Love, Actually

Find cards for thanking Mom or congratulating a grad at knottycards.com.

While the slogan is “because cards tie people together,” you’d be wise to choose the recipient of a Knotty Card carefully—no matter how hilarious you think it is. “I write each birthday note as if it’s going to my sister,” says owner, copywriter, and graphic designer Casey Sweeney. “So they can get pretty raunchy.”

Knotty Cards launched in 2015, after Sweeney’s now-husband suggested transforming her poster-print Etsy shop into one for greeting cards. “It took a bit of convincing. I had to sell at least eight cards to make up the cost of one poster,” she recalls. But while a customer might purchase a single poster, card purveyors buy in bulk—repeatedly.

Sweeney releases new designs at seven points throughout the year, making sure to hit important holidays. Cards are written, hand-lettered, and illustrated in her West Ashley abode, then printed locally before being sent to online customers and wholesale clients across the country, delivered to local shops The Skinny Dip and Indigo Home, or sold at artisan markets.

So if the birthday wishes are written for her sis, what about the rest? “They’re all snippets from my life,” says Sweeney. “Love cards are for or about my husband; Mother’s and Father’s Day cards are for my parents. It’s what I find so fascinating: identifying these universal pieces of humor that stem from my specific relationships. It really makes you wonder how different any of us actually are.”