A SAP tech analyst Jyotsna K has an additional name card, one qualifying her as a crafter of greeting cards, always customised and sometimes elaborately so with the process of creation taking bites out of multiple days. Her works are up on Instagram (@that.corporate.artist), the page title underlining two parallel universes she occupies. Handcrafting greeting cards with a tone meant for the receiver and no other being in the entire cosmos was not meant to be her day job; it never was, and did not morph into one along the way. On the grounds that the works, as presented on Insta through reels, are strikingly good, it can come across as her primary job. Hence a clarification from her is in order.
Jyotsna K (@that.corporate.artist) is a SAP tech analyst whose corporate job stretches from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. She dedicates a few quiet hours in the morning to her art.
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“I never planned this as a business,” Jyotsna spells out. “People kept asking me to make something meaningful for someone they loved. That trust pushed me to continue. Working an evening shift as a SAP tech analyst (4 pm to 1 am) gives me a few quiet hours in the mornings, which I dedicate to my art — usually around three hours for creating orders or filming reels. On weekends, I shoot content in bulk and schedule it through the week. It’s not always easy to balance both, but doing something I truly love brings immense joy and keeps me going.”
Besides making personalised greeting cards for customers, she also teaches how to make them, through workshops. A cache of reels on her Insta page function somewhat like tutorials, dishing out DIY greeting card ideas for special days — Teacher’s Day, Father’s Day and so on.
A painstaking but fulfilling way to greet someone. A work by Jyotsna K.
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Handcrafted cards obviously do not roll off the assembly line, and they gobble time like a gourmand. On an average, work on a handcrafted card is wrapped up in two days, obviously given her corporate job, with free hours snatched out of those days. But Jyotsna also runs marathons with these greetings. Scrap books with ten to twelve pages take several days, while resin elements require up to six days simply to dry. “Waiting becomes part of the experience,” says Jyotsna, a resident of Adyar. “When someone orders a New Year card early, it already shows care.”
Personalisation is ever an unpredictable child, there is no telling what new demand it has tucked in its armpit . Some customers arrive with reference reels saved on their phones, but many come with stories instead. “They tell me about their journey, their relationship, their memories,” she says. These narratives are translated visually through photographs, handwritten messages, song references, dates and timelines. “It is never just decoration. It is about their story.”
Handmade greeting cards start at ₹200, while scrapbooks are priced per page depending on complexity. Pricing often invites questions. “To some people it looks like just paper,” she admits. “But behind it is time, creative effort, multiple revisions, and quality material. Only the maker understands the patience involved.”
Jyotsna notices that younger customers respond strongly to handmade New Year greetings. “Gen Z values emotional connection,” she says. “They want something intentional. Something that feels chosen, not forwarded.”
Warmth on paper
At age 11, a child would not be expected to carry projects from craft class at school over to the home, let alone carry the weight of a craft-based brand on their slender shoulders.
Kavya Aravind at work; the 11-year-old makes customised greeting cards with quilled paper.
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Kavya Aravind, 11 years old, carries the latter responsibility without flinching from its rigours. A student of Velachery-based Sunshine Chennai Senior Secondary School, Kavya runs Krafty Kings, quilling greeting cards, patiently coaxing flowers, trees and festive motifs (an immediate example being Christmas trees) out of thin paper strips. Greeting card making fits into the margins of her days shaped around school, homework and weekends — the support she receives from her parents ensures she does the balancing act commendably well.
“I started making greeting cards when I was in third grade,” Kavya says. She learnt the art of quilling from a neighbour, beginning with a simple card adorned with quilled flowers. While not placing a cap on creatively, Kavya respects the power of seasonality while crafting greeting cards. For example, Christmas and New Year have their unique idioms, flavours and even tropes. She settles designs into the language of the season without a frown. “My friends asked me to make a Christmas greeting card with a tree,” she says, as if such requests were inevitable.
Some of the greeting cards made by Kavya.
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Simple greeting cards can be completed in twenty to thirty minutes; the one with intricate designs, close to an hour. The tools are modest. Paper. Quilling strips. Glue. A slender quilling tool. Yet the smallest step often proves the most unforgiving. “The sticking part is the most difficult,” Kavya admits. “If we do not put the right amount of glue, it will come off and we have to start again.”
Kavya prices her greeting cards at ₹ 200; and canvas wall hangers at ₹ 250. Orders now arrive through WhatsApp groups.
Published – December 27, 2025 06:34 pm IST
