Handmade with love

By Rashika Fazali

The season of love is Monica de Lanerolle’s favourite and finest season of them all. For her, making a card is personal and an absolute expression of love. “If it’s Valentine’s, I am over the moon!” she exclaimed.

If you’ve been to Crescat Boulevard recently, you would have definitely seen Monica in the food court, selling her valued and unique collection of handmade Valentine cards.

Her Valentine cards are out-of-this-world creations showing off minute detail and once you see them, you will feel as if love is literally being poured out of the card when you notice the effort that has been put into producing such a fine card.

Since Monica’s cards are all hand made, each creation takes time. “When we make a card, sometimes it takes days,” said Monica. However, she revealed that she makes seven to 10 cards a day.

Under her care, she has employed two girls who have been working with her since inception, and she added that it took her one and a half years to train them.

She further mentioned that her husband helps her through the designing phase which is usually not an easy task. She added that she wastes so much of board in order to get the card to perfection and accordingly, in line with her heart and mind.

This year, she has made around 600 Valentine cards which are priced at Rs. 350 to 400 per card. She further added that usually she makes around 750 to 1,000 cards for every season

As we settled down for a chat, she mentioned that making cards comes from her youth. “I first made them for my parents, then my family and others. It’s an act of love,” said Monica adding: “I am a person who wants to create something for the person I love.”

Having started ‘Cards by Monica’ five years back, she revealed that she makes Valentine cards as a tribute of her love to her husband, “for the unconditional love he has bestowed upon me for over 42 years of our love relationship.”  

As Monica understands the need to show love through a simple card, her cards are all personalised. Her customers can choose from a range of verses and even add heart-warming labels such as ‘You’re truly amazing’, ‘You stole a piece of my heart’ and so on. “Love gives life to man and these expressions bring life, strengthens their love, brings restoration in friendships, brings healing and joy,” said Monica.

She also added that she has clients from across the globe. They range from royalty to heads of state to local clients from the corporate sector and others. They also have an excellent export order to the best outlets in Indonesia.