Years ago I had to buy a greeting card for my mom for mother’s day. I did what many people do; I went into many shops looking at greeting cards. Spent large amounts of time flicking through loads of mundane greeting cards. The majority of them featured flowers, teddy bears, flowers, European people, and more flowers.
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With my mother being a very special person in my life and of Black descent, I wanted something unique and personal to her. It was hard to find a greeting card that reflected her Black heritage; I found out that I was not the only person who found the “Greeting Card Shopping” routine a problem.
Becoming fed up of all the searching I decided the only way I was going to get what I wanted was to design my own greeting card for her. The card I put together was very basic in principle. I found a Victorian gown that was worn by a queen from a magazine, and I got hold of a recent photograph of my mother. With me having a design-led background I used my skills to remove the person’s head and hands from the Victorian image and replaced them with my mother’s from the photograph. The final touch was the wording I placed on the front, which was simply “My Queen“.
Like I said very simple in principle but the reaction I received when I gave her the card was unexpected. I remember it like it was yesterday. She was in the kitchen on that Sunday morning when I handed her the card saying “Happy Mother’s Day Mom” She smiled as she always did, took the card opened the card saw the image read the words and she looked at me with tears of joy in my eyes. The effect it had on her was a shock, to say the least. From that moment I know what I had produced was the most special thing I could ever have given her.
Since that special moment, I never brought another greeting card again. I knew what I should do, which was to further my greeting cards to more people. However, after a tough 2 years after that event, I lost my mother to breast cancer. It shattered my world, to the point that I turned away from greeting cards and pursued a totally different career. At the start of my new retail career, I had the blessing of a new baby prince in my life. So I had to concentrate on raising a son and starting a new career without my mother in my life.
The year of change came in 2008 when I realised I was not completely happy doing my present career. I needed to bring to the forefront my design background and pursue the moment that was now a beautiful memory. At that point, I knew I had to focus on my creative side and bring out my own line of greeting cards that reflected people of colour and their cultural backgrounds.
When I design each card I put my all into it. The joy and passion I get from designing each card is a wonderful feeling, especially when someone purchases my cards and shares them with their loved ones, that’s the icing on the cake for me.
My fan club of family and friends love my creative style, they are always asking if I have any new designs finished. I also by request only produced personalized greeting cards which have included personal photographs, or custom-made graphic images. I have truly come to embrace my design talent and using the world around me as inspiration it has allowed me to add a special uniqueness to all my designs. I am always learning new skills and techniques, which are noticed in my designs, for they vary in style and composition a lot.
I understand we are all individuals, and one beauty is another dislike. I started JW Greetings in 2008 and I have not looked back since. The uplifting words I receive from people who have seen or brought my designs, let me know I’m on the right track. Through my website, I encourage communication from browsers, buyers, or receivers of my cards, for they are the people who are allowing me to continue in a career I love. I have dedicated my site to my belated mother ‘Lillian A Clarke’, a beautiful woman, a great teacher, a fighter – My Queen.