What is Just A Card Indie Week?

Just A Card Indie Week is a campaign to encourage folks to shop with artists, makers, and small businesses. Visit the Just A Card website to find out more, and follow Just A Card on Instagram.

Heya! (Day 1)

It's the first day of Just A Card Indie Week, and a great opportunity to introduce myself, Dylan, and Looksee, if you're new here!

I'm Hannah, the illustrator and overthinker here at Looksee - I design fun animal-themed illustrated greeting cards and gifts for lovely people like you!

Dylan is the Looksee studio cat, and occasionally helps to pack your orders...when he's not too busy eating or sleeping! He is the inspiration behind my Cosy Cat cards, gotta love a big stripy snoozy kitty!

Looksee is a small creative business in Glasgow, launched in November 2021. We strive to make our products and packaging as eco-friendly as possible.

I'm taking part in the Handmade Hour x Just A Card Christmas Fair, open from 21st November (today!) through Christmas 2022!

Just A Card (Day 2)

If you've followed me since the beginning, you'll know I took part in Just a Card Indie Week this time last year. And if you're new since then, you might be wondering what all this "Just a Card" natter is about...

Just A Card is a fantastic campaign founded by Sarah Hamilton to express how even the smallest sale transforms lives. Sarah read a quote from someone whose business had just closed, “If everyone who’d complimented our beautiful gallery had bought just a card we’d still be open.”, and it sparked the idea for the campaign! I have a link to the Just a Card story in my bio so please check it out to read it in full.

In a recent post on the Holly.co Instagram, Holly Tucker shared poll results that HALF of UK small business owners said they're genuinely concerned that this will be their last year of trading. HALF! This is absolutely devastating...and also totally believable.

This year, a lot of us are feeling the pinch, so it can be harder to shop small. I want to encourage you that even if it's "just a card" that you buy from a small business this year, rather than your entire Christmas shopping list, you are STILL a small business hero - because every sale, even the smallest ones, adds up!

So if there are small businesses you love and still want to see trading a year from now, please support them, because it's more important than ever this Christmas. NOW is the time to buy just a card, to leave a positive review for small businesses you've shopped with, to follow, to share, to sign up for their emails.

I will, will you?

Home & Community (Day 3)

Today is an opportunity to shout about some of the indie shops, small businesses, artists, and makers that I love, for Day 3 of @justacard Indie Week! Yippee!

First up is my lovely pal Iona of ionalundiedesign who creates the most beautiful hand-pierced jewellery, Christmas tree ornaments, and runs fantastic workshops! ✨

You already know how much I love Creative Strathaven, a gorgeous indie shop in Strathaven supporting over 40 different makers in Scotland (including me!). We did a chunk of Christmas shopping here this year, which you may have seen on my stories at the time 🎉

Some other small businesses I've shopped with recently and loved include (but are not limited to!) :

🌻 St. Mango - flump earrings
🌻 Wee Joys - scrunchies
🌻 Mind Be Kind - beeswax wraps
🌻 The Really Good Candle Company - candles
🌻 Charlene Dominick Textiles - botanical silk scrunchies
.
... this is just a small selection of some of my recent favourite businesses, there are so many other fab small businesses here in Glasgow and the surrounding area, and across the rest of the UK too, that I can't wait to shop with in future!

Events (Day 4)

This year, you can find me, Looksee, at the HH x JAC Christmas Fair, which runs online - so you can shop from the comfort of your sofa, without even leaving the house, yay! If you’re an introvert like me, then online Christmas fairs are gonna be your jam! The fair is already open and runs until Christmas - I’ve popped the link in my bio, so go check it out if you haven't already!

There’ll be a whole host of other fab small businesses too, so do check it out for shopping for all your Christmas presents and cards! And even if you can’t shop small this year, you can still go window shopping and follow a few of your favourites on Instagram to bookmark them for future gift shopping.

Indie Friday & Colour Friday (Day 5)

Did you know that I’m taking part in not just one, but TWO fantastic small biz alternatives to Black Friday today?

It’s Day 5 of Just A Card Indie Week, and we’re celebrating Indie Friday, a day for shopping independent.

It’s also Colour Friday, a celebration of colour and creativity that small businesses bring, as an alternative to the mass consumption of Black Friday.

The sparkling celebratory offer for my November first business birthday is still active - but not for much longer – so snap up 25% off today! No code needed, offer applied automatically at checkout.

Reminder: Please be kind and patient with small businesses and the real-life people behind them over the next few weeks especially. We will be doing everything we can to get your orders to you in time for Christmas - there will likely be some delays that are out of our hands though due to the potential Black Friday postal chaos and the upcoming Royal Mail strikes. So shop small, shop local where you can, shop early where possible – and know that your small business purchases this season will absolutely be worth the wait even if they take a little longer to get to you than usual.

What are you waiting for? It's time to shop consciously and colourfully with small indie biz! Let's support UK small businesses, artists, makers, and craftspeople this Christmas, and always!

Like this post? You can see my journal from Just A Card Indie Week 2021 here.