Pictured is owner of Heart On My Sleeve, Karen Burke.

Heart On My Sleeve enterprise was born ‘to start conversations’

"Heart On My Sleeve was born to start conversations." The words of local business owner Karen Burke who has been selected to feature in Showcase - Ireland’s International Creative Expo which kicks off in Dublin this weekend.

Heart On My Sleeve Greetings is based at The Enchanted Giftshop in Tullamore and it specialises in designing and creating beautiful personalised cards and gifts for customers all around Ireland.

Showcase - Ireland’s International Creative Expo takes place in the RDS, Dublin from Sunday, January 22 to Tuesday, January 24, with over 365 exhibitors and over 3,000 visitors from Ireland and overseas expected to attend. Other Offaly exhibitors include Millbee Studio and Shannonbridge Pottery.

Speaking about featuring in the prestigious event, Karen Burke said: "We are thrilled to be chosen by Local Enterprise Office Offaly to take part in Showcase 2023. Like many small businesses, the turmoil in the world over the last two plus years has had a negative effect on all aspects of business.

"It is a very welcome opportunity to be able to show our range. Heart On My Sleeve was born to start conversations. To find words when you are struggling to express how you feel, when somebody suffers a devastating loss like the death of a parent, a sibling, a child 'sorry for your loss' just doesn’t seem enough.

"Compassionate people have a need in them to reach out and fix somebody else’s pain. Receiving an unexpected card in the post can be the brightness in a dark day."

The family run business started in Enchanted Gift Shop in 2012. "One day a lovely lady came in to us looking for a token to send to someone who had suffered a miscarriage. 'I can't send a get well card“, she explained, 'and yet I really want the mother to know I am thinking of her and my heart goes out to her.'

"We realised that there are so many things that happen in life where you really want to send a card or a gift to someone, but there actually isn’t an appropriate product to send. And that’s where the idea for Heart On My Sleeve began. We wanted to write a range of verses that can express your sentiments in many situations where words fail you," said Karen.

Showcase is an annual destination for retail buyers from Ireland and more than 20 other countries, including the UK, North America, Middle East, Asia and Mainland Europe, all keen to see the very latest designs from Ireland’s top brands and craft producers. The fair is an international launch pad for the Irish designers, manufacturers and craftspeople who unveil their new season collections across fashion, health and wellbeing, jewellery, home and giftware.

Chair of Showcase, Mary Palmer, said: “Showcase marks one of the most important events in the design and crafts sector’s calendar. For many, this is their first trade show of the year, a chance to launch their new collections and secure orders for the year ahead. Attracting buyers from Ireland and around the world, Showcase’s strength lies in its unique identity and high-quality display of Irish design and crafts.”

Head of Operations of Design & Crafts Council Ireland, Mary Blanchfield, added: “Now in its 48th year, Design & Crafts Council Ireland is delighted to see the return of Showcase in January 2023 at the RDS. With the help of the RDS, this event offers Irish makers an international platform to grow their businesses and the chance to come together to celebrate the creativity, the impact and the importance of the heritage of the Irish craft and design sector globally.”