Something About a Handmade Card

Susan R. Opel

There’s something about a handmade card. We all know that, right? Well, what do you do with the ones that you receive?

It probably comes as no surprise that as a part of the Paper Crafts team, I receive lots of beautiful cards. As a matter of fact, I think that this year for my birthday, over half of the cards I received were handmade. For awhile, all of the cards are proudly displayed atop the entertainment center in my living room, but once the time has passed, I take each one down, smile at each lovely sentiment and contemplate my dilemma. What do I do with it now?

I have an aunt who gets a card in the mail, reads it and then discards it immediately. Yikes! I couldn’t do that! Bless your heart, Aunt Judy – but as a neat freak, I do struggle with holding onto too many things. They crowd my life. But those handmade cards – they’re just too lovely and thoughtful to pitch.

So I came up with a plan. An office cubicle always needs a little sprucing up, so I’ve created a happy little area where I can display my cards – birthday cards, thank you cards, Christmas cards and hello cards. They add color to the dull grey of my cubicle. And each one makes me smile.

So many lovely handmade cards! Thanks, friends!

Looking at my wall of loveliness inspires me to be thoughtful. It gives me that little extra nudge that I need to remember to send cards to those who mean so much to me. I think about how much I enjoyed receiving the card, and I think about how good it would feel to give a card to someone else. Someone who is special. Someone who is sick. Someone who is hurting. Someone who has reason to celebrate!

Where will one of your cards appear next? On a refrigerator? On a bedside table in a hospital room? In a tent in Afghanistan? It’s lovely to consider the journey of each handmade piece of love. Mine are displayed in my cubicle. What do you do with yours? Leave me a comment and I’ll pick five winners to each receive a brand new stamp set from Lawn Fawn! All comments must be received by midnight (MDT) on Friday, May 14.

Meet the new stamp sets by Kelly Marie Alvarez, co-owner of Lawn Fawn! Five lucky winners will each take home one of these sets!

Susan

P.S. If you’re thinking about sending a handmade card to someone special, join us tomorrow as we get ready for Armed Forces Day on Saturday! We’ll show you some great military cards from our book, A Card a Day, and tell you how to get involved with Operation Write Home, one of our favorite charities!