Cupcakes Galore

I was recently approached by a magazine to write an article about the recent craze in cupcakes and the relation ship between cupcakes and the gift & card industry.
Well as you can imagine, being a serial cupcake lover I was delighted to give my input on this spongy morsel. (I will link to my article when its published).

In the last few years our company has been incoperating cupcake designs in most of our card ranges. We find that they are the first to be picked by customers who will say something along the lines of, ‘ Oh, we’ve GOT to have the cupcake! (as if they are real!)
I think the reason why a cupcake on a card sells so well is because its an indulging treat yet so personal and individual and not for sharing!

Hope you enjoy the images. Sabah xx


Cupcake from the Precious Pearls Collection





One of my personnal favourites from the Silver Lining Collection



Cupcakes on a stand from the CK range



A yummy scrummy cherry cake, one of Sabah Designs bestsetllers from the CK range

Eid Cards 2010

We are currently running very low on our stock of Eid Cards now, so if you are a shop and hav'nt placed an order with us yet, you will need to hurry! as the last date for wholesale orders is Friday 3rd of September.
This year we have added 6 new additions to the "Festive Glitz" eid card range due to its debut success last year. I will have to do a seperate blog on some of the fantastic feedback we have recieved in the press and by the independents on this scrumy velvety eid card range.
Happy September everyone!

Wedding Anniversary.

Well, well, well, this is a turn for the books, me blogging TWICE in less than 48 hours! Well as it was our 14th wedding anniversary yesterday, I reievced the most beautiful bouquet of white roses from my dear husband, which I simply had to share with you folks. So here are the shots I took of my favourite coloured roses.
For those of you who have been following me on twitter will know that I have recently undertaken some commision work by a wedding company to design and create a whole range of milestone wedding anniversary cards, hence right now my knowledge of wedding anniversary symbols is better than it was a month ago!! I can tell you that the tarditional symbol for a 14th wedding anniversary gift is Ivory. To find out more about the history of wedding anniversary gifts, click on the following link.http://marriage.about.com/od/anniversariescelebrations/a/annivhistory.htm

More New Members.

So whats been happening at the Sabah Designs HQ lately I hear you ask. Well, since our return from the Isle of Wight, we've taken on 2 new members of staff, who I've been busy training.
We're also very excited to have on board a new sales agent, this time for the south east of England. Martin Hawkes (who has many years of experience in the greeting card & gift industry) will be representing Sabah Designs in the south east territories. He's been busy emailing us with filled out order forms and we very much look forward to working with.



Sabah Designs parcels packed, ready and on thier way to different destinations up and down the country.

Isle of Wight

A spectacular view of The Needles Lighthouse against the white chalk cliffs,
simply stunning






Oooooh! I want one of these!!





A spectacular view of the sunset from the ferry on our way back to Portsmouth.




A really quick blog today with some lovely photos taken from our trip to the gorgeous Isle of Wight last week.
We have a growing number of stockists up there who keep telling me how fab and beautiful it is, so I have been meaning to go there for quite some time now. It was my first visit to the island and I really was taken aback by the stunning unspoilt scenery and wealth of attractions.
Hope you enjoy the pictures and have a great weekend, Sabah

More Media Exposure

Yesterday we were given more press coverage in the Card and Gift Blog which is a lovely blog showcasing the most in demand publishers,the hottest selling products & the best new trends in the world of cards and gifts. So yes it was a real honour to be featured and the exposure has been filling our inbox with enquiries and brochure request.
To read the full coverage, go to: www.cardandgiftblog.com

Post Harrogate

It's been a week now since I got back from Harrogate home & gift show, and the enquiries have just been non stop. We managed to get away for a much needed weekend break (which I will report back on later), but right now the reality of the sheer work ahead of me has hit home and hit the office!!
Lots to report post Harrogate, including new agents, some commision work (which I can't say much about yet) and we also have a new member of staff joining the team next week. Horaay!!
On day three of the Harrogate show, I realised that our 'Golden Orchid' range of greeting cards was featured in the Harrogate preview magazine....Coool!

Home & Gift Harrogate

Arrived back home safely this evening after a very tiring yet enjoyable few days exhibiting at the Home & Gift Fair in Harrogate.
Lots of new customers, potential new agents and a couple of very exciting business ventures have come our way in the last few days.
A big thank you to all our customers for placing orders with us and to all our publishing friends for all their support and advice.

Pure Love

'Pure Love' was launched at Top Drawer earlier on this year and became an instant bestseller due to its specific anniversary captions such as Ruby and Golden Anniversary.
As we were getting constant requests by customers to add Happy Birthday captions to these very pretty beaded cards, we decided to add 6 new cards to the collection.These now include baby boy, baby girl and 4 Happy Birthday captions which we will be launching at the Harrogate show next week.

Yorkshire Agent

Here at the Sabah Designs HQ we would like to give a big welcome to Michael Merritt, who has recently joined the Sabah Designs retail team. Michael will be retailing our greeting card ranges in the Yorkshire and surrounding territories. We wish Michael all the best and look forward to working with him.

Golden Orchid Age Cards

Golden Orchid - The Age Collection

Hurray!! New summer catalogue has finally arrived!

We needed some more brochures printed (500 to be precise) to take to our next trade show in Harrogate and to send out to existing customers, so off I went with the decorating ladder to do a quick photo shoot of our new age range.

These cards are from the newly launched Golden Orchids age range, covering all major age milestones. The detailed black and gold free hand machine embroiderey is effortlessly finished off with an intricately hand drawn gold lace. All cards are sized 155 mm square and are complimented with a gold pearlescent enveloope.

Yummy Scrummy Ice creams

One of Sabah Designs best selling cards from the Precious Pearls Range

Another Yummy Scrummy Sabah Designs card from the C Kwinz Range

With the weather so bright & perfect outside (although a little too hot in my studio here,) I thought I'd post some ice cool designs today. The Fab loly designs has been a best seller ever since its launch last year at Harrogate. The cone ice cream is from the sparkly C Kwinz range of greeting cards. Enjoy the weather and have a lovely day where ever you are!! Sabah xx

Harroagte Home & Gift

Harrogate Home & Gift - 18th - 21st July

Almost 4 more weeks left for our next forthcoming trade show, Harrogate Home & Gift 2010.
We'll be exhibiting at the same stand as last year F41a between 18th and 21st of July.
So if your a trade customer and would like to see our new seasons greeting card ranges, come along to the most civilised trade show of the year!!
Set in UKs most popular spa town, you will come across some very amazing builidings, beautiful boutique shops and of course the ever popular Turkish Baths which are definitely worth a visit.

New designs

I've been busy working on some new card designs this week, which I'm hoping to launch this summer at the Harrogate home and gift show in July.
I have 12 designs to create for this range and so far have successfully completed ONLY two! Here is a sneeky peak of the ' wedding day ' card in soft pastel shades.....tell me what you think!

Murano Glass Jewellery

All pictures courtesy of the Le Dame Veneziane website

Today I recieved an email from the Italian jewellery designer, Le Dame Veneziane,which I thought was well worth featuring in my blog. The company specializes in high quality murano glass jewellery equipped with stunning artistic elements in gold and silver. The online shop has some great pendents, earings and necklaces, here are a few of my favourites.

Marrakech Part-2

Beautiful hand crafted Morroccon tiles


A very detailed entrance with delicate patternerd stonework.


A stunning picture capturing the Morroccon themed
artwork on the tiles of this ceiling.

I hav'nt had much of a chance to blog lately due to the easter holidays etc. However, I managed to put some picture up from our holiday to Marrakech as promised !!

Marrakech Trip

My posts have been few and far between lately as I've been away from the chaos of the office.
Myself and the rest of the family flew in to Morocco last month for a well earnt family break. We stayed in Marrakech and boy what a lovely time was had by all.
Here are some pictures I took from our very colourful shopping experience of the souks - the vast crowded central markets of Marrakech.
I shall post more pictures of Moroccan design and architect in a seperate post.


I absolutely adore the sparkling colours in these gem stones


Stunning hand painted Moroccan pottery



Colourful straw bags - pink, red, gold or blue? decisions, decision!!

I just HAD to take a picture of these beautiful Moroccan lamps.

Amazing how they can cram so many lamps and lanterns in so little space.

Slippers, slippers and yes more slippers!!!