Why Handmade Cards?

On Monday I wrote a post explaining why you should send a greeting card, regardless of whether it is handmade.  This a follow-up post answering why handmade cards are so much more meaningful than commercial cards.

Whether you make the card or you buy it from someone who did, time and effort went into the production of the card.  The card wasn’t spit out of a machine making countless card clones (nice alliteration, eh?)  In fact, most handmade cards are probably a “limited edition” (only made until the crafter runs out of supplies) or entirely one of a kind.

Not only did the crafter put effort into making the card, but the buyer (or the creator) put effort into figuring out what sort of card the recipient would like best, along with some extra time and money into getting that card.  Although handmade cards often speak for themselves, the value of the card is bumped up considerably if you write a heartfelt message inside the card instead of just signing your name.

The great thing about handmade cards is that they can stick around for a long time.  Facebook posts are all to soon lost in the deluge, e-cards are smiled at and deleted a week later, standard greeting cards are thrown away, memories of a phone call or an in-person conversation will fade but not so with handmade cards.  They are put on bookshelves where the recipient will smile and think of the sender whenever they see the card.  Even when the card is banished to the memory box it can still be enjoyed every time it is pulled out and is unlikely to be thrown away.

So why handmade cards?  They are gifts in and of themselves: gifts from the crafter, gifts of time, effort, or money from the giver, and gifts of encouragement and smiles to the recipient.