with the handover from Is It Art being completed by the end of the month.

In the meantime, Gemma’s Customer Service team is on hand to help with any queries via email in the first instance at orders@gemma-international.co.uk or by telephone on 01264 388403.

Top: Amanda Parkin (far right) on Gemma’s PG Live stand, that was dedicated to Studio by Gemma with colleagues Lucy Heath (centre) and Tracey Cox. Above: One of the funky National History Museum designs from Studio by Gemma.

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Yet another best selling range from

Are you missing out?

Call Customer Services on 01442 215500

Piccadilly Greetings Group Ltd

4 Horizon Point, Swallowdale Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP2 7FZ T: 01442 215500 E: sales @piccadillygreetings.co.uk

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NEWS TOP STORY

Scribbler To Supply Other Retailers Retailer to offer its own brand products to others Scribbler started publishing its own brand designs four years ago, selling them alongside branded publishers. The plan is now to offer a curated collection of some of the successful designs to other UK retailers on a wholesale basis from this autumn.

“We have a great number of designs that only saw the light of day in our shops. Many were very successful so we felt it was logical to give them a wider audience,” said co-owner John Procter, explaining the rationale behind the planned expansion into wholesale.

Scribbler has developed an average of 160 own brand card designs annually for the last four years, released in batches of 40 designs a season, but not all of these will be included in the wholesale collection.

“We intend to cherrypick designs that sold well to offer to other retailers, so it will be a smaller curated collection,” explained John. While other UK retailers will be offered designs from previous

collections, John says that its current ranges “may well be offered to the international market as there is no conflict.”

While the initial plan is to start with the own brand greeting card designs, John confirms that the same arrangement could well be extended to include its own brand giftbag and wrap collections as well as possibly its stationery lines.

The retailer’s decision to sponsor the lunchroom at PG Live was to partly ‘soft launch’ its intention to introduce a wholesale side to its business.

“Our presence at PG Live and the talks we had at the show has definitely got things rolling on our wholesale plans,” John Procter, managing director of Scribbler confirmed. “We are already in talks about potentially launching the brand in Australia as well as investigating possible franchise routes and other partnerships in the UK,” he added.

Above: Scribbler is looking to offer its own brand range of humour to UK and overseas retailers.

Moonpig to move into non-personalised cards Moonpig is about to expand its greeting card portfolio to include branded 3D greeting cards, supplied by leading greeting card publishers. Prior to this Moonpig’s card offer has focused on print-on-demand personalised designs.

“It’s all about putting greeting cards back at the very heart of Moonpig,” summed up Geoff Sanderson, design director of Moonpig, acknowledging that there has been considerable activity promoting its flower and gift aspects of the business in the last few years.

“Personalised cards represents around 5% of the whole greeting card market, we want the opportunity to be part of the remaining 95%, while offering the consumer the ease and convenience of buying the cards online and having them delivered to their door,” Geoff explains.

The initial trial of 3D cards, the range of which has been put together by Moonpig’s head of licensing Sarah-Jane Porter, includes designs from My Design, James Ellis Stevens, Forever Cards and The Art File’s FORM range, among others.

This move into ‘traditional’ greeting cards coincides with the company’s physical move of its headquarters into a former Daily Mirror printworks in the heart of London’s Clerkenwell, as well as the appointment of new managing director Nickyl Raithatha. Nickyl takes over from James Sturrock, who has decided to leave the business after four years at the helm, during which he doubled the size of the Moonpig business, delivering three years of double digit growth.

Moonpig’s new headquarters has also allowed for the very first in-house Paper Library installed within its design studio. The Paper Library’s director, Debbie Wigglesworth’ has been working in a consultancy role for Moonpig for the past five years and says the new Paper Library, “gives the team access to paper innovation and ongoing education helping inspire further innovation within the business.”

Left: Moonpig’s Geoff Sanderson (far left) at the opening party of Moonpig’s new HQ with (right-left) Nick Adsett (GBCC), Victoria Connor, Julia Broughton, Liam Riley (GBCC), Sarah-Jane Porter (Moonpig), Julia Broughty (freelance designer) and Debbie Wigglesworth (The Paper Library).

Last bastion of handwriting?

Are greeting cards one of the last few everyday reasons to put pen to paper? A survey undertaken by Cunard and Sunday Times Style to promote National Writing Day on 27 June reveals that 65% of people aged between 25 to 34 said they hardly ever picked up a pen.

Other findings include that two thirds of young adults say that they use a pen less often than five times a week and more than a quarter prefer emojis to words when expressing their feelings.

And 26% of people have not sent or received a handwritten letter in the past decade, but if they have sent a letter the most common is a thank you letter followed by letters of complaint or condolence, and romantic messages.

Above: National Writing Day encouraged people to put pen to paper and write a letter.

Wot a Mug opens doors for Cherry Orchard This time last year Rebecca Exton-Russell was preparing to launch her little company, Wot a Mug at Harrogate Home and Gift, anchored around her hand-painted humorous mug range. A year on, and through a collaboration with Cherry Orchard, the Wot a Mug card range was one of the top launches at PG Live, with retailers fighting over stocking the brand in their stores.

“It’s certainly hit the floor running that’s for sure - I can’t remember a range that we’ve launched where customers are asking for exclusivity!” admits Jackie Collins, managing director of Cherry Orchard. “It’s been extremely successful and enabled us to gain new customers who we wouldn’t have with our mainly traditional portfolio.”

Proving that great opportunities can lie under your noses if you choose to be open to them, when Jackie and Fi DouglassGibson (Cherry Orchard’s sales director) went walkabout off their own stand at Spring Fair they happened to spot Wot a Mug, who was exhibiting only a few aisles away, and ended up stopping to chat to Rebecca, founder of the company who had just launched some of her coffee mug designs onto cards, launching them at the February show.

“I was interested in licensing my cards.

It was a tough decision as the cards were only two days old!” recalls Rebecca.

Five months on, the Wot a Mug card range launched at PG Live!

Above: Rebecca from Wot a Mug with one of her designs.

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NEWS Winning ways

TOP STORY

Card Market Growth Predicted Card Factory gives away £250,000 through its charity foundation Research commissioned by Card Factory undertaken by OC&C, has highlighted that the UK greeting card market is expected to grow between 0.6% and 2% in value over the next couple of years. This is however based on the retail prices of greeting cards rising as the number of cards bought are predicted to remain static at best.

Karen highlights how the positive upward card sending trend among 18-24 year olds is part of a “movement among young people to share personal messages with friends and loved ones

to show they care in these uncertain times.”

A trading statement released to coincide with the company’s AGM at the end of May, revealed that Card Factory’s sales grew +3%, with like-forlike sales declining -0.4% for first quarter of the year.

The value retailer has ramped up its commitment to colleagues and the community at large with the formation of the Card Factory Foundation. With the tagline of ‘Supporting causes close to our heart’, this new charity is committed to providing funds in a number of directions, from helping colleagues who have fallen on hard times to special community projects. The Foundation has just given out £250,000 to worthy causes.

See pages 46-47 for more on Card Factory.

Above: The Card Factory Foundation has given out almost £1/4 million to worthy causes in the first quarter since it has been set up.

Left: Card Factory now trades from 928 stores, including its latest flagship, which opened recently in the prestigious Cribbs Causeway centre in Bristol.

One of the many perks of visiting PG Live is the chance to enter competitions on the various exhibitor stands. And this year there were some great prizes up for grabs!

Above: Darts champ, UKG’s Claire Cheng was l Claire Cheng, UKG presented with her prize category manager for

by ER’s Mark Barnes.

Sainsbury’s won a £500 voucher for a weekend away in a swanky country pub in a ‘best of three’ darts competition on the Emotional Rescue stand, which was transformed into the ‘Stoat and Scrotum pub’. Two runner-up prizes of £50 retail vouchers went to Cards Galore buyer Trish Corner and UKG’s Gary Head. l The Imaging Centre gave away an iPad to celebrate reaching 200 IC Simplicity users.

The lucky winning publisher was Go La La. “10 Years ago we were just introducing the idea of digital print to greeting card publishers,” says Adam Short, managing director of The Imaging Centre. “At this year’s show more than 100 exhibitors printed using The Imaging Centre and over 50 of them were doing so completely on demand through IC Simplicity, which meant in some cases orders taken at the show were being delivered direct to store before the show had even finished.”

Cardies doing it for charity Cardies have been out walking, cycling and motorcycling - all for a number of good causes.

Thursday 21 June saw the annual Cardgains Charity Challenge take place. This year it was a 27½ mile walk of two sections of the Cumbria Way, from Dungeon Ghyll to Ulverston, to raise money for Cardgains’ charity of the year - the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA). Some 31 walkers from the card and gift industry took part and all managed to complete this challenging walk. “For once the weather was kind to us and we enjoyed almost perfect walking conditions,” says Penny Shaw, marketing director of Cardgains. “If anything it was a little hot at times, but we aren’t going to complain!”

Earlier in June 65 people involved in the licensing community, including Dan Grant, licensing director of Danilo, Anthony Temple and Zara Gringrod from Rainbow Designs and PG’s director Ian Hyder completed a 325-mile cycle challenge from Bristol to Dublin, raising over £200,000 for The Light Fund on the way.

Another cyclist doing his bit for charity is Jeremy Bacon, ceo of leading greeting card print and packaging company, The Sherwood Group. On July 25 Jeremy will set off from London on a 340mile four-day charity cycle ride from London to Paris to raise vital funds for the children’s charity Action Medical Research. “I will be cycling in memory of Lynn Tait, who died last year after a long battle against cancer,” says Jeremy. “Lynn encouraged me to do my first cycle ride for Action Medical Research in 2014, while she helped to raise funds for the charity through a Christmas cards project. This initiative meant a lot to Lynn and I would like to continue supporting her legacy.”

And just as PG was going to press, md of Blue Eyed Sun, Jeremy Corner was embarking on a 1,500km motorcycle ride across the Gobi Desert in Mongolia for the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation, which helps street children in Mongolia.

Above: Penny Shaw from Cardgains and Richard Marsden, member (Highworth Emporium) and supplier at Eco Chic with only 12 miles to go.

Left: PG’s Ian Hyder (right) and Jakki Brown with Danilo’s Dan Grant on the first morning of The Light Fund cycle event.

Above: Adam Short (left) presented Go La La’s John Higgins (centre) with his prize.

l I Drew This ran a competition to win a

commissioned piece of artwork of the winner’s choice. The winner is Hyde & Seek in Exeter and Ilona Drew will be illustrating a piece of Devon-themed artwork for the retailer. “One of the nice things about Hyde & Seek winning is that I met Justine, the owner, at my first PG Live five years ago, she was just about to open the shop and so our businesses have grown together,” says Ilona Drew. l Lucy Maggie Designs gave away a free card order up to £100 and a bottle of champagne, which was won by The Gift Gallery in York.

Right: GCA’s Sharon Little (left) was invited by Ilona Drew to pick the winning entry.

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NEWS PEOPLE

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Clarity Sought On Eco Issues GCA holds talks with WRAP on the eco front to advise members With environmental concerns near the top of the political, business and personal agendas, the GCA has been seeking greater clarity on what advice to give its members.

In pursuit of this, GCA president Ceri Stirland (customer and channel director of UKG) and Sharon Little, ceo of the GCA, held a conference call with Helen Bird, the resource management specialist at WRAP, the charity body that advises government on recycling matters, whose remit covers greeting cards.

As Ceri summed up the environmental complexities: “It’s a minefield,” she said,

but stressed that this makes it all the more imperative that the GCA “builds its knowledge to share with members to ensure that we as an industry do the right thing for the future of our planet and the good name of our industry. We must continue to raise the bar on the sector’s environmental credentials.”

Sharon reveals how the packed agenda for the hour-long conference call between WRAP and the GCA covered cellowrapping, the diverse recycling capabilities of different

Left: The disparity in kerbside collection at a consumer level is a major stumbling block for the greeting card industry.

Below: GCA president Ceri Stirland (left) with the association’s ceo Sharon Little and the Bank of England’s Glynn Jones at last year’s AGM Conference.

councils at consumer level, the impact of flittering and foiling on the recyclability of cards as well as any likely legislation that could come into effect and impact on the greeting card industry.

“It was confirmed that while foiling on greeting cards does not impact on their recyclability at kerbside [ie at consumer level], WRAP strongly advocates that consumers should tear off any flittered portion of their cards prior to putting them in for recycling,” says Sharon.

While cellowrapping on greeting cards are currently not specifically mentioned in the UK Plastics Pact (a collaborative initiative spearheaded by WRAP including Government, NGOs, retailers and suppliers to massively reduce unavoidable plastics use), as single use plastics these are likely to come under greater scrutiny in the future, especially as the government is looking into ‘extended producer responsibility’ regulations.

“Cellowrap, which is classed as a ‘flexible’ along with sweet and crisp wrappers and plastic bags,” Sharon added, “and while it is a completely recyclable material it is not commonly collected in kerbside collections, due to sorting/contamination issues.” It was intimated during the recent conference call with WRAP that there should be some news on that front in the autumn.

l Chris Houfe (right) has been appointed joint managing director of Emotional Rescue, working alongside Martin Nevin. Chris was latterly sales director of The Great British Card Company (GBCC), for over a decade. l Ian Jackson, managing director of Polytint, has joined the board of directors of Simon Elvin Ltd. Simon Elvin, who co-founded the eponymous greeting card publishing empire is continuing at the helm, with no immediate plans to retire. Simon Elvin acquired Polytint, which specialises in producing own-brand and bespoke greeting card ranges for retailers, several years ago and Ian (who’s father started the business) has remained with the company.

Above: Simon Elvin (left) with Ian Jackson (right) on the Paper Rose stand at this year’s Spring Fair.

l In pursuit of its more ambitious greeting card aspirations, Oliver Bonas has promoted Natalia Kosterska to assistant buyer, looking after greeting cards, packaging and books, reporting into buyer Hannah Tait who oversees these categories. Further bolstering the greeting card team, Siobhain Watkins has recently become the senior merchandiser for the categories covered by Natalia, and Rachael Pearson covers the admin side as the buyers’ admin assistant.

Above: Oliver Bonas’ (left-right) Natalia Kosterska, Siobhain Watkins and Rachael Pearson.

l Bhavisha Vadgama (right) has joined Advocate Art as one of its artist agents. Before joining the agency, she worked at the Royal Academy of Arts in art sales and exhibitions, as well as being a freelance illustrator

The finalists for David Hicks’ Really Good/Soul design competition were announced at PG Live. The competition was open to all artists and designers to come up with a creative concept that could be translated onto greeting cards and gifts – with the winner receiving £1,000 as well as seeing their designs being brought to life on actual products.

The competition attracted over 50 entries. These were judged by a panel comprising WHSmith buyer Claire Castle; Alan Harnik, president of US distributor Notes & Queries; Jenny Cummins, md of Australian distributor Macmillan Cards; Postmark’s managing director, Mark Janson-Smith and PG’s editor Jakki Brown whose votes were aggregated to arrive at the final four finalists.

The finalists are Harrison Howard for a quirky vintage travel concept; Sanna Kallio’s for Girl Power; The Birdy Collection by Randa Magid and Vicky Yorke for her animal print collection.

The ultimate winner will be revealed at Harrogate Home & Gift show, with the plan to launch actual greeting cards featuring the winning designs under Really Good/Soul at the start of next year.

l Former card agent Sally Wilde has now opened her own card, stationery and gift shop called Planet Sal in Honiton, Devon.

“I chose Honiton because of its great selection of existing shops and the busy vibe of the town, generally,” says Sally. “Grant from Paper Gangsta, Bristol and David from Brilliant! in Southbourne need a special mention for all their advice – as do the wonderful agents, who found themselves in the awkward position of selling to one of their own!

Above right: Vicky Yorke’s animal print concept was a popular choice among the judges.

Above: Sally Wilde outside her new Planet Sal shop.

A Really Good’s design competition

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INTRODUCING THE NEW CONSTELLATION STATIONERY COLLECTION FROM THE ART FILE Launching at Harrogate Home and Gift on Stand DP1-C15 on 15-18th July.

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NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF

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Crowning Glory Hallmark sets September date for full relaunch of Gold Crown Hallmark is building up to a complete relaunch of its Gold Crown programme, installing the new look and approach in another five stores over the next few months, in advance of a major relaunch event to be held at the publisher’s Dawson Lane HQ in Bradford on September 26 and 27.

Ciaran Leonard, Hallmark’s head of sales for UK and Ireland, confirmed that the plans are to build the Gold Crown network back up to 200 stores over the next couple of years, from its current base of 122 stores.

“We have not revamped the Gold Crown programme since 2012 and a lot has changed in the world and in the industry over that time, resulting in new challenges for independent retailers,” Ciaran said. “You cannot ignore the decline in

l Swan Mill Holdings, the holding company that includes Ling Design and Penny Kennedy, was hailed as one of the UK’s top 200 mid-market private companies with the fastest growing overseas sales. The Swanley-based company features in Fast Track’s International Track 200 league table, published by The Sunday Times in 187th place. l Gift and card group, Between the Lines has opened another store in Cranleigh, Surrey, right in the middle of the high street. Florian Kleinlercher, md. “It's all part of our expansion plans and won't be the last store we are adding this year - watch this space!”

footfall, growth of Card Factory and supermarkets, as well as how consumer shopping patterns generally have changed.

We have spoken to a great number of retailers and consumers as well as drawn on the immense insights from our Kansas City parent company to create the new Gold Crown approach,” Ciaran added.

The new Gold Crown look trial, which debuted in Philip and Maxine Nield’s Hallmark Reflections store in Nantwich and in the Hallmark Something Special store in Widnes, co-owned by Helen Nixon and Claire Lenton at the end of last year have both shown encouraging results.

By the time of the two-day launch event at the end of September, to which existing Gold Crown retailers as well as prospective customers will be invited, the new look and approach will have been installed into another five stores in the UK and Eire, in various permutations.

As Graeme Francis, head of the UK Gold Crown programme explained, the new approach encompasses both improvements to the shopping environment, product selection (including Hallmark and other card publishers and gift suppliers) as well as a retail support programme.

Independent Sheffield department store, Atkinsons, is to install a Gold Crown ‘store within a store’ this month (July), which will encompass 100’ of greeting cards display, 24’ of gifts, as well as ‘gifting tables’, ‘feature ends’ and an event area. The department will feature Hallmark branding but will also encompass other publishers’ products.

Meanwhile in Eire, Carroll’s of Dundalk and The Card Shop in St Stephen’s Green in Dublin are to be converted to the new Gold Crown look, both of which will be completed by the time of the programme’s official relaunch of at the end of September.

Above: Part of the new Gold Crown look includes central hanging feature (seen here in Reflections, Nantwich), which can be changed throughout the year to highlight different events.

Above left: As the Something Special store in Widnes demonstrates, the new look brings together gift, homeware and greeting card products.

Paperchase X Philip Normal Design Designer and gay icon, Philip Normal joined design forces with Paperchase to create a rainbow-filled disco glitterball collection of limited edition stationery launching nationwide on 10 July.

The collection was previewed at a special Paperchase X Philip Normal VIP Breakfast Club at London’s Hogarth House, which was attended by Sophie Ellis Bextor, fashion blogger Charlie Barker and model Nikita Andrianova, as well as members of the press.

Above: Philip Normal surrounded by some of the new Paperchase.

l Ohh Deer picked up two awards at the American GCA greeting card awards - the Louie Awards - at the end of May. The publishers won the Christmas/Seasonal Humorous $4.00 & Below category with a Gemma Correll design and the Most Humorous category also with a Gemma Correll design.

Above: The Ohh Deer card that won the Most Humorous category at the Louie Awards.

l The UK Calendar Industry Awards - now known as The Calies - will be returning this year on November 28. The awards made their debut in November 2017 and recognise excellence in the calendar, advent calendar and diaries sector, including retail, charity and corporate (B2B) titles.

More details on entering and deadlines will be available at www.theukcalendarawards.co.uk l Greeting card sales are continuing to grow for IG Design Group and now account for 11% of the group’s £327.5 million global turnover, as announced in the group’s annual results, which covered the 12 months to 31 March 2018. Pre-tax profit was up by an impressive 51% to £19.7 million.

The group now claims to be the third largest card and gift packaging player in the world – generating retail sales of an estimated £15 billion.

“For the first time ever we sold over 220 million greeting cards in the last year,” a delighted Paul Fineman, ceo of IG Design Group told PG. Sales of its single greeting cards soared by 25% in the last year while the volume of giftwrap it sells grew by 9%. Paul told PG that its Celebrations business (into which greeting cards fall), which represents 74% of the company’s sales remains “a key area of growth” with the coming year likely to see a further shift into everyday sales and minor occasions. In the last year it sold 100 million single cards alone and over 1 billion metres of giftwrap having become a major supplier to the value retail varietal chains for greeting cards and other paper products.

Above: IG Design Group sold over 220 million cards in the last year.

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Public Spirited Consumer focus for this year’s Thinking of You Week Greeting card printers are rallying to help retailers spread the message about Thinking of You Week (September 24-30) to the public this year. The Greeting Card Association (GCA) instigated initiative, which is now in its fifth year, inspires people to create a wave of love, caring and happiness by sending greeting cards to different people during the week.

The findings from the GCA’s mini survey at PG Live recently, which confirmed that while there was a huge retailer awareness of Thinking of You Week, many hadn’t participated to date as the end consumer did not know about it.

of charge for their publisher customers, which in turn will be included in with card deliveries to their publisher customers to be forwarded onto their retail customers with their orders.

As Sharon Little, ceo of the GCA commented: “It’s great that there is now such high awareness of Thinking of You Week within the trade. We’re now giving retailers an extra tool to promote and explain the Week to their customers and make this event bigger and better”.”

Sharon gave thanks to all the printers who are in the process of printing the thousands of Thinking of You Week flyers for their valued greeting card publisher customers: Digital Colour Services, Graphite Creative, Hello Cards, Johnsons of Nantwich, Loxleys, The Imaging Centre, The Sherwood Group and Windles Group.

Thinking of You Week is to be fanfared at the imminent Harrogate Home and Gift, with prominent signage near the Greetings hall, as well as a special Thinking of You Week card feature in the buyers’ lounge at the show.

Partly in response to this, the GCA has ensured that the focus of a designated flyer, which explains the premise of Thinking of Your Week, is targeted towards the consumer. A whole host of greeting card printers (the GCA’s associate members) have come forward and agreed to print copies of the flyer free

Off to Harrogate With independent retailers in mind, a strong line-up of speakers will be taking to the stage at the Harrogate Home & Gift’s Retail Hub, which takes place from July 15-18. Topics covered will include: a masterclass in developing your own brand, what blogging can do for your business, how small retailers can thrive in the digital age and PR on a budget.

Over 1,000 exhibitors products will be showcased at this year's exhibition which covers four main sectors: Designled Gifts; Jewellery and Fashion; Home Interiors and Greetings and Stationery, which is in its own dedicated marquee again this year.

(See pages 51-59 for just some of the products on offer).

Above: In the Greetings Gallery at last year’s Harrogate Home & Gift.

Top: Sharon Little on the GCA stand at this year’s PG Live where members were surveyed on what they wanted from the GCA. Above left: Thinking of You Week signage will hang at Harrogate Home & Gift directing visitors to the Greetings Gallery.

Wraptious competition winners The winners of the 2018 Wraptious cushion competition will be on display for the first time at Harrogate Home & Gift. Sue Gardner came in first place with her vibrant animal oil paintings. Customers will be able to buy Sue's designs on a range of Wraptious products, including cards, cushions, and the brand new art canvases. Aidan Sloan was runner-up with his striking animal portraits that will be available on greetings cards, and Wraptious’ signature vegan suede cushions.

Right: Sue Gardner’s winning designs will be on show for the first time at Harrogate.

Celebrating 10 years of Boofle UKG ran a successful ’10 days of Boofle’ competition on Facebook and Twitter from 25 June – 4 July to help raise awareness of Boofle’s 10th anniversary and also to give something back to his loyal fans who have supported the brand over the last decade.

The competition prizes ranged from card bundles, smaller giveaways (plush, money pots, water bottles, travel mugs), a birthday bundle (including cards, gifts, plush), a £50 bundle, card and wrap giveaways and the final competition on the last day was a £100 bundle of Boofle goodies.

UKG has also refreshed the Boofle website so that it’s in line with the new look and feel of his standalone card product and there is also a dedicated page for his 10th which includes a timeline and quiz.

Left: A Twitter post encouraging people to enter the daily competition.

Hallmark celebrates 20 years of New Designers Hallmark has been supporting the New Designers exhibition (held this year at London’s Business Design Centre June 2730 and July 4-7) for the past 20 years, with the publisher discovering over 50 of its current employees at the expo. The exhibition is the UK’s leading showcase for undergraduate and graduate creatives, involving a host of art colleges and universities.

Amy Banks, trade and events marketing manager at Hallmark says: “We love working with New Designers as it gives us the opportunity to explore new creative avenues, and is an amazing way for us to discover emerging talents. It is also an invaluable opportunity for students and graduates to check us out, meet some of our team and discover what makes Hallmark so special. We are always on the lookout for the best and brightest new talent which is why we keep coming back year after year.

Above: The Hallmark Studio stand at New Designers was busy, with undergraduates and graduates popping by to see what the Studio has to offer.

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OVER THE COUNTER

Decisions, Decisions Independent card and gift retailer, David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi in Scotland, shares some of his PG Live greeting card discoveries and warns of the fatigue of constant decision-making.

Wednesday 6 June 2018 - Second Day of PG Live... after the show I headed to Heathrow for a 9pm flight home. As is always the case when you have plenty of time the tube/train/walk combination from the show went without a hitch so I arrived early. Add on over an hour flight delay and I was facing the prospect of five hours at the airport.

This allowed me to do one of a few things - catch up on emails; call people that I had missed over the last couple of days; work on my new project for Cardzone; or switch off and read for a couple of hours. Four choices too many!

In truth I did none of the above. I had restless legs and walked/prowled the terminal trying to not buy something I definitely didn’t need. The other reason for my restlessness was the many discussions I had had at PG Live about business and where we all see it going. Quite literally, a slew of questions were buzzing around my mind.

This topic of industry worries seemed to be a bit of a theme and it appears that everyone is sharing the same buzzing. There were of course the exceptions to the rule, but on the whole everyone from London to Scotland were saying that it was tough. They were saying it was challenging and the most common complaint was footfall.

Now this is a well-worn path. I have covered it in this column many times in the past few years, but somehow or another it feels even more uncertain now. It feels even more real.

As I write this, Poundland is about to close its doors, Marks & Spencer is closing stores, House Of Fraser is basically cutting itself in half, shop wise, and indie retailers are a bit unsure as to where to position themselves. Be too niche and the audience 26

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Above: David walking the show aisles at PG Live 2018.

Below: Delicate and pretty cards from Amy Louise Design.

is small, too mainstream and you are the same as everyone else, go value and you can’t compete.

Our high streets are changing. Having been in major city centres, such as Manchester and Edinburgh, in last few weeks I see little sign of innovation on the high street. The closing, cutting and removal of staple stores and banks is leaving us all with some deep thoughts about the future.

I also see a lack of innovation in gift products, as companies, understandably, are chasing safe options. Gin, prosecco, llamas and unicorns have all had better coverage than Donald Trump, with the result that a great deal of the gift stores take on the same look. This is of course a vicious circle, as companies are understandably hesitant to

plough resources into new and different things for fear that they do not sell.

Greeting cards are perhaps the exception. There are still indies out there trying to be different and there are still publishers out there trying to fill every niche.

PG Live, once again, highlighted that there really is a card for every taste.

In terms of buying at PG Live, it is always very frustrating for me as I have to have my commercial head on and buy what I know will sell and what my customers like, as to opposed to what excites me. With that the case, Wendy Jones-Blackett, Five Dollar, Hearts Designs, White Cotton, Hammond Gower are all staples with me.

But I am adding or going to add the following new companies in the near future: Amy Louise - Very pretty, delicate designs in pastel shades with good captions.

Stormy Knight - Loved the ‘Good as Gold’ collection and I bought across all the ranges. I also liked the thought that had been put in the concertina style cards – the packaging made it very simple for the customer to see what they were getting.

Tigerlily - These cards are very hipster but I loved the female/male characters, and again the cards had all the right captions for me.

Alex Clark - Its Coastal cards - in two sizes - feature seaside images with gentle humour that are ideal if you are near the sea!

There are of course many, many more ranges that I liked but they would not work for me as they are just not for my customer base:

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OVER THE COUNTER Left: Retailer Zoe Robinson Carter, partner of Zo & Co, spent her Retas Awards’ Sunshine Ticket with The Grumble and Co lads at PG Live Below: Anyone can get 'Decision Fatigue’.

Bottom: David’s new Paul Smith

The Grumble and Co - Two of the nicest guys in the industry are behind this company, and while I love the designs and love their passion for their work, I just know that my customer base wouldn’t really get it.

Cardshit - Are very funny on Instagram and as a company they are edgy and were really friendly and excited to be at the show.

Deadpan - Showcased a very different humour, which appealed to me, but again wouldn't work for my customers - to quote them, ‘you will be mildly amused’.

Redback - Also had humour that pushed it just a little too far for my customers, but had me chuckling. I may try them!

Photographic cards are not a big thing for me, yet I loved Museums and Galleries’ BBC Earth range amazing artwork and clarity of image.

Trade shows, while exciting and fun environments, on the whole require us as retailers to make quite important and focused decisions. The constant tussle of business just now also forces us to make more and more decisions every day.

They are of course not always nice ones. Cutting hours, amending contracts, changing focus, dropping companies, who to pay and who to be late with are all pretty standard things, but these are big decisions.

And we make literally hundreds of smaller ones, from what to eat and what to wear or what song to listen to on the radio!

I have found myself now dithering, procrastinating and generally wasting energy and time on things that should be quick and definite choices. Decisions by their very nature are an action of conclusion that is reached after consideration, and as a

retailer or publisher we have to make so many that I was fascinated to hear the phrase ‘Decision Fatigue’ and discover that it is an actual real issue. Social psychologist Roy F. Baumeister was the first guy to really highlight this as a real thing.

When you think about the idea it makes total sense. If you train or exercise your body too much it will eventually fail, depending on your physical abilities, so why should your brain be any different? We have all made an impulsive purchase late at night, or grabbed a takeaway because we haven’t planned our meal, or responded angrily to an email and then regretted the way we handled it. With staff and our business challenging us more and more, we may have made decisions or said things that we go on to regret. Decision fatigue is a real thing, and

with the pressure that we as business people are all facing we really need to consider it more carefully and take a positive action.

What you have to do is look at yourself and how you react to things. Having read a lot of the research, here is what the experts advise to make those decisions easier: 1. Focus on big decisions in the morning when you are fresh - prioritise the MITs! (Most Important Tasks).

2. Choose the simpler option - what decision is less overwhelming? Big decisions by their very nature will take more from you so if you can deal with the easy stuff and set proper time aside for the heavy stuff it makes sense.

3. Limit your options - find/pick a maximum of three solutions to each problem, this will make a decision easier.

4. Go minimal - for example, things that are an issue organise early, create a routine.

Obama and Zuckerberg basically wear the same thing every day (as did Apple's Steve Jobs until he died) as they were comfortable with them and didn’t want the stress of a decision about an outfit! The same principal can be applied to other daily challenges.

5. Done is better than perfect sometimes head space and time do not allow for everything to be 100%. This is without doubt my biggest challenge.

6. Limit yourself from distractions such as social media. Allocate a set time to tasks that ultimately gain you very little.

7. If it didn’t make the list of things to do that day then don’t try to add more in, at least for that day. Saying ‘NO’ is ok. Saying 'I cannot' is allowed.

8. Make your first decision work - see it through, and if ultimately you need to revisit it then fine but stick with what you thought, at least in the first instance.

On average we make around 35,000 decisions a day, and by the end you are drained, which results in low self-control and willpower. Other ‘symptoms’ include a deterioration in your emotional intelligence and the ability to multi-task. Also it becomes more and more difficult to sort things out in your mind, and the willingness to make snap or impulsive decisions becomes greater as the day wears on. Sound familiar? It sure does to me. And there is nothing worse than that feeling that you are dithering.

So at 9.15pm on the 6th of June… after being at Heathrow for around four hours, and with the gate finally announced for the flight, I decide that I really needed that new Paul Smith hand-stitched leather World Cup football, and guess what the clincher of the deal was? Yes, I had one signed by Mr Smith, as Paul had been at Heathrow that day, flying out to Beijing. The football is fantastic for my office, but note to self, I should have just read my book.

To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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CARDSHARP

A Prescription From The NHS Greeting Cards Twice A Day Crisis of funding at the National Health Service… A so-called Brexit bonus of increased future funding…

An epidemic of mental illness. Health is very much in the news with the 70th anniversary of the NHS. Feeling in a philosophical mood after a couple of ‘medicinal’ glasses of fine red wine, Cardsharp reflected on the other two main drivers of human behaviour - wealth and status.

Moreover, how that ultimately links back into health and, ironically, greeting cards. Confused?

Cardsharp shares a dose of his magic medicine.

Cardsharp reflects how wealth may In 2011, a group of Californian reward us with diamonds, cars, holidays psychologists and business academics and houses, yet dozens of studies show conducted four different experiments with a that economic status has almost no effect total of 1,000 participants. The group was on happiness. We all recognise the asked to rate themselves and the other miserly, miserable, cynical, moneymembers of their group on whether they obsessed millionaire. were admired, included What really makes us and liked. The happy in most cases, is not academics found that as our wealth (although our Sociometric Status admittedly having a (SMS) rises so too does comfortable amount in the our subjective feeling of bank does makes life easier), wellbeing. We report but how we are judged by more positive emotions, our colleagues, family and fewer negative ones friends. Looking into this, and greater satisfaction.

Top: The Brexit Referendum Cardsharp finds that Battle bus showing the dividends psychologists even have a for the health service on the side by voting leave. critical measurement for this.

Send a little happiness.

Left: Royal Mail has, over the Whatever the occasion, years, encouraged us Brits to It’s called our ‘Sociometric help them celebrate with a card send more greeting cards and Status’ or SMS for short. derived happiness from doing so.

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We have more influence on other’s opinion, more autonomy and more control over group decisions. We have more friends and get invited to more social activities. Amazingly, we are healthier and less prone to depression and illness. The higher the SMS, the higher the happiness level we feel. Reputation and admiration gives us great pleasure and pride. And more chance of good health!

But before, you say “That’s what Facebook ‘Likes’ are about!”, it is not!

Critically the groups whose judgements matter the most to us are not ‘Facebook Communities’ or ex-university classmates that we keep in contact with online. No, what matters most is the judgement of our standing in face-to-face groups like family, friends, relatives and business colleagues. It is our standing with these groups that affects us profoundly. The researchers concluded: “The respect one commands locally shapes how one feels globally”.

Cardsharp thinks this explains why we cling to the allegiances we form. Respect gained is too precious to throw away. And, mused Cardsharp, it perhaps goes someway to explain why so few people ever

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CARDSHARP leave the greeting card industry.

The nature of the industry means there is a mutual respect for fellow industry members, even among competitors. It also explains why our industry awards events, The Henries for card publishers and The Retas for card retailers, are so passionately supported. We all crave the appropriation of our peers.

Cardsharp is hard-pressed to think of anything that boosts our own Sociometric Status more than greeting cards. Don’t we all get a little boost of SMS every time we receive a greeting card? The fact that someone whose opinion we value has taken the time and effort to choose, write and send a greeting card to us, especially in these time poor days, gets that SMS soaring. And when we in turn send a greeting card, we do so in the expectation of getting one back at some time in the future, again boosting our SMS. And remember, the higher the SMS, the greater the person’s well-being and health.

This whole issue of SMS actually made Cardsharp reflect on a couple of trends in the greeting card industry. The rise of ‘Thank You Teacher’ cards is something that has been noted on in recent years. In a way, this too is a reflection of SMS. The more cards the teacher receives, the more he or she feels validation and enjoys increased wellbeing.

It also helps explain the decline in the sending of ‘blanket’ generic business-tobusiness Christmas cards. Since these

Above: Dr Lynda Shaw has enthused about the mental health benefits of sending and receiving cards.

Below: Hallmark worked with the World Literacy Foundation which saw it go into schools to encourage children to write and send cards.

cards, invariably with no personal message, have little emotional investment from the sender or the receiver, they contribute little to levels of SMS. It’s the validation element that makes receiving a card so important.

So in simple terms, the greeting card industry is a very good thing. Good for high levels of SMS and therefore good for the health of the nation – in fact they should be VAT free, such is their medicinal potency, thinks Cardsharp.

Contrast this with the big tech companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google. Between them they arguably have been fueling a crisis in mental health. They have exposed people to online grooming, sexting,

cyberbullying, pornography and harassment. They have destroyed industries without replacing their taxation, they have exploited labour, plus enabled political extremism, terrorism and fake news. And perhaps most damningly, in direct contrast to the greeting card industry, contributed massively to the atomisation of our society.

We all signed up to Facebook and bought smart phones because we thought it would make it easier to stay in touch with our friends, relatives and those we love. In fact, technology is doing the opposite. We don’t use the phone to speak to people and it is making us sicker, both mentally and physically. If you don’t agree with that, ask yourself why tech companies’ ‘big wigs’ are sending their children to ‘digital-free’ schools.

But the good news, thinks Cardsharp, is that the tech tide is turning, and a backlash is coming. One of the best-selling books this year has been Jaron Lanier’s ‘Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Now’. Just last week Cardsharp read on PG Buzz that Moonpig is to launch branded 3D cards to sell alongside its personalised offering - it is using its digital platform to heighten the SMS reading of sending a well thought card with an added dimension.

Cardsharp was also encouraged by the prediction by Card Factory that the value of the UK card market is likely to grow by 2%, despite the challenges that bricks and mortar retailing faces. Plus, looking at the scores of talented millennial designers and artists who exhibited fantastic ranges at PG Live last month, Cardsharp is sure they see their self-worth in terms much more importantly, than their amount of Facebook ‘Likes’!

Greeting cards make us happy giving them and especially receiving them.

They do more than anything to boost our Sociometric Status, and hence our mental health. And good mental health is inextricably linked in many cases to physical health. It is more than mere coincidence that anyone that enters our industry remarks on its friendliness and its inclusivity. Perhaps, concludes Cardsharp, Theresa May should recognise the contribution we are making to the nation’s health, wealth and happiness! Forget the Brexit Bonus, it’s the ‘Greetix Bonus’!

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24 new designs made with great imagination

Launching July 2018

g et in tou ch to f ind out m or e T: 01892 838574 E: sales@curiousinksmith.co.uk @thecuriousinksmith 000_PG_July 2018.indd 1

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VIEWPOINTS

Making A Difference “Be the change that you wish to see in the world,” voiced Mahatma Gandhi.

Change is good, change helps us grow, and when harnessed in business even small changes can result in big transformations.

Reaping the benefits of change, a number of card indie ‘transformers’ reveal their best business decision of the year so far and how it has been a ‘generator’ of more trade or oiled the pistons of their store.

Small tweaks, big results Victoria Robinson, owner of Wishes Cockermouth: “Reflecting over the last year on our business decisions, for us there hasn't been one single stand out decision which I feel out does any other. One decision always leads to another and it has been a year of constantly evolving.

We've made decisions all the time, small changes and tweaks. From the decision to visit PG Live for the very first time last year (a bigger great decision!) and the decision to employ our brilliant Saturday girl to give an extra hand, to smaller everyday decisions we make: choosing new stock and new suppliers; whether to repeat orders; changing displays; deciding on window displays; changing seasonal stock orders etc. All these small decisions add up. Even the boring decisions like changing utility suppliers to save money. The decision to purchase new bigger flood-gates was a good one - it helps me sleep at night!”

Below: Beautiful themed window displays at Wishes is just one of many small decisions that help entice customers.

Below: Trouva is an online ‘boutique’ that gives independents an online presence.

Bottom right: Cardies’ Daisy and Jack helping with the Stevenage High Street Easter Egg Hunt.

Independent thinking Lucy Sticka, partner of Little Paperie, Ashbourne: “Our best business decision has to be joining Trouva last year. In an everchanging retail world having a strong presence online is definitely the way forward, and Trouva has opened us up to a whole new customer base.

Trouva have been amazing from the initial set up to the day to day running of our online boutique. On the run up to Christmas we were frantically packing all our orders each day to send out to our Trouva customers, as well as trying to manage a busy shop, but making sure we have different income streams is imperative to navigating the changing retail market. If customers are buying more online then that’s where we also need to have more of a presence!”

Pay it forward Jo Sorrell, owner of Cardies, Stevenage: “Firstly, being part of our community has always been important to our business.

Quite simply we love to give back a little something to those who support us. One great initiative in our high street is our yearly Easer Egg Hunt. The kids love it as well as the parents as it’s free and fun. It’s great PR as parents find many businesses that they perhaps were not aware of before.

Other community initiatives we have done are holding a free tea party on our local green for the Royal Wedding, and we also have various initiatives at Christmas for our high street lights switch on.

Secondly, these days being on social media is a must. Personally I’m not great at it but I have tried to improve by having Facebook and Instagram pages. It has definitely helped us reach a broader range of customers.

Thirdly, always buying new product is important to us as we are a small shop with regular customers. Recently we bought Lucilla Lavender’s Little Quirks designs, which we love and have been well-received.

Dandelion Stationery has also been another range that we have bought PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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VIEWPOINTS recently. It has some unusual captions, one of which is ‘Happy Birthday from the Dog’ - it flies out!

Balloons are always popular for us. Generally people like to pop in and pick something up straight away rather than having to pre order.

Recently we had Neil Hilditch from Pioneer Europe come to the shop to demonstrate a few new tricks of the balloon trade to us. We loved it and it seems our customers are enjoying the new product we can now offer.”

My (extra) space Sally Matson, owner of Red Card, Petworth: “At the end of last year we ‘bit the bullet’ and leased some storage space in town on a short-term basis, just to get us through Christmas.

The space is quite small, is 100 metres away from the shop and up a flight of stairs, but the impact on the business has been fantastic. We have now secured a long-term lease and so have fitted the space out with shelving from BiGDUG and office furniture from Ikea, and it looks great and works brilliantly.

This extension of the business has enabled us to be more organised in the shop itself, and to utilise the tiny storage space we have there much more effectively. The space provides us with room to accept larger deliveries and price them more efficiently, without Above: Red Card’s new storage space has been a great decision for the shop. blocking the shop up. With a small kitchen and loo area, we can also take a break in this peaceful spot, which is really good. We also have all our paperwork and catalogues here, which enables me to do our bookkeeping and ordering all neatly and in one space, and I can also see reps here too.

This means that my home which is 20 minutes away from the shop doesn’t now have to be a storeroom or an office, and also means that the rest of the team can be more involved in the inner workings of the shop without having to come to my house.”

An amalgamation Ros Jones, owner of Celtic Company, Welshpool: “Our best business decision this year, by a country mile, has been merging our card shop with our gift shop. We have moved the cards into a larger, lighter, brighter space, still with a good position on the high street (only three doors down).

I have been able to try out a different concept for us - not having a separation of the cards Above: Merging its card and gift shop, Celtic Company can create instore concept displays and the gifts, but mixing them up. By and save on rates and rent. locating suitable gifts in and around particular occasions we were hoping for up-selling opportunities - and it's worked!

We carried out the move at the end of January 2018. After a slow few months our revenue is back to where it was with two shops in operation and I am very relieved to only be paying rent, rates and staffing on one premises as we head for uncertain times on the high street.”

Completing the puzzle Roger Eames and Laura Didehvar, directors of Celebrations of Stourbridge: “I think our best decision for this year was when we placed an advert for jigsaw puzzles, in conjunction with one of our suppliers, in the local colour Christmas magazine. The advert included a £5 voucher, which was redeemable against any Gibsons puzzle.

The result was that we had well over 100 vouchers returned, which in itself was encouraging, however since Christmas our puzzle sales have been over 80% up (sales were very good to start with), which against a backdrop of declining footfall and difficult general sales has been very good. We have found that having discovered our jigsaw range, which is one of the best in the country, many people are coming back on a regular basis for more puzzles.”

Above: Gibsons puzzles have been a real winner for Celebrations.

A Welsh addition Pete Hall, owner of Halls, Cardiff: “I can immediately think what my best recent decision was - setting up a Welsh card shop within our card shop.

We are lucky to have quite a big shop so our fourth room was only being used for slower selling lines like wooden toys and homeware gifts, so we re-modelled things a bit and with the help of 3D Displays (who sell the build yourself card racks) we set about building a purpose built card shop at the back of the premises solely for Welsh language greeting cards.

Cardiff is a city of 360k people, relatively small for a capital, but 10% of the population speak fluent Welsh. And with the Welsh language being a huge part of the school curriculum, the kids are only pushing that percentage up, but oddly enough no one in the city is having a really good shot at stocking Welsh language cards.

To finish off, I must compliment the English card publishers, who haven't got a clue about the language and don't know their ‘diolch's’ from their ‘pwb lwc's’ (Thank You and Good Luck), BUT make a huge effort to accommodate us Welsh shops with a comprehensive range of Welsh cards.”

Above: The ‘Welsh Card Shop’ with Halls has a fabulous offering of Welsh cards.

Social standing (in) Cathy Frost, owner of Love One, Ipswich: “My best decision I’ve made this year is to invite guest Instagramers. I give over the Love One’s Instagram account to ‘visitors’ (obviously known to us). They are younger and have a really good eye on what’s happening on social media. This has led to a much better engagement, especially on Instagram, with conversions to sales on the rise. Also we have been spotted by a few bloggers who have written about us as well, which expands our reach to potential customers.”

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PG Live In Pictures

Jumping For Joy

PG Live’s 10th anniversary show was one to remember for its verve, the wealth of fabulous new products on show, the business that was written and the palpable sense of camaraderie between publishers, retailers, suppliers and overseas distributors.

PG shares a pictorial odyssey of PG Live 2018!

Top: Exhibitors, retailers, suppliers and overseas distributors literally jumping for joy outside the Business Design Centre on the first day of PG Live 2018.

Above right: Leading retail buyer and overseas distributors from all over the globe shared the collective responsibility of ‘cutting the ribbon’ to pronounce the show open.

Left: Top saxophonist Graeme Airth (of Curiosity Killed the Cat fame) not only played as the show opened, but also during lunch and at the start of the Opening Night Party.

Right: Bentleys’ Julie and (right) Stephen McHale spent their Golden Ticket with Grassroots’ Doug Morrice, who was also presented with commemorative bottle of fizz for having exhibited at all 10 PG Live shows.

Above: A Golden moment on the Poet and Painter stand as Serge Sumerling spent Nor’s Golden Ticket (worth £150) with the publisher.

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PG Live In Pictures

Inset: Scribbler sponsored the lunchroom this year which saw the tables adorned with funky recipe cards for the delish food that was served.

Below: Hallmark had four very different stands at PG Live, including a Warner Bros one, which featured an impressive Lego Batman sculpture and an equally impressive creative manager, Nicole Ruddock.

Left: The Emotional Rescue stand was converted into the ‘Stoat and Scrotum pub’ with md Martin Nevin ‘behind the bar’, serving Words ‘n’ Wishes’ senior sales coordinator Alison Traynor.

Below: Paperchase’s senior buyer Hazel Walker (right) presenting Luna Paszkiewicz, winner of the On The Cards design competition with her prize.

Below: Among those who clinked glasses at the Champagne Reception was (far left) First Class Greetings’ Debbie and (far right) Jerry Brown, Karen Ebers (Something Special) and Peter Whitehead (Dzodzo).

Above: There was a bit of magic on the Mint stand when (right-left) WHS’ Rachel Hevicon and Katie Briggs met Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, co-founders of MinaLima (the designers behind the Harry Potter graphical range) with Mint’s owners Debbie and Alan Williams.

Left: Retas and Greats retailer finalists and winners thronged to the Champagne Reception on both days that was held in the Wall of Fame area.

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PG Live In Pictures

Right: Wrendale’s Hannah Dale (third left) arranged for the designers who have donated the images for this year’s Action Medical Research Christmas card project as well as the suppliers to get together at the show to celebrate the fund-raising initiative.

Left: Everyone who is anyone was at PG Live, even Kim Jong Un who was spotted on the Maskarade stand!

Below: The Fedrigonisponsored tea trollies (serving free tea and coffee in proper cups!) were a very popular element of the show.

Left: GeeTees’ George Twist (centre) caught up with IC&G’s Tony Roberts (left) and Woodmansterne’s Andy Paterson at the party.

Above: Cheers to the next 10 years of PG Live! (Left-right) Rosanna Rossi’s Anna and Troy Nelson, White Cotton Cards’ Georgie Palmer and Blue Eyed Sun’s Jeremy Corner.

Below: All visitors and exhibitors were invited to the Opening Night Party (sponsored by GF Smith), which was held onsite. The ‘big cheese’ of the BDC, Dominic Jones presented PG’s Warren Lomax and Jakki Brown with a jeroboam of 10-year old Barbaresco.

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Retailer Highlights

The Show Stoppers Below: Jenni Taylor With thousands and thousands of brand new designs (centre) with colleague Melissa Ramsden (left) and launching at PG Live a few weeks ago, the show really Viv Barlow of Ling Design.

Right: Megan Claire’s was a feast for the buyers’ eyes.

Colourblock range was Jenni Taylor’s fave from PG asked a smorgasbord of retailers what delectable the show. delights really took their fancy.

Jenni Taylor, buyer of greeting cards for Bentalls, Kingston:

Natalia Kosterska, assistant buyer of Oliver Bonas: Top picks: “A new supplier that caught my eye was The Cardy Club, its tongue-in-cheek designs and use of bold colours definitely stood out. I also really liked Jolly Awesome’s new diecut range, Cut Outs. These are really fun and will definitely stand-out on the shop floor. I could also see a die-cut trend coming in for SS19!

Stormy Knight’s Good as Gold range is another of my top picks. Although these cards feature no colour, their distinctive use of black and white on a craft board give this range a distinctive signature, the muted tones also allow for the gold detailing to really pop on these designs. They’re simple in design yet still remain fun and punchy!”

Show business: “I really enjoy attending PG Live as it’s a great space to catch up with our current suppliers, all made easier as everyone is under one roof! It’s one of my favourite shows as it’s so easy to navigate; you’re guaranteed to always bump into a friendly face and let’s not forget the free lunch.”

Above: Natalia Kosterska (centre) with Oliver Bonas colleagues Siobhain Watkins (left) and Rachael Pearson at The Retas Champagne Reception at the show.

Above right: The bold graphics of The Cardy Club was a hit for the Oliver Bonas team.

Top picks: “New ranges I saw at the show that caught my eye include: Megan Claire Colourblock (my favourite range of the whole show) and Tutti Frutti; Rosie Made A Thing - loved the new additions to Gin & Frolics; Always Sparkle - Neo and Away With Words; Mint - Glitterati; Woodmansterne - lots of fantastic new humour; Carte Blanche Miami Vibes; And… I am excitedly waiting for the launch of Proud Couture mugs! (I buy ceramic as well).”

Show business: “What a fantastic show - it is where you always find the crème de la crème of card suppliers, companies and ranges. This show should run twice a year, in the Spring and Autumn, as it is so good in so many ways.

It’s a real chance to see all the people who are passionate about cards in one building - and that makes it truly special, especially as it is such an amazing industry to be in!”

Beverley Heyworth, owner of Blue Rose Gifts & Balloons, Heywood: Top picks: “We chose to use our Retas Ticket with Flying Teaspoons (below right), the unique designs and quirkiness took our eye instantly and I am sure our customers will love what we have ordered!”

Show business: “It was a pleasure to attend PG Live, the enthusiasm and passion of all attending makes the long journey south worthwhile. This year it was great to meet with some of the smaller independent card designers who perhaps don't get the level of recognition and business as the ‘big boys’.

We love looking at all the new designs, ranges and new ideas.

The event is brilliant for bringing them all together. Roll on 2019's PG Live!”

Above: Beverley Heyworth spent her Silver Ticket with Paul Urban of Kingfisher Cards.

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Retailer Highlights

Amanda and Will Oscroft, co-owners of Love It, Stamford and Bury St Edmunds:

Kim Lewis, card buyer of Longacres Garden Centres: Top picks:“I have ordered the new Eternal sentiments cards on a spinner from IC&G for our Bagshot and Bybrook shops, using my Retas Silver Ticket.

The range is beautiful, including such lovely words.

I loved the humour of Rosie Made A Thing, which I ordered from for the first time (using my Retas Sunshine Ticket), for our Bagshot centre, as it's so different from anything else I sell.”

Show business: “What a great show. I had a great day as always at PG Live. There were lots to see and tons of lovely new companies up in Springboard. It's a fabulous opportunity to catch up with companies I already deal with and look at new product that they have to offer.

I really enjoy PG Live for its friendly atmosphere and I like the fact that it's easy to walk around, making sure you see everything there is to offer. And of course there’s the amazing free lunch!”

Top: Kim Lewis (right) with Rosie Harrison, founder of Rosie Made A Thing.

Above: The Eternal range from IC&G went down a storm at PG Live.

Top picks: “We had ordered some new cards from Second Nature within two minutes of stepping foot into PG Live. This seemed to set the pace of the day; full on card heaven and the ‘planned’ show budget spent within the first hour!

So many of our existing suppliers, notably Wendy Jones-Blackett, Pigment, Redback, Rosie Made A Thing and Alex Clark Art had plenty of fabulous new ranges and new designs to show us. It really was exciting and it was a pleasure spending our Greats voucher with Redback on its fantastic new adult cards.

Once we made it into the Springboard section the icing on the cake for us was Bettie Confetti. Andy [Cordina, the owner] was lovely and took a lot of time with us chatting about Australia. Her cards really are hilarious, fresh and a bit rude. We spent our Retas Silver Ticket with her.

We also opened a new account with Pippi & Me, and are very pleased to say we are now the proud owner of one of the gorgeous felt animals that we won as a result of the fun promotion on the stand. I can’t wait to start selling the cards.”

Show business: “Coming away from PG Live this year I really felt our little industry was in a lovely bubble. Words mean so much in uncertain times and the very act of sending a card, whether its heartfelt friendship, humour or any other occasion, really can inspire and make a difference.

I particularly like the fact that there are lots of familiar faces at PG Live. Reps/agents seem to love this show too and I really like the personal attention from them as they know what ranges suit our shop.”

Above: The find of the day for Amanda and Will was Bettie Confetti’s range in the Springboard section.

Left: The Alex Clark portfolio is always brimming with new designs.

Andrea Pinder, owner of Unit 7 and Presentation in Manchester, Birmingham and Barrowford: Top picks: “I’m never disappointed at PG Live at what is on offer having visited all ten shows is proof in itself! So, what took my eye this year? In no particular order… Five Dollar Shake’s new Mr Fantastic range and Mr Marvellous range stood out for me, along with the extended range of Secret Garden; Wendy Jones-Blackett’s Mother of Pearl range and its new Deluxe Paper Diamonds; Paper Salad for its new Jamboree range; Real & Exciting for its beautiful Moonlight collection; Megan Claire for its Tutti Frutti range; Rosie Made A Thing for her very funny humour cards; JellynBean for its TinKture humour range and Sarah Ray for her quirky card collection.”

Show business: “PG Live is ten years old. Blimey, where did that time go?! The best part of the show for me is the excitement when the doors open after the Ribbon Cutting ceremony (of which I was a part), Left: Andrea PInder (centre) with Megan Purdie (founder of Megan Claire) and agent Nigel Spensley. then it’s all stations go!”

Above right: Wendy Jones-Blackett’s Mother of Pearl range was something different.

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Retailer Highlights

Hazel Walker, senior buyer, and card buyer Emma Clooney of Paperchase: Top picks: “A special mention should go to The Grumble & Co boys and their Alice in Wonderland themed stand - it looked brilliant!

We did think the Belly Button Coco range really stood out it is so lovely and colourful.”

Show business: “A massive congratulations to the 10th PG Live - as always it did not disappoint!

We always head straight up to Springboard to seek out the rising talent…which there was plenty of this year!

We caught up with publishers we’d met for the first time at last year’s show and it was great to see how much they’d grown and developed their ranges.

It felt like everyone had really worked on adding lots of newness ready for the show and we’re excited to review the catalogues and samples so we can get some of it into stores soon!”

Above: Hazel Walker and Emma Clooney (second and third left) on The Grumble & Co stand with their Paperchase colleagues.

Left:The beauty of the Belly Button Coco range is a real stand out for Paperchase’s Hazel Walker.

Deborah Tingay, owner of Southbourne Cards, Bournemouth: Top picks: “I bought a number of great ranges that will form a seaside theme at the front of store. These include: Toasted Crumpet’s beautiful watercolour seashell cards, Woodmansterne’s new Framed and National Trust Coast images and Icon’s photographic Every Picture and Life Is Sweet ranges. These will sit alongside Belly Button’s Coco range.

I also ordered an Eternal spinner from IC&G and Wot A Mug from Cherry Orchard.”

Show business: “Thank you for putting together another great show - I found the whole exhibition very useful and enjoyable. It is a day that allows me to immerse myself in product, critique my existing ranges and understand new trends.”

Above: Deborah Tingay on the Icon stand with Alan Holmes (left) and Sean Edwards sales agent.

Right: An Icon design from its Life is Sweet range.

Zoe Robinson Carter, co-owner of Zo & Co: Top picks: “We spent our Gold Ticket with Toasted Crumpet as we really liked its Male card range, which is very different and will sell well.

We also liked the company’s ‘Bees’ ceramic gift range, which will go well in our Manchester-based shops.

We also were impressed with the Studio

by Gemma portfolio for independents.

We ordered some personalised cards from White Cotton Cards and Rush Designs as our customers will love these very special cards, which will give us a point of difference and makes us stand out.

We spent our Retas Silver Ticket with The Grumble & Co, as its cards are very different but I think will appeal to our customers.”

Show business: “We absolutely loved PG Live - the whole intimacy of the show, the very relaxed atmosphere and the heaps of passion shown by all!

We also loved the Retas/Greats Wall of Fame, and it was great to catch up with the card suppliers we already deal with as well as discover new ones.”

Above: Zoe Robinson Carter was among the many retailers who raved about Toasted Crumpet’s ranges.

Above right: A Guess How Much I Love You design from the new Studio by Gemma.

Miles Robinson, partner of House of Cards group in the Home Counties: Top picks: “For us, publisher highlights were Clear Creations, Toasted Crumpet and Lola Designs. Not only for the product, but also the owners and how passionate they are.

Also Tache Crafts is going from strength to strength, demonstrating that it can develop from one range.

Woodmansterne/The Proper Mail Company both were showing very strong offering, as was Museums and Galleries, with its new BBC Earth collection.

The embossing on Paper Salad’s new Jamboree range looked great, and Cinnamon Aitch’s portfolio was fantastic.

On the humour side Redback continues to dominate, along with Rosie Made A Thing and CardMix. Overall though, Lucilla Lavender is still the best by pocket performer we have!

Unusually for us we actually took on four new publishers at the show (and agreed terms there and then) so we’re looking forward to seeing what we can do over the coming weeks with these new flavours.”

Show business: “Having been to every PG Live show, this year’s was certainly one of the most memorable, and the buzz on both days was amazing.”

Above: Miles Robinson spent his Retas Sunshine Ticket with Victoria Prior of Clear Creations.

Above right: Lola Designs’ ranges really stood out for Miles.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Retailer Highlights

Penny Bailey, owner of Bailey’s Cards and Gifts, Ainsdale: Top picks: “I spent one of my Retas’ tickets with Toasted Crumpet. The calm, pared-back designs and soft muted colours really caught my eye as a complete contrast to the bright and embellished designs that are so popular.

Since I've got home I've ordered from Rosie Made A Thing and Louise Mulgrew, both of whom I stock already but their new designs inspired me to reorder.

Cath Tate is in my sights to inject some new humour into our displays, and probably Cinnamon Aitch for its cute little notepads with a stand (just got to find space for them!) Also, Laura Darrington's new men’s range caught my eye.”

Show business: “I really enjoyed PG Live. It was great to be able to really concentrate on greeting cards as I often get distracted by gifts at the other trade fairs.

I loved the atmosphere and felt very lucky to be part of such a fabulous industry. In a really troubled time globally, isn't it lovely that people still want to send their love and good wishes to friends and family in the form of a card (except my Dad who forgot my Mum's birthday... oops!)

I'm always in awe of the creativity of the artists, and it was lovely to speak to some who have had a complete change of career, like me, and taken the plunge to develop their own businesses.”

Top: Penny Bailey spent her Sunshine Ticket on the NWH stand with managing director Nick Higgs.

Above: The fun artwork by Louise Mulgrew prompted Penny Bailey into ordering!

Lesley Dunne, owner of Feathering Your Nest, Rayleigh: Top picks: “Lucy Ledger’s soft feminine florals combined with stunning gold foil really stood out from the crowd for me. I easily spent our £50 Greats voucher on these beauties. I also loved Proud Couture for its sassy Essex girls! We were the first to order the new range of mugs too… whoop!

Hearts Designs is always a huge seller in our shop. I really like the new feminine and glitzy designs. And Emily Kate (new for us) was showing some gorgeous keepsake wooden hearts which will, I'm sure, be treasured for many years to come by our customers. These are perfect for weddings and anniversaries. The company is even creating a 10th anniversary heart just because I asked. The children's range was beyond cute too.

Tigerlily’s cards were fun, fun, fun and so on trend with its yummy mummy and gin take on today's customer. We ordered the Hip collection.

Hotchpotch (another one that is new for us) had an eye-catching selection of flamingo cards and giftwrap, plus striking rose gold age cards too that I eagerly spent our £75 Retas Silver Ticket on. I can't wait to get all these in as they will perfectly complement our existing ranges.”

Show business: “Wow what a show, definitely a favourite of mine. What can I say, is it the free drinks and delicious free lunch, the Champagne reception, the networking, the products?! PG Live allows me to focus solely on one big and tremendously important area in the business, our card section. It's all too easy for me to run out of time at trade shows and try to squeeze card buying in on the last day with my head reeling from all the other orders I've already placed.

Our customers proudly tell us we have the best cards around so we've a lot to live up to. PG Live certainly delivers and allows us to live up to our customers’ expectations.”

Top right: Lisa Dean (centre), manager of Feathering Your Nest spent the retailer’s Silver Ticket on the Hotchpotch stand.

Above: Feminine yet fashionable styling from Lucy Ledger.

Robert Petrie, co-director, Kairds, Kirkwall, Orkney: Top picks: “I had two special tickets to spend and I spent the first with Rush Design. I had been a customer in the past and I wanted to get some of its large cards for special age relation birthdays. I spent my second ticket with Tattersfield Designs as I thought the highly colourful designs were really good.

I liked a lot of the cut out 3D pop-up cards on a variety of the stands, and placed an order with Alljoy Design for some of its cards, which are very different from anything I have in the shop.

I was also impressed with the Emily Kate cards with the wooden keepsake elements and placed an order for those. Additionally, I liked the quality of English Graphic’s designs and placed an order for a stand with its mini cards and a selection of the normal cards with the great animal designs.

I also placed an order with Davora for its multi-cultural cards, which I have kept a small stock of since I started, as it is always good to be able to offer some specialist cards for the different cultures within our communities.”

Show business: “I started off in the card business at the same time as the first PG Live, and therefore it was really good to be there at the 10th show at the start of my 10th year as a greeting card retailer. Being in Orkney we only see a card rep once a year and so it is necessary to attend PG Live to see what’s new on the market. Customers like new cards and I like to try and stock something different.”

Above: Robert Petrie finds Kairds on The Retas Wall of Fame.

Right: The large cards from Rush Design are now winging their way to Orkney.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Retailer Highlights

Florian, Lindsey and Ellie Kleinlercher, directors and buyer of Between The Lines group: Top picks: “The product selection on offer was fabulous. We were particularly impressed by the BBC Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II ranges from Museums and Galleries, especially the innovative zero plastic packaging.

We also loved the new MinaLima Harry Potter range from Mint, the new additions to The Proper Mail Company and also the new additions to The Happy News range from Pigment.

We were also impressed by Earlybird, with whom we immediately placed an order.

We had a good chat to Mike Broad and Riou Baxter [of Why Management], who introduced us to some lovely ranges from Belly Button and Paper Salad.”

Show business: “We had a great time as always at PG Live. It's such a great concept - so different from all the other shows. Visitors are so well looked after, as a buyer you feel very welcomed and valued; pampered from top to toe.”

Above: Lindsey and Florian Kleinlercher enjoying a few bubbles at The Retas Champagne Reception.

Right: A new design from The Proper Mail Company’s Embroidery range.

Jane Hall, buyer for Snape Maltings, Suffolk: Top picks: “There was so many good products to see at PG Live… from great humorous cards from Frankie Whistle (I couldn’t resist its cheeky dachshund range) to the lovely selection from Little Paperie, which was my stand-out.

Although not new to me, it was lovely to see Katy’s Print Shop for the first time at the show, in the Springboard area. I absolutely love what Katy Christiansen does, and have been stocking her ranges for several years. Her cards are thoughtful, beautiful and now packed in eco-friendly cello.”

Show business: “What a fab show - I love the atmosphere! I now know I can rely on PG Live to find special products in a calm, enjoyable and accessible environment - and of course well-fuelled by the complementary coffee and delicious lunch!”

Mark Janson-Smith, managing director of Postmark, five shops in London: Top picks: “Among this year’s gems were the amazing new Jamboree range of age and relation cards from Paper Salad, the finish just has to be seen!

We loved the new humour range from The Art File, Lion, which won't be everyone's cup of tea but the designs make you think, which we love to see on a humour card. We also loved the Felty Alphas from Little Paperie, as well as the new designs from Tache and Earlybird too.”

Show business: “PG Live was as fantastic as ever!

I have been to every PG Live show and do genuinely think they get better each year. There was so much to see and so many people to catch up with that I visited both days for the first time. It is such a great show for new talent and also a real focus for the industry giants to make sure they have new lines to release for the show - it really can't be missed.

We are very much looking forward to the next 10 years of PG Live - it really is one of the must go to shows of the year for us.”

Top: Postmark’s (right) Leona and Mark Janson-Smith on the Paper Salad stand with co-owner Karen Wilson.

Above: The Lion range from The Art File provides thoughtprovoking funnies for Postmark.

Above: Little Paperie as a company ticked all the boxes for Jane at Snape Maltings.

Lizzie Batchelar, assistant buyer of cards, giftwrap and seasonal events for John Lewis: Top picks: “This year, we especially loved Veronica Dearly. Her light-hearted and playful cards really caught our eye and it will be great to see how her range develops over the coming months.

We also really liked some of the new ranges from Lola Designs, as well as Louise Mulgrew's newness (who is an existing supplier to us).

It was also good to see Emily Kate exhibiting for the first time. We saw her cards for the first time about a year ago - they have such a lovely ‘handwriting’ to them.”

Show business: “It was such a great show and we always enjoy coming! Such a special occasion celebrating 10 years as well - congratulations and thank you PG Live team for Right: Veronica Dearly was a showstopper for JLP. all the hard work put into producing such a great event.”

Left: Emily Kate was another range that caught Lizzie Batchelar’s eye.

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In Conversation With... Card Factory

Inside Card Factory’s

Cupboard She’s hardly an ‘old mother’, nor as Card Factory’s recent results testify, the value retailer’s ‘cupboard’ is certainly not ‘bare’.

PG catches up with Karen Hubbard, ceo of Card Factory, acknowledged to be one of the 10 most influential women in UK retail, to pick the ‘bones’ out of the wealth of news emanating recently from UK’s largest greeting card retailer.

T

he wall of Karen Hubbard’s office features a bright and breezy depiction of Card Factory’s history - from its humble beginnings back in 1992 out of the back of Dean Hoyle’s van through its milestone moments. The latter include setting up its own in-house creative studio (2005) and acquiring its own print facility in Printcraft (2009) which nailed its vertical business model, plus floating on the stock exchange (2014) and opening its 900th store (2017).

Just in case Karen needs reminding, in the top right hand corner of the mural is a big red

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

arrow to the words ‘Story to be continued…’ of which, as ceo of the UK’s largest greeting card retailer, Karen is the ‘editor in chief’.

Two and half years into her role as ‘mummy’ of Card Factory, Karen is most definitely making her presence felt, both within the organisation (see opposite story) as well as on the broad retail landscape.

Last month she featured in the Power List 100, the respected league table, published by Retail Week, which highlights the top 100 most influential individuals in UK retail, ranking 73rd, making Karen Hubbard one of the top 10 business women in the entire UK retail scene right now.

Above: Card Factory’s ceo Karen Hubbard (left) with studio director Jo Bennett (right) and PG’s Jakki Brown at the retailer’s Wakefield HQ. Right: Card Factory has impressed the City with its financial results and Karen sent every one of its employees a hand-written card to say thank you.

Below: Card Factory has its aim of 1,200 stores well within its grasp.

She has held her own in the City, not only delivering the good news by way of the retailer’s financials results (turnover was up 6% in the last year, like-for-like sales up 2.6%, while the estate continued to grow at a steady 50 stores a year), but also the positive message about the industry as a whole.

Underpinned by the findings from research company OC&C, commissioned by Card Factory to delve into the nation’s card sending habits, Karen has championed the UK’s engrained culture of card sending, reinforcing how cards have most definitely not been displaced by digital means, highlighting how in actual fact greeting card use is increasing among 18-24 year-olds, a demographic that is likely to be swayed by the immediacy of digital alternatives.

Although gratified by OC&C’s projection that the card market is on course to grow in value between 0.6% and 2%

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In Conversation With... Card Factory

over the next couple of years, Karen points out that this is based on retail prices of cards continuing to increase as volume at best is likely to remain static.

“It is in the whole industry’s interest to look at ways of encouraging people to buy and send cards for more of life’s moments,” implores Karen, encouraged by Card Factory’s increasing sales of “minor occasions, such as Thank You Teacher,” as well as support, friendship and blank cards.

“There is something of a movement among young people to share personal messages with friends and loved ones to show they care in these uncertain times, and

we need to be there to encourage and facilitate this developing further,” says Karen, the launch of its own YouTube channel being part of this, hosting little videos that promote card sending.

Adding to this increased marketing will be the continuing flow of new products, now the remit of new studio director Jo Bennett (see below), as well as the group’s continued physical expansion.

Above: Card Factory has been keen to have cards that are there to offer support.

Above right: While ‘value’ is very much at its core, Card Factory now describes itself as a ‘mid-market and value’ player, as evidenced by the launch of its higher priced card ranges, such as this one from its Exquisite range.

When Card Factory stated its intention many moons ago to grow to 1,200 stores it was seen as a widely ambitious goal. Now, with 929 stores and locations, if not the actual units earmarked, it is not that far off.

When she joined Card Factory, Karen came up with her ‘Four Pillars of Growth’ strategy - sales growth, store roll out, business efficiencies and online development - while these remain key, “we are now thinking about what pillars, five, six and seven could look like,” says Karen enigmatically.

While not crowing about it, Card Factory’s expansion into Ireland is continuing steadily, with the seventh store opening in Dublin last month. “We are doing OK in Ireland, but you have to accept that the Irish market needs are somewhat different,” says Karen.

“To be accepted we have needed to take these different tastes on board.”

The shape of the store estate in the UK is continuing to evolve, as evidenced by the recent opening of a major new flagship store in the prestigious Cribbs Causeway shopping centre in Bristol, a long-shot from the small units in secondary sites of northern market towns.

Interestingly, while Card Factory now describes itself as a ‘value and mid market’ retailer, extending its self-perception, Karen recognises that the brand needs to stay close to its heartland.

“Card Factory as a brand is seen as good quality and value. Our Boutique and Exquisite card ranges have served to offer

The creative powerhouse “I’m now 14 weeks into my role here, so the honeymoon period is over, but I feel very happily at home,” says Jo Bennett, who joined Card Factory as studio director over three months ago.

Having been creative director of Hallmark, and its Tigerprint division prior to that (creating products for Marks and Spencer), Jo certainly comes with a deep greeting card pedigree.

With Jo joining Card Factory to head up its in-house design studio (which employs over 60 designers) it means that its longtime creative director Stuart Middleton can relax somewhat, Above: Regional differences are covered in Card Factory’s although as the retailer’s largest individual shareholder he still immense portfolio. very much has a vested interest!

“We create 1,800 everyday cards, 1,500 Christmas designs and 1,500 Spring Seasons designs a year, so it is a busy studio,” assures Jo, who says she is really “enjoying the buzz of being so close to the end consumer, making sure that we keep the designs fresh and exciting, but also meet the different regional needs such as on captions.”

Internal communication A self-confessed “greeting card addict” herself, Karen has also recently spearheaded an internal initiative to encourage Card Factory staff to send cards to each other.

The Card Factory Colleague Collection of greeting cards, are available free of charge for all staff to send, including designs to cover occasions (such as new baby, wedding, new job) as well as general sends.

Also, colourful ‘You’re A Star, Thank You’ postcards have been produced for colleagues to use to give to each other.

Another new printed addition to the Card Factory internal stationery are ‘Tell Karen’ postcards in which employees are encouraged to make suggestions on products, the way the company is being run as well as marketing ideas.

“We are a greeting card retailer, it seems wholly appropriate that we use cards ourselves to tell others we care about them, offer support, as well as make suggestions for the business. It is working well,” says Karen.

Above: Some of the designs from the Card Factory Colleagues Collection of cards that are freely available for staff to send to their colleagues.

more special cards to our customers, but we know that we would not resonate as a premium brand so it would be silly to push it in that direction,” says Karen.

But what about launching a sibling brand that could do this job? Could that be one of the ‘additional pillars of growth’? “Could be, of course,” says Karen with a discernable twinkle.

“Retail remains very volatile. The first quarter of this year was tough for all retailers. The weather didn’t help, but it was more the general feeling of uncertainty influenced by the US political situation, the worries about Brexit and likely job losses that were destabilising factors,” believes Karen. That said, she adds, bringing the storyline back on track, in among all this uncertainty there are still “many life moments to be marked. It is up to us to ensure these are not missed as card sending opportunities.”

You get a definite sense that there are plenty more chapters being lined up in Card Factory’s story.

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Spring Seasons Trends 2019

Spring Watch Observing the natural behaviour of the card illustrator’s inspirations and design trends, PG broadcasts some of the motifs and colourways sighted on Spring Seasons cards for 2019.

Capturing new hearts

Cuddles, caring and cake

Valentine’s Day - 14 February 2019

Mother’s Day - 31 March 2019

Celebrating passion, secret admirers and BFFs (best friends forever), Valentine’s Day has widened its arms to embrace multifarious forms of admiration and love in the modern age. And reflecting this evolvement, Valentine’s card designs for 2019 have a flock of loved-up flamingos, honey sweet bees, shy care bears and even the odd adorable otter, who lightheartedly share their loving, cute or quirky message of endearment in hand-written fonts or the brushstrokes of calligraphy.

There’s a loose painterly feel to many of the designs too, with watercolour washes or gouache smudges ‘making their mark’ and contemporising the bursts of hearts and flowers that traditionally adorn Valentine’s designs.

And mirroring the cosmic trend of ethereal and other-worldly starry states, dreamlike declarations of affection and love are ‘written in the stars’ in constellations and midnight blues, all twinkling with gold foil finishes.

The ‘art-house theatre’ of modernist artists exhibitions over the last few years continues, with Picasso at The Tate Modern and Frida Kahlo at the V&A this summer, influencing designers and perpetuating the loose painterly infusion on greeting cards, including 2019 Mother’s Day designs.

Whether it’s bold brush strokes, dainty watercolour washes or calligraphic ink flourishes, designs are making a sweeping statement, and are especially magnificent on the burgeoning bright bouquets for Mum. Bold blooms in delicious tangerine, peach, rose and lemon hues, shining on snow-white board, burst with love and appreciation for mums (and nanas), and add a touch of green foliage, or soft turquoise, and a sprinkling of gold foil finishes for that luxurious feel, and mums will be in their ‘element’.

Designs are also fizzing with treats for mums of Prosecco or vintage delicate china and delicious cream teas and cake, and adorable dachshunds and shy bears have been joined by sweet little birds as tiny messengers of adoration and gratitude, which are relayed in intimate and hand-written fonts or curling brush strokes to Mum for her cuddles, comfort and care.

TOP TO BOTTOM: l An ‘otterly lovely’ card from Stop The Clock. l A new Wendy Jones-Blackett starry Quicksilver design for 2019. l Love birds on a Talking Pictures card, enhanced with a sensational variety of finishes. l A Talking Buttons Valentine's Day design from Laura Sherratt featuring resin flowers, gems and heart buttons. l This beautiful square GBCC design is a modern take on a romantic heart posy featuring foil and emboss. l Cherry Orchard new Wot a Mug range is plain-speaking on plain card with smart polka dot envelopes. l The Art Group’s Inked Up range explores the current trend for letterpress and risograph techniques using fluorescent inks.

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

TOP TO BOTTOM: l Rosanna Rossi has added a set of eight Mother's Day titles to its 'Kirra' range. Each design features hand-painted blooms beautifully enhanced with satin gold foil and emboss detail. l Delicately painted watercolours on a The Curious Inksmith card. There are 12 irresistible designs for Spring 2019 – four designs for each season. l Roger la Borde’s luxe 3D Pop & Slot Occasion Card Scenes come flat-packed with a matching greeting card. l Katie Phythian Design has created over 35 new designs in its Paintbox signature style for Spring 2019. l A four-pawed messenger brings thanks to Mum from Ling. l Blue Eyed Sun has added 12 Mother's Day designs to their top selling new Biscuit range. l A card for Nan on Mother’s Day from IC&G.

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Spring Seasons Trends 2019

Bursting with life Easter - 21 April 2019 According to retailer reports, Easter is ‘crackin’’ the Spring Seasons market and as an event is growing each year, with over 14 million Easter cards bought in the UK, according to the GCA’s Market Report.

After a long, cold dark British winter, Easter seems to be the signal that spring has truly arrived and nature is awakening from her slumber. The advent and optimism of bursts of daffodils and primroses, green shoots, blossom and warmer days, and as nature begins its new cycle of life with the emergence of new born fauna, such as bouncing lambs, bunnies and fluffy chicks, Easter has become a time to celebrate with family and friends - and decorative Easter trees, bonnets, baskets of chocolate eggs and hunts and, of course, cards.

This natural, cute and delicious iconography are illustrated on Easter card designs for 2019 in a gorgeous explosion of pastel yellow, baby pink, duck egg blue and bright green hues, capturing the shades of springtime.

And with Easter remaining an important religious occasion for many, Christian symbols, such as floral crosses and village steepled churches, adorn designs in dreamy watercolour washes.

TOP TO BOTTOM (clockwise): l Gorgeous Easter cards from Cinnamon Aitch - Claire Picard’s floral illustrations are just perfect for the spring. l Capturing the joys of spring – a design from Ling. l Paper Rose’s Born to Stitch celebrates the world of craft stitch & knit with delightful characters across the seasons. l Saffron’s ‘Pom Tiddly Pom Pom’ range is beautiful, bouncy and bright! l A cheeky bunny on a new Wendy Jones-Blackett Quicksilver design. l Religious sends, adorable bunnies and egg-citing puns - UKG have definitely got Easter cracked. l A beautiful Easter scene on an Abacus design.

That’s champion Father’s Day - 16 June 2019 An ice-cold craft beer, master of the mountain, king of the BBQ and a well-dressed gent, Father’s Day designs for 2019 reflect dads of all kinds.

The craft beer revolution has seen the number of UK breweries surpass 2,000 – the highest since the 1930s, and with the rise of artisan beer and microbreweries card designs for next year’s Father’s Day are ‘tapping’ into this growing trend by serving artwork of contemporary beer bottles or frothy pints - a delicious treat for dads on Father’s Day. There’s also the Bear Grylls dad, who can harness nature and loves adventure and the great outdoors. For this pater only designs of fir trees, camping and big beautiful wide-open spaces will do. But for the well-dressed papa about town, card illustrations of beautiful vintage barber shop shaving paraphernalia and aftershave balm reflect the tools found in the male grooming armoury, and dads will be perfectly accessorised with snazzy socks and ties.

Of course poor old dad is always the target of teasing and gentle ribbing, but after all the jokes Dad is held in high esteem and is considered a family protector and champion, with card iconography reflecting his superhero status.

Stylish muted blues, from midnight to teal, with a hint of orange, one of this year’s main fashion hues, are the card colour palette for 2019 Father’s Day designs, beefed up with big bold and gold metallic finishes.

TOP TO BOTTOM (anti-clockwise): l A man can never have enough designer socks! A foiled and embossed design from GBCC. l For the outdoorsy dads a design from IC&G. l The Art Group’s Funny Animals photographic range celebrating Father’s Day. l A craft beer or two for Dad from Cherry Orchard. l A fresh bold take on traditional Father’s Day icons from UKG. l From your cheeky monkey to a superhero dad, on a card from Abacus. l For golden dads, a design from Paper Rose’s Capisco range.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Broadgate, Broadway Business Park, Chadderton, Oldham OL9 9XE UK T: +44(0)161 688 1226 I F: +44(0)161 682 6808 I sales@widdop.co.uk I www.widdop.co.uk

Combining fresh, vibrant designs with thoughtful and inspiring words to create gift books, journals, greeting cards, stationery, and desk accessories, Compendium products celebrate the best parts of the human spirit, and highlight what it truly means to live inspired.

To find out more about Compendium or to become a stockist, visit www.widdop.co.uk

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Pulse Innovations Harrogate 51-53-55.qxp_38-39/40-41 29/06/2018 11:11 Page 51

A selection of card ranges launching at Harrogate Home & Gift 2018

A Design Hat-Trick Janice Daughters Artist & Illustrator has three new ranges of greeting cards. The new animal-themed collection ‘Cameo Creatures’ comprises 20 designs, some with male appeal in the form of masculine beasts. Other designs have the cute factor with lambs and ducklings. Panache is a new, vibrant, collection of floral designs, while loveable Scruffo Bear has 10 new Christmas cards designed for relatives and loved ones.

All cards are 150mm square with a white envelope.

Janice Daughters Artist & Illustrator 07860 633490 www.janicedaughters.co.uk Stand G-A27

Pun Times

Joyful Broadcast

Objectables is exhibiting at Home & Gift for the first time. Objectables’ Dyaggedit range, by the publisher’s own admission, is a collection of awful pun cards. This ‘Poonicorn’ creation (featured) comes straight from the brain of a six year-old girl, can you tell? It really was Objectable’s founders’ daughter’s joke. Created after a session off making up puns instead of bedtime stories, this is the one she came up with. There are 16 cards in this range, with more on the way. The cards are 145mm square on a nice stock with lovely brown envelopes.

The Happy News by Emily Coxhead from Pigment has had a makeover! With allnew colour and all-new art, the 13 new open designs are bursting with Emily’s signature style of free-spirited scribbled quotes and quirky illustrations. All new designs are available now in a square size with white envelopes and are finished with a variety of foil and flitter.

Pigment Productions 01423 520098 www.pigmentproductions.com Stand DP2-31

Objectables 01303 255287 www.objectables.co.uk Stand GS-33

Taking The Biscuit Blue Eyed Sun is launching a gorgeous fresh new range of everyday cards called Biscuit at the show.

The range comprises 60 cute designs based on original hand-painted artwork by Jo Corner, and all feature decoupage elements and handfinished with jewels in the UK. Covering a good selection of relations and loved ones, this cute 125mm square card range includes loads of relations and occasions captions. All cards are printed on board from sustainable sources.

Blue Eyed Sun 01273 823003 www.blueeyedsun.co.uk Stand DP1-D110

Natural Nature Wildlife Wishes is a collection of 12 colourful and contemporary wildlife cards showcasing fabulous drawings by artist Joanne Wishart. Her wholesome cards are printed in the UK on FSC certified board, come with a recycled white paper envelope and are packaged in a (plastic free) biodegradable cornstarch sleeve. All of Joanne’s cards are fully recyclable, no glitter, no foil, just good clean design!

Plant Life

Joanne Wishart 0191 296 0446 www.joannewishart.co.uk Stand GS-76a

Cardmore 01947 601604 www.cardmore.co.uk Stand GS-58

A new Botanical range of greeting cards by Cardmore & Pictura feature 19 beautifully developed occasion cards with coloured and lined envelopes to match each design. The cards are finished with glitter, foil and emboss and all the cards are wrapped and size 117mm x 170mm. Also on show will be the Jane & Two Twenty Two range and the Sienna’s Garden greeting card and gift range.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

51

Bling Ad PG July 18.pdf

1

25/06/2018

23:29

FROM

21 shimmering Relation and Age cards in 2 sizes

H&G - Stand GS13

Quality Bespoke Envelopes!

From 5,000 quantity to many millions we can produce excellent quality envelopes for you.

Plain, printed, coloured & textured finish.

100% recycled & FSC available.

Please call us on 01274 581327 with your enquiry or email us on joanne@ukenvelopecentre.co.uk

www.ukenvelopecentre.co.uk We will be delighted to help!

52_PG_July 2018.indd 1

26/06/2018 13:01

Pulse Innovations Harrogate 51-53-55.qxp_38-39/40-41 29/06/2018 11:12 Page 53

A selection of card ranges launching at Harrogate Home & Gift 2018

A Star Player For Harrogate Home and Gift this year, The Art File will be launching over 60 brand new designs across its entire product portfolio. The successful I Like Birds collection, licensed from Stuart Cox at the beginning of the year, has been incredibly successful, therefore five new greeting card designs and two brand new gift bag lines have been added.

Alongside this, the new Constellation range is being launched, a brand-new stationery theme inspired by all things cosmos. This new look includes matching gift bags, wrap and tissue.

Wild Wonderment

The Art File 0115 850 7490 www.theartfile.com Stand DP1-C15

Following the success of the Urban Wild range launched at Top Drawer in January, Sally Scaffardi is launching eight new designs to add to the range of wild animals in an urban setting – all designed to raise a smile. The cards are 150mm square on FSC heavyweight board with a thick FSC white envelope.

Kate Guest will be launching its Christmas 2018 Bauble collection, which is made up of six C6 designs, combining classic Christmas lyrics and sentiments with rich wintery tones. All the words are silver foiled and presented with a red envelope, in a clear cellobag. Following last year's success, packs of eight cards will again be available.

Kate Guest 01279 214304 www.kateguest.com Stand GS-10

Sally Scaffardi Design 07747032505 www.sallyscaffardidesign.co.uk Stand GS-45

Rural Squire

Word Up!

For summer 2018 Toasted Crumpet is introducing a further 10 designs to its Henries nominated Country Gent range.

Each card combines a watercolour illustration with a playful definition full of charm and flattery. Size 150mm square and blank inside, each card is printed onto a textured FSC accredited card stock and accompanied with a textured kraft envelope within a cello-wrapper.

Quotish Age cards are here from Brainbox Candy! Due to the overwhelming success of the everyday range, 16 new Age cards have been added to this best selling everyday range. Shining brighter than a diamond, they are accompanied with a beautiful bespoke gold foiled envelope. Go and see them in all their glory at Harrogate Home And Gift - take your sunglasses!

Toasted Crumpet Designs +44 (0)1372 635359 www.toastedcrumpet.co.uk Stand GS-28

Baubling Under

Brainbox Candy 01702 716643 wwwbrainboxcandytrade.com Stand GS-43

Kitty Creations New designs have been added into Penny Lindop’s range of fluffy cat cards, by popular request. Sketched by Penny and then handfinished with real sheep’s wool, these new cat designs will enhance any display of its cards.

Quirky, irresistible, collectible, and suitable for so many occasions as the cards are blank inside, the designs are supplied with a kraft brown envelope.

Penny Lindop Designs 01953 681990 www.pennylindop.com Stand GS-63

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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The new BBC Earth greetings card and gift stationery range features breathtaking imagery and environmentally friendly production, including the innovative ecoBand*. Contact your local agent or visit our website for more information.

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OUT NOW!

*ecoBand patent applied for: GB1807894.9.

Email: sales@mgml.co.uk Tel: 01373 462165 museumsgalleries.co.uk

The BBC Earth logo is a trademark of the BBC and is used under licence.

Blue Planet logo © BBC 2001. BBC logo ™ & © BBC 1996.

Pulse Innovations Harrogate 51-53-55.qxp_38-39/40-41 29/06/2018 11:12 Page 55

A selection of card ranges launching at Harrogate Home & Gift 2018

Tropical Treats I am Nat is exhibiting at Home & Gift for the first time! Its first new range is called Nancy, which consists of striped and tropical designs, and covers weddings, sympathy and also Mother’s and Father’s Day. Nancy was born from one of its best selling cards - This Sucks (pictured). There are six designs in this new range, measuring 145mm square. Its second new range is called Frances six designs featuring a beautifully subtle watercolour elements.

I am Nat 07740347404 www.iamnat.co.uk Stand GS-54

Added Wildness Illustrator, Fay Miladowska has added a further 14 greeting cards to her best-selling In The Wild range. You can see these new summery additions as they launch at Home & Gift. Fay's Studio returns to Harrogate after eight years, so for many visitors there will be more than 100 greeting cards crafted by Fay that they have never seen before! The new cards are all handillustrated by Fay and hand-finished with flecks of glitter. Each 155mm square card comes wrapped with an eco-kraft fleck envelope.

The Floral Touch Further to the success of the Stick and Stitch range of animal art cards, Catherine Kleeli Cards is blossoming out using its trademark style of stitched collage onto a brand new range called Hello, Flower. Not only is the range ‘getting floral’ but also 'getting greeted', which is another departure for publisher Catherine Kleeli Cards. To whet retailers’ appetites, eight designs are being launched that cover a range of occasions and sentiments. All the designs in the range are portrait format, 177mm x 127mm and supplied with a complementary brown ribbed envelope.

Catherine Kleeli Cards 07814 293155 www.catherinekleeli.co.uk Stand GS-56

Fay's Studio 07817 412086 www.faysstudio.com Stand GS-75a

Flapping Its Wings Redback Cards tells it straight with its new Holy Flaps range. The boldness of the font matches the upfront observational message about life’s wonders and frustrations. ‘My entire life can be summed up in one sentence…

“Well that didn’t go as planned’” is about the measure of this delightfully surprising range.

Printed on neon board, the cards come with an eye-catching envelope.

Redback Cards 01752 830482 www.redbackcards.com Stand GS-16

Raspberry Pop-Up Featuring both a die-cut and foil finish, the new Pop! collection from Raspberry Blossom features 14 everyday and five Christmas designs that definitely bring a bit of joy to the buyer and recipient. A6 in size, and perfectly coupled with a variety of coloured envelopes, the ‘Pop!’ collection is at the forefront of an exciting trend, with relatable sentiments and contemporary design.

Raspberry Blossom 020 3723 5405/07875 481356 www. raspberryblossom.com Stand GS-49

Green Spaces Molly Mae’s new Botanical Garden range is inspired by the plants in our homes, gardens and open spaces. The 18 fantastic designs cover birthdays, new home, get well wishes, sympathy, thank you and blank cards for general use, all embossed and foiled. The cards are 130mm square and are supplied with a pistachio-coloured envelope and cellophane wrapped for protection. Also launching as part of the Botanical Garden collection are six new giftwrap designs and four prints.

Molly Mae 01455 557115 www.mollymae.co.uk Stand DP1–D80 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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HOME & GIFT HARROGATE 15. – 18.07.2018 DP1 | C118

www.artebene.com

Rush Design half page Harrogate 2018.pdf

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Beautiful Hand-finished Cards for every Occassion C

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R USH DESIGN HAND FINISHED GREETING CARDS

www.rushdesign.co.uk

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info@rushdesign.co.uk

01788 521745

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PG Innovations 57-59.qxp_38-39/40-41 29/06/2018 11:26 Page 57

PG showcases a selection of new product launches

Just Because…

Ooh I Like That Design’s Scentimental Range is a collection of 15 designs that were originally created as a response to the rise in awareness of mental health issues. Colourful, contemporary and uplifting, the designs reflect some real simple truths that are sometimes hard to say out loud. We all struggle from time to time and receiving a card like this lets the receiver know that someone cares. All the cards are 6" square and come with a recycled brown envelope and wrapped in plastic free-corn starch wrappers.

Ooh I Like That Design 07964937548 www.oohilikethatdesign.com

Blowing Bubbles

It's a Hoot!

Hoot Parade is U Studio Design’s latest children’s card range. Designed by Rob Hodgson, each card comes with a steel-backed button badge. The range comprises 12 designs of everyday and birthday cards showing a variety of cute and bright animals and insects (and a monster!), and come with matching canary yellow envelopes, making it a great range for kids!

U Studio Design 0117 944 5050 www.ustudio.design

Think of Me are excited to launch a brand new mid-year collection called Bubblegum. Featuring vibrant colours, embossing, cold foiling and plenty of attitude, Bubblegum encapsulates a cool, hip, laid back lifestyle. There are 29 bright designs in this collection. Printed on high quality board, these 138mm x 170mm greeting cards are complemented by a hot pink envelope.

Think of Me 01727 375399 www.thinkofmedesigns.com

A Party Collective Simon Elvin’s latest party range, the Unicorn Collection, includes a host of magical offerings. Building on its approach of delivering a ‘one-stop-shop’ of themed collections, the range is a top-value blend of foil balloons, wall banners, cards, gift bags, invitations and everything else parents look for to make their children’s big days go with a well-coordinated ‘bang’, without blowing a hole in their budgets! As with Simon Elvin card and social stationery ranges, this Party Range is exclusively available from local specialist wholesalers.

Simon Elvin Available at local wholesalers

Delicious Doodles Abacus new Punny Doodles range is based on quirky pun-based birthday designs. Comprising 14 cards, this range features amusing photographic images teamed with colourful backgrounds and hand-drawn captions. The designs are enhanced by white borders and are printed on a smooth board with spot UV finish. Presented to a standard 5” x 7” format, the designs all feature captions on page three and are accompanied by white envelopes.

Abacus 01638 569050 www.abacuscards.co.uk

Hooray For Bollywood The new Bollywood Pictogram range from Davora has been especially designed for hard-core Bollywood Fans everywhere. Each card features a popular dialogue from a popular Bollywood film, but in the form of words and icons. These cards will bring a smile to the face of any true Bollywood aficionado! There are 15 cards in the range, all 150mm square and individually cellowrapped.

Davora 0161 641 0655 www.davora.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

57

Small in Stature, Big in style.

A refreshing range of 24 masculine designs.

trade ÂŁ1.25 RRP. ÂŁ2.99

Visit us on stand GS-6 in the Greetings & Stationery Marquee to see new additions to our best-selling Sad Stickman collection.

Web: www.lantherblack.com

58_PG_July 2018.indd 1

Email: sales@lantherblack.com

Tel: 01277 549040

lanther black

Greetings & Gifts

26/06/2018 17:39

PG Innovations 57-59.qxp_38-39/40-41 29/06/2018 11:27 Page 59

PG showcases a selection of new product launches

Boy’d Up New from Laura Darrington Design is a quirky collection of Little People for the masculine market. The characters are metrosexual to suit all hobbies and interests. The attention to detail and the colour palette sets this collection aside and will hopefully ‘hit the spot’ in a notoriously tricky genre of cards. Printed, embossed and UV gloss finished, the cards are provided with a bespoke striped envelope. The size of the cards with envelopes is 125mm x 175mm.

Laura Darrington (0)116 2849660 www.lauradarrington.com

Did-you-saurus?

Your Number’s Up! Introducing a set of new Age Cards from Tracks Publishing! The range covers the ages 1 to 7, with each design featuring a cute animal, from lions to monkeys. Each card is printed on a premium linen textured board and finished with a delicate dusting of flitter. They come individually wrapped and are sized at 122mm x 170mm.

Studio by Gemma has launched a striking new collection of Natural History Museum licensed cards. Synonymous with dinosaurs, the Natural History Museum is home to millions of specimens from various segments of natural history. With cold foil finishes and vivid blue envelopes, this striking collection of cards features the ‘beast’ of dinosaurs Giganotosaurus. There are nine juvenile designs in the range, including ages, relations and open captions. In addition, Studio by Gemma has produced a stunning selection of eight female open and relation cards, based on the life and earth sciences, with beautiful imagery from the Museum’s tropical birds and floral collections.

Tracks Publishing 01480 435562 www.tracksltd.com

Studio by Gemma 01264 388412 www.gemma-international.co.uk

Squashed & Squeezed

A New Style

Squish the boredom away with these newly launched Squishies from Xpressions! Each Squishy is super soft, exploding with colour and scented with the sweetest of flavours - you’re in for an amazing sensory overload! Compact in size, yet overflowing with cuteness, this is perfect to keep by your side at all times!

Continuing on the success of two of its card characters, Peartree Heybridge has introduced a new square format for both its Camilla & Rose and Sarah Boddy ranges. Now both in a lovely 150mm square, the Sarah Boddy range has 20, and Camilla & Rose has 24, new size occasions, open birthday and open cards designs.

Xpressions 020 8756 7793 www.xpressionsgifts.co.uk

Peartree Heybridge 01423 876311 www.peartreeheybridge.co.uk

A Festive Felin(e) The latest range of cute funnies from Jo Clark Design is called Catty Christmas! This beautifully illustrated range of nine festive cards features our feline companions going about their usual routine - knocking over drinks, climbing Christmas trees, wearing ridiculous costumes and bringing 'presents' for their human. These A6 size cards come wrapped in a biodegradable cello bag, paired with a recycled red envelope.

Jo Clark Design www.joclarkdesign.co.uk 07886193734

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60-61.qxp_Grid 27/06/2018 16:56 Page 60

Publisher Focus

THE BIG BLUE Diving into fresh waters, Museums & Galleries’ new BBC Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II card and stationery collections were a significant launch for the publisher, as the ranges’ debut at PG Live in June propelled the company into its first art photography orbit. And the collections’ trajectory is set to rise, not only because of the memorable and beautiful imagery from the astonishing award-winning BBC natural world documentary series coincides with the rising tide of ecological awareness, but also, in keeping with the ranges’ green origins, Museums & Galleries developed its patent-pending ecoBand, an environmentally-friendly way of attaching the card to the envelope.

Museums & Galleries’ creative director Ben Dorney takes PG behind the scenes of the ranges’ evolution.

The breath-taking, thought-provoking and sometimes upsetting, BBC Blue Planet II award-winning documentary had us enthralled every Sunday for weeks.

Attracting over 14 million viewers to BBC One, presenter Sir David Attenborough took us on a magnificently filmed journey exploring the world’s oceans that cover 70% of its surface, the wildlife that lives within and the dangers of plastic that the human race are inflicting on their habitat.

And who could forget the nail-biting 'Iguana vs Snakes' Planet Earth II episode on the Galapagos Islands of the newly hatched marine iguana escaping the deadly clutches of the racer snakes! Or the time a rare pygmy three-toed sloth tried to woo a female mate by swimming across to her at, surprisingly, great speed.

“There are so many brilliant moments and sequences in both Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II,” says Ben Dorney, creative

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Above: Museums & Galleries’ creative director Ben Dorney (left) and licensing manager Eddie Clarke at PG Live.

Below: Featuring a beautiful turtle, a Blue Planet II notebook from Museums & Galleries (MGML).

Middle: A leopard from the Yala National Park in Sri Lanka on a BBC Earth card from MGML. Below left: Alan and Debbie Williams, managing directors of MGML (and Mint and Real & Exciting Designs).

director of Museums & Galleries (MGML).

“From Blue Planet II I loved the clever octopus covering itself in shells to evade a hungry pyjama shark - it shows how intelligent they are - and the iconic sequence of sea lion chasing tuna onto the shore is unforgettable. From Planet Earth II, I think the racer snakes chasing newborn iguanas down the beach takes some beating. In appreciation of that we have a great card of iguanas sunning themselves with what look like grins on their faces; they certainly earned it!”

And it’s memorable moments like these which reinforced Museums & Galleries conviction that this would make a stunning art photographic range when the publisher was approached in early 2017 by the BBC to consider a BBC Earth collection, a few months before Blue Planet II aired on TV. The MGML team also recognised that it

would also be a significant licensing tie-up for the company, as it would be its first foray into the art photography realm.

“It was clearly a great opportunity with a hugely respected global brand, but it also represented a big step beyond our ‘core’ offer,” explains Ben. “By coincidence (or good fortune) we were already considering photographic ranges at that time, but our challenge was finding the right mix of brand and imagery to suit our customer base. They expect the best of both from M&G!” With the advancement of new technology, but no CGI or visual effects, both Planet Earth and Blue Planet footage is filmed in real time, with a combination of patience and fortitude, and it is because of these credentials that there is great integrity and respect for the images that both of the BBC programmes’ crew were able to capture.

“We quickly realised that the BBC Earth brand surpasses expectations on both counts (of an iconic British brand and amazing imagery). The quality of imagery is top-notch, often ground-breaking. And the popularity of the Planet Earth and Blue Planet series means people are already invested in many of the stories behind the pictures. That’s a uniquely compelling mix,

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Publisher Focus

and it was exactly what we needed to dive in!” explains Ben. And so, once the deal was sealed (by the company’s licensing manager, Eddie Clarke), Ben submerged himself in the BBC Earth brand’s photographic anthology, a portfolio that includes Planet Earth II, Blue Planet II, and beyond, meaning that Museums & Galleries will be able to access exciting new imagery from forthcoming landmark BBC nature programs as the collection progresses. “We wanted to represent that diversity from the off, so there is a mix of familiar faces and new discoveries within the collection. Some images are taken directly from high definition footage - like the unforgettable surfing bottlenose dolphins which opened the TV series - while others are great pictures from BBC Earth’s wider archive of nature photography,” says Ben. Some 18 months of the product development later (which included regular dialogue with the BBC Studios team) Ben and the MGML team came up for air from the ocean of stunning stills, having not only created its beautiful BBC Earth greeting card and stationery collection - which includes BBC Earth II and Blue Planet II branded calendars, bookmarks, notecards and notepads that launched at PG Live to much acclaim - but, reflecting the BBC documentaries’ ethos about the conservation of our planet, MGML had ‘unearthed’ its own environmental-saving

Left: Capturing wildlife wonders on BBC Earth bookmarks from MGML. Below right: A BBC Earth Weekly Planner is part of Museums & Galleries’ stationery collection.

breakthrough with the creation of the ecoBand, an effective way of attaching the card to the envelope (using a folded paper retainer) which supersedes the need for cellowrapping.

Museums & Galleries has applied for a patent on its ecoBand, and in addition, the BBC Earth ranges of cards, notecards and envelopes are printed on FSC-certified board and are completely recyclable, and the stationery range effectively minimises any plastic waste (see box story below).

“The signing of BBC Earth is significant, not only as the high profile brand and amazing imagery take Museums & Galleries into photographic products, but we have developed the collection in keeping with the ecological ethos of the series,” stresses Debbie Williams, managing director of Museums & Galleries (which also includes Mint Publishing and Real & Exciting Designs). While Ben adds, “The ground breaking spirit of the Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II series has made them a global phenomenon with a vital message, which encouraged us to be innovative with the packaging and production of the range from an environmental perspective too.”

THE BLUE PLANET EFFECT Ben Dorney, Museums & Galleries’ creative director, explains how David Attenborough’s plastic plea in the BBC Blue Planet II documentary series inspired the publisher to reflect the eco message in its BBC Earth card ranges.

“Before Blue Planet II aired we were given an insight into the central message of the series. We now know it as ‘the Blue Planet effect’, which has given urgency to the public debate on single-use plastic. It encouraged us to really try and do something different when it came to specifying the range and packaging the cards. We considered various existing alternative or ‘eco’ solutions, but ultimately MGML’s managing directors, Alan and Debbie Williams, tasked us with finding something better. The result was the ecoBand, which uses a small slip of (cleverly) folded paper to hold the card and envelope together without the need for glue.

In addition, all the finishing on cards and stationery uses a plastic-free water-based finish on FSC board. The result is that the cards and notecards are zero plastic and fully recyclable, and the stationery range successfully minimises any plastic waste. What's more, it supports the brand's underlying story, so it's both commercially and environmentally sound. That’s Above: MGML’s ecoBand is a slip of cleverly folded paper that holds something to be proud of I think.” the card and envelope together, superseding the need for cellowrap.

With environmental concerns, quite rightly, front of mind, both for the planet and the greeting card industry, ecological changes need to be made for our world and wildlife to survive. Museums & Galleries works with and for a whole range of prestigious brands, organisations and retailers for whom environmental concerns are very relevant. For this reason all of its UK-produced cards and paper-based stationery have been FSC-certified for some time, and its internationally manufactured products are now following suit, imparts Ben. Museums & Galleries are making continual improvements to limit its environmental impact, but the BBC Earth licence offered an opportunity to address an industry-wide challenge which has been gaining momentum - tackling single use plastic cello bags: “Museums & Galleries may be a surprise source for a possible solution to this, but we’re an innovative

brand-led business at heart. This was perfectly suited to the message of BBC Earth but also comes at the right time for the greeting card industry”, Ben states, adding, “The response from retailers to the range and the ecoBand packaging - has been overwhelmingly positive. Retailers completely ‘get it’ it as they too are looking to reduce plastic waste. We hope people will buy into it and make it a viable alternative to bags.”

So after his absorption into the heart of BBC Earth’s ‘core’, what has been Ben’s stand-out moment? “My abiding memory from this whole project will be attending the press launch of Blue Planet II before it aired.

It included a panel discussion with Sir David Attenborough and producers of the show at which he hinted at the central message in the new series. When asked “what’s the most important environmental issue we should be focusing on in society right now?” his answer was an emphatic: “Plastic”,” recalls Ben, whose remit has extended from conserving artistic heritage to protecting the planet, one card range at a time!

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Retailer In Profile

Trusted Values Parking and weather are two perennial bugbears for all greeting card retailers; for the National Trust though its take is a little different. A major worry is not about the cost of the parking, but if its car parks are full to capacity or that there is enough room in its 180 shops when those visitors wish to seek indoor solace from the baking heat or unexpected downpours.

PG puts its trust in Bianca Mastrodomenico, buyer of greeting cards, stationery, clothing and children’s products of the National Trust to explain the significant importance of greeting cards for the heritage charity.

“Greeting cards have always been really important for the National Trust, but the double digit increase in sales they achieved in the last year elevates their position even higher,” reveals National Trust buyer Bianca Mastrodomenico.

While Bianca only took over heading up the buying of greeting cards for ‘the Trust’ last September she is no stranger to greeting cards, having cut her teeth as assistant buyer to Claire Castle at WHSmith back in 2006.

But it is not just Bianca who has ‘heritage’.

The National Trust has been going since 1985 and has historically always punched above its weight Top right: Founded in 1895, the National Trust not only has saved and protected countless treasures of UK heritage and natural places, but sells an impressive number of greeting cards in its shops.

Above right: An exclusive National Trust greeting card design by Artefactor Publishing.

Right: Bianca Mastrodomenico’s remit as buyer of the National Trust includes greeting cards, stationery, clothing and children’s products.

on the greeting card retailing front. Greeting cards are sold in 180 of the National Trust shops, achieving incredible rates of sale considering that some of its sites only have a single spinner of cards and even its largest card displays do not cover all the occasions captions.

Bianca reveals that National Trust’s recent greeting card sales spurt

has come from a variety of areas. “We did a greeting card selection refresh for Autumn/Winter which went down well, then had a fantastic Christmas on the card front especially on Christmas singles. Spring Seasons were good too. Having trialled Spring Seasons cards last year, we extended it this year and they performed well,” she revealed.

Bianca accepts that the National Trust does have somewhat of a captive audience with the charity’s membership now topping 5 million people, plus those who visit its properties and sites are invariably well disposed for a jaunt round the gift shop on their way back to the car or coach.

That said, National Trust is certainly not complacent about maximising the retail spend from its millions of members and visitors, investing in developing its own products inspired by areas of natural beauty in the UK as well as topical issues and happenings. A perfect example of the latter is the current stationery and gift collection that celebrates the centenary of women being given the vote, which is being sold in its physical and online shops.

Its charitable status and the National Trust’s whole ethos were what attracted Bianca to joining the organisation in the first place.

“It is a rather lovely thought that a high percentage of the profit of from every single card sold as well as all the other products we stock is helping towards the conservation of so many special places in the UK,” says Bianca.

While she sees it as her and her team’s responsibility to maximise the contribution PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Retailer In Profile

Up close and personal National Trust buyer, Bianca Mastrodomenico, is put on the spot about her personal views and revelations.

What three words would your best mates use to describe you?: “Loyal, passionate and fun.”

What do you most like about greeting cards?: “They are a very special product in that they instantly remind you of someone.

I already have cards ready for friends’ birthdays next year as they reflect them and our relationship so well. No other product does what greeting cards do.”

that the sales from the greeting cards and other sectors for which she buys, spurring her on to create an ever more potent product mix, Bianca also has to take other important considerations into account too.

“For many other multiple retailers, commerciality is often the top priority, while for the National Trust, yes we need to have products that our customers want to buy, but they need to be environmentally and ethically sound, with an onus on supporting small businesses and designers,” explains Bianca.

Yet this worthy thrust is not at the expense of the jovial side of humanity as National Trusters certainly have a great sense of

Above: Cliveden in Buckinghamshire is just one of the hundreds of properties within the National Trust portfolio. ©National Trust Images.

Left: This Cath Tate design is a best selling card for the National Trust.

Below left: Bianca and the team often pick up on greeting card designers and then develop exclusive National Trust products, such as this Family Organiser featuring the artwork of Sarah Thompson of Sarah Lovell Fine Art. Below right: The shop at National Trust’s HQ in Swindon, includes a taster of the products on offer in the NT shops, many of which are designed in-house inspired by the geography of the UK.

humour, as reflected in their card buying habits.

“While nature-inspired card designs do well for us, it is humorous cards that are our biggest sellers,” reveals Bianca citing Cath Tate, Pigment and Woodmansterne as three of its top performers on the humour card front.

What’s your guilty pleasure: “My pregnant state excepted, it would have to be gin!”

The magic carpet awaits…where would you like to go?: “To Mykonos, where I spent my honeymoon.”

If you were the Queen for a day with limitless powers, what would you do?: “I would ensure there was world peace and free gin for everyone who wanted it.”

If working as a buyer was an option, what would you like do as a job?: “I have always wanted to be a music reviewer – I still love going to concerts and festivals.”

How confident are you about the future of greeting cards?: “I am not concerned at all about the future of card sending. A few years ago I did wonder whether it was under threat, but feel that the new design approaches from publishers have helped to engage the younger generation with card sending.”

The ACID test “The National Trust champions card publishers and designers who have developed their own style that resonates with the public. Our membership of ACID is a further endorsement of how we do not support copying,” stated Bianca in the wake of the recent announcement that National Trust has joined Anti Copying In Design (ACID) campaign.

ACID will help National Trust to protect against any copycat action of the beautiful products – from scarves to tableware, stationery to foody gifts - that are created by National Trust’s own in-house designers drawing on the Trust’s original archive of imagery.

The National Trust’s decision to join ACID is a mutually beneficial to both the heritage charity and the anticopying campaign group, the Trust’s status and high profile amplifying the important message put out by the campaign group.

“We are delighted that the National Trust is supporting Anti Copying in Design, not only to help protect their own in-house designs but as advocates of the original design of others,” commented Dids Macdonald, OBE, ceo of ACID. Left: National Trust has recently joined ACID to both protect its own in-house designed ranges as well as to show commitment to greeting card publishers whose products it stocks.

As the visitor numbers ramp up at National Trust properties as summer progresses, so the pressure is on Bianca and her colleagues Beth Chilman and Hannah Calladine to finalise the next card collection. “It is gratifying that so many of our visitors also come to buy cards and gifts from us. We may have different pressures on us to perform compared to other retailers, but as a buyer the responsibility is the same - to put together an evolving range that people want to buy.”

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JEREMY’S JOURNAL Business blogging by publisher Jeremy Corner of Blue Eyed Sun.

New Challenges Jeremy Corner, owner of greeting card publisher Blue Eyed Sun, takes on new challenges.

Inset: Taking on new challenges can help you grow.

Below left: Jeremy and pals training up for the Gobi Desert Challenge.

Below right: A fractured wrist didn't stop Jeremy at PG Live, but he had a little help from his retail friend Andrea Pinder.

It easy to stay safe in life and to avoid taking on new challenges. We can often become complacent, especially when we are scared of failing, getting hurt or losing what we already have. The truth is: change is inevitable. Even if we do nothing, we can still fail, get hurt and lose everything.

To be successful in business and make the most of life you have to get comfortable with taking on new challenges. You have to get used to the difficulties, the unknowns and the pain. You almost need to look forward to them so that it becomes habitual and forces you to grow.

I currently have four new challenges that are testing my comfort zone:

The Gobi Desert I have spent the past six months learning how to ride a motorbike, gaining my licence, training on an off road KTM bike and improving my physical fitness in order to take part in a 1,500 km enduro motorbike ride across the Gobi Desert. The trip with friends is self-funded and supported.

I am raising funds for the Christina Noble Foundation, which helps street children in Mongolia. Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital city in the world with temperatures dropping to -30°C in the winter and destitute children living in appalling conditions in sewers and air conditioning ducts just to try and keep warm.

All of my own challenges pale in significance to what these kids have to endure. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do to help them with the funds we raise. If you’d like to be involved see the link on page 69.

My journey to Mongolia has not been without its challenges. First I had to overcome my fear of motorbikes. My grandfather was left disabled by a motorbike accident in his late teens. As a teenager myself, the first and only time I got on a motorbike I crashed it within 10 minutes of hiring it and then crashed twice on the way to the hospital to get myself stitched back together. I was terrified the day I took my CBT (certificate of basic training) in January. With practice I have learned to love riding a motorbike, and I really love off-road dirt biking.

Everything about this challenge has stretched my comfort zone, physically and mentally. Recently, I suffered a further set back by fracturing my wrist during training.

Making this trip about something more than me drives me to complete my journey there.

I also cannot wait to see the stars in the desert at night! Having a purpose and goal that excites me has kept me going, even through the difficult times.

The Giftware Association As well as being on the Greeting Card Association (GCA) Council, I am honoured to have been elected as the new chairman of the GA. It's a trade organisation founded in 1947 with a rich history of contribution to the heart of our industry. Most famously it birthed Spring Fair and Autumn Fair as well as creating the ever-popular Gift of the Year Awards. I'm excited to be working with our new deputy chairman, Henri Davis, and our new vice-chairman, Gert Schyberg, our experienced team of dedicated volunteers on the National Committee, our knowledgeable BATF board, our talented chief executive, Sarah Ward, and our hardworking in-house GA Team.

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JEREMY’S JOURNAL Our challenge is to continue to drive active member engagement and grow membership numbers. Improving our website, our blog, enhancing our social media activity and updating our CRM system will all help. As will increasing the number of members paying by direct debit or standing order to reduce wasted time chasing outstanding payments. If you are a member, you can assist us by automating your payments to enable the team to spend more time helping you and other members. You can also help by keeping us informed of the issues that matter most to you and what you need in your business right now. We are here for you, please do engage with us.

To take on this challenge I will be drawing on the strengths of the GA team, the board, our members and National Committee members to help drive forward the changes needed. This will stretch my comfort zone as I will also be doubling the number of work days I currently have committed to the GA. The fact that we have such an excellent group of people involved is inspiring.

BambooCups For years I have advised new publishers I mentor to avoid tying up their cash in giftware products and to focus on higher margin greeting cards. This year I have ignored my own advice by signing an exclusive distribution deal for chic.mic’s BambooCup in the UK and Ireland. We relaunched the products in April and they have been selling extremely well. We’ve also had a huge amount of interest from multiples across the UK and Ireland.

I'm passionate about environmental and socially conscious products and I am thrilled to be selling what I believe to be the finest reusable bamboo cup on the UK market containing the highest concentration of bamboo fibre, the best selection of designs and topped with a patented bamboo lid.

Above: Some great designs can be found on BambooCups.

Below left: Henri Davis (right) is the new deputy chairperson of the Giftware Association, seen here with Windles’ Michelle Mills at PG Live.

Below right: Photographed by Paula Bronstein. These children are the lucky few, many Mongolian street children can be found living in the underground sewage systems as a means of safety and shelter.

With lower profit margins and an alternative distribution model to greeting cards I am faced with a new set of challenges. Aside from the obvious financial and cash flow implications, I'm having to learn a lot about eco-friendly products and the giftware market. It's also forcing me to take a long hard look at our current sales model to figure out the most effective solutions for reaching our customers.

In the long run, making difficult decisions and learning new things will have a positive effect on my own personal development and our business as a whole. It stretches our team, opens new doors and it helps us to grow beyond what we would've achieved just selling cards. It's also exciting to be part of a fast-growing product category in retail right now.

In a difficult environment it's essential to create the best greeting cards on the market. This is no easy task and there are no guarantees. What worked before may not do so any more - and yet one cannot do nothing. The market requires constant innovation and new product. This still presents opportunities. I'm excited about our fresh new Biscuit range of cards lunching in at Harrogate Home & Gift and I'm currently working on an exciting new socially conscious card project for 2019.

I am starting to work with more designers in order to increase our chances of success with new ranges that are different and still commercial (the holy grail of card publishing). We have excellent distribution and make a great partner. I am also looking at import opportunities, licensing deals and other partnerships to grow our card sales.

Again, this is stretching my comfort zone as I have to learn to develop bestselling cards with other designers after so many years of working with one in-house designer. As well as new opportunities, new partnerships will present new challenges and new unknowns. I'm excited about these new ventures and what unknowns they will bring.

Take a deep breath If you want to overcome adversity and triumph over new obstacles and challenges you have to alter your mindset. You need to find ways of seeing past the difficulties rather than spending all your time looking at them. It's useless to you and those around you to complain about how difficult things are. At its simplest level, just focus on the first step forward. Take a deep breath and take the step. With each following step you will grow stronger.

The greeting card challenge Speaking to my more experienced colleagues in the card industry at PG Live recently, this year sounds like one of the most challenging ever in the greeting card market. Despite many companies creating exceptional work, competition is fierce and plenty of publishers and retailers are struggling.

One of our biggest challenges as publishers is the delicate balance between creating work that we love and producing cards that sell. In an ideal world there would be a beautiful synergy between the two.

Unfortunately, and I find disappointingly, it is not always the case that cards we love to create necessarily sell that well.

Help street children in Mongolia at www.justgiving.com/gobidesertenduro Read more on Jeremy’s blog at www.blueeyedsun.co.uk/blog PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Focus On Art Cards: News

Art House With the Royal Academy’s 250th Summer Show, the V&A’s Frida Kahlo exhibition and Picasso’s artwork starring at the Tate Modern, this summer is showcasing some big names from the art world. And with many card publishers gaining creative inspiration from these shows, PG’s Focus on Art Cards ‘frames’ some news and views from the current art cards market gallery.

Spotted at the Summer Show “Knowing that Grayson Perry is aware of my work is such a buzz, as is having my prints hung next to David Shrigley and opposite Martin Parr!” states Dominic Greyer, founder of card publisher Lesser-Spotted Images, who, with perfectly serendipitous synchronicity, has had two of his photographic prints selected by Grayson Perry for his ‘Room of Fun’ at the Royal Academy's 250th Summer Exhibition.

Why the synchronicity? Above: Lesser Spotted’s Dominic in front of the two prints Well the exhibition’s opening Greyer at the RA’s Summer Exhibition. just so happened to coincide with the tenth birthday of his card company, whose first trade show was at Pulse in 2008.

Back in January Dominic found an email languishing in his junk mail with the subject 'Summer Exhibition 2018'. Luckily he checked it and swiftly realised it wasn't just any old spam. Apparently the committee of the Summer Exhibition, of which Grayson Perry is the head, had been discussing his books and wanted him to submit some work.

Knowing that they'd been perusing his books, Dominic thought it necessary to deliver some monochrome road sign pics. The overall subject for the show is ‘Art Made Now’, which helped narrow down the choice as he has thousands in the archive. Dominic ended up submitting a terraced street scene - Uncouth Road in Rochdale - “...which summed up what I do without actually being rude. And for the other entry I went the other way with the awful Cumcum Hill in Hertfordshire!” he says. Both prints have already sold! l The Summer Exhibition runs until 19 August and Grayson Perry's Room of Fun can be found in the MacCaulay Gallery, which is the only part of the show that is free entry.

Poster girl Vintage poster artist, Becky Bettesworth, whose artwork is published on cards by eco-friendly Glebe Cottage, has recently had her work selected for the front covers of five H E Bates Penguin books to celebrate the 60th anniversary of The Darling Buds of May, and Lionsgate Films commissioned Becky to produce a promotional poster for the film 'On Chesil Beach'. This has led to lots of news coverage, as well as an interview on ITV, and even a congratulatory letter from her local MP! Above: A Becky Bettesworth design from Glebe.

Hot off the ArtPress Straight from the walls of the Royal Academy’s 250th Summer Show and hot off the press onto greeting cards, art cards publisher ArtPress selected, gained the artists’ permission, colour proofed to the original artwork and printed its new Summer Show card Grayson Perry’s additions to its RA Collection all within two weeks. Above: ‘Selfie with Political Causes’ published by the ArtPress.

In addition, the RA Collection will be extended with many of the nations’ favourite artists, such as Barbara Rae, Mary Fedden and JMW Turner.

The Summer Exhibition has been held every year without interruption since 1769. It is the largest open submission exhibition in the world and is curated this year by the wonderful Grayson Perry CBE RA.

Celluloid memories relived After discovering a box of vintage 35mm slides at a boot fair, Martyn Allen, and co-directors and friends Izabela Peters and Vicky Kelsall, decided to share this treasure trove of social history by printing a collection of retro greeting cards and launching their publishing company Honovi.

“The collection started when I inherited a slide projector from my mother’s late partner. I found a box of slides at a car boot sale, loved the images, and an obsession was born!” says Martyn.

After years of sifting through over a million slides and giving slide shows to family and friends, Martyn’s partner and her friend suggested that they would make lovely greeting cards. So after a rigorous, but enjoyable, selection process, they were ready to start work on the first 70 designs.

“Now we have 150 designs, and literally thousands more in the slide collection with the potential to be cards. The reaction has been very good and has shown the definite interest in nostalgic images of the decades up to the 1980s”, Martyn states. “We hope you will appreciate the beauty, humour and emotion of these saved images that may have otherwise been lost forever!” (honovi.co.uk) Above: Cool vintage cards (found as slides) from Honovi.

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Spotlight On Art Cards

A Change Of Scene “The art world moves in tandem with current affairs. Currently society is going through a period of uncertainty and division but during tough times people still turn to art and its power to enrich, be life-enhancing and acts as a distraction or foil to the turmoil and seismic shifts in the political and cultural landscape,” observes Catherine Kleeli, director of her eponymous company.

And with a foray of fashion, historic anniversaries and cultural and social events influencing the art realm right now, how is this being reflected on art cards? PG delves into this current creative landscape.

As the world seems to get crazier, faster and more bewildering, both politically and socially, there’s a sense that it’s also becoming more creative, possibly as an antidote to the madness. While there’s a boom in high profile exhibitions at art institutions and museums, happening on ground level is a craft revolution. Meanwhile, social, historical and environmental concerns are hitting the headlines, and all of these elements are inspiring designers and filtering onto art cards.

This year sees the NHS’ 70th anniversary and the 150th birthday of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the centenary of the RAF and the end of The Great War, and the 100 year anniversary of Votes For Women, with justifiably a huge focus on issues relating to identity and gender politics.

“The social movement towards equality, feminism, and embracing diversity of all kinds has informed the art world, and trickled into fashion and beyond. This is a year where we have seen how much representation matters. There was much celebration of the official portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama 72

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Above: Frida Kahlo’s face and flower-laden hair has become symbolic of an unapologetically flamboyant and unconventional sense of womanhood.

Left: Diverse characters from Rosie Harbottle can be seen on this Roger la Borde design.

Below left: Colcards has just launched its Charles Rennie Mackintosh range to coincide with the designer’s 150th birthday.

Below right: Witty slogans feature in Eastend Prints’ feminist collection.

Bottom right: Tattersfield Designs’ ‘Bright blooms with poppy’ has a Frida Kahlo vibe.

by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, unveiled in February of this year. The portraits made a strong statement as the first ever presidential portraits to be painted by black artists, of the first black president and first lady to grace the walls of the Smithsonian. That the portraits have brought record-breaking traffic to the National Portrait Gallery in London speaks volumes,” observes Helena Maratheftis, marketing manager for art cards publisher Roger la Borde.

In the same year, rainbow capes were donned at the Met Gala, #TimesUp pins were worn at award shows in Hollywood, and in the UK and on local high streets, messages of empowerment are emblazoned across everything from t-shirts to greeting cards and beyond, observes Helena, and “these social influences are evident in our own greeting card collections, particularly in the artwork of Emily Isabella, Anne Bentley and Rosie Harbottle, with their diverse cast of characters and empowering energy.”

Feminism, diversity and freedom of expression merge this summer at the V&A’s ‘Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up’ exhibition, which is certainly setting a trend. “We've got quite a big collection of Frida prints and cards that has been successful since launched”, says Rebeca Romero, marketing manager/range curator for Eastend Prints, adding, “And our feminist range is also selling really well... a reflection of the times we are living in I believe!”

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At art cards publisher Green Pebble, editor Ruby Ormerod explains that the art that comes to her slowly captures people’s evolving, long-term loves and concerns: “The countryside, the need to protect our oceans, family and friendships. We are also getting more paintings and prints dedicated to health and sports: cycling, swimming, running, for instance. At the same time, washing lines have completely fallen out of favour with our artists – perhaps because no one wants to be reminded of housework when they could be dancing, baking, painting and exploring.”

The search for mindfulness, good health, adventure, exploration and learning handmade crafts are a healing balm to a technological and frenzied life. “The rebellion against

Left: Artist Kate Findlay works with textiles and applique – seen on a Wraptious card.

Below: Catherine Kleeli creates her stunning artwork with intricate paper collage.

Bottom right: Artists, such as publisher Doodlelicious, highlight the plight of our wildlife by keeping them front of mind on cards.

the digital is still in full swing!” exclaims Alex Gunn, creative for The Great British Card Company. “And we have noticed that our GBCC audiences are reviving their love for the handcrafted, hand-drawn and homegrown. The trends for mixed media, vintage printing techniques, distinctive colour palettes and expressive mark-making are coming together to create a uniquely crafted contemporary art look”.

Naomi Smith, media and marketing manager for Wraptious, has noticed too more mixed media pieces than ever before, including paper collage and felt work, Above: Bold brushstrokes from artist Este Macleod on a from artists like Kate Cinnamon Aitch card.

Right: Green Pebble’s ‘A Cheeky Findlay, who works in Peek’ by Sue Richardson, textile and applique illustrating the rise in health and fitness-based art. and is proving popular at Wraptious this year. Naomi also feels people are looking for artwork that has an increasingly Artistic horticulture personal connection, helping to kick-off the Coinciding with the Frida Kahlo exhibition revival of local crafts and the 'handmade' at London’s V&A this summer, the Medici movement and encouraging more emerging Gallery card and gift store in South artists to experiment and try selling their work, Kensington is giving its back garden a and allowing young talented, and sometimes colourful makeover. Tim Reynolds, shop contemporary and alternative, artists to bring manager, explains the artistic inspiration: “We’ve always wanted to decorate the their creativity to the art market. backyard of the shop, but this year we “We've seen this directly reflected in the decided to go for it! Last year assistant manager Charlie Wheatley, visited Majorelle way many of our artists are being supported by Garden in Morocco, where Yves St Laurent once lived and restored. It's a beautiful the local industries and businesses where they garden with striking blue buildings and red paving. live, and the increasing number of art festivals So I began by carrying four pieces of decking each day from my home in Tottenham and exhibitions which allow new artists to submit Hale on the London Underground to the shop in South Ken (luckily they were just under work. Within this the Tube’s height restrictions regulations). Charlie has painted the decking a stunning creative explosion we deep red and I bought a gorgeous blue paint from Designers Guild for the shop’s garden are seeing more walls and a wonderful bright pink for the bench - which we wheeled from Homebase past mixed media in the the Natural History Museum. And we’ve even got a real tree with plastic lemons, cherries art world and this is and oranges dangling from it. And bit by bit we are finally completing our garden plan.

With the V&A’s Frida Kahlo exhibition opening last month the shop garden’s colourful being reflected in the restoration ties-in nicely, as we are greeting card located just one block away from it. industry”, she says.

Customers can see the garden through a And continuing window and it allows us to showcase creative development within the shop all the lovely Frida Kahlo and exploring art partywear from Talking Tables, prints and techniques is the key, believes GBCC’s Alex cards from Eastend Prints, the trend for Gunn, and at the publisher’s studio they are llamas and cacti and the cards I bought doing just that: “The artists possess a wide recently from Tattersfield Designs ranging skillset: from traditional watercolour at PG Live.”

Above: The restoration of the Medici Gallery garden painting, to applying knowledge of printing is in full swing! processes such as screen/lino and letterpress Left: The Medici Gallery’s Frida Kahlo inspired stunning shop window in South Kensington, London. to help implement interesting finishes for PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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PRAIRIE

t: 0116 230 4197 f: 01536 401 031

w: mint-publishing.co.uk

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Spotlight On Art Cards

greeting cards. It’s a continuous endeavour to amalgamate all the contrasting expertise and styles into a beautiful but bestselling art cards product!” says Alex.

Ecological changes to our beautiful planet and endangered wildlife have been high on the list for artists and card publishers too, especially since the BBC’s Blue Planet II and David Attenborough’s plastic plea.

“Environmental issues are a great concern among artists as they attempt to reflect everyone’s concerns for the planet and the natural world so that positive change can be brought about,” believes Catherine Kleeli.

And with the demise of wildlife such as bees, red ladybirds and hedgehogs, and the need to protect our earth, forests and oceans, artists are reflecting these concerns and helping to keep them front of mind with their artwork. “Inspiration from nature, floral and nature patterns and wildlife continue to be popular themes for us,” explains Sue Morrish, director of eco-friendly card publisher Glebe Cottage, adding, “influences include environmental issues through TV programs like Blue Planet and increasing interest in the wonders of the natural world (such as the BBC’s Spring Watch).”

However, harnessing technology can aid artists in sharing their interpretation and reflection of the eco message within their artwork globally. And even if this isn’t a theme under-pinning their work, the opportunities through the internet to reach new admirers and markets can open up a horizon of new possibilities.

Green Pebbles’ Ruby Ormerod feels that if there is one change that has certainly become apparent over the past five years, it’s not so much the content of the art, but the response of artists to the commercial world around them.

“Just as publishers are embracing the internet, so are artists. The power of blogs and social media allows some artists to gain considerable followings and are imprinting themselves upon a market far greater than they could have done ten years ago,” she says, adding, “The more the artist invests in their own ‘brand’, the better their understanding of the market and - from the perspective of a card publisher or retailer - the better they are to work with. Indeed, the artist’s own online sales figures may be truly revealing, pinpointing the success of different designs and products.”

But sharing and connecting is the endgame of cards and there is a huge - and growing - appetite for art cards. “Greeting

cards are such an accessible way to sing the praises of friendship, wellbeing, solidarity and acceptance - and to share these uplifting ideas with loved ones,” believes Roger la Borde’s Helena Maratheftis, and Wraptious’ Naomi Smith agrees: “We feel like card-giving is being used as a way to connect beyond usual holiday periods and personal milestones customers are increasingly looking for original and inventive cards which can capture a specific moment, feeling or relationship. It feels like a great time for independent artists who are able to produce eye-catching and individual artwork to satisfy this search”, and for cards to capture and showcase as mini portable pieces of art!

Above: Stylish designs from GBCC spotlights the beauty of fauna.

Left: UKG’s new Brushes with Nature range showcases much loved wildlife.

Below left: Connection to the natural world and to each other on a Kate Andrew’s design from Glebe Cottage.

Right: Sharing and connecting on artwork by Anne Bentley on a Roger la Borde design.

Globe trotting Frida Kahlo’s artwork, an abundance of vivid South American colours, tropical palm fronds, cacti and big bold florals, also chimes with the lure to runaway to exotic faraway lands that are currently tempting us on art cards, and in many areas of design, shaped by the long and well-travelled road of austerity. “With the depressing global and political outlook, art and photography of beautiful places and new adventures are feeding into our escapist desires,” believes card publisher Catherine Kleeli.

Rebecca McCulloch, product and creative director for Ling Design agrees. “One trend that is really strong is ‘escapism’. You can find this in the nostalgic travel posters that seem to be everywhere, or art that’s inspired by beautiful beachscapes and ocean scenes. This is one of the factors that contribute to our Galleria and Seasons ranges their appeal.

You’ll find hand-painted fields of flowers, quintessential British garden scenes and holidays in France.”

And as we get ready for our holidays, Eastend Prints’ Rebeca Romero has noticed that the escapism theme is taking inspiration from all corners of the globe.

“Certainly the Miami trend is a big one, people are loving our beachy scenarios, bikini bodies and lush botanicals... it’s refreshing after a long winter!”

Above: Escapism and adventure is one of the biggest trends this year. Ling Design inviting tempts you to far away lavender fields on this card.

Right: Miami Beach on a card from Eastend Prints.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

75

ART SOURCE

TO APPEAR REGULARLY IN THE

ARTSOURCE SECTION OF PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS CONTACT TRACEY ARNAUD ON 01234 740 051

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Art Source PG helps to paint a pretty picture of freelance artists, designers, verse writers and photographers’ worlds in order to promote their talents to publishers and, conversely, make it easier for publishers seeking artists.

ARTIST IN FOCUS

Jade Mosinski I’m a UK based freelance designer and illustrator newly represented by Jehane Ltd. I have previous experience working as part of a design team within a greeting card publisher based in Nottingham. I created many card ranges and also designed for stationery and giftwrappings products.

I’m an adaptable designer and my style can vary from very detailed nature drawings to bright, whimsical and feminine images. I love experimenting with colour and pattern. I produce complete collections which can be placed over different products.

I am currently creating collections for cards, wrap, and stationery, including Christmas designs.

In the past I have designed for the John Lewis own brand Christmas collection. My two favourite most recent patterns feature Russian dolls and an alpine village.

My little wren drawing has turned out to be quite popular. I think everyone must love a cute little animals and it’s nice to be able to draw something with so much detail. I am also working on a bold set of patterns inspired by nature and fruit; Oranges, Lemons, and Florals set against a bold jungle background of leaves.

I am really looking forward to being part of Jehane’s new agency and you can see more of my portfolio on the website.

If you would like to license any of my work or would like to talk about a commission please contact me or my agent Jehane Boden Spiers at studio@jehane.com. l Tel: 07703 185413 l Web: www.jehane.com

WANT TO BE FEATURED?

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

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

77

ART SOURCE

TO APPEAR REGULARLY IN THE

ARTSOURCE SECTION OF PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS CONTACT TRACEY ARNAUD ON 01234 740 051

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Art Source

Esther Cross My name is Esther. I am originally from tranquil Dorset, but fled to London a few years ago in search of a bit of chaos. When I’m not drawing pictures of fish riding bicycles, I am writing comedy, music, children picture books and wearing outfit combinations that people tell me “don’t work”. In all of these things I like to challenge conventions and create something that feels vibrant and fun.

I started illustrating from a very young age. When I was seven, I desperately wanted a pet cat and because my parents said “no” I became obsessed with drawing cats and writing books about them. It was at seven that I first learnt that if you can’t convince people through reason then maybe you can change minds through art! Eventually my parents caved and bought me cats and they have remained a key feature of my illustrations to this day.

My style is very much influenced by the children’s books that I still read now - aged 23. I am currently writing my own children's book, and as a nanny, I have been able to test my stories out on all the children I have looked after. This is especially useful when they are stories that can persuade the children to brush their teeth or eat their peas.

My mission at the moment is to put my art onto greeting cards as I currently can't find shop bought cards which are unique and surreal enough to represent my friends and family! I think even within something as traditional as a greeting card it is always good to innovate. For me the goal is to create cards that get blue-tacked to the wall and kept forever! l Tel: 07985991704 l Email: esthercross@hotmail.co.uk

Jasmine Fraser I began drawing and selling my work in 1984.

My first ever commissions were felt-tip copies of a colouring book image. I sold each one to my family for £5.00 - a substantial amount of money for a child of eight. I have been drawing and painting ever since, of course moving on from felt-tips. I am totally inspired by Winsor & Newton’s new pigment markers, which are slowly luring me away from my beloved soft pastels. The pigment markers behave like felt tips but have a blend and finish as that of soft pastels. It is my perfect medium.

I’m a realist artist captivated by beauty in nature and now besotted by dogs - this is a kind of therapy for me, as I have had a lifelong phobia of dogs. Now I frequently want to draw them. I can see my first and favourite dog illustration ‘Sky the puppy’ on stationery and bags in the classrooms I teach in, on duvets, pillowcases and curtains, on tea towels and coasters and mats, clothing, cuddly toys and much more. I’m quite certain that the general public will come to love Sky as much as I do. Sky is a real Border Collie living on a farm in Ayrshire Scotland. He is a frisky little puppy that was unable to sit and was so hyper he accidentally leapt up and kissed my photographer! l Email: jfotutor@gmail.com

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PG asked a selection of card retailers for their ‘hot’ card sellers.

Angela Cooper and Sarah Marshall, partners of The Dotty House, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear A small contemporary shop, in a historic town, with a loyal locals customer base.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Cute

Rosanna Rossi

Sweet Little Things

Humour

U Studio

Al Murphy

U Studio

Let Rip

Poet and Painter

General

Photographic

U Studio

1000 Words

Art

I Drew This

Landscapes

Contemporary

Claire Giles

Pom Pom

Caroline Gardner Stephanie Dyment The Dotty House Personalised Cards Paper Salad James Ellis

Abracadabra Sweet Rose General

They really are very cute designs of mostly dogs. The pooches are not specific breeds so they have wide appeal, and the cards have touches of sparkly finishes.

Hilarious contemporary cartoon illustrations.

Collaged designs that are a bit cheeky.

The simple rhymes on the front of the cards are a little cheeky but not rude.

Customers point and laugh at the cards and then buy them!

We stock the North-East icons, such as Bamburgh Castle, The Angel of the North (which is close by) and The Theatre Royal. The designs are bright, contemporary and a little different.

Bright and cheerful designs topped off with cute little pom-poms.

Concertinaed cards that when unfurled reveal a lovely message.

Really girlie cards using patterned papers to create the image.

We design our own cards and offer to personalise them for customers.

Eye-catchingly bright and very cute!

Funky and a bit different glitter designs.

Above: A gorgeous rhyme design from Poet and Painter.

Right: Claire Giles’ Pom Pom range is fresh, fun and topped off with tiny pom-poms.

Handmade/ Hand-Finished Children’s

General Shakies

Amy Warburton, sales assistant for Cardtalk, Ramsbottom, Lancashire A small shop, in a market town, with a loyal locals and destination shoppers customer base.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

UK Greetings

Across The Board

Nigel Quiney

Pizazz (open birthdays)

Woodmansterne Redback Cards Rosie Made A Thing Abacus Paperlink Wendy Jones-Blackett Jonny Javelin

Genius Good Things Across The Board Springwatch and Countryfile Mimosa Quicksilver General

The publisher’s collection of ranges is so huge - from contemporary to traditional - you just can’t go wrong!

Ladies come in the shop and buy six or more designs at a time, partly because of all the cards’ detailing and finishes for such a good price.

‘Genius’ appeals to all the teachers in the area, and the other ranges are just daft and tickle people.

IC&G Amy Louise Design

General Posy

Right: A Good Things design from Redback.

Humour

Photographic Contemporary Traditional

Handmade/ Hand-Finished

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With the town surrounded by countryside, these nature-inspired designs are popular and are easy sends as blank inside.

Simple, pared back foiled words on a nice crisp white board.

The small size cards are cute and the foil finishes are beautiful.

Customers bring handfuls to the counter each time, and some people know the company name and ask specifically for them.

The appeal is that there are so many unusual captions.

Delicate floral designs in pastel colours, recently expanded to cover minor occasions too. They are locally made (by me!) and so the customers know the artist.

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Helen Mitchell, owner of The Card Gallery, Exeter A medium shop, in a historic city, with a locals, tourists and destination shoppers customer base.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Cute

Alex Clark

Little Sparkles

Humour

Pigment Woodmansterne CardMix Brainbox Candy ArtPress

Fleet Street Mindfulmess Say It Quotish Norman Parkinson

The rural (and coastal) characters captured are really sweet and the publisher’s ranges allow us to stand out as an indie.

Jokes with light suggestiveness; we couldn't get away with anything that could cause offence.

Above: Contemporary artwork with a retro feel from Winged Hat (now owned by Hammond Gower).

Right: A Claire Picard design from Cinnamon Aitch.

Woodmansterne

Framed

Glebe Cottage

General

Art

Art Angels

Across The Board

Photographic

Dry Red Press

Contemporary

Children’s

Winged Hat (Hammond Gower) Think Of Me Cinnamon Aitch Belly Button

General

Stooshie Design

General

Lagom

Mini Card

Pigment

Happy Jackson

General Claire Picard CoCo By Rachel Hare

Vintage 1960s photos of Audrey Hepburn or Twiggy by the famous fashion photographer.

A nostalgic black and white collection of photos of times gone by.

A local company to us who publishes eco-friendly art cards including photographs by the co-owner.

The colours, nature themes and the cards’ crisp white edging making it look like a print and appeal to the countryside dwellers around the city.

A great selection of country scenes, coastal views (both in the UK and abroad) that allow us to reminisce of past holidays.

Fresh coloured designs in a modern style with a retro feel.

Bright, vividly coloured designs with inspirational words.

Beautiful designs on a nice size card with little gems.

Stunning quality designs with a jade envelope that are perfect for customers who are searching for that special card.

Small square cards featuring a tiny little simple and pared down flower or figure and a jewel in the centre.

A little note of happiness that retail at a good price - people buy them by the handfuls.

The designs for the older children’s ages - 7, 8, 9 - really capture the age group, and with bright yellow envelopes and flitter they really stand out.

Richard Catherine, owner of Simply Cards, Beccles, Suffolk and Wymondham, Norwich Two shops, medium and large, in historic towns, with a locals and tourists customer base.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Cute

Carte Blanche

Me To You

Humour

UK Greetings

Giggles

Photographic

Noel Tatt

Showcase and Cube

Art

Nigel Quiney

Pizazz

Traditional

UK Greetings

Simply Traditional

Handmade/ Hand-Finished Ancillary

Second Nature

Champagne

Enesco Byzantium Collection

Willow Tree Figurines Paua shell jewellery

Tatty Teddy is well-known and super cute, and there are a wide range of Me to You gifts to accompany the cards.

Clean general humour on colourful designs that catch the eye.

Great photos capturing a large amount of themes - from flowers and cute to scenic.

This range has been one of my best selling lines for a long while.

Some lovely words and sentiments on different styles of artwork to suit everyone’s tastes.

Nice looking special cards that are great Above: A Nigel Quiney Pizazz design with a fiesta feel. value for money.

Elegant simple sculptures with a meaningful sentiment.

Good value jewellery using Paua shell, which is sustainably sourced from New Zealand and gives off shades of petroleum blues and greens.

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY

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To appear in the Product Directories contact

Warren Lomax

020 7700 6740 or email warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

Tracey Arnaud

07957 212 062

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or email traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

01565 830 546 | bexyboo.co.uk @BexyBooLtd

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To appear in the Product Directories simply contact

Warren Lomax on:

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Publishers of quality blank greeting cards

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Caspari Ltd Linden House, John Dane Player Court

Order Online

East Street, Safffrron W Waalden Essex, CB10 1LR Teel: 01799 513010 T Faax: 01799 513101 F Email: inffoo@caspari.co.uk ww ww w.CaspariOnline.com

www.bugart.co.uk

Products: Everyday cards - birthday,

Tel: 0115 929 4776 enquiries@bugart.co.uk

blank & occasions, charity Christmas cards, gifftt wrap, bags, tissue, ribbon, hankies, napkins, paper plate, candles, placemats, crackers,invitations, placecards, notecards,diaries, address books, journals, advent calendars and bridge gifftts.

Method of Sale: Direct to Retail

made with great imagination

@thecuriousinksmith

01892 838 574

sales@thecuriousinksmith.co.uk

www.cathtatecards.com

To appear in the Product Directories contact

Witty, gritty, switched on humour.

Cards and gifts with a real difference.

Unit 1, 45 Morrish Road London SW2 4EE Tel: 0208 671 2166 Fax: 0208 678 1119 info@cathtatecards.com

Warren Lomax

020 7700 6740 or email warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

Tracey Arnaud

07957 212 062

or email traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY

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Warren Lomax on:

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The UK No. 1 in etings Licensed Greetings Overr 30 licenses nses including: including D Disney, y, Peppa Peppa Pig Pig, He Kitty Hello Kitty,, Mr Men a d Angry and A Birdss t: +44 +44 (0)1264 388400 e: enquiries@gemma-international.co.uk nati ona w: gemma-international.co.uk

on:

07957 212 062

CARDS â&#x20AC;˘ WRAP â&#x20AC;˘ PARTY â&#x20AC;˘ GIFTS

or email on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

Eye catching, luxurious Gift Wraps, Gift Tags, Gift Bags, Roll Wrap, Tissue Papers & Ribbons for all occasions Glick, Unit 1 Allenby House, European Industrial Park, Knowles Lane, Bradford BD4 9AB Tel: 01274 655980 email: sales@glick.co.uk www.glick.co.uk

TM

GRASS ROOTS

INTERNATIONAL

G RASS R OOTS INTERNATIONAL

Welsh and English cards

A U.K owned Greeting Cards Publisher.

Our everyday ranges for all occasions and relations include traditional, contemporary, cute, humour and photographic designs. We also have a full range of Christmas and Spring Seasons.

All products are designed and printed in the U.K on the finest quality board.

BRANDS â&#x20AC;&#x153;Write from the Heartâ&#x20AC;? brand includes; Corsage, Sentiments, Champagne, Celebrations and Jelly Beans.

To appear in the Product Directories simply contact

M ETHOD OF SALE Direct to Retail

G RASS R OOTS INTERNATIONAL

Warren Lomax

Units 4 - 4A Valentines Buildin g Ra cec our se Bus in ess Par k Aintr ee, Liver poo l, L9 5 AL Tel: 0151 52 3 9600 Fax : 015 1 523 494 9 e-m ail: s ales@ writefr om th ehear t.co.uk

on:

020 7700 6740

or email on warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

from the

and Relations cards offering a full planning service with

Tracey Arnaud

merchandising and retail

on:

07957 212 062

or email on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

Market leaders in Humour, Art, Photographic, Occasions

development opportunities. www.draenog.com Ç&#x2C6; 07815 153582

agents wanted

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High Quality Greeting Cards, Gift Bags, Gift Wrap & Ta Tags for every occasion.

Ch C hin nese ese HE IS

*GCF 1HĆ&#x201A;EG +353 (0)404 20528 Email info@garlanna.com www.garlanna.com

THE

WAY

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LIFE

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Beautiful greeting cards from contemporary British artwork Polissh Po h

Te T el: 0161 1 64 641 0 06 655 Email: m sales@da sales@d avora.co.uk av 135 Hea 13 135 eaton Moorr Rd | Stockp ock kpo port ort SK4 4HY 4 4H HY

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www.dryredpress.com

www.greatbritishcards.co.uk WATERWELLS DRIVE, GLOUCESTER GL2 2PH UK TEL: 01452 888999

T +44 (0) 1273 241210 E info@dryredpress.com

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AR RT TISTS CARDS glebecottage.co.uk 01626 369269 Esta ab blished 1993

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CHARITY GREETING CARDS One of the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading publishers of Charity Greeting Cards.

Impress offers a wide collection of images, including fine art, graphic, photographic and cute.

We also offer a bespoke design service for bulk orders and/or mail order fulfilment.

Impress Publishing Appledown House Barton Business Park New Dover Road Canterbury, Kent CT1 3TE Tel: 01227 811 611 Fax: 01227 811 618 email: info@impresspublishing.co.uk

PHOTOGRAPHY glebecottage.co.uk 01626 369269

60 years

Your Number One Supplier of Numerals, Name, Relation & Age Labels for Greetings Cards.

Huge selection with immediate deliveryy.. Buy direct or from your wholesalerr..

Listan Labels 3 Isis Court, Wyndyke Furlong, Abingdon Business Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX1 5JN Te T el 01235 465489 Fax 01235 532118 www.listanpublications.co.uk sales@listanpublications.co.uk

www.lottie-murphy.com lottie@lottie-murphy.com 07716 304741

AGENTS WANTED

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LING DESIGN

www.lingdesign.co.uk

01892 838 574

information@lingdesign.co.uk

Silk Screened Retro, Pop & Classic Cards Inspired by Music and 1960â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s American Advertising.For all Vinyl & Rock nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Roll lovers

L E T U S TA K E YOU BAC K

For further details please get in touch.

info@vincentmcevoy.com

+44 (0)7779 578340

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LING DESIGN The UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading privately owned publisher of Greetings Cards and Stationery. ...The home for and

Products: Greetings cards for all occasions, Christmas and Spring Seasons cards, gift wrap and bags, charity cards, social stationery.

Bespoke service for charities and other fundraisers.

Ling Design Ltd 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent TN12 6BE Tel: 01892 838574 enquiries@lingdesign.co.uk www.lingdesign.co.uk

Products An exciting and innovative range of quality Birthday, Relations, Special Occasions, Art and Humorous greeting cards. Full range of Christmas and Spring Seasons merchandise. Comprehensive collection of handmade cards.

Pizazz Gifts.

Brand Names Pizazz, Pizazz Gallery, Pizazz Jewell, Pizazz for Men, What a Picture, Time Out, Bon Bon, Marshmallow Cloudesley House â&#x20AC;¢ Shire Hill â&#x20AC;¢ Saffron Walden â&#x20AC;¢ CB11 3FB T: 01799 520200 F: 01799 520100 www.nigelquiney.com

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TRADE WEBSITE:

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Ä&#x2039; 01780 763 368

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p p paperlink... the home of fabulous cards!

originalposter.com

All our cards are supplied on consignment, so you only pay for what you sell.

We also supply card fixtures and spinners free-on-loan.

356 Kennington Rd London SE11 4LD T 020 7582 8244 info@paperlink.co.uk k www.paperlink.co.uk Paperlinkcards

@ @paperlinkcards

We replace slow sellers and damaged stock free of charge.

We merchandise regularly, so you don’t have to.

THAT’S WHY WE’RE ORIGINAL!

01932 267 300 Exquisite Design, Beautiful Cardss Key brands include Marzipan, Portobello, Mosaic, Daisy Patch, Aquarupella and Designers Guild, plus many more.

Uk publisher of Greetings Cards with an extensive range of quality Birthday, Relations, Occasions and Seasonal product... available from

LING DESIGN

Tel: +44 (0)115 986 0115 Email: info@paperrose.co.uk www.paperrose.co.uk www.artgroupcards.co.uk PaperRoseCards TheArtGroupCards The_Art_Group Our Brands: Laughter with Animals, Sporting Fun The Funny Side of Life.

Method of sale: Direct to Retail 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent TN12 6BE Tel: 01892 838574 enquiries@lingdesign.co.uk www.lingdesign.co.uk

LUXURY GIFT PACKAGING Design-led Stationery, Gifts, Calendars, Diaries and Cards Brands Laura Ashley, Roald Dahl, Lily & Val, Vintage Ladybird, Caroline Gardner, Monsoon, Born to Shop, Flash Gordon, Boofle and many more.

ICONIC LICENCED BRANDS

01892 838 574 www.pennykennedy.co.uk

Our In-house design studio and established supply chain enables us to offer bespoke services.

raspberr yblossom.com hello@raspberryblossom.com

tel: +44 (0) 1225 329494 email: sales@porticodesigns.com website: www.porticodesigns.com

020 3723 5405 Home & Gift STAND GS - 49 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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l PRODUCT DIRECTORY So much more than greeting cards...

the-taste-buds.co.uk

Products: Greetings Cards, Gift Wrap, Gift Bags, Social Stationery, Mugs and Glasses, Partyware

The UK’s leading publisher of highest quality handmade Greetings Cards.

Brands: Card Essentials Designer Collection Greetings Impressions Inspirations In Touch ,VDEHO·V *DUGHQ Planet Happy With You In Mind

Method of sale: Wholesale Distributors

Simon Elvin Limited Wooburn Industrial Park, Wooburn Green, Bucks HP10 0PE Tel: 01628 526711 Fax: 01628 531483 www.simonelvin.com mail@simonelvin.com

Products: Greetings cards for all occasions, Christmas and Spring Seasons. Spinners and other retail displays available.

Sensations International Ltd Unit 6, Quad Road,East Lane Business Park,East lane, Wembley,MIDDLESEX HA9 7NE Tel. 0208 3854470 Fax: 0208 385 4471 Email: sales@sensationsinternational.com PRODUCTS: World’s leading publisher of high quality plastic greeting cards. Also an extensive range of quality greeting cards covering Everyday, Occasions, Christmas and Spring seasons.

BRANDS: Cherished Thoughts, Sweet Sentiments, Buddies Always, Symphony, Thinking of You, Style, Special Wishes, Special Times, Young Editions, Groove Sensations, Forever Blessed, Grey Skies, Classics.

METHOD OF SALE: Direct to retail.

To appear in the Product Directories simply contact

Talking Pictures Cards Ltd 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent, TN12 6BE

Tel: 01892 838574 enquiries@talkingpics.co.uk www.talking-pictures.co.uk

&DUGV &DOHHQQGDUV &R & RDVWHUV 1RWHEER RRNV

Warren Lomax on:

020 7700 6740

or email on warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact greeting cards & contempoRary gifts www.redbackcards.com e: info@redbackcards.com t: 01803 712793

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Tracey Arnaud on:

07957 212 062

or email on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

w: www.tomcatcards.co.uk e: tomcat@tomcatcards.co.uk t: 01243 837300

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We offffer a COMPREHE

range of hig Greeting Ca ALL Occasions, AS

and easons.

Sale: Direct to R

il: inffo o@words-n eb: www w..words-n

DIRECT TO RETAIL & EXPORT

view by rufus designed in thames ditton

sniff out our wide range of greetings card

Market Leaders in

Verse

& entimen

an extensive range of superior quality,

jimm my y chews

TEL: 01480 435562 FAX: 01480 450599 www.tracksltd.com UNIT 2, 12 BLACKSTONE RD, STUKELEY MEADOWS IND EST, HUNTINGDON, CAMBS, PE29 6EF

topdog@view by rufus.com 020 8972 9706

viewbyrufus.com

design-led Greeting Cards for all occasions, Spring Seasons & Christmas.

Art Cards eA Botanical Fine

Tel: 01942 233201

Vibrant and nd elegant gree greeting cards A freshly fr modern perspective on nature

Call Now 075 7700 1145 www.zaquarella.co.uk info@ zaquarella.com

register fo for a trade account: www w..viewrufus i f .com/b2b /b2b

Method of Sale: Direct to Retail Orders can be placed on our trader site

www.cbgtrader.co.uk or call our customer services team on

+44(0)1243 792600

To appear in the Product Directories simply contact

Warren Lomax on:

020 7700 6740

or email on warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

Tracey Arnaud on:

Top-notch British Greeting Cards for Thoughts that Count

01923 200600 | www.woodmansterne.co.uk

07957 212 062

or email on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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magnus RUPERT

TRADING

EUROPEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LEADING GREETINGS CARDS, PARTY PRODUCTS, GIFTS, CANDLES, TOYS, STATIONERY AND FLORIST SUNDRIES DISTRIBUTION CENTRE 75000 SQ FT BESCOT CRESCENT, WALSALL, WEST MIDLANDS. WS1 4NG 01922-646666 www.greetingshouse.co.uk info@greetingshouse.co.uk MON,WED,FRI 8.00am-4.45pm TUES,THURS 8.00am-7.45pm SAT,SUN 8.00am-1.45pm

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Polypropylene & biodegradable bag specialists

GREETING CARD

Over 40 years quality service to the trade Hotfoiling also available

T 01206 396209 E sales@badgerconverters.co.uk www.badgerconverters.co.uk

GIVE E YOUR

BAGS

Manuffacturers of high quality fllexible packaging 30 YEARS EXPERIENCE - QUA UALITTY Y SERVICE EXTENSIVE STOCK RANGE - QUICK DE ELIVERY ASSURED

- HEADER BAGS - WA WALLET BAGS - ZIPPER BAGS - FLEXOGRAPHIC, HOTFOIL & THEERMAL PRINTING www.transrappackagin ng.co.uk sales@transrap.co o.uk

V VIP

CALL US TODA AY

TREA AT A TMENT

01773 5378 810

HIGH CLARITY L TY Y BA AGS FOR R GREETING G ET T NG CARD DS, CALEND EN N ARS ARS AND AND D ARTW TWORK WORK

ENVELOPES

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FOIL LB BLOCKING NG G EXTE XTENSIVE NSIV VE R V RANG RA ANGE OF ST STOCK S SIZES IZ ZES AND B AND BES E ESPO OKE KE MANUF KE MANU UF FACTU TUR TURE T U E AT TED D WRAPPING SERVICE NEW AUTOMA

CALL CA CAL C LL US ST TO ODAY OD

0122 1228 228 2 28 8 56 5605 60 052 26 6 www.fful ulcrumfilms. ulcrrum mfillm ms s co.uk uk

FOR ALL YOUR ENVELOPE NEEDS! Largest range of in-stock colours Over 400 Bespoke Envelope Sizes 8 Sizes Permanently in Stock RECYCLED

100% Recycled Paper Av Available

PAPER A

Stock & Bespoke Cello Bags Peel & Stick Envelopes p Bespoke Service on Request

ORDER ON LINE AT: www.regentenvelopes.com 01274 583000 sales@regentenvelopes.com

We’ve been producing p bags of high clarity and high quality q for over 30 years.

01274 220 220 www w.wrapid.co.uk sales@wrapid.co.uk

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Quality Bespoke Envelopes!

From 5,000 quantity to many millions we can produce excellent quality envelopes for you.

Plain, printed, coloured & textured finish.

100% recycled & FSC available.

Please call us on 0843 5066684 with your enquiry or visit our website

www.ukenvelopecentre.co.uk We will be delighted to help!

FLITTERING FOR ALL YOUR FLITTER REQUIREMENTS

ABL Foil Ltd Unit 1, Industrial Estate East Hanningfield Chelmsford Essex, CM3 8AB

Contact DAVID JIGGINS Tel: 01245 400104 Email: david@abl-ltd.co.uk

PRINTERS

PJ Print

(London)

The Capitals only specialist Greetings card printer

HOME OF THE LASER CUT GREETING CARD We are proud to be recognised as the specialist UK and global manufacturer for the greeting card industry for over 40 years

PJ Print (London) The Capitals only Greetings card printer

PJ-PRINT E-mail: sales@pj-print.co.uk The Print Works Colville Road, Acton London W3 8BL tel 020 8993 5160 www.pj-print.co.uk

E-mail: sales@pj-print.co.uk The Print Works

To discuss how we could To d work with you, contact Simon King 0115 928 77 7 66 sales@sherwoodgroupuk.com www w..sherwoodgroupuk.com

Colville Road, Acton, London W38BL tel 020 8993 5160 www.pj-print.co.uk Hadden Court, Glaisdale Parkw Parkway, way, Glaisdale Drive West, Nottingham, NG8 4GP

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Introducing a joint venture from

Following new investments in our digital printing facility we can help you with shortt run prints, rapid stock replenishmeent, market testing, design sampling and promotional produccts.

Our expert digital printing, finishing and packing facilities allow us to provide • high quality • fast turnaround • competitive pricing

Our specialist services includ de: Digital and personalised greeting caards Short-run print Flitter, foil, emboss, die-cut finishess Bespoke gifts including mugs, coasters, notepads and much moree Promotional items Marketing literature Exhibition graphics /stands Stationery Brochures... and many more Pick, pack and distribution

If you would like to discover how we could help you, please contact our saless team:

0114 250 1150 •

YOUR MANUFACTURING PARTNER FOR VALUE ADDED PRODUCTS English speaking production team, prices quoted in sterling... and only 3 days delivery to THE UK...

Really... and there s no VAT to pay or customs procedures either...that's a great deal!

• Hand made and hand finished greeting cards • Boxed sets and acetate packs of cards / envelopes • Giftwrap and tag packs • Individually open and closed wrapped cards • 'Pop up' and cardboard engineered products • Notelets and social stationery • Specialised printing on plastics & lenticular

07974 133735 • sales@digitalhubukk.com

DISPLAY AND SPINNERS Tel: 01929 550085 Email: sales@westminsterwire.com Web: www.westminsterwire.com

Home of the Wire Spinner Stand

The Wire Spinner is proven to be the most cost effective method to display and enhance products.

We also offer sheet metal, wood, acrylic and cardboard solutions or a combination of materials.

For production enquiries, estimates etc., please contact our UK Agent:

Rob Pearson 07710 132 232 rob@solutions-polska.com FSC accredited (BV-COC-002485). Audited member of SMETA. Printing to ISO12674-2 standard.

To appear in the Classified pages simply contact

Warren Lomax 020 7700 6740 or email on warren@max-publishing.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION

SPECIALISTS IN SHORT RUN MULTI IMAGE PRINT s Foiling Services without the need for dies s Wiro bound notebooks, no minimum quantity s In House Fulfilmment Services

T 01274 305832 E info@hellocards.co.uk www.hellocards.co.uk

Same day order turna around Accurate fulfilment Value added only as you sell the product

THE SPECIALIST GREE ETINGS CARD PRINTE ER

Exclusively Greeting Cards Dedicated Account Managers

Litho Print

Die-cutting

Digital Print

Flittering

Foiling

Packing

Embossing

Distribution

With an excellent reputation we work as an integral part of yourr team bringing QYGL QSVI XLER JYPǻPQIRX 4YV GSWXMRK WXVYGXYVI MW WMQTPI ERH XVERWTEVIRX ;I ; I GEVV] SYX EPP EWTIGXW SJ LERH ǻRMWLMRK ERH EWWIQFP] ERH TVSZMHI [LEXIZIV EHHMXMSREP WIVZMGIW ]SY RIIH 4YV WIPIGX XIEQ SJ SYX[SVOIVW GEVIJYPP] LERH [VET ER] WM^I SV JSVQEX SJ GEVHW YVKIRXP] 4ZIVRMKLX ;I GEVI EFSYX ]SYV TVSHYGX EW QYGL EW ]SY HS &XXIRXMSR XS HIXEMP 6( .WWYIW ;I ERH .8 WYTTSVXIH F] E GSQTVILIRWMZI TETIV XVEMP JS T JSV EPP WXSGO QSZIQIRXW EVI SYV

Tel:0127 e 4 4531828 Email: info@herbertw o alkers.co.uk

www.herbertwalkers.co.u uk

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APPOINTMENTS

+Something Classy + EXCLUSIVE GIFTWRAP

Established sales agents required, nationwide Something Classy imports exclusive giftwrap, guaranteeing that we can offer our customers something different.

Our collection includes high quality paper, metallic, and holographic designs, with complementary gift dressings.

Extensive stock holdings, and UK & European suppliers, enable us to offer next working day delivery on the majority of our collection.

Successful candidates will be introducing an exciting collection of gift wrap and accessories to the market.

Candidates with contacts in the stationery and gift trades, not currently carrying giftwrap, may be offered the unique opportunity to join us. Early application is advised to secure your established territory.

We offer competitive rates of commission, always paid promptly, and offer full commission for repeat and direct orders.

Interested? Email your CV to sales@somethingclassy.co.uk, or call Ian Raybould on 01543 480914

www.somethingclassy.co.uk We look forward to impressing you

FABU A ULOUS OPPORTUNITY!

Are you looking to upgrade your product po folio with fast

PROFESSIO ONAL SALES AGENTS REQUIRED COUNT TRYWIDE Y

cardovation@ ca @btconnect.com m TEL: 0195 54 260728 BON BON Pu ublications Ltd CAMBR RIDGE UK

Account Manager Trade: www.trade.cathtatecards.com | Retail: www.cathtatecards.com

:H DUH ORRNLQJ IRU D SURDFWLYH $FFRXQW 0DQDJHU WR MRLQ RXU /RQGRQ RIĂ&#x20AC;FH full time, Monday- Friday 9am-5pm.

Established over 35 years ago and run by mother and daughter team Cath and Rosie Tate, Cath Tate Cards specialises in humour cards and gifts.

As a small business what each member of the team does can be quite Ă XLG :H VXSSO\ D ZLGH UDQJH RI 8. DQG LQWHUQDWLRQDO VWRFNLVWV DQG WKH $FFRXQW 0DQDJHU LV DW WKH KHDUW RI RXU VPDOO VRXWK /RQGRQ RIĂ&#x20AC;FH WHDP The Account Manager will be the main point of contact for key customer accounts, involved in dealing with new product submissions to shops and dealing with key accounts across all aspects of our business with them. You will also be involved in other aspects of the business, including product development, stock management, social media, and website maintenance and development. :H DUH ORRNLQJ IRU VRPHRQH G\QDPLF SHUVRQDEOH DQG D Ă H[LEOH WHDP player. We are looking for someone who appreciates our product. The LGHDO FDQGLGDWH ZLOO KDYH H[SHULHQFH RI ZRUNLQJ ZLWK SURGXFW HLWKHU IRU wholesale or retail. An interest in design and knowledge of design programs DV ZHOO DV H[SHULHQFH RI WUDGH VKRZV ZRXOG EH D ERQXV

6DODU\ GHSHQGHQW RQ H[SHULHQFH The ideal start date would be late Aug 2018 Please email your CV to rosie@cathtatecards.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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