Card and Gift Blog: January 2013

Bears, Bears & More Bears - Cute & Contemporary Greetings Cards

Based in Scotland, Stooshie Design is the union of two Designers - Linda, a trained Jeweller and Silversmith, and Archie, an Architect. Their creative collaboration has produced work in wood, metal, perspex and paper. There current collection however is hugely appealing to me (and hopefully you too!) as it is a range of fun, contemporary greetings cards.

Yay! A fabulous offer just for you ... Following on from today's blog post, I'm excited to advise that the splendid folks at Love Lammie have offered a super sweet 10% discount to all Card & Gift Blog readers. The discount is for use across the Love Lammie website, and is subject to a minimum spend of £10.

Launched in 2005 by fashion graduate Victoria Lammie, the Love Lammie brand is a fantastic range of design-led accessories with great gift potential. The collection has a wide range of gift ideas - gorgeous oil cloth bags, wash bags, hot water bottles and purses.

Behind the Design: Sarah Hamilton Prints

Say hello to ...

Sarah Hamilton from Sarah Hamilton Prints

Tell us a little about yourself and your company?
I am an established Artist and Designer making colourful contemporary cards, prints, mirrors and woodblocks. After studying Fine Art/Printmaking at Central St Martins I began my career making cards, which I sent to retail buyers. This resulted in considerable orders from stores including Paperchase, The Conran Shop and Designers Guild. My cards have always been a significant part of my work as a whole and, even though they are the least expensive thing that I sell, it is important to me that they have my name and some information about my work on as I see them as little pebbles leading to my other work. I’m often told people frame them. I was then commissioned by Heal's to make a range of mirrors and their success gave me the funds and impetus to develop the large 'artwork' mirrors, which I usually make to commission. I also use my skills as a colourist in the commercial textiles field and worked for some years in Sweden as a Design Consultant.

It's not since May that we last had a look at what was happening in the greetings card and gift world of Alice Palace, so I'm very excited to start the week with an update. Today's gallery is a glimpse of Alice's new greetings cards, which were launched a few weeks ago at Top Drawer ... meaning they'll be hitting the shelves of Alice Palace stockists any moment now!

To end the week we have an update from Studio Seed, one of my favourite independent design studios. Back in December, Studio Seed celebrated their second birthday, and this month the company has attended their first trade show, Top Drawer Spring. For the new year and this important milestone, Studio Seed Founder (and Chief Seedling) Tamsin has designed a fabulous selection of new ranges, which I am delighted to share with you today.

My World is a new publisher creating contemporary greetings card and gift books. Today's post is a look at one of their best-selling greeting card ranges, and coincidentally, my favourite designs from their current collection. 'Eat Me, Drink Me' is a series of greetings cards with food and drink themes; complete with 'do try this at home' recipes.

Behind the Design: Heidi Nicole

Say hello to ...

Heidi Nicole Gillett from Heidi Nicole

Tell us a little about yourself and your company?
From a young age I have always been creative, whether it was painting, drawing or making; I was always doing something. After graduating in Interior Architecture, I was at a loss of what to do with all my free time. I have made my own cards for friends and family for a long time, so decided to create my own range. I am selling on Not on the High Street, which is a great community of interesting products and sellers. I am also selling in a independent shop in my home town of Thame, Oxfordshire, called ‘From’, which sells items which are locally made/crafted within a 20 mile radius of the shop. My range can be found here.

Set in the beautiful hills of South Wales, Patternhill Studio is a busy creative company founded by Designer Sarah Chidwick. By day Sarah works at International Greetings, designing greetings cards, gift wrap and crackers (mostly Christmas!); in her spare time Sarah is keen to carry on the creative process, designing gifts based on her own patterns and prints.

Based in Bristol, Blueberry Street sell bright, appealing stationery and greetings cards featuring the whimsical illustrations of Designer Sandra Oost. Living and working in Sydney, Australia, Sandra was formally trained in the art of printmaking; today she works across a variety of mediums including: linocut, ink, acrylic and digital design. 'Vintage Bloom' is a collection of 16 new greetings cards, the latest additions to the Blueberry Street portfolio.

A new addition for 2013, Soul Cassis is a beautiful collection of everyday cards from boutique greetings card publisher Soul UK. The Soul Cassis range are stylish, contemporary cards with a touch of vintage inspiration. Each card is embellished with vintage floral elements and finished with embroidered detailing; adding luxury to the bright, modern graphics. The vintage feel continues with the use of a textured board, soft pastel colour palette, and a plain off-white paper lining; a stunning, feminine range.

welovekaoru is a boutique design studio based in London and founded by Central St Martins' graduate Kaoru Parry. Specialising in beautifully translucent, contemporary English fine bone china welovekaoru are passionate about keeping traditional craftsmanship alive, ensuring each of their designs is made exclusively by a small, independent, family-run pottery in Stoke-on-Trent. The latest addition to their collection of gorgeous homewares is 'The Alley Cats' designed exclusively for welovekaoru by Artist Grace Wilson. I love the whimsical nature of this collection of cool kittens; a fabulous unique gift idea and stylish addition to any home.

Behind the Design: Say It ...

Say hello to ...

Laura Pyke from Say It

Tell us a little about yourself and your company?

I live in the East Riding of Yorkshire and have enjoyed making things for many years. Just over a year ago I decided to turn my hobby into a business and set up Say It, a little shop selling my handmade cards, stationery and jewellery. I love getting post, and despite all the amazing advances in technology it's still the best way of hearing from people in my opinion. Say It encourages people to send a card or little gift to say what they want to say.

For the new year Poketo has launched their second generation of artist-designed canvas zip wallets. A must-have accessory, the design is a perfect way to spring clean your life and organise your everyday essentials. The long, slim design is roomy enough to house coins, cards and notes; and the strong canvas provides a durable material for everyday use. Featured designs are from Poketo's roster of international artists: 'Flourish' by Yellena James, 'Confetti' by Colourbox, 'Evergreen' by Jolby, and last but not least 'Skyline' and 'Waves' by Cole Gerst.

Established in 2011, Red Berry Hill is an independent, design-led greetings card company founded by Designer Nicole Orsi. At this weekend's Top Drawer show Red Berry Hill takes a big step into the industry, with their official launch to the trade; Stand E25, if you're visiting.

On Monday I'll be heading to my first trade show of the year ... Top Drawer in London, it's a great exhibition filled with the top design-led brands; a great opportunity to see what's in store for the card and gift world in 2013.

Following on from this morning's 'Behind the Design' blog post, these images are a sneaky look at some of the new collections from the fabulous Dipingo Design. The new ranges will be launching at this year's Top Drawer trade show. Running from 13th - 15th January, Top Drawer is the UK's leading event for design-led gifts, lifestyle & fashion accessories; Dipingo Design will be exhibiting on stand C17.

Behind the Design: Dipingo Design

Say Hello to ...

Katy Donaldson, Creative Director of Dipingo Design.

Tell us a little about yourself and your company ...
We are a greetings card company producing photographic and graphic greetings cards for retail; we have been in business for three years. I am the Photographer and Designer of all the images we use. I have worked as a professional photographer for over 20 years - shooting all sorts of images including fashion, advertising, lifestyle, portraiture, still life, landscapes, food and architecture both in the UK and abroad. The only thing I don't shoot is Weddings - apart from Dipingo's Wedding Collection of course, although that was more of a fashion shoot.

Sabivo Design is a boutique greetings card company producing individually hand-painted greetings cards, created by Artist Sabina Kovacheva. Today's blog post is a look at the latest addition to the collection - Vanity - 24 vintage inspired designs, updated with modern elements for a fresh, contemporary feel.

Top Ten Gifts of 2012 ...

After a lot of deliberation and contemplation here are the Card & Gift Blog Top Ten Gifts of 2012. I hope you like them!

Pegasus Locket by Bonbi Forest

Top Ten Greetings Cards of 2012 ...

As promised, today's pick is my Top Ten greetings cards from 2012. It was tricky to choose just ten designs but I hope you like my selection. Tomorrow is all about the gifts, click here to get a sneak peek of the shortlist before the final ten are chosen.

By Fizz Studios

Happy New Year from Card & Gift Blog!

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a jolly time welcoming in 2013. To start us off gently back into the world of cards, gifts and blogging I'll be putting together a round-up of the best cards and gifts of 2012. Tomorrow will be the Top Ten Greetings Card Designs. You can see a shortlist of the designs in the running on the blog's Facebook page, click here to go straight there. Feel free to share your opinions and let me know you're favourites, I'm still a little undecided myself! I also wanted to round-up a few new features and show you how you can get involved with the blog in 2013.