Saying it with flowers

Gifting is an art done best when you are thoughtful! ‘Artist Shoppie’ is the brain child of Hyderabad-based Sonal Agarwal and Navneeta Reddy where they interweave creativity and thought together with a touch of love to create unique gifts! ‘Artist Shoppie’ is the place for anyone, who loves innovative personalised handmade masterpieces, and the USP is carefully crafted photo printed flowers. Its Gifting which is a mix of nostalgia and design.

24-years-old Sonal Agarwal started ‘Artist Shoppie’ in 2013 with Navneeta Reddy when they were still pursuing graduation. “This was just our way to get out of the limiting college walls and explore our highest potential. It was when a friend of ours wanted to gift something unique and personalised to her best friend on her birthday, and couldn’t find any suitable gifts, and she approached us to custom make something for her.

We created a personalised gift by printing a message on rose petals, which she loved so much that she started recommending us and that’s how the word spread in college. It was the beginning of a venture which fills this gap by providing bespoke gifts that are tailor-made to one's likings, different age groups and occasions,” says Sonal.

She adds, “In all these years of perfecting our craft, we have evolved into a one stop portal for all things customised. We have taken personalisation to another level altogether by introducing custom-embossing on fresh flowers. Anything like a message, name, or photo can be embossed onto the real roses.”

“To add to the beauty of the flowers we have designed exclusive packaging just for the flowers, which can encompass other goodies to go with and form a complete gift. This was an instant hit and we are fortunate to have received so much love for our idea from the celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Shradha Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Anita Dongre, Nikhil Sidhartha, Ritu Varma, Adivi Sesh, etc. And seeing the tremendous response, we recently launched our best seller infinity roses, which last for more than a year. These are real roses and stay fresh for more than 365 days without any water or maintenance. This we developed after a lot of trial and error.”

Despite being from a business family, Sonal never thought of becoming an entrepreneur. She says, “This venture has taught me so much and made me a better person both professionally and personally. Working on my dream project never looked like work. It was more fun than work honestly, I have enjoyed everything that came with it. I met some amazing people along the journey. So, I am thankful for them, who stood by and guided me throughout. Of course, it wouldn't have been possible without my ever-supportive family.”

She wants to start a social enterprise focusing solely on floral gifting, which would be an epitome of quality and design when it comes to flowers and with every box bouquet purchased, “We would donate a meal to the less privileged children for whom a three-day meal is a dream!”