Ever since I was a little girl I have had a passion for stationery and cards. I always loved sending and getting pretty cards and handwritten letters. With my father being away from home a lot during my childhood due to three United Nations missions abroad, 6 months at a time, I always loved crafting cards and letters to send to him, and especially loved getting mail back from these exotic, far away places. I loved the stamps, the pretty stationery, and the postcards with photos of the different places where he was stationed.
Now being the one living overseas myself, far away from my family and friends, I cherish these letters and cards even more. To this day I have kept many of these little testimonies of friendship and love in a shoe-box in our bookcase. In this digital age, cards and handwritten letters are even more precious and special than before. You just can't get that heartwarming feeling when you scroll down in your inbox folder.
My whole art business actually started with greeting cards. We had just moved to the United States, to small-town Washingtonville, New York. I got my daughter into post-crossing. It's an online project that allows you to send postcards and receive postcards back from random people around the world. The idea is simple: for each postcard you send, you receive one back from a post-crosser from somewhere in the world. We hung up a world-map, tracking the countries we received cards from with push pins.
Other post-crossers will tell you what kind of cards they like to receive. It could be flowers, cats, dogs, art, but usually they like to receive a card showing the area where you live. It's a great way to learn about other places in the world. But having said that, having to send a card to these post-crossers, we soon discovered there wasn't a postcard to be found anywhere, depicting our beautiful village of Washingtonville, New York. That is why I decided to make a little pen sketch of the Moffat Library on the front of an envelope holding a card with... I don't even remember.... probably dogs because my daughter likes dogs. I posted a picture of the library sketch on social media and that's where it all began...
I have had my little art print and stationery stand at the Washingtonville Farmers and Artisans Market for four years now, and enjoy connecting with fellow paper-junkies. For this year's Farmers market season, I have been working on some new concepts and designs and I have also been researching new materials and sourcing.
The 2020 series will be simple, hand-drawn, hand-painted and eco-friendly. Little art works to be sent in the mail. The card sleeves are plant-based and compostable instead of plastic, and I have found beautiful bamboo and cotton blend card stock that holds the watercolor so well. It is such a joy making these cards. Last Sunday I had this beautiful little line up of cards drying on my desk. Ready to just say "Hello" hoping they will be shoe-box worthy to someone some day!
