Woman finds her true calling: cards

Karen Bullard saw an opportunity for a new business after her son was born.

She looked for birth announcements but couldn't find any she liked.

"I wanted something simple and whimsical," she said. "I thought then that I could come up with something. I have always loved stationery and invitations. Perusing through a stationery store is one of my favorite things to do."

Two years before her son was born in 2002, Bullard attended the National Stationery Show in New York City. "I did it for fun. I wanted to see what was out there. It was a little intimidating."

But in 2004, Bullard started Karen Cole Paper stationery products company.

After deciding to open her own company, Bullard created several designs and samples and started her own Web site before she began selling the idea to retailers.

"It was a slow process," she said.

She took her stationery products to a showroom at the Atlanta Gift Market to get some feedback. Instead of feedback, she got orders.

"The woman that owned the showroom showed my work to a store owner and that was my first sale," she said. "It was very exciting. She sold my products to other stores as well."

Bullard focused on social stationery such as invitations for baby showers and weddings. She now offers six collections.

"I wasn't sure what direction to go in," she said. "I would drop designs from the line that weren't well received."

As word of her products spread, Bullard began getting calls from sales representatives around the country wanting to represent her. She took her products to the 2007 New York Stationery Show and received an overwhelming response.

"It was a good place to introduce my new designs and get feedback," she said.

The Lynchburg native started her company with 30 designs.

Today she has about 100 designs and sells everything from imprintable invitations and announcements to note cards and note pads.

Her sales jumped from $200 in 2004 to about $30,000 in 2008. Her products are sold in stores in 19 states as well as online.

She creates her designs from the studio office above her garage at her home in Goochland County.

"Working at home was hard to do at first when my children were little, but I wanted to be at home for them," she said. "I draw when my kids are asleep or outside playing."

Sheldon Paul, owner of Paul's Invitations and Fine Papers on Grove Avenue in Richmond, has known Bullard since the early 1990s when she was a customer in his store. When he saw her designs, he was impressed.

"Karen is a very good artist," he said. "Her [products] have their own unique look. They have a nice shelf presence."

To expand her business, Bullard attended the Licensing International Expo in New York City last year hoping to land a few licensing deals for her whimsical designs. Manufacturers go to the Expo to find artwork for their products.

"I made some contacts with companies that produce calendars and office supplies," she said. "I also met with a fabric company and a ceramic company. If they need designs, they will call me to see if I have any."

One of the ceramic companies interested in Bullard's artwork, California-based Hausenware, is making sample products with Bullard's designs.

"They will take those to the gift show," she said. "Hopefully, a buyer will come by and say 'I want this line.' Then I get the royalty from their sales."

Bullard plans to donate 10 percent of all of her sales to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure charity.

"I wanted to find a way to give back," she said. "I lost a friend to breast cancer in 2003. I thought that Susan G. Komen would be a good organization. It impacts women, children and family."

Bullard's hand-illustrated designs have a loyal following.

The Collegiate School bookstore manager Kate Parthemos liked the "Go Cougars" notepads Bullard created for the school's Village Green Fair so much that she bought all of Bullard's extra stock.

"We've been carrying the notepads in the bookstore for almost two years," Parthemos said. "We go through them fairly rapidly. They sell well. They make great graduation and teacher gifts."

Copeland Casati has been buying Karen Cole Paper for the past three years.

"I love her work," Casati said. "Her hand-drawn designs are so personable and I love the color scheme on her computer designs. They pop. If I am going to have a party, they certainly say celebrate."