Cards So Unique, You Should Frame Them: Card Blanc

We think you Clever Parents will love Card-Blanc and their beautiful cards where every piece is truly a work of art. After hand-making her son’s birth announcements to rave reviews from family and friends, Kathy Martin decided to make a business of it. Clever Parents caught up with owner, designer and creative mind behind the company and learned about the moms who assemble her cards, what inspires her designs, and how running the business is a lot like raising a child.

Clever Parents: Tell us about your business.
Kathy Martin: Card-Blanc was launched October 2002 in Northern California. That was about a year after my son Christopher was born. I hand-made his birth announcements and first birthday invitations along with annual Christmas cards and ornaments and friends would always tell me I should create a business selling my crafts. I was always hesitant because I didn’t know the first thing about starting a business, but after a friend of mine started a business selling crocheted baby hats I thought, “If she could do it, I can do it.” From then on if I didn’t know something, I asked or researched it and took things one step and one day at a time, learning as I went.
In October 2004 we moved the business to North Carolina, still keeping our retailers in California and continuing to branch out into additional states by exhibiting at gift shows like the National Stationery Show in New York last May.

CP: What inspires your work?
KM: The happiness I see on someones face when opening one of my cards and being able to share my cards with others is what inspires me.
Often while I work on a particular design, say a wedding card for instance, I’ll think of a bride who receives it, maybe from her mom or best friend and what that card will mean to her. Maybe she’ll display it in a frame with some other wedding momentos or perhaps she’ll put it in her scrapbook and have it to look at and read for years to come? It’s fun to imagine where each card will go. I know it sounds kind of corny, but that’s really what goes through my mind.

CP: How did you come up with the idea to find moms to assemble your cards?
KM: Once my business grew to the point where I was no longer able to assemble the cards myself I had to figure out who would make them and I didn’t like the idea of overseas manufacturing. As a stay-at-home, I know there are many of us who would like an opportunity to use our crafting skills to earn extra money without having to compromise on family time. It just seemed like a natural fit and it’s worked out great.
Currently Card-Blanc has four card assemblers, three who are moms. This year we will be hiring another couple people as we add more sales representatives. If someone is interested in a position they can e-mail me at kathy@card-blanc.com.

CP: What does it take to be an assembler?
KM: The perfect candidate to assemble my designs is someone with paper crafting experience, like scrapbooking. Scrapbookers usually work with many types of embellishments and adhesives and enjoy the craft. As far as time commitment, we meet once weekly to exchange finished cards with new “work orders” and materials. I expect the ladies to make a minimum of 100 cards per week, up to about 400. Also, when someone is new, they spend about an hour training on the exchange night learning how to assemble the specific cards they will need to make.
CP: How many retailers offer your cards?
KM: We currently have 195 retailers in the United States and Canada that sell Card-Blanc greetings. On our website, under “retailers” we have a list of the stores that carry our cards. Anyone interested in setting up a wholesale account with Card-Blanc, can fill out the “catalog request” form on the website. We would love to have some North Carolina retailers!

CP: How many sales reps do you have? Are you looking for more? What do you look for in a sales rep?
KM: Currently Card-Blanc is represented by two companies, one in California, the other in Illinois. The California based company has 11 reps who sell in both California and Nevada. The Chicago, Illinois based company has 10 reps whose territory also includes Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
I always keep an eye out for good representatives, either individuals or companies to fill regions not yet covered. I look for reps with experience, a good relationship with retailers in their region, and their products should compliment my cards.
CP: What is the most challenging part about running your own business?
KM: The biggest challenges to running this business is learning how to grow and how to keep up with the growth. It’s a lot like raising children, there’s no owners manual with all the answers and step-by-step instuctions.

CP: What do you like the most about running your own business?
KM: The freedom to create, make decisions, and make my own schedule. I work a lot of hours, but I can work those hours around my son’s schedule and not miss out on his childhood.

CP: Any tips for other Clever Parents who are thinking about starting a business?
KM: Go for it! Starting a business seems daunting when you have never done so before, but if I can do it, you can too! Expect to work a lot, be challenged and garner big rewards.

CP: What did you do before you started Card-Blanc?
KM: Before Card-Blanc, believe it or not, I worked as an Avian Vet Technician. Talk about a 360 degree turn! I worked at “For the Birds” in Los Gatos California where we treated exotic parrots and helped local wildlife groups treat hawks, owls, geese and other types of birds. We did a lot of parrot rescue as most people have no idea what they get themselves into when they purchase a bird. Many parrots find themselves without a home or bounced from home-to-home after their owners discover they bite and are very loud. I cared for many parrots at my home until they were able to go to a permanent home in Maui, Hawaii funded by an organization called Mended Wings, or we could find them a home with people who understood what these birds are like and what their requirements are. Additionally, I boarded parrots at my home when their owners went out of town. At times I had 20+ birds in my care! It was very rewarding work, but a lot of work, and when my husband and I decided to have a baby, I had always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom.

CP: What are some of your outside activities / hobbies?
KM: I love scrapbooking! I actually got into scrapbooking as a bi-product of Card-Blanc. I subscribe to several scrapbooking magazines to keep abreast of the latest paper craft trends and I was always in awe of the beautiful layouts. It was the journaling that got me hooked because I realized that if I didn’t write down the stories that go along with my pictures, I’d forget most of it by the time my son went off to college!
I’m also a huge fan of hiking so on my days off, I usually can be found trekking in one of the area’s many beautiful parks. Other hobbies and interests include photography, reading, entertaining, and I’ve recently been sucked into the SuDoku craze!
CP: How did you come up with the name Card-Blanc?
KM: One day I was sitting around with a girlfriend trying to come up with a name. She and I just started brain storming and throwing out names. Many were silly and at some point Card-Blanc just rolled off my tongue. I was trying to think of something that sounded chic, like Carte-Blanche. In French, blanc means white and since all of my cards start with a white, column textured card stock, it was perfect. And as they say, “the rest is history.”

You can see more of Card-Blanc cards at www.card-blanc.com where you can also see a list of retailers. Don’t see a retailer in your neck of the woods? Tell your favorite stationery store about these one-of-a-kind pieces.