Meet Laura Lonsdale

Meet Laura Lonsdale

Hi I’m Laura, freelance designer and owner of Laura Lonsdale Designs!

I first started designing cards just over 2 and a half years ago now. I had recently been made redundant in my job in marketing, and at the time I was 7 months pregnant. My journey to getting pregnant was really tough, myself and my husband went through 6 rounds of IVF, so we were both elated to be finally having a family. However, being made redundant whilst pregnant was so stressful and worrying, and after what we’d already gone through I was feeling so down.

Becoming an Independent Artist

Designing became a way for me to relax and turn my brain off from everything else going on, and it never intended to become a business! I just loved thinking of an idea and seeing it come to life in a card and then selling. 

I started designing just cards for those struggling with infertility, and then began adding more and more designs for all occasions to my catalogue. My focus was mainly print on demand websites (such as Cardly), but I also started working on my very own online shop with the help of my husband. IT is not my strong point but luckily I’m married to an IT manager ha! 

Full Time Business

When our daughter Penelope (now 2) arrived, it was the height of lockdown. This came with it’s own challenges for everyone, but it also enabled me to continue to design cards through my maternity leave. I launched my own online shop, and my sales were slowly growing month on month. I started to realise that this is something I could actually make into a business…….the dream was to run my own card business and be my own boss, which would also allow me to spend more time with our long awaited little girl.

After 13 months off on maternity leave I went back to work in marketing, and my heart just wasn’t in it. I loved designing so so much! So, after just 6 months, in March this year I took the plunge and left work to run my business full time. I can honestly say it’s the best decision I ever made and has completely changed all of our lives! 
Cardly is an amazing place to customise cards as the way you want. Great and friendly customer service!!!
- Zahara Imthiyaz

Greeting Card Inspiration

I love having so much more time to focus on my growing business, and that I can devote time into thinking up new ideas. My design style is generally humour and doodles, I love to make people laugh with my designs! A lot of my cards also come from personal experience, which makes them really relatable and I think that’s why they seem to sell well. I now find I can’t go anywhere without something inspiring a new design, my brain can never switch off from cards!

Running my own business comes with difference challenges, I never really know what I’m getting paid each month and that can be quite stressful. But overall it’s so exciting, and I’m so proud of what I’ve achieved so far. I’d encourage anyone with a business idea to have a go, however small of an idea it is. Life is too short to not have a go!

See Full Range

  • Why does Cardly work exclusively with Independent Artists?

    Cardly is passionate about independent artists. It is one of the main reasons why we started the business. We wanted to help artists be artists by giving them a way to showcase and sell their art whilst helping people make more meaningful connections.

    The role of our artists is hugely important.

    People buy greeting cards to help express themselves and the artwork is a big part of that. The artwork expresses a lot about how that person sees the world and how they want the world to see them. Without the artwork, our cards wouldn't be anywhere near as special as they are.

  • Are you taking on new artists?

    The Cardly artist community is a hand-picked group of creatives passionate about creating beautiful, funny and quirky greeting card designs. We celebrate this community and make our artists front and centre in everything we do.

    Unlike some websites we don't take every artists that applies. Our aim is to support independent artists and have them make good commissions from Cardly. For this reason we try and avoid having too many artists with the same aesthetic.

    If you are interested in becoming part of the Cardly artist community please send an email to support@cardly.net with a link to your designs or portfolio and we will get our team to review your artwork.

  • Where do you deliver?

    You can send a sympathy card to over 60 countries around the world and we offer free postage to Australia, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and most of Europe.

    Postage times vary according to where you're sending to and the schedule of local mail carriers, however most countries are able to deliver in under a week. Please see our full FAQ for more details.

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