Christmas Correspondence

Just a reminder that our Letter Writing Club is canceled for the month of December.   It's that time of year again, when we send off our best wishes through the post, and around the world, in the form of Christmas cards. I love this season, when you can hold a stack of cards and envelopes, freshly stamped and addressed and ready to be dropped off at a mailbox. Christmas cheer from our home to all sorts of houses and apartments and families and homes around the world. I'm of the mind that you should send Christmas cards to anyone and everyone you'd like, even if you haven't heard from them in years. This is the time of year for reconnecting with people who bring joy into your life, and for sending some joy back out. You can see all of our Christmas cards here, but this year I'm particularly excited for our new cards from Small Adventure, a small card company we just picked up. I think my favourite must be this one, I've long been dreaming of an old RV and a road trip down to New Mexico and Arizona and to see the Grand Canyon. Of course Christmas time is the perfect for a little extra in the envelope. You can include tea bags (especially apple or cinnamon smelling ones for this time of year), flat ornaments, bookmarks or stickers, temporary tattoos, photos, or little trinkets, like our Fortune Teller Fish - does anyone remember these from our early days? This year, with Caleb old enough, he's making a few cards himself to be sent out. I'm mostly just going to slide them in for a few cards to family or friends close enough to know Caleb, I'm trying not to make people who just know me or Jon feel obligated to hang any future Picassos up on their fridge. But I think my favourite thing to add in is a little extra note, particularly for friends or those that I haven't seen for a while. Sometimes the space on a card is enough for some good wishes, but not enough to tell a person everything you need to say. It doesn't have to be long, but just enough so someone knows that you're truly thinking of them this season. Whether it's a note to a colleague or a family member you no longer get to see as often, it's a way to put a bit more meaning in the season, rather than just some jingle bells and apple cider (although I'll take both of those as well). The paper in the photo is this here, which has a bit of a subtle border to it, and I also like using textured paper, like G. Lalo, or something just a bit fancy, something nice for the holidays, but any paper will do. As with all good things in life, it's the thought that counts. With the baby waking up willy-nilly and not really having a solid chunk of time to get cards done, my strategy this year has been to pile everything into one box, and do it piecemeal, finishing one card or two whenever I have the time. While this strategy originally sounded good to me, it admittedly is running later and later into December and I'm still fairly far from done. We'll have to see how things go. If you are expecting a card from me and don't get one until February, remember it's the thought that counts. a As a reflection of my state of disorganization, I haven't even gotten Canada Post's Christmas stamps yet! They also have a great Hanukkah stamp as well, very wintry. By this point, I doubt I'm actually going to get them to put on this year's cards, but I might pick them up anyways and see about putting them on next year's cards. In case you missed it, a few years ago I wrote a post with a few tips on sending out Christmas cards. Most of these tips still hold true - especially gathering all your addresses up in one painful go. My list seems to grow exponentially longer each year, and one of these years I'm going to really sit down and get organized - no more scraps of paper or the backs of envelopes torn off, floating loose in notebooks or stapled in. It's a lovely sort of thing, though, to compile lists and compare and see how things have changed and grown over a year. New vendors and customers and friends, all over the span of 12 months that have flown by. The growth of the shop, and, this year, the growth of our family, the many hands that helped us welcome the new baby into the world.     Jon found this old two-seater school desk, with holes for ink ink pots and a shared shelf in between. Caleb's side is the right, and mine the left, but usually it's just a giant pile of art materials and half-finished crafts and stationery supplies. And here's what it really looks like when I do crafts with Caleb. I say this partially in jest, because Caleb actually does have a surprising amount of focus and willingness to get tasks done, but when he can hear a truck beep-beep-beeping as it backs up into our courtyard, the game is lost. I do believe he will miss this window and its courtyard views when we move.