Gavin & Stacey star helps greetings folk smash the #Cardmitment Challenge this week
The dulcet tones of Pam Shipman have been resounding across Instagram and Facebook as cardies across the country have embraced the #Cardmitment Challenge, instigated by Earlybird Designs’ Heidi Early as part of the GCA’s umbrella campaign.
Seven days of telling everyone how fabulous greeting cards are, and how wonderful it is to send Christmas missives kicked off on Friday, 1 November, with a slew of funny reels from retailers and publishers using the voice of Pam, from TV show Gavin & Stacey, who loves the festive season so much she sends her cards on that date.
The lengthy list of Challenge participants includes Pencil Me In, Earlybird Designs, Stationery Supplies, Austin & Co, Dean Morris Cards, Cards ’N’ Things, Cath Tate Cards, Ohh Deer, Hugs & Kisses, Wendy Jones-Blackett, Sincerely Yours, Grace Jackson Design, Paper Tiger, Letter Arty, Highworth Emporium, Studio Boketto, Holy Mackerel, The Art File, and Two For Joy, many of which can be seen on the Progressive Greetings Instagram page as we’ve been liking and sharing the heck out of them, and some of the videos can be seen here too.
And cardie folk have been following up with posts on the other challenges – day two on Saturday was sharing the reasons why you love sending cards where PG’s own elf Warren Lomax chipped in his thoughts: “There’s nothing better than sending good feelings to people you care about.”
Sunday was day three and it was PG’s features editor Tracey Bearton’s turn to reveal she shops for cards at her local indie store, No14 Ampthill, having a good chat with staff member Maisie and Callie about the fab selection of Christmas cards.
Yesterday was the day for sharing a Christmas card that’s been kept from years gone by, with PG’s social media maestro Nicola Webster unveiling two from her grandad, who lived to 103 and sent a card every year, always managing to write “Love Grandad” even as he became frailer.
And, proving how cards really do bring back the recollections, it was a step back in time for Hotchpotch designer Anna Price as she recognised the cute Cotton Tales design from her days with Watermark, telling Nicola: “That design was exclusive to Clintons and was part of a bestselling range! Lovely memories.”
Today, Tuesday, it’s time to say who you’re sending a Christmas card to and why, and you can still get involved as tomorrow is the day to write your first Christmas card, then send it on Thursday, 7 November – although Austin & Co’s Sean Austin has jumped the gun on that one as he’s copied Pam and posted some already! The daily prompts, with the GCA #Cardmitment livery designed by Rebecca Green of Raspberry Blossom, came about thanks to Heidi, of publisher and retailer Earlybird Designs, who set the #Cardmitment Challenge for members of the greeting card community to kick off Christmas card sending.
Showing how the challenge has engaged people both in the industry and beyond, there have been more than 15,000 views of posts using the #cardmitment hashtag from the PG account, with over 500 likes across posts, stories and reels, since Friday.
PG’s Nicola said: “It’s been wonderful to see all the posts for #cardmitment, the reactions show just how much it means to people to receive a card from someone special. There are some fabulous actors in the card industry too – the lip-syncing skills for the Pam reel are second to none!
“The engagement with the campaign is fabulous, bringing the industry together on social media and putting cards at the forefront of people’s minds as the festive season gets underway.”
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