Is snail mail becoming a thing of the past? Our fast-paced modern world consists of emails, messenger chats, text messages, and phone calls. Gone are the days of handwritten notes, letters, and even invitations which are often done electronically now. I can remember when I was young how fun it was to get a letter addressed to me! Even though I rarely got mail addressed to me, it was awesome when it did happen. I had a few pen-pals when I was in elementary school. Young people today most likely do not know what a pen-pal is. I wrote regularly to a missionary to Kenya, Africa. She was such a sweet lady, and I am not sure why we stopped writing. I loved hearing about life in Africa, I envisioned wildlife roaming around as I read her notes. Her cards often had an elephant, zebra, or some other animal on the cover, with an inspirational Bible verse inside. I have no idea what I wrote in my notes to her. I also wrote to a young man that I met at a church revival meeting, he lived in Cleveland. I believe we were 10 or 11 at the time. We wrote about once or twice a month for about a year or so.
In the 90's I got into stamping and card making. In that time, there were several popular greeting card manufacturers. Giving cards was a very common thing to do for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, in times of loss, sickness, and even just to let someone know you were thinking of them. I loved making cards then, and I still do today. I even stamp the envelopes with a matching image to let the recipient know right away that there is something special inside. My craft room has hundreds of stamp images and a rainbow assortment of cardstock colors. Although I have not counted, I am certain that I have more than 100 different ink pad colors!
I have been thinking lately about our elderly loved ones. When I was young, our church would minister to the local nursing home. The church would hold a monthly dinner for them and would use the church van to pick them up and bring them to the church. There were several ladies that were very special to me, that would come to the dinner. They were so excited when I would talk to them, and they always wanted to hold my hand while we talked. During covid and the shut-down of everything, it saddened me deeply to hear that the nursing homes were locked down. The elderly was already lonely and sad and now they were isolated and cut-off from the world.
Covid impacted each of us, in many different ways. Lock-down was depressing, lonely and hard to deal with. For those who suffered from mental illness, the impact was devastating. The isolation from friends and loved ones proved to be too much for some. Sadly, I lost several friends to suicide. Friends and family who were in perfect health and never suffered from mental illness before, now found themselves struggling to function daily. It is more important than ever before to make sure our friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors know that we are thinking of them. A kind word is sweet like honey, and good for the soul. In a time where we are all busier than ever, it is often hard to find the time to reach out for a phone call, or to send a letter.
I have decided to use my passion for card making to make a positive impact. I am creating a card of the month club. I will mail a card every month to the person of your choosing, and I will also mail a card on their birthday for free. This is a total of 13 cards. The cards will be uplifting and have a positive message inside and signed from you! Please know that I am not doing this as a money-making thing, I sincerely want to send greeting cards to loved ones on your behalf. I am only charging $3.25 per month, $39 for the year. This will cover the cost of postage and supplies to make the cards. All cards will have a positive and inspiring message, some may even be humorous, because we all need a laugh and a reason to smile.
I am adding a few photos of cards I have made in the past.
