Trio of initiatives help the planet, indie businesses and creativity
The Earlybird team is flying high with no less than three new initiatives covering helping the planet, helping indie artists and retailers, and helping people get creative.
A foil balloon recycling scheme covers the first, stepping up to dispatch orders for Just A Card’s grassroots campaign the second, and framing their work in a new window display is the third.
There’s now a TerraCycle UK zero waste box inside the Earlybird store in London’s Stoke Newington and co-owner Heidi Early explained: “We’re encouraging all our customers to bring in their old balloons, ribbons, weights and bags so we can reuse them and keep them out of landfills. We want to help the party industry become a much more circular economy!
“We’ve already had such a positive response from our customers so far and can’t wait to keep going in this direction.”
And the greeting card and gift shop, which also has as a publishing side run by Heidi’s husband and business partner Dom, has just been announced as the new team dispatching all Just A Card’s orders of pins, window stickers, resources bundles, card packs, posters and stands that help the campaign encourage people to support, value and buy from artists, makers, indie shops and small businesses as eery sale, even just a card is vital to their survival.
“A cornerstone of their local community, they are part of the brilliant number of indie shops and businesses who make their area of north-east London so special,” campaign founder Sarah Hamilton said.
“They have been big supporters and champions of Just A Card for a number of years and they’re a card shop – what’s not to love! Plus, if you prefer to shop in person, you can even buy our pins, Christmas pins and window stickers from the Earlybird bricks-and-mortar shop.”
Heidi and Dom have taken on the role from long-time helper Michael Fram, who is stepping back to concentrate on his Leaping Hare Gallery in Easingwold, with Sarah saying he had been “an absolute champion” and sending a “big, huge, enormous” thank you for his support.
Meanwhile, continuing the sustainable theme, the latest Earlybird shop window has a Love It? Frame It! theme, as Heidi said: “We get a lot of people buying blank cards and gift wrap in our shop to frame as affordable artwork so we thought we’d give over a window display to the idea.
“We got out card and glue guns and metallic paint, made the lightweight frames and you can see the result in the window and the video (below).
“It’s affordable and sustainable and customers have been asking if we sell the frames – and commenting on how much they love our creative window displays.”
Earlybird’s cards and wrap can be seen at PG Live on stand 401 where Dom is launching 18 new neon Mini cards to expand the range that he originally produced seven years ago, and had the then-unusual size snapped up by retailers including Postmark, Scribbler and Paperchase.
“It was a gamble because hardly any publishers did mini designs in those days but we had a request in our shop from a customer who wanted small age cards for their NCT group but didn’t want to spend a fortune on big cards. From that request the idea was born,” explained Dom.
“It’s definitely time to refresh the range now the size has become super popular. When everyone’s finances are squeezed, giving customers the option to buy a smaller card, or selection of cards in one go, that doesn’t cost the earth, goes down really well.”
Dom has designed and produced 18 new neon mini cards, which focus on sentiments and, of course, children’s numbers. The new designs that are spot uv and embossed.
