Did you know there are 15 letters in the word ‘Congratulations’? I didn’t, until I had to cut them in lino, inverted, to fit an A6 greeting card!
Although I like to think I have a card design to suit everyone and every occasion, I have noticed recently that people are searching for cards with a written message. (In fact, having worked a few shifts in a card shop, I can report that they are looking for cards with messages as specific as ‘Happy 50th birthday Mother-in-law’ or ‘In sympathy on the death of your dog’. I can’t promise to have a card for every possible celebration or commiseration scenario, but I did make the decision to create some linocut printed cards for specific occasions.
I started with the Love card. Four letters set within a heart. I launched it in time for Valentine’s Day, but it can equally be used for weddings, anniversaries, engagements, or any such soppy occasion. I decided to print the cards in gold. The gold ink is wonderfully shiny and adds a touch of luxury to what is essentially an original print, an original artwork designed, cut and printed by hand, sent in an envelope. Much more special than a mass-produced card made by a computer.
The cards sold well and I branched out – Good Luck came next, as this can be used for so many different occasions – a new job, a driving test, exams. Then Thank You. I send a lot of thank you cards, as I feel that it’s a bit of a cop out to say thank you by text or email. The Hello card was the idea of a friend of mine who runs a card shop. After Covid, people were asking for cards to welcome new neighbours to a street, to introduce themselves. I thought this was such a lovely idea and made the card straight away.
The last card I made was Congratulations. Bearing in mind that each letter must be cut in reverse on the lino so that it inverts when printing to be read the right way round, designing and cutting the 15 letters in such a small space was a bit of an epic feat!
So I now have a collection of 5 hand printed linocut cards with messages formed by gold lettering, perfect for any romantic, finger-crossing, grateful, introductory or celebratory occasion.