Christmas 2012.

It's that time of year again. My Christmas sales have been up dramatically this year compared with last, due to the fact that I had a much more developed product to sell and a wider audience to buy. Exhibiting at trade shows, four in just over a year, and sending out catalogues throughout the year has certainly helped to attract more customers. There was also that unexpected email from Paperchase last year, and a new relationship built with my overseas distributor in New Zealand so things are definitely moving forward.

The greetings world is much like fashion in that we design months in advance for the seasons ahead. So this may seem strange to some readers, but I have designed my Christmas cards for 2012 already, and here they are.

My Christmas singles have been a real hit this year, I have seen a huge demand for my Snowman, Rudolph and Puppy, so I have built up my Christmas Crackers collection to meet further demand. These cards are 10.5 x 14.8cm and are printed on to a glistening high quality FSC board. They come individually wrapped in a biodegradable bag with a matching festive envelope. They are all blank inside for your own message.

I have also introduced a new range called 'Christmas Elegance' (inspired by my everyday 'Elegance' range) in a larger square format (14.5 x 14.5cm) that are designed specially for close relatives. For the new range I have kept the colour palette to black, white and red, so that they have a strong presence on the shelves and spinners and are completely different to my existing range.

These designs will be printed on to a high quality FSC board. I have opted for a special embossed finish to give extra surface texture, and I am now choosing a specially made envelope to match with the same embossed finish and hopefully a red colour to compliment the card. The retail price will reflect the quality of the product, and I cannot wait to see these in print. I hope you will like these just as much as my Christmas Crackers range. They are huge step away from my other Christmas range and will appeal to a completely different audience, so I hope they are well received. I will be adding more relations in when I can.