Card Making Craze Becoming Big Business

Berne, IN, September 15, 2005 --(PR.com)-- Card making is becoming big business. More and more people are rejecting high-priced cards from the rack, and are choosing personalized, hand-crafted cards instead. Card making emerged on the heels of a virtual explosion of interest in scrapbooking, and has become the latest paper-crafting craze. 

The Greeting Card Association estimates that the average person will receive more than 20 cards this year, which represents a multi-billion dollar demand. Even so, traditional greeting card sales are down nearly 27 percent from three years ago. Electronic greeting cards have undoubtedly contributed to the decrease, but the Web isn’t the only force taking a bite out of the business. 

The decrease in card sales seems to be the result of a trend toward one-of-a-kind hand-made greetings. In today’s impersonal, automated society, personal creations somehow seem more satisfying. Cards made from scratch aren’t necessarily less expensive, but the results are certainly more rewarding. 

Industry surveys suggest that the number of consumers purchasing card-making supplies has grown steadily over the past three years, and interest seems to be spread fairly equally over all ages and regions of the country. 

Card giving is an American tradition, and in recent years people have become more thoughtful and sentimental. Because of that, artists like Judi Kauffman of Seattle, Wash., have become quite successful in marketing their unique card designs and distinctive card making techniques. 

Kauffman’s expertise has become a booming business. Her designs have found their way into a number of national publications, including a magazine called CardMaker, which was just launched in the spring of 2005 by Dynamic Resource Group of Berne, Ind. 

CardMaker magazine found an immediate audience, just as many other paper crafting publications have done. With its wide variety of patterns and its detailed instructions, readers can find ideas for cards that are tailored to every holiday and to other card-giving occasions too. 

For Internet savvy crafters, sites are available at the click of a mouse. For those who would rather buy a book or magazine that’s filled with card-making ideas, publications like CardMaker are available at newsstands everywhere. 

Whether it’s a magazine or an Internet card making site, the trend toward hand-made cards has become big business. Indications are that this business will continue to grow, and that it will take a sizeable chunk from the worldwide, billion-dollar market of personal greeting cards.

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