Meet the Maker Sarah loves cards

Sarah Gifford from Flamingo Paperie

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

I joined Phoenix Trading in 2005 and was an Independent Phoenix Trader for 12 years. When the business relaunched as Flamingo Paperie back in 2018 I signed up straight away as one of their Pioneer Partners. I called my distributorship Sarah Loves Cards as I have always been a card and paper stationery addict. As a child I used to trawl art and paper stationery shops with my best friend and would spend my pocket money on arty postcards, cards and notebooks. 

About 95% of my product range comes from Flamingo Paperie. I also have a small range of complimentary designs from other local artists and some giftables from WhistleFish. 

Our high quality, value for money greeting cards and paper stationery fly the flag for great British manufacturing, design and innovation. We also produce a Christmas range which offers a wonderfully eclectic mix of designs, all exclusive to Flamingo Paperie and includes charity Christmas cards, advent calendars, wrapping paper, paper decorations and gifts. 

All of our Flamingo Paperie greeting cards retail at £2 each or £1.60 each if you buy 10 or more (a saving of 20%). They are all designed and printed in the UK. We use UK-sourced environmentally accredited materials. As a responsible greeting card publisher, we are always working towards improving our environmental credentials. We work with our suppliers to ensure that the material we purchase comes from independently certified and well managed forests, which reject illegal and/or destructive logging and which are regulated by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). We also encourage recycling by the consumer by having a “recycle” message on the back of our cards. Our wrapping paper is also recyclable (unlike many on the High Street)

Which greeting card designs are my favourites? It is really hard to choose as they are all so different. I have recently done a blog on my website about my favourite card designs from our recent new product launch.

Come and read my blog post by clicking the image below.

Sarah loves cards blog

And here’s a couple of images of my favourite new Spring 2021 Flamingo Paperie designs : 

The Cottage Garden design by artist Lucy Grossmith reminds me of my grandparent’s cottage where I spent my Summers as a child. The Wild (Happy Birthday) design by artist Chester Bentley is stunning and beautifully foiled.

New products

In 2019 we launched a new range of paper craft kits. They have been a huge success. I love making up the kits to display on my stall. Sammy the Sloth has to be my favourite. He has the most gorgeous smile and charms everybody at the craft fairs and garden shows that I attend. He will be accompanied this year at my events by Sheba the Cat and Florence the Flamingo. Our most challenging craft kit is our almost life size Labrador. I plan to create him next. Prices range from £15 to £22 for each kit and includes absolutely everything you need to create them including scissors, glue and scouring tool.

We have also recently launched a range of A5 and A6 Flamingo Paperie notebooks. Who doesn’t love a new notebook?! The Sheep design by popular artist Tim Mason has to be my favourite. We have a matching card to go with it! The quality is impeccable with harmonising colours on the inside covers, gold foil detailing and a generous 96 lined pages inside. The A5 notebooks are £6 each whilst the A6 versions are £3 each.

What other hobbies and interests do you have?

In terms of other interests, I am a linguist and tutor French on a part-time basis. I also speak basic Italian. Having worked in France for a year in my 20s I am a real Francophile. My dream is to buy a camper van and spend a few months travelling around France and Italy with my recently retired husband Mark and our Patterjack terrier Rufus. I also love cooking, walking the dog, yoga and keep fit.

My advise for anybody considering turning a hobby into a business is – go for it! Test the waters first with family and friends and then reach beyond your immediate circle via social media and craft fairs (when allowed) and websites such as Etsy to see whether there really is a market for your products. You can do all of this alongside a day job initially and then, if finances allow, you can change your work life balance so that you can spend more time doing what you really enjoy.