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My dream

My dream

When I was just 4 years old I started work. My auntie ran a newsagents though it was so much more than just a newsagents. She sold everything and always told me that if they didn’t have what someone asked for they’d find an alternative. My dream even then was to have my own shop. I just didn’t realise it.

I was always quite good with numbers, it runs in the family. I’ve always kind of felt guilty about it. Fellow pupils at school who seemed to work so hard for their maths exams and I never had to. Numbers just made sense and it doesn’t seem fair but that’s life and there are countless other things I am not good at that they were. Anyway, because of my ‘gift’ my auntie used to show off when I was as young as 4 by getting me to serve the customers and give them the right change. There were no contactless payments or automatic tills, if the sums were very complicated it was added up with a pen and paper.

Image by Shirley Hirst from Pixabay

I loved everything about that shop. From stocking the shelves, seeing if I could squeeze just one more packet of crisps on to the rack to making up 10p sweetie lucky bags (10p of sweeties in the bag, about 20p in my mouth!).

As I grew I got to know more of the business. I helped with stock taking each year and my favourite bit was sitting in the freezing cold stock room out the back in front of the electric bar fire with notepad and calculator adding up endless lists of numbers. We’re all a bit weird in one way or other right?!

When I grew up

I thought I’d become an accountant but a desire to ‘make the world a brighter place’ drove me in to engineering. As I began my university life studying civil engineering, so my auntie retired and so ended my dream of running that little shop.

I could have taken over the business, never gone to university. But then I’d never have gone to Africa and worked as a water and sanitation engineer and helped a few to improve their village life. I’d never have met my husband either, moved to the beautiful Isle of Lewis and had 4 children and made the choice to give up my career.

…and then I might not have started working from home, selling things.

My dream come true?

Funny how you can look back on your life and see choices made without realising the true reason for making those choices. It was only after selling from home for about 5 years alongside being a full time mum that the penny dropped. I loved retail! I wanted a shop!

My dream
My Kickstarter

But times have changed since I was 4. We now have internet, supermarkets and global imports on a scale never seen before. Newspapers and sweeties are still sold in shops but even newspapers have gone online and sweeties are no longer a ha’penny. My personal opinion of newspapers has also changed, perhaps why I sell the Happy Newspaper!

So I never thought a physical shop was a reality now. Too many high street stores are short lived, too many empty town centres. Times have changed. Furthermore, living in a fairly remote location in the Outer Hebrides I knew I had to embrace the online market. And I have. Combining some local fairs and events with a growing online presence I have built up my Cards and Gift Wrap business slowly, year by year, reinvesting everything back in while raising my 4 children. Always with a pre-school child by my side, ‘helping’ mum.

And then, just a small thing, covid-19 happened. My online business thrived but the fairs and events were gone. My shop-in-a-basket that served many local workplaces vanished. Time to think outside the box. On top of that my husband started working from home more and we were homeschooling all in the same room that I had hoped would be my ‘stock room’. Something has to change.

Maybe, just maybe…

We’re lucky to have a big garage which is already in two sections. Maybe, just maybe…

Could we convert one part in to a pop up shop?

That’s why I’ve launched a Kickstarter. Not just to raise the money for the materials to make the garage dry and waterproof but to see if there is enough local interest for me to have a physical presence. To see if 40 years on I could have my own ‘shop’ and realise my dream.

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Connecting with cards

With a new year, comes new cards from Flamingo Paperie. And they couldn’t come at a better time. Connecting with cards is a great way to keep in touch and lift someone’s spirits. A card really is like a big warm hug in an envelope.

It’s nothing new really. During WW1 and WW2 sending cards and letters increased from the weekly norm as people tried to keep in touch and boost morale. It’s happening again. Not a world war as such but during this pandemic the British people are turning to post to help lift spirits. Find out how people are connecting with cards during lockdown.

Sending greeting cards – the British way

Recently the ITV reported on the surge in mail that postal workers are experiencing. From 100th birthday cards, correspondence with loved ones and mail sent to those in care homes, the great UK greeting card is out to boost morale again. In ‘normal’ times the UK people send more greeting cards on average than anyone else in the world. With the average person in the UK sending 33 cards a year I think the figures for 2020 will be much, much higher. But we’ll have to wait for the Greeting Card Association annual report in a year or so before we find out exactly how many.

connecting with cards

What does Connecting with Cards mean?

This week is UK Mental Health Awareness Week. Sending and receiving cards has been scientifically proven to help with mental health. I’m not sure we need science to tell us that. We all know the joy of a handwritten letter or card arriving on the doormat. Sending a card is an act of kindness. ‘Kindness’ is the theme for Mental Health Awareness Week 2020. But a handwritten card isn’t just an act of kindness it’s more than that too. It means taking a little time to think about someone else. Writing a card means you’ve thought about someone who quite possible feels very alone. And a beautiful greeting card isn’t easily forgotten. Instead it’s given pride of place to be seen and smiled at again and again and again.

Send a card, deliver a smile.

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5 Deadly Sins of Gift Wrapping

5 deadly sins of gift wrapping

Trust me on this, you really don’t want to make the mistake of doing any of these. There is a special corner in the afterlife where you will be sent if you commit any of these 5 deadly sins of gift wrapping. A corner where they wrap you in cheap, easy to tear wrapping paper and then bind you in rolls and rolls of sticky tape…. It’s called Hell-otape and is easily avoided if you can steer clear of these mistakes. In this post I’ll show you how to avoid the pitfalls without having to be a gift wrapping expert, without spending a fortune on wrapping accessories or spending hours mastering origami style wrapping techniques.

Deadly Sin #1 – Just shove it in a gift bag

I know, I know, you’re a busy person and you just don’t have time to put the extra frills, ribbons and bows on a present. So stick in a gift bag and it’ll look okay. Right? Wrong!

Simply shoving your gift in a gift bag will make it look like you didn’t have time, didn’t plan ahead and left it to the last minute. Which you did, right? But you don’t want them to think that do you?

So what’s the answer when you have left it to the last minute and you don’t feel like a gift wrapping guru and you really just want to shove it in a bag?

Well the answer is simple really and yes, actually, you’re still going to shove it in a gift bag…BUT…you’re going to shove some tissue in the bag first!

gift bag subscription box

Now that wasn’t difficult was it?!

One sheet, or even half a sheet of tissue, placed in the bag so it’s sticking out of the top, gift inside tissue and there you go. Now it looks like you tried and actually it didn’t take that long did it? My tip is to fold the tissue in half, lightly scrunch the bottom, middle bit and place that carefully at the bottom of the bag. Then you can find the opening in the tissue and spread it out before putting the gift in the centre of the gap in the tissue.

Deadly Sin #2 – Sticky tape

You might have a really fancy tape dispenser that’s fun to use but please…don’t use one sided sticky tape. At least not on the outside of your gift! You are allowed to use double sided tape and if that’s too fiddly for you then you can buy repositionable double sided tape ready to roll. We could buy shares in these double sided tape rollers as my daughter uses it for making cards. It’s not the cheapest way to stick things together but it is really easy to use and will save you a lot of time.

Other options if you don’t like the double sided tape is use gift wrapping seals. A bit like conventional sticky tape but in neat circles of stickiness. A word of caution though, if your paper is too thick or textured then these might not stick well.

Later I’ll show you a video of how to wrap your present with double sided tape.

Deadly Sin #3 – Rough edges

There is no reason why the edge of your paper shouldn’t be straight if you have to cut it. Here are some simple tips:

  • Use a decent pair of scissors (and don’t let the children use them for cutting up cardboard boxes – sorry, just personal experience!)
  • Fold the paper where you need to cut it, then cut along the line.
  • If that’s really hard then use wrapping paper with a cutting grid on the back. E.g. ALL of Flamingo Paperie gift wrap comes with a cutting grid on the reverse.
  • Fold the cut edge over so that the ‘edge’ is a straight fold instead of the cut line. This is especially relevant if the edge of the paper is already rough or squint.

Deadly Sin #4 – Having the edge of the paper in the middle of the gift

This is a really simple tip that makes your present wrapping look so much more professional. When you wrap the paper around the gift, make sure the paper edge that sits on the top of the paper as you wrap it round is at the corner edge of your gift, not right in the middle of the gift.

I probably haven’t explained that very well so in the video link at the end I’ve given you a clip that shows you how to do this (as well as how to use double sided tape to hold it all together).

Deadly Sin #5 – Cheap thin wrapping paper – it’s a rip off!

You know the stuff. As soon as you wrap it round a corner, it’s got a big rip in it. By the time you give the gift the paper is so creased and the pattern has worn away at every crease that it looks like you’ve used the paper before. What’s worse is that most really cheap wrapping paper is so thin it’s not even recyclable. Why bother? It’s not good for the environment and looks rubbish!

Ice Lolly gift wrap

Always use a decent thickness of wrapping paper. You can get affordable gift wrap that is good quality, ethically sourced from sustainable forests and can be recycled.

If you want to know more about which gift wrap can be recycled then you might like a previous blog post – Is gift wrapping paper recyclable?

If you do like to use ribbons and bows then there are eco-friendly options there too, paper rope, jute twine and recycled or recyclable gift tags too.

Video tutorial – how to avoid the deadly sins of gift wrapping

All the tips I’ve described can be used for any shaped gift. Shiho Masuda is known as the Paper Guru and has lots of useful video tutorials to help you take your gift wrapping to the next level. The video below shows you how to wrap just about any shape. You’ll see how she uses double sided tape (See Deadly Sin #2), folds the paper at the cut end (See Deadly Sin #3) and gets the edges of the paper to line up with the edge of the gift (See Deadly Sin #4).

Follow these simple tips and the gift wrapping gods will smile favourably upon your creations, you will make your recipients smile and you will look like a gift wrapping genius!

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Why do we need to ask to support friends small businesses?

support friends small businesses

I do Facebook, as they say. It’s a necessary evil of running a small business. For me it helps me maintain a connection between my local friends and my business and has resulted in sales from friends who otherwise might not see what I sell. However, more and more I see posts on Facebook saying things like ‘5 ways to support your friends business without buying anything’ or pleas to ‘support friends small businesses like you support celebrities you don’t actually know’. I’m left wondering why do I need to ask?

Why do we need to ask to support friends small businesses?

I just find it bizarre that ‘we’ feel we need to ‘ask’ friends to support our small businesses.

What is a friend? If I consider myself a friend with someone then surely I want to support them? Why on earth do they need to ask me? I think our society is coming to something very bereft if supporting our friends isn’t just a given.

Perhaps the very same Facebook (or other social media platforms) are responsible? Have they disconnected us so far from ‘community’ that we don’t care or identify with each other any more. Or is that just an excuse for justifying a self-centred existence that just thinks about ourselves, our convenience. Do we resent so much when our friends seemingly give up on the traditional ‘proper job’ to try and make it on their own that we don’t want to support them. Perhaps we want them to fail so that we can feel better about not taking the same leap of faith and giving up all to start our own businesses?

Perhaps it’s none of my business?

My business, if you don’t happen to be a friend who has found this blog post by clicking a link on my Facebook page, is cards and gift wrap. I’m not selling anything wacky. I’m not selling anything unusual, expensive or so exclusive that you’d never want to use it. I sell birthday cards. Everyone has a birthday I’m pretty sure everyone knows someone who has a birthday. So it stands to reason that everyone I know will at some point need to buy a birthday card. I sell gift wrap too. Most people at some point need to wrap a present, or put it in a gift bag (I do those too!).

Yet, I know lots of ‘friends’ who never buy a thing from me.

I do need to add here that I have LOTS of friends who do buy from me and without them I’d have given up my small business years ago. I’m not ungrateful and this isn’t a post to beg the friends who don’t support me to buy.

I’d like to beg, if I thought it would do any good. I’d really like to tell you how hard my family is finding things. I gave up my ‘career’ to look after my children full time and my husband has just gone part time in his ‘proper job’ to try and make it as a writer. Oh we’re struggling but it’s our choice to be where we are. We didn’t think it would be easy. We have asked for help with little things but only sometimes do people listen. A good example is when a friend reads one of my husband’s books, we ask them to leave a review on Amazon. Just to click the stars, not even to write anything but only a small minority of people have. That small act can make a huge difference to a writer. If everyone left a review it would help enormously.

All the posts on Facebook are true. Liking, commenting, sharing friend’s posts does help a small business. But for flip’s sake it’s not half as helpful as actually buying the stuff!

But your choices are none of my business.

Is it too much to ask?

I’m not going to ask you to buy anything from my shop. I suspect I’ve already lost a few ‘fans’ just by writing this post. Perhaps I am just too disconnected from my friends. I’m probably too busy myself to really understand what they need, why should it be any different them to me.

Instead I’m going to look up a few friends I know who have small businesses and give them some support over the next few days.





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Easter cards why do we send them?

Flamingo Paperie Easter cards

When was the first Easter card sent?

According to Wikipedia people sent the first Easter cards just over 100 years ago at the very end of the 19th Century. At this time people tended to send postcards. Initially you could only write the address on the back of the postcard, along side the stamp. Postcard senders had to write on the front meaning that the illustration had to allow space for the writing. This changed in the early 1900s when the back of the postcard was split more like we see today.

Buy Easter cards here

What sort of cards did Victorians send?

Early images on Easter postcards and cards included the Easter bunny, sheep, flowers, eggs and often young girls who were a symbol of luck and hope. Easter carries a message of hope and new life so now we also might include butterflies and spring images, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere where Easter and Spring coincide. In Australia you might find an Easter Bilby instead of a bunny.

Where did the Easter bunny come from?

Flamingo Paperie Easter Wishes greeting card

It’s generally accepted that the Easter bunny originated in the 1700s in Germany. He was originally an ‘egg-laying hare’. German Lutherans took the tradition to America with them. Then, like so many things, once the Americans are doing it, we’re all doing it!

What are Easter cards all about?

There’s no doubt that Easter cards have their origin in Christianity. Relating to Jesus’ resurrection and the hope of new life, this is where most of our Easter images have their basis. It’s understandable that Easter cards were at their peak during the First World War. Then also the Second World War as people faced life and death situations and an uncertain future. Following the Second World War Easter cards declined and fewer are sent now than then. However, they are still very popular. With Mothers Day just 3 weeks before Easter it’s interesting to note that Mothers Day is the third largest card sending occasion in the calendar year, with Easter in fifth place.

Why send an Easter card?

Whether you are a Christian or not, sending any card at any time can lift someone’s spirits. There is a reason why the Greeting Card Association has as it’s industry tagline ‘send a card, deliver a smile’. That’s exactly what sending a card can do. While Easter may move its date each year it will always fall in Spring here in the UK. After an often cold, harsh winter here in the Outer Hebrides I know I love to see cards with flowers, animals, butterflies and eggs, heralding a new season with summer not far away.

Whatever your faith or none, an Easter card can bring hope and encouragement in tough times. Or perhaps just a reminder of what a beautiful world we live in.

Buy Easter cards here

So go on, make someone smile and send a few Easter cards this year!

If you’re looking for other ideas for Easter then I’ve made some suggestions here.

If you’re a busy person who’s a bit short of spare time to choose some Easter cards then I’ve put together a bundle for you.

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Art of Gift Wrapping — Shiho Masuda

art of gift wrapping

Last month, I was invited to have a live interview to talk about my career as a gift wrapping designer at a local TV show in Hawaii. We talked about how I started my career and what projects I’ve been working on, then at the mid-point of the show, the interviewer asked me, “Why is the art of gift wrapping important?”
Image 1.jpg

To answer this question was important to me because that’s where my passion lies.

The art of gift wrapping is important because it helps us build an emotional connection with others. If hiding the content (gift) is all you want, putting it in a paper bag will do a fine job.

You want to wrap your gift in a beautiful presentation because you care about the recipients and want to express your feelings of appreciation, love and/or joy for them. The act of gift wrapping maybe physical but the real reason of doing so is emotional.

The art of gift wrapping is about building relationships and keeping connections with people important in your life.

In the world of internet and social media in which everyone focused on developing online interactions, taking the time to create something beautiful with your hands is a meaningful and heartfelt way to communicate with others.

I’ve been creating the art of gift wrapping for years for my family, friends and clients and the reactions I get from them are always priceless. Imagine instead of just a cookie-cutter mall wrapped gift, your friends and family will get these…

And this is why I’m passionate about teaching and sharing ideas of the art of gift wrapping so that you can reconnect with your loved ones through the beautiful art created by hand.

Just in time for the holiday season, this is an excellent way to start preparing your personal gifts. There are some awesome ways that you can tailor-make how you present those gifts to the people you love.

P.S. My new online course will help you do just that and it’ll be available next week at a very low price just for you for the holiday season. 😊 It’ll help you to learn and create the art of gift wrapping for your friends and family so that you can really “wow” them!

via How to Create More Intimacy and Build Better Relationships through the Art of Gifting — Shiho Masuda

If you love the art of gift wrapping then you can now get a monthly deluxe box of coordinated gift wrapping materials delivered straight to your door from Cards and Gift Wrap.

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Is gift wrapping paper recyclable?

is gift wrapping recyclable

You’ve watched Blue Planet, you love turtles and you want to do your bit to be eco friendly. But you are a bit confused by mixed messages about whether you should be using gift wrap, brown paper, newspaper or even wrapping presents at all. Whether it’s for Christmas, a birthday or for any occasion you can gift wrap in style without costing the earth. I’ve put this little post together to help you answer the question; Is gift wrapping paper recyclable?

A really quick test is the Scrunch Test but it’s not quite as simple as that.

So which gift wrapping is recyclable?

Supermarket ‘cheap as chips’ wrapping paper

Probably not recyclable. Even if it doesn’t contain any glitter, foil or added extras, the thin wrapping paper that is often found at the checkout is unlikely to be accepted by paper mills for recycling as it contains few good quality fibres for recycling.

Gift wrap with foil or glitter effects

The paper might be recyclable but the glitter and foil effects make it difficult and too expensive (if it is even possible) to recycle. At least the paper will biodegrade if put in general household waste but the foil and glitter additives might not.

Recycled wrapping paper

Yes, most probably recyclable, providing no glitter, foil etc is added. You can get recycled wrapping paper. However, there is a debate as to whether it is better to produce recycled paper or use virgin pulp from FSC certified sources as the recycling process itself is expensive and energy consuming. Another alternative could be using paper from easily replenishable sources such as bamboo that grows quickly.

stamped brown kraft wrapping paperBrown paper

This shouldn’t be recycled but should go in the compostable bin along with brown cardboard but that’s ok. Good environmental option! Not so good if you want a pretty design as you’ll have to do one yourself and make sure any design you apply is also compostable! Check out my Pinterest board for some ideas. Use vegetable based inks to stamp the paper and add natural embellishments like twigs, flowers and berries that can also be composted.

Or you can buy coloured kraft wrap that is 100% recyclable.

Printed, quality wrapping paper

Yes, this wrapping paper is recyclable. One thing you might like to check is what inks are used in the print. Some companies use eco friendly vegetable based inks that do not harm the environment. Also check if the paper used is from FSC sources.

All of the gift wrap in my Flamingo shop is 100% recyclable, uses vegetable based inks and is from FSC sources.

We can confirm that all Flamingo Paperie gift wrap is recyclable. It is printed on Amber Graphic Material which is ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free). This is a technique which uses chlorine dioxide for the bleaching of wood pulp and does not use elemental chlorine gas during the bleaching process, so preventing the formation of dioxins, dioxin-like compounds and carcinogens. We also use vegetable inks with water rather than the alcohol damping process. Individual local authorities have their own rules on what they will and will not recycle, but we can confirm that our paper is fully recyclable. (statement from Flamingo HQ)

If you are a designer looking to print your own gift wrap then there are UK print companies that have a very high standard of eco friendly printing like Ashley House.

General tips on making gift wrapping paper recyclable

Before recycling or composting your gift wrap make sure you remove all sellotape, tags, ribbons, bows etc. Gift tags might be recyclable/compostable but the ribbon that they are attached often isn’t so make sure you remove it first. If in doubt, ask the company, they will know. Many gift wrap companies have an environmental policy like Flamingo Paperie. In fact all their gift tags, including the jute string, are 100% recyclable. Use washi tape  or patterned kraft tape for a recyclable tape option.

Presents and balloons paper tape

For further information see Recycle Now

Also wondering what Christmas cards to buy? You might be interested to know that all our Christmas cards are charity cards as well as being environmentally friendly.