Crafting Cards Creatively

What’s in a brand?

With Kellogg’s it’s cereal. Old Navy is clothing.

And, Kathy Davis? The Horsham-based artist, author and national greeting card designer packages something a little less tangible: Joy.

“It just boggles my mind. They talk about Kathy Davis as this big brand,” said the friendly and down-to-earth Davis, while lunching at her regular spot, the  in Horsham. “It’s almost like an out-of-body experience for me. I said, ‘All I really want to do was scatter joy.’ ” 

Building a brand

Just like that, a light switch went on and her brand was born.

Not that Davis needed a brand identity to share joy via the beauty of art. The  grad and Horsham resident has been doing exactly that for the last two decades. 

To date, she's sold an estimated 300 million cards – 40,000 per day – for a half dozen greeting card companies, including Recycled Paper Greetings and her latest, American Greetings, with whom she has an exclusive licensing agreement. In the three years since signing with American Greetings, Davis has sold an incredible 44 million cards. 

Despite the weak economy, Davis said she hasn't seen a drop in card sales. 

"People are spending more on individual cards," she said. Plus, she has e-cards (which she admits to sending pretty regularly too).

Her husband, Peter Walts, said cards, along with candy, cosmetics and cigarettes, make up the four C's that are "recession-proof."

Another element that could help Davis' sales stay strong is her ability to draw on her own life experiences when putting heartfelt sentiments to her vivid watercolor butterflies, sunny scenes and bright flowers. She’s used her calligraphy pen and fancy script to congratulate, to thank and to share in momentous occasions.

“I love being able to help encourage,” said Davis, who holds a monthly art gallery so her roughly two dozen employees can showcase their talents. “I love evolving even when I’m doing my art. I like the discovery of what could happen next.”

Kelli Snowgold, Davis’ brand manager at American Greetings, said she hopes to work with Davis in creating great products, and, of course, to “scatter joy.”

“Kathy’s work complements our art lines,” said Snowgold, who added that the card retailer had been “aware of her and appreciated her” long before signing with her. “Kathy has a warm authenticity to her voice that resonates with our consumers in a really heartfelt way.”

As part of her contract with American Greetings, Davis designs a minimum of 1,000 cards per year. Working a year ahead, Davis and her staff are currently designing a series called, “Hello Sunshine.”

Davis' foray into greeting cards 

A long-time lover of art, Davis said she lacked confidence early on, and, instead of majoring in art during college, she focused on education. After graduation, she worked for six years in the Methacton School District before taking time off to get her Masters degree in art education. Davis then worked for four years as an art teacher at her alma mater.

Then a young mother, Davis took time off to raise her children, Ben, 29 and Katie, 26 and decided to leave teaching for good.

“There was just something in my gut to do something creative on my own,” Davis said. “Everything interested me, which was the problem.”

She tried her hand doing freelance work for children’s books, textiles and Christmas cards and began attending trade shows.

“I had put together, in order to not go back to teaching, three to four part-time jobs,” she said.

Her work at a printer, for instance, taught her how to work quickly and under pressure – tasks that would come in handy as she built her card empire, particularly with American Greetings. She was also painting and teaching.

“All the things that didn’t fit anymore all came together,” Davis said.

Walts met Davis in 1991, a year after she started her company. Starting off small, Walts recalled that, at that time, her business filled a “corner of her bedroom.”

A former publishing company president, Walts worked with her on inspirational books and said he knew early on that she was the real deal. Now vice president of his wife’s company, he recalled telling Davis’ mother almost immediately that, “your daughter’s going to be a millionaire.”

“She’s authentic,” Walts said proudly. “She is the person that people relate to.”

Around the same time, Davis hired her first employee, Lorraine Bowen, with whom she’d been friends since sophomore year of high school.

“In high school we were in color guard together,” Davis said. “I feel like she’s always there, carrying the flag.”

Bowen has worked for Davis for 20 plus years as her administrative director.

“She was the leader, even then,” Bowen said of high school, adding that she did not fathom her friend becoming such a nationwide success. “In high school you never think much past the next day.”

Returning to her roots 

Soon after starting her company – with Bowen at the helm helping to organize the countless card samples – Davis set up a small store and studio in the first floor of the Horsham Road plaza where her bright and spacious second floor studio is currently housed.

“That was my first office. We’ve moved several times since,” Davis said from her office, which overlooks the rest of the plaza. “I feel like queen of Horsham here.”

Along with the new, larger space that Davis and her employees moved into last year came another regular, working full-time addition: Davis’ daughter, Katie.

A photographer and graphic designer, Katie Davis said the good definitely outweighs the bad in terms of working with a family member.

“We can be really honest with one another,” she said. “It’s a different kind of communication we have.”

In the end, communicating is what Kathy Davis hopes to do. Through her colorful art, her fancy scripted handwriting, her warm words and her evolving product lines that have taken her brand into the home décor, fabric sector and beyond.

Still overly humble in her role of card-crafter, Davis shakes her head in disbelief at the thought of people seeking her out, wanting to meet her, or looking specifically for her cards. A woman wrote her recently to share a story of a store clerk who relayed that before she died she hoped to meet Davis. 

“It’s still surprising me,” Davis said, adding that, to her amazement, the Kathy Davis brand is catching on. “Somebody said, ‘it was so Kathy Davis.’ ”