Bring Back the Note Card

I have a friend who sends thank you notes. Not via the internet but by snail mail. For over a year now I have been delighted when I receive one of these thoughtful missives. They are not wordy but she has obviously spent some time in the process of selecting the right note card with the right image. I find that I stand these notes around on my desk to view as I ponder the correct response. Sadly, until recently, it was often a quick personal message on a social media platform saying I received her delightful card.

Anyone who takes the trouble to find an appropriate card, research the correct address, buy stamps and send it off deserves at the least to know it has arrived. I used to make all my Holiday cards and eventually discontinued that because of an ever dwindling response. And email, and social media seemed to replace them.

But there are things the digital media just is not adequate to address like condolences and sympathy and offers to help out in trying times. Or even just a thank you note. In quick order I had a friend at last graduating with a advanced college degree, a stepdaughter's wedding, a new friend who lost her mother, and two other friends undergoing health issues. 

I spent an hour waiting for my sister at the airport perusing a variety of note cards looking for something appropriate. I settled on a few with blank insides so I could have my own say. 

I am an artist, and a photographer! Surely I could make my own. Amazon Prime has an endless supply of blank cards with envelopes in any color. I could paint on them. Or. . . well, the possibilities seemed endless. And that was not factoring in my photography. The opening image has been used on a couple cards. I try not to use them more than a couple times. This is not a new product line.

First four hand painted note cards.

I unearthed in the flat files of my studio watercolor paper I used to use to paint on. I now watercolor on canvas. What a great use for all the paper I always over bought. And the watercolor pencils and crayons! And my huge array of markers and pens. If nothing else I was making use of my overstock. And doing something other than playing solitaire on the computer waiting for the paint to dry on the latest painting.  And practicing brush work!

On watercolor paper

I sent one of my first cards out to my sister for her birthday. And the challenge was on. Debbie explored Hobby Lobby scrapbooking section and produced an original card to send me. It is the second from the left on the bottom photograph. Well, that raised the level. Back I went to shop at Amazon for stencils, and stamps, and stickers, and inks. The more cards I made the more people I found to send them too. One of my friends who got one is taking up water coloring to be able to make her own note cards. And a housebound friend has found that making note cards fills her days and allows her to contribute to her friends and relatives with something special. 

The hardest part was addresses. The advent of cellphones has almost killed out the telephone book. And in my rural area where they live isn't where they get their mail so you need P.O. Boxes and zip codes. Sometimes you just have to ask straight out. I thought groups and clubs I belong to would be a source and one was -- the garden club my thank you note friend got me to join. I began to spearhead movements to have some of my other groups to actually have mailing lists of at least their steering committees. 

I now have reasons to go to my mailbox to see what is there. And I stop in at the local post office to buy international stamps and mail my creations. My collection of handwritten missives grows. I found I had to have a way to display them. They remind me of the prayer flags in Tibet. The one on the far left is a handmade card using folding paper. It was made by an artist in Guam and sent by a mutual friend. (I have rice paper around!) The one on the far right is from my sister, again raising the bar, it invites me to begin planning our next road trip. The one immediately to the left of that is from a friend just exploring a creative side she is discovering.

The one to the left of that one, with the typewriter, is from the friend who started all this. Thank you, Ana. And Leslie, and Patricia, and Ramona, and Dianne, and Debbie. Yes, we are friends on Facebook, but this is a higher platform. One which cannot be hacked by Russian Bots. And so much more meaningful than "Thoughts and Prayers" post.

And clearly a new hobby. If you want one, send one.