Card Industry News

We have been using Sage software for over a decade now and regularly receive their business magazine, Solutions, each edition of which is mailed out to over 180,000 companies using SageCover across the UK. I've always wondered what it would be like to be interviewed in it and this month we were lucky enough to found out. Here's what the article says:

The Business View 

Along with a resurgence of interest in British made products, a recent Markit/CIPS survey showed UK manufacturing growing at its fastest rate for almost a year. We asked Jeremy Corner, SageCover customer and co-founder of greeting card publishers Blue Eyed Sun in Hove (alongside his wife Jo), about the changing landscape for products made in Britain.

Why is there such a growing demand for British-made products?

Major historical events like the Royal Wedding, the Queens Jubilee and the Olympics have created a real sense of pride in Britain. The recession and increased environmental awareness have also made many of us stop and think about how and where things are made and what that really means. As a result we are currently experiencing a strong demand for well crafted, high-end greeting cards and stationery made from sustainable resources in the UK.

What inspired you to create Blue Eyed Sun?

It was started 12 years ago by my wife, Jo. Since she was a child she has loved making things... in fact, her first greetings card designs were made using her childhood hobby kiln! We have both always been inspired by gorgeous paper products and a love of beautiful stationery. After countless requests from consumers for wedding stationery (and our own wedding), we expanded the company and launched our fast growing wedding division: Ivy Ellen.

What has made your business successful?

Our capacity to turn our vision for the businesses into reality has made both Ivy Ellen and Blue Eyed Sun successful. Our creativity extends from designing and marketing right through to the systems and structure needed to run the companies well. We also have a fantastic team of 12 staff who all work hard to keep our customers happy.

To find out more about Sage software click here.

To visit Ivy Ellen's wedding stationery website click here.

Remember to follow us on the social media links at the top and bottom of the page.

It's been a busy week in the news for greetings cards. Sharon Little, Chief Executive of the Greetings Card Association, appeared on the BBC Breakfast News to discuss the 30% price increase in Royal Mail's stamps and Clinton Cards announced poor results.

With many retailers relying on card sales to bring core bread and butter revenue and footfall into their stores, the sharp increase in price of postage stamps is a concern. Will such a noticeable rise alter the card buying and sending habits of our card crazy country? We do love our cards in the UK and send an average of 31 greetings cards a year each. Our total annual spend on single cards in the UK is £1.39 billion which supports over 100,000 card related jobs. Christmas card sales raise over £50 million a year for charities too. Does this mean they too may lose even more, much needed, revenue in the coming years? Will e-cards and the internet take over and radically alter the card industry in the way that the internet has forever altered other sectors like book selling?

Well, when hysteria strikes it always helps to look at the facts first. So let's do the sums on this shock 30% price increase. If we each send 31 cards a year on average and we post them all using first class stamps we are currently spending £14.26 (31 x £0.46). Increasing the price to 60p each means we will be spending £18.60 instead. This is an annual spending increase of £4.34 to show our loved ones how much we care.

All age groups still love receiving cards for special celebrations and sending them definitely strengthens relationships. According to a recent study people aged 18-24 need to receive at least nine cards to feel valued on their birthday (that's in addition to texts, calls and messages on social networks like Facbook and Twitter). The relationships we care enough about to celebrate, by posting greetings cards, are unlikely to be changed overnight and, if anything, the higher cost of stamps is even more likely to show the recipient how much they are truly valued.

Because we tend to give cards to those closest to us, the recipients are often literally close to us too, so the majority of our cards tend to be delivered by hand (we find this especially true in the handmade sector). If we take this into account as well, I'm not sure that this headline making price rise will have a noticeable effect on the card sending. We still love sending and receiving cards in the UK and an extra £4 a year is hardly worth worrying about. Royal Mail has struggled to make profit for several years now and if you think about what it actually takes to get a card from you to a friend in Scotland the next day, 60p doesn't seem too bad.

**** 1 April 2012 ***** Additional note since first posting this:

I just saw this great comment from a reader at the bottom of the BBC article on this subject:

"Those complaining that the post is to expensive and the internet is 'free' are conveniently forgetting the £500 or so they paid for their computer, plus software, plus say £10 a month for broadband. Not so free now is it? For those on fixed incomes like pensioners this is a double blow on top of their pension freeze. Buy a computer? Only worth it if you send more than 1800 letters in 5 years."

You can read the BBC article on the stamp price increases by clicking here

We were pleased to be included in a lovely article on stitched cards celebrating British Crafts in last month's Progressive Greetings.

If you didn't get the chance to read it, here's what we said about the popularity of the embroidered look and our new Vintage range of stitched cards:

"I think there is a subconscious desire to counter the digital annihilation of all material things. Books, CD’s, photos and other items we used to actually be able to touch and feel are predominantly purchased digitally and I think we have a real need to feel handmade objects in our lives. They have so much more soul than computers and gadgets.

The recession has meant that many of us are spending more time in our homes and we have focused on saving money by recycling, mending and making our own things. Because of this interest in crafts like knitting, stitching and card making, sales of handmade products are booming.

Selecting the fabrics she wants to work with to create the designs for the Vintage card range Jo, my wife and business partner, hand cuts a variety of shapes and motifs which she then selects from to start building the artwork. They are all laid out on a linen base and then machine stitched on. Parts of the captions are free stitched by machine, which really adds to the handmade feel. After this the designs are scanned and laid up for printing and embossing. When they come back from the printers they are hand finished with jewels to complete the look.

With such a strong reputation for handmade cards we want to keep producing ranges that have that handmade feel and offer great value to our customers. I think scanning original stitched artworks is a natural progression for us. The designs are nostalgic and fun, but with the contemporary colourful look we bring to much of our work."

Sewing artwork for cards is a fast growing trend and the Progressive Greetings Magazine article features over a dozen greetings card publishers using the technique including Black Olive, Soul, Pootle, Inkdrops, Belly Button Designs, Lou Mills, Cinnamon Aitch, Stop the Clock Designs, Tanya Palmer, Open Box Designs, Carlton Cards, Design Hog and a new range called Freddie and Freya by CardMIX. The article excluded some of our favourite forerunners, of this current wave of stitched cards, who are also worth a mention: like Vicky King's sewn card ranges for Paper Rose, and seamtresses like Katy Kirkham, Claire Sowden and Abigail Mill.

Click here to order Blue Eyed Sun's Vintage designs for your shop.

Click here to read more about greeting card trends

Click here to subscribe to Progressive Greetings Magazine.

Our predictions on key trends for greetings cards in 2012 were featured in this month's Gift Focus Magazine. Last week Editor, Sarah Reeve, also used some Blue Eyed Sun designs to illustrate her insightful seminar at Spring Fair International on forthcoming gift trends for Christmas 2012. Transcribed below from the magazine, our predictions are...

"There is going to be a real trend for stitching, crafting, nostalgia, vintage and Britishness. With the Olympics and the Queen's Jubilee we are going to see one of Britain's great strengths this year: Creativity. There's also going to be a real sense of nostalgia so  think we will see a lot of craft based work from artists and designers. Because of the recession a lot of people have been making and repairing their own bits and pieces using traditional skills like knitting and sewing. Because of this we will also see these homemade crafts becoming more popular. This year will be very big for handmade."

Click here to request more information on all of our stitched Vintage designs.

Blue Eyed Sun have updated and improved on their internet presence with a new website, a new blog and presence on social media platforms Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. A fantastic new video introducing the company to buyers has also been added to their home page at www.blueeyedsun.co.uk

The public site gives a taste of what the company offers as well as information on their latest launches, trade show stands, news and stockists. There is also an improved trade login area, where customers can view all designs, place orders, save orders and create wish lists. Designs can be chosen by range, by occasion, by what's new or by special offer and navigation is fast and easy. Customers can also change their passwords, update their contact information, track web order history and re-order. Payments by credit card are taken securely through Sagepay and there is a useful video giving buyers a whistle stop tour of the new features.

With 30 million Facebook users in the UK, half of which logon daily and spend an average of 22 minutes each there, Blue Eyed Sun has joined the social media revolution. Mainly as a way of connecting with buyers and fans who like to use these platforms and to help customers promote their businesses.

Like Blue Eyed Sun on Facebook by clicking here.

Follow Blue Eyed Sun on Twitter by clicking here.

Network with Blue Eyed Sun on Linkedin by clicking here.

Blue Eyed Sun has rolled out the use of the new Copywatch logo from the Giftware Association

on all of its marketing materials including their brochure, website and their trade show stands.

This logo and the intellectual Property Protection support from the GA sends a clear signal

to copycats and any companies seeking to profit from unlicensed Blue Eyed Sun artwork.

Copywatch