Book "By the Batch" Great for Card Manufacturers

Book Review: By the Batch: Creative Cards, Postcards, Envelopes & More

Having spent over a decade running a handmade greeting card business, and teaching about it, I've yet to see a book that addresses how to "manufacture" handmade greeting cards, so you can actually make a living doing it.

The book "By the Batch: Creative Cards, Postcards, Envelopes and More" by Judi Kauffman is oriented towards the hobbyist who wants to make batches of cards for invitations, trading, or holidays, but it's also useful as a beginner's guide to producing cards in quantities, and how to create a set of cards with unifying themes.

For anyone who is seriously considering starting a handmade card business, I would recommend using this book as a workbook of lessons to learn about different methods you might use to mass produce your cards. It's possible you might find one media easier to manufacture, than the one you're currently using.

The book discusses how to set up a work table, make supplies last, buy in bulk, and has suggestions on how to work in small spaces. A variety of media are explored such as collage, velvet, polymer, embossing, stamping and several others. There are professional color photos of people actually "making" the cards step by step, along with samples of finished product.

I thought one of the most helpful and interesting parts of the book was the 13 pages of layout diagrams that show how to work with the challenging limitations of the standard greeting card dimension (see samples).

I contacted the author, Judi Kauffman, and asked her what her goals were when she wrote the book. She said she wanted to prove that when making cards, "easy isn't cheating", and that making one-of-a-kind cards in series can be fast, efficient, and fun. Her aim was to offer theory and technique, and at the same time share her tips, and describe how to use foolproof layouts. Then card designers can use the book as a starting point, and head in their own direction.

More info on Amazon: By the Batch: Creative Cards, Postcards, Envelopes & More