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Keeping everything crossed

So, with the weather forcing the organisers to cancel Sheriff Hutton Village Market today, I’m keeping everything crossed that Crayke Village Market goes ahead next week. I feel so ‘rusty’ with the big break from trading, and while I haven’t been well enough to work I plan to be back on Saturday (taking it easy of course).

While I was in hospital with limited internet and no tv, I took to watching the birds in the tree outside of my window. I’ve always been fascinated by nature, I remember going to bird sanctuaries with my family as a kid, my dad being a keen aviculturist with his cages full of canaries, budgerigars and quail. I love watching the squirrel and the pigeons outside work on a morning – they always come to say hello.

I went out in the car (me driving) for the first time yesterday. I didn’t go far and although it was nice to be out the house, it wore me out so I think I need to take a bit more time to rest before I drive again! At least I knew where I was going, because I have the absolute worst sense of direction!

Sunday 20th October is the last day to get free shipping when you spend £10 or more. That equates to just 5 birthday cards, or if there’s a winter wedding or anniversary coming up maybe three birthday cards and two others? The 5 for £10 works on any of the cards priced at £2.40 and once you get to 5 each card after is still only £2. What a deal!

I hope you are staying warm and dry today, it’s not the weather to go out shopping or exploring.

Cari xx

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A little thank you from me

I can’t lie, the last few weeks have been rough. I’m still having bad days where I feel a burden to my family because they are having to do more to compensate for my recuperation.

I’ve been so grateful to each and every one of you who has ordered recently, but with missing two markets and future events to pay for, I’m juggling. I keep getting cross with myself for getting ill in the first place (silly, I know).

Anyway, I wanted to offer free shipping for this weekend, starting tomorrow (if it doesn’t work automatically please let me know). This should work in addition to the 5 for £10 offer on greetings cards, but there’s also advent calendars, craft kits for gifts and much more online.

Of course you can also visit our stall at Sheriff Hutton on Sunday and Crayke next weekend, it would be lovely to meet you.

Cari xx

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More Christmas cards coming

It seems a lot of you are getting organised as we’ve been selling lots of Christmas cards recently, in particular the Holly and Ivy design pictured below.

Don’t worry, I have lots more packs of Christmas cards so as soon as I’m feeling well enough (or can persuade my daughter to help) we will have some new designs available online.

In the meantime there are loads of advent calendars ready for the 1st December, and if you need something smaller I have advent calendar cards with designs not yet available in our store.

If you’re not ready for Christmas just yet, we have lots of our humorous birthday cards in stock, with me being ill we’ve missed a couple of our regular markets which has hit sales but means the stock is lasting a bit longer too. Maybe now is the time for a stock up?

Sadly postage prices increased at the beginning of October, however I have no plans to increase our postage charge so you can stock up as much as you like for the same low rate of £3.50 for shipping.

Cari xx

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It’s almost October – are you advent ready?

Yes, I know there’s still plenty of time before the 1st of December, but don’t you find that the later you leave it to get your advent calendars, the more chance of your favourite being unavailable?

If you’re like me you are also trying to spread the cost out across the last few paydays of the year.  So now is the perfect time to buy those advent calendars and advent calendar cards, and we have a few designs to choose from.

Our fun Snowman design advent has pieces to slot in each day (as most of our advents do) to complete a scene for the big day.  All the pieces and slots are numbered, and they come in handy pre-punched sheets to push out and insert.

Reindeer Stables is our best seller advent calendar, with Santas reindeer all chilling in their stables ready for the big day.

Christmas Train advent calendar is very low in stock, and features a lovely colourful scene with lots of fun characters.  All our advent calendars are £9 plus postage.

If you need something smaller to send overseas, then our advent calendar cards are perfect.  Combining an advent calendar with a card, they are small enough to be posted low cost but still provide the fun of an advent.

I hope you find the perfect advent calendar for your special someone, and enjoy counting down the days until Christmas together.

Cari xx

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New birthday cards

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

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A busy weekend

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

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We’re ordering Christmas!

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

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Food Festivals and village markets

It’s Monday, and it’s feet up day (although I’m struggling to relax).

After a busy weekend attending Crayke Village Market and Saltburn Food Festival, I need to relax though.  It seems you all love our new humour range and I am almost at the point where I need to restock for the third time – thank you if you were there supporting our small business.  Sunday in particular was a very long day, we got up about half 6 and finally arrived home 13 hours later.  Of course it was takeaway for tea, not that any of us had the energy to eat it!


We were next to the fantastic Lemontop Gin yesterday, and I just had to reward myself for all my hard work last night.  It is highly recommended!  I’m now on the hunt for more cream soda to mix it with.

So, next weekend is another busy one, with a village market and another long Sunday (just a bit closer to home) with the fantastic Festival on the Flatts.  I’m hoping the humour range proves just as popular with the locals!

Cari xx

 

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Pilates – I thought you said pie and lattes!

Yes, as expected, this new card design was by far the best seller at Crayke Village Market today. We only have one left in stock (at time of posting) so a restock order will be happening soon.

First we have our guest stall at Hovingham Village Market to prep for. I’m so excited to be invited as Hovingham is such a tranquil and picturesque village, a dream retirement location for us in an ideal world! The market is a thriving event in the region, where you will find an eclectic mix of local artisans and businesses from food and drink to crafts and homewares.

If this one goes well we may be invited to add it to our regular markets. In fact, July is a busy month for us, with Hovingham, Sheriff Hutton, Crayke and Saltburn Food Festival on the calendar. Full details of all our upcoming events are shared on our socials.

Website back online

I panicked a little this morning at Crayke market when I got a notification to say my website was down. I had just added a video to TikTok, directing people to it! Thankfully it is now back up and running but please do get in touch if something isn’t working as it should.

I’m so happy with how everything is going, it’s lovely to be out selling face to face at so many local markets and events. August is shaping up to be just as busy and then we will be thinking of Christmas!

Cari xx

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Shhh…I’ve got something new for you.

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