Carddies Limited

Carddies, the Card People to Colour and Go, was founded by two sisters, Raquel and Esther, and launched in 2012.

Carddies story: During a rainy seaside holiday Raquel started drawing card people for her three house-bound girls, using the backs of cereal packs and any card to hand. Since then Raquel has drawn hundreds of card people for many children, who colour them in and play with them for hours.

Raquel and Esther joined forces to develop this idea into a business and so the Carddies evolved. Their past experiences, working as a lawyer and accountant respectively, and as full time mothers of their seven children, have been useful. They wanted to make a product which they would love to buy themselves for their own children, and which their children would love.

All the Carddies, scenes and packaging continue to be drawn by hand by the two sisters.

The seven cousins were key advisers on many aspects of the business, including branding, packaging, current sets and future product ideas.

Toy features

•        Made in UK Carddies are sets of card people for children aged 3-10 to colour in/bring to life through imaginative screen-free play/story-telling.

•        Each themed set contains 12 double-sided, hand-drawn characters made of premium card, 12 high quality colouring pencils, 12 plastic stands, a double-sided hand-drawn card scene to colour in/use as a backdrop, with a naming card on the reverse; all inside a colourful sturdy box to be “taken with you wherever you go”.

•        Carddies keep children entertained at home, travelling, eating out, visiting friends/family, at weddings etc.

•        15 sets created by 2 sisters inspired by their children’s love of creative play: Ballet, Cavemen, Christmas, Fairies, Family One, Family Two, Farm, Football, Knights, London, School, Sports, Nativity, Pirates, Wedding. In addition, Carddies My Family is an extension/combination of the existing Family sets, designed to cater for many different types of family. (Carddies Wedding is also designed to reflect different scenarios/families.)

A wish to make the Carddies in the UK, as well as respect for the environment, has determined their choice of suppliers.

Awards. Carddies received the Award for Best New Product for Children when they launched in Top Drawer 2012, followed by many other awards (including of course SBS winners in 2012!)

Most recently Carddies won Gold in MadeForMums Toy Awards 2021 (Category: Best art/craft toy or kit 3 years+) and last Christmas Dad’s Choice 2020 (entered under Stocking Fillers category, and evaluated on “creativity, fun factor, value for money and whether they live up to the hype on the box”).

-In Christmas 2020 and again in Christmas 2021 Carddies were listed as best stocking fillers by Mumsnet.