Phoebe turned six in April. When you rescue a dog, you can get an idea of their age from the kennels, and celebrate their gotcha day – but it’s not often you get to know their birthday. But last year when taking The Scamps for a health check up at the vets, they told us Phoebe’s birthday was on her microchip. So now, much like the Queen, she celebrates twice a year: her birthday in April, and her Gotcha day in September.
I came across Scoff Paper on Instagram whilst browsing for independent brands to buy her a birthday present from. Instantly, the idea behind the edible cards made me chuckle – there was a clear gap in the market, and Scoff Paper have filled it with with joy and humour.
The brand is the brainchild of Gemma Connolly, who suffered a heart attack at the age of 30 and decided to take a step back from her marketing and advertising job. The Lancashire dog-lover started to volunteer for Guide Dogs for the Blind and has raised and trained 11 dogs, saying it ‘saved her life’, becoming an ambassador for the association. She went on to launch Scoff Paper as a safe, fun and entertaining product for pups and pooch parents alike.
Phoebe loves to shred, and adores nothing more than an empty Amazon package or the end of a wrapping paper roll. Sometimes, you can’t get your item out of a cardboard box fast enough. When we first rescued her, we had to stop her ripping the post from the letterbox, as she nearly had our postman, Nathan’s, fingers off. I knew she would absolutely adore her birthday card.
The Scoff Paper greetings cards were the first ever ethical, rawhide-free cards for dogs, purely created for your dog to have five minutes of pure joy. They stock birthday, gotcha day, get well soon and just because cards, as well as a selection of seasonal cards which rotate throughout the year – like Easter and Christmas.
The cards are made using natural ingredients, as well as Omega 3 and Omega 6, and are vegan friendly, grain free and gluten free. These can also be personalised, or standard, which is absolutely adorable – I chose a party pooches design for Phoebe, and had it personalised with her name. You get to choose from five different flavours, including bacon, beef, cheese, chicken or peanut butter, or, opt for unflavoured. We went for bacon, naturally.
Much like ordering a card online from the likes of Moonpig or Funky Pigeon, Scoff Paper gives you the chance to add a message to the card for 50p. I decided to leave the card blank, and ordered one of their edible pens to write my own message for her birthday. The unique pens come with a narrow and bold tip, so you can release your inner artist on the card – the ink is vegan friendly and contains no harmful ingredients. Pens costs £2.50, and can be reused over and over again, so it’s definitely worth picking one up.
Eco-friendly and ethical, Scoff Paper have sourced recyclable paper envelopes for the cards, which are not edible, but provide all the authenticity of your pooch receiving a card in the post. The card arrives wrapped in cellophane to lock in the scent of the card and to stop it getting damaged. Scoff Paper have sourced a bio-degradable cellophane which is plant based and compostable – so we’re really chuffed to bits with their sustainable ethos.
When you unwrap the card, you do get a strong whiff, like opening a bag of bacon rasher crisps. The card is a little bit like that edible money you’d have as a kid, made with pet friendly ingredients. Because it is quite delicate, I wrote quite lightly on the card using the pen, and I really pleased to see it hadn’t leaked through the paper. If you hold the card up to a light source, you can see the message, but otherwise, you can’t!
On her birthday, Phoebe was over the moon with her card and spent 10 minutes ripping it into tiny pieces before she and Frank ate it! Scoff Paper have certainly gained themselves a repeat customer with The Scamps – and we’ll definitely be ordering for Winston’s Gotcha Day.
