This week we catch up with Laura from Laura Lonsdale Designs who speaks to us about her inspiring journey into the card industry. 

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Laura, I’m 34 and I live in Preston with my husband Ste, 1 year old Daughter Penelope, and our two guinea pigs Winnie & Betty! I’m card obsessed and love anything creative 🙂

How did you get into making cards? Was it always something you wanted to do?

Myself and my husband went through 6 rounds of IVF to get pregnant with my daughter. Not long after I found out I was pregnant, I was made redundant in my job in marketing. So, with lots of spare time on my hands I started designing cards. After our struggle with fertility, I first focussed my attention on IVF cards, as I always found there was little out there to support those going through IVF and fertility issues. I’d struggled an awful lot with mental health in recent years from what we had been going through and so I found it really therapeutic and a really nice way to turn my brain off and relax. From there grew a huge passion, and my ideas just kept coming! I now design cards for all occasions and have my own online shop called Laura Lonsdale Designs.

What’s your process behind making cards/coming up with ideas?

Literally anything, my own personal circumstances help me come up with a lot. I can wake up in the night with an idea out of nowhere, or quite often friends message me with things they’d like to see. My dad is also a huge help and he regularly messages me with ideas, some are much better than others, ha!

Has lockdown changed the way you work at all?

My card journey started not long before lockdown, and my entire maternity leave has been spent in lockdown. So I don’t know any different really, I have found I’m a lot more productive in a lockdown though!

What is your favourite card you’ve made and why?

My favourite card is my Sperm Meets Egg card. Its not my best seller by a long stretch. But it’s the first card I ever designed, and it came from our struggles to have a baby, so it’s one I hold very close to my heart. It’s a constant reminder to never give up on your dreams, and that wonderful things can come out of difficult situations!

Did you pick up any lockdown hobbies/do you have a recent lockdown binge watch to recommend?

Cards is my new hobby! There’s not a lot of time for much else with a baby haha! I’ve recently got into Ru Paul’s Drag race and love nothing more than getting in my bed, sticking that on and designing away with my laptop and a brew….oh and LOTS of biscuits 🙂

What are you most looking forward to as soon as the world goes back to normal or gets a little more normal over the next few months?

I’m most looking forward to my father in law having cuddles with our daughter, she’s 1 now and he’s never had a cuddle with her due to COVID so that will be a pretty emotional event when it happens!

Tell us one fun fact about yourself 🙂

Hmmm, well I once sang Backstreet Boys on karaoke in front of thousands of people in Berlin (check out the link here). No I can’t sing (as you’ll see) and no I wasn’t drunk, just having a wonderful time and happen to love Backstreet Boys, I mean who doesn’t right?!

To see more of Laura Lonsdale Designs, click on the link here.