Kansas City, Mo. ? Hallmark Cards is entering the magazine market with a publication that features articles about relationships, home, crafts and food.

Titled simply Hallmark, the test launch of the bimonthly publication comes just as the battered consumer magazine industry begins to see signs of hope.

“I say better to launch during the late innings of a downturn than the early innings,” said Morgan Stanley publishing analyst Douglas M. Arthur. “There’s actually been some decent pickup in advertising lately, so this may not be a bad time.”

The debut issue of Hallmark hit newsstands and 350 Gold Crown Hallmark stores three weeks ago. Articles range from “Best Friends: Real Women Tell What Keeps Them Close, Year After Year” to “One Cake, Five Occasions” to “Making Family Memories.”

“It’s about seizing the day,” editor Susan Wyland writes of the new magazine. “Celebrating the moment. Expressing your feelings. And most of all, never losing sight of why you get up every morning and who you do it for.”

Morgan Stanley’s Arthur who hasn’t seen the new magazine but said it would make sense for Hallmark to build on its highly recognizable brand name. He said consumer titles that do well in difficult economic times tend to be ones that speak to nesting issues.

“I guess this is an extension of their brand, and they’re certainly well known among consumers for that kind of expertise,” Arthur said. “It’s a tough call, but certainly it’s not a bad idea. It could be a great business if they have the right branding, recognition and distribution.”

Hallmark spokeswoman Julie O’Dell stressed the magazine is an extension of the Hallmark brand, not a catalog for Hallmark products.

A quarter of the magazine’s May/June pages are devoted to advertising, including two promoting specific movies on the Hallmark Channel, one for a special Maya Angelou-inspired Mother’s Day journal and one for Hallmark Chocolatier.

Otherwise, the ads come mostly from the top 50 advertising spenders, including No. 2 in 2002 General Motors and No. 8 Loreal.

“We don’t have any specific data, but we’ve had several positive letters to the editor, and lots of subscription cards have been returned with positive notes, so we’re feeling really good about some of the anecdotal stuff that’s come our way,” O’Dell said. “But that’s all it is. I can’t put any more quantifiable measure around it than that.”