All In Her Cards

Known for her impeccable finishes, card-maker Uttara Shah’s gamble on the greeting card business has paid off well. Her ‘story’ begins a little over three years ago when a request from a friend for help with his wedding cards diverted her attention from her full-time graphic designing and advertising work to part-time greeting card making. The rest, as they say, is history. “I love the creative aspect of making cards,” she smiles, going on to elaborate about printing, paper quality, textures, embossing, stone and wood work. “It’s so much fun.” Uttara’s list of fun and favourite things also includes playing with her three-year-old daughter and travelling with her family. “Luckily, my husband and I both have common interests and enjoy exploring the art and culture of a place.” Although Uttara continues with her advertising work, her working hours are spent mostly catering to a growing list of elite clientele which revels in her ideas, be they announcing a marriage with a pop-up scented lotus card or even a neatly-boxed royal fan. Her passion has been much appreciated by clients who have egged her on to discover a unique proficiency for packaging small gift items too. “Each piece is distinctive in design and we never repeat our creations,” emphasises Uttara.

The lack of unique designer cards on shelves of stores here has provoked the entrepreneur to experiment with a line of her own which she hopes to make available within the next six to eight months. Also in the pipeline is a plan to extend the same services to a growing client base in the United States of America.