Eco Friendly Changes
Disclaimer: In this little blog I’m going to use the word ‘board’…a lot.
Cat and I have an ongoing debate on whether I can say ‘board’ or whether it’s too industry speak. So, for clarification it’s just the way we talk about the stuff that our card designs get printed onto. Mostly so we don’t have to say “the card that our cards are printed onto”, because that would sound silly…or say “cardboard”, because that only makes me think of cardboard box forts. In the card industry, it tends to all be talk about paper, or board. Anyway…on with the show and all that…
Update on our sustainability
I thought it was high time to give you an update on our sustainability practices here at Jelly Armchair as it’s something we increasingly prioritise as we grow our little business.
If you’re new to our company, we’re two sisters, Cat – who does all of the illustrations and comes up with all of the puns, and me – Liz, I look after things like getting the cards produced and making printing and publishing decisions within the company. We also have a wonderful member of staff, Liv who helps us out with all of the order packing and it’s highly likely she’ll be the one who packs your orders – especially during the lockdown whilst it’s sensible to avoid having more than one person in our little card shop at the same time!
When we started the company in 2015, we had no idea about what board was, what options there were, and so we made our decisions based partly on recommendations from printers as to what would work for our designs, and partly on price – we were hugely overly reliant on supplying large retail chains at this point, and as the margins on these sales comes down to pennies, you really have to watch them! We knew we wanted to be as eco conscious as possible, and have actively made the decision to avoid flitter (card glitter!) and special finishes that might impact recyclability – as such, you’ll never see these on our cards. For our original board choice we opted for a relatively basic coated board to showcase Cat’s fantastic illustrations, we made sure it was FSC certified and fully recyclable but beyond that we did not think too much about it.
During 2020 we designed an entirely new range of greetings cards which we called Pundemic™️, these are the most exciting cards we’ve created in terms of special features, so they required a bit more research. Whilst we were researching and developing these cards (they’re really cool, they have lift the flap bits and a super secret fold out section and everything…seriously, you should check them out!) we discovered a new type of board, named ‘Revive’, that we could use to produce these cards. This board is fully-recycled, FSC certified, and carbon balanced – we love it! We’d tried recycled boards in the past, but nothing had quite passed, a lot of them cracked on the creases, or made the colours look dull, but with Revive we loved the way our print looked on the card. We introduced the board for our new designs in 2020 and the feedback has been great.
As we’ve grown as a business our eco status has become increasingly important to us, we made the decision at the start of this year, 2021, that we want to continue to put environmental sustainability in the forefront of our minds for every product we sell, this meant looking back at our existing collections as well as forwards to new additions. We’ve not taken the time to reconsider our board choices for our signature ranges since 2015, partly because we’ve never stopped for long enough to consider changing cards that are already being sold (2020 changed that as we’ve had no large retail orders for many months owing to the shops being closed) but also, in the industry, it’s generally accepted that once you’ve decided the board choice for a range of cards, that tends to be how it stays, especially if it sells well.
Moving Forward
We have decided this excuse isn’t really good enough. Now that we’ve found a recycled board that we really love, and our customers love too (we used it for Pundemic™️, Herbivore, and Sequential Silliness last year), there really is no excuse not to change it up for all our ranges. We hope that you’ll come with us on this journey of transition from our old, coated board, to our new carbon balanced recycled board. In the meantime, your order may come on a mix of different boards, even if the cards are both part of the same range/collection. Rest assured that the current coated stock is still 100% recyclable and FSC certified. As a little extra perk, we’ve noticed that we much prefer handwriting onto the new card when we’ve been writing cards to send straight to the recipient, it’s also much nicer to touch and handle which we’ve definitely noticed more now that we’re plastic free 🙂
You’ll hear more from us in the future regarding sustainability as we work towards really looking into our carbon footprint, and work out real ways we can make a positive impact as a company.
You might even hear more about board…if you’re very lucky.
Board board board boardy board board.
Liz
Jelly Armchair greeting cards, full of funny puns illustrated by hand
We know it can be a little baffling trying to find the right greeting card. We’ve made it our mission here at Jelly Armchair to create alternative cards, to offer the perfect greeting card puns to help you to send a smile, whatever the occasion.
A Head Full of Greeting Card Puns
Cat is our resident artist, and she’s got a head full of card puns. She’s been hand illustrating puns for many, many years now and certainly knows how to convolute things for maximum ‘Punny Drop’ moments. (A ‘Punny Drop’ moment is when, on being exposed to a stinky pun, you follow the initial confusion with a reaction that ranges from a flash of annoyance, to a grimace, to an involuntary palm to the face, followed by acceptance and a reluctant giggle in the space of a few seconds.) We go for full, unadulterated Dad joke, and nothing less will do.
Alternative Cards for All Occasions
When we started Jelly Armchair in 2015, we wanted to create alternative card designs for every occasion. We wanted our funny greetings cards to be suitable for all ages and to be there to wind up your friends and family with the silliest wordplay when you couldn’t be there to do it in person.
This is a skill we’ve been honing over the years, and we’re really proud of our range of greetings cards, they range from the unique, to the ridiculous, the bizarrely niche, and the most tenuous puns imaginable, all of these puns have been skilfully brought to life in ink and watercolour by Cat. We’ve got some fantastic alternative cards to your usual thank you card for example
Finding The Level
I mean, I guess you can see where we’re going with this. That’s where the level is. We have this Easter card which is also a pretty good example of what we do…I’ve never been sure of whether many people send cards at Easter, but this year, any excuse to reach out and send a giggle has got to be worthwhile right?
Get In Touch
We also love to offer pun based advice, so if there’s an occasion you can’t find a pun for, we’d be more than happy to help out. We’re a small team here at Jelly Armchair and we love to hear from you. You can also use our handy ‘Commission Cat’ form for beautiful custom illustrations.
https://www.jellyarmchair.com/
https://www.jellyarmchair.com/about-us/
Welcome to Jelly Armchair Wholesale
We love small independent businesses here at Jelly Armchair and we’re here to help make your shop a success.
If you have recently joined us as a wholesale customer or are thinking about setting up a wholesale account this blog is full of all the things you need to know when it comes to stocking our punny greetings cards.
In this blog we will run through the outline of holding a card wholesale account with us and the resources we have in place for our trade customers when it comes to trading during a global pandemic. We think it’s important now more than ever, for small businesses to support one another.
The last six month have been extremely tough on independent and small businesses so we wanted to make sure we offer a service that can help you and your business through these unknown times.
Tiny Top Ups
We have no minimum order so we can offer you tiny top ups to your shop so you do not have to worry about making a large order. For example, if you want to do a last minute top up of Christmas cards, Valentine’s Day cards or Father’s Day cards we can make sure they arrive on time to fill your shelves. Or if you wanted to test the waters with something new, our tiny top ups are a great way to go.
Free Tracked Delivery
We offer free tracked delivery on our orders so you receive your order quickly and safely. So no added delivery costs on your order. We aim to dispatch orders with in 24 hours of receiving them. We can also send you the tracking information so you can see exactly where your cards are.
Sustainability
At Jelly Armchair we are very conscious of our environmental impact and try to reduce our waste output as much as possible. All the cards that are sent to stockists have no plastic packaging. Each individual card is wrapped in a fully recyclable eco-band. No cellophane bags! These ecobands are made of paper and wrap around opposite corners of the card keeping the envelope and card securely together. This mean we wont be adding any plastic to your shop! All of our cards are fully recyclable as well as being sustainably printed on recyclable board in the U.K.
Which cards are right for you?
We know there are lots of cards to choose from and so we have created this blog to help you find the right fit for your shop. From pet shops, cafes, florists, village shops, gift shops and post offices we will have the cards you are looking for. Here are some of our wholesale best sellers.
Pet Shop Picks
We have a huge selection of animal/pet themed cards to choose from so we have dog lovers, cat lovers and everything in between covered. So if you are looking for some good old pet puns to add to your selection of cards we have plenty to choose from. Here are some of our most popular pets.
Minimalist Picks
If you are looking for cards that suit your shop’s slick style we also have some luxe cards which would look at home in your shop front. These cards are screen printed in the UK and their sleek black and white appearance pack just as much of a punny punch as their more colourful colleagues.
Foodie Picks
Our foodie cards are some of our most popular to date. So there is a great buffet of food and baking puns to choose from. We have cards for those who have a sweet tooth and cards for those who just prefer a good cheese board. Here is a tasty selection of our best selling food greetings cards.
Florist Picks
Nothing completes a beautiful bunch of flowers more than an equally eye catching card. We have some blooming brilliant flower puns that will make a great accompaniment to a bouquet of flowers. Here’s our pick of the bunch!
Gift Shop Picks
If your shop sells a bit of everything then we have greetings cards for any occasion. Anniversaries, birthdays, graduation, driving tests or just because. If you want a wide selection of occasions covered in punny cards then here are some ones to look out for.
Christmas Picks
We have a huge selection of festive greetings cards to choose from which are sure to make your customers chuckle. Here are some of our favourites to add to your Christmas card list this year.
Hopefully this has helped you narrow down your choices of cards and shown you we have a large selection of choices for any shop. If you need anymore help creating a collection specific to your business/shop then please get in touch. You can reach Liv at liv@jellyarmchair.com or give her a call on 01242 262 861 and she will answer all of your trade/wholesale questions. She can also send along a brochure full of our wholesale card selection so you can see all we have to offer.