Author: Cari

Our latest greetings cards arrived recently, and this time I restocked on birthday cards, mostly male themed. I am always trying to spot the gaps in our range, so if you are looking for a particular style or occasion please let me know.

Alcohol themed cards seem popular for both male and female birthdays, so that’s where I started my search. What do you think?

I’m hoping these transport themed cards will be equally as popular. Would you choose the land rover card or the motorbike card?

Last of all, I chose some lovely countryside cards, as we live in such a picturesque part of North Yorkshire. I’m hoping our customers will love the sheep, stone wall and rose arbor designs on these greetings cards.

Of course I could resist getting a few new humour cards, what do you think?

We will be at Crayke Village Market next weekend with The UK Christmas Store and then it will be October – where has this year gone?

Cari xx

Saturday 14th September saw us attending Castleton Village Show, a lovely village on the North York Moors. It was a good day and we rehomed a lot of humorous greetings cards – if you bought from us, thank you! I managed to sneak away for a wander around the produce tent, and was glad to see some exhibits not too dissimilar to the ones I’ve been growing this year!

Tomorrow sees us back at the popular Sheriff Hutton Village Market. I’m hoping it will be another good day so please pop along if you are nearby, it’s a lovely market with crafters, baked goods, cheese and gin (plus lots more). We will have some Christmas decorations from The UK Christmas Store with us too.

Next week I will be re-ordering cards ready for Crayke, so if there is something you would like us to stock please comment below.

Cari xx

Well, our reusable advent calendars and quirky advent calendar cards anyway. I’ve been taking a few to our recent events and they’ve sold well, so I’ve gone ahead and ordered some more, including the very popular Reindeer Stables advent calendar.

I know for most of you it’s probably too early to be thinking of Christmas, but quite a few of our customers like to buy more unusual items when they see them, which is why I’ve started showcasing Christmas in July now. I will be bringing the new stock as soon as it arrives (probably early September) but I do have quite a few advent calendars still in stock, so if there is one you think is perfect for that special person, you can buy online or visit one of the local monthly markets we attend.

I’ve also got new card designs waiting in my basket. The plan is to have them for Crayke Village Market at the end of August, but we will have to see how things go – at the moment as fast as the cards sell, we are ordering more stock (which is a lovely position to be in!)

I’m so so grateful for how everyone has been supporting my business this year. When my dad got unexpectedly sick and passed at the beginning of 2024, I really thought I was turning my back on my greetings card business, but I was obviously meant to start again and rebuild. From the event organisers who have been so supportive and welcoming, to other stall holders, and my lovely customers, thank you. I am very excited for autumn 2024 and although Christmas will be a difficult time for my family, I’m hopeful that we can make 2025 even better.

Cari xx

Well, it’s about time isn’t it? Getting my business going again has been tricky, in particular managing cash flow. If I’m honest, I overstretched myself when investing in reduced price stock from Flamingo, so I didn’t have funds to buy anything new. However when we started regular markets again as an independent greeting card store, I was hopeful we would be able to buy some new designs. It’s taken longer than I wanted but finally I have new greetings cards to show you.

I’m pleased with the new humour range and want to add to it soon, but first these need to fly out! There’s only six of each design available so I don’t expect to have them for long.

If humour isn’t really your thing, we also have some cute animal cards for birthdays and other occasions. The animal cards we had from Flamingo have been very popular, we only have a couple left. Although these aren’t quite a replacement for those, I’m hoping they come close! Let me know what you think.

I can’t choose between this cute chap and the highland cow. There are more designs in the range that I wasn’t able to get this time round so if they prove popular I will expand the range!.

As always, if there are any designs you would like me to try and find please comment below or get in touch via social media.

Cari xx

I’m counting down the days until summer break at my ‘day job’ in a local school. I only work part time which gives me plenty of hours to spend gardening and running my businesses.

It doesn’t feel like a month since we first attended Sheriff Hutton Village Market, and here we are, booked in for the next three, with the first being this Sunday. It’s a welcome distraction from what is a difficult Father’s Day for me, with losing dad earlier in the year. I have my foodie wish list ready (we always support the food producers at these markets) as well as a stock and equipment wish list for my business. Will we be as busy as we were last month? I’m keeping my fingers crossed it’s a good day as the broccoli seedlings I have are desperate for a raised bed planter, plus as our joints are seizing up we really need this trolley to transport things.

If you haven’t been to Sheriff Hutton market before, it’s well worth a visit. This time they have a wide range of local small businesses attending, including alcohol, baked goods, meats, Homewares, clothing and many more. You can treat your dad to something special, including a bacon/sausage/egg butty from the cafe.

If you have other plans this Sunday, you can visit our stall at Crayke Market at the end of June.

Cari xx

Last year, when we found out Flamingo Paperie was closing, I thought long and hard about the future of my card business. I took advantage of the stock sales, but with no other suppliers and limited options, I honestly thought my business would go too. A lot of the team members around me decided to close, and I was sad thinking I would be doing the same. I didn’t want it to close but wasn’t sure I had the energy to work through all the problems.

2024 brought ill health and loss to my family, which left my business languishing with a quiet website and a pile of stock as I took time off. It’s been a tough job to get going again, but I’ve never been one to give up on something I really love. One monthly market led to two, with a possible third to follow (we will see how that one goes!)

A regular income means my ‘closing down’ stock is reducing rapidly – a lovely problem to have – and I have a couple of suppliers lined up, but not enough funds to invest as I need to.

If you don’t follow me on TikTok, you won’t have heard that at each market we attend we try to ‘pay it forward’ by supporting the food producers. Their stock doesn’t pack away until next month, so they need to sell out of everything they produce to avoid waste. This means that although we have sold at markets, a proportion of that goes to other stall holders. As a result we are growing slowly, but need to refresh our stock for the next few markets.

I have a wishlist of humour cards, occasion cards, and craft kits, so if there is anything you were thinking of buying please do so. Alternatively you can share our website with anyone who needs to stock up again on cards from Flamingo Paperie or Phoenix Trading (yes I still have a few gems from those days).

I’m excited to make this business truly independent and profitable, meaning we can give even more back to other small business owners in North Yorkshire.

Cari xx