Karla Ebrahimi: Expanding her line of greeting cards

by LINDA HUBBARD GULKER on MARCH 4, 2011

That she’s had to take over her son’s bedroom for her studio and is talking about outsourcing fulfillment is all good news for Karla Ebrahimi, who started her greeting card business, Sky of Blue Cards, just a little over two years ago.“My background is as a graphic artist, and my first job was at Hallmark in Kansas City,” she said while showing a visitor around her studio. “I launched Sky of Blue Cards as an online stationery boutique offering letterpress and offset printed cards in November 2008 with 12 holiday cards and gift tags.”

Karla came to Menlo Park in 2000, a move that coincided with the birth of her daughter. “While free lancing out of my home, I also did birth announcements for friends, which was my favorite thing to do. With my husband and friends encouragement, I took the step of stopping the free lance assignments and began concentrating on my own designs.”

While still relatively new in the greeting card business, she decided to take the plunge and attend the big National Stationery Show last May. “It was huge, and helped get us into some stores around the country. We’ll go again this May – with a bigger booth and better location.”

This year she’ll be able to showcase her newest product, birthday cards. “They’re 90% of the market,” she said. “It’s what we need to do to get into more stores and get more representation around the country.”

Her line of birthday cards features 24 designs. Sixteen of the 24 cards are letterpress and eight are flat, offset printed. Within the line there are a number of groups. For example, one is a trilingual group of cards (“Un-Uno-One”, “Dos-Two-Deux”, and “Tres-Trois-Three”) for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd birthdays, that features a juxtaposition of modern and old-fashioned styles.

“After last year’s Stationery Show, I felt we were finally taking flight,” she said. “And while we’re still in the early stages, I feel we’re poised for more success with the birthday line.”

In addition to online, Sky of Blue Cards are available locally at Village Stationers in Menlo Park and Paperwhirl, Letter Perfect, and University Art in Palo Alto.