Mail It Monday #1

Hey friends!

Thanks for coming to visit my blog and read my update - I appreciate you being here!

So a few months ago I started following the Instagram account, @mailitmonday which is a super inspiring account focused on encouraging people to actually mail the cards they are making. What a concept, right? Me being the maker I am, I found a ton of inspiration right away. 

I've been sitting on an idea for a little while and have decided to attempt to make it into something - so starting today and hopefully each Monday hereafter, I plan to share the cards that I'm personally making and mailing out. I think it will be great to get feedback if it's a style I should add to the shop since I plan on making mostly one of a kinds for this personal challenge. Also - if you want to get happy mail from me, just send me your address via my contact me page and you never know what might show up. Wink wink. I'm also super excited about sending more mail - I just want to #mailhandmadehappiness as much as I can!

Another thing that @mailitmonday does is share a monthly calendar for events and non-traditional holidays that are happening in the given month. I love this idea and there's so many quirky days to celebrate. Here's October's calendar - [they also provide a digital download available for free!] I did some searching of my own and found some additional holidays that I'll be focusing on as well. 

Quick recap of my crafty plan: on Mondays I'll share the card[s] I mailed the week prior - [hoping this way that the recipient will have received it and the sneak peek photo on Instagram won't ruin the surprise!] I'll also highlight any fun events or holidays coming up and if I have a card that might be ideal for sending available in my online shop. At least that's the plan. 

So if you've stuck with me this long - a huge THANKS! Keep reading to see the card I mailed last week.

The card was for my best friend's birthday and so I wanted to do something a little special.

In terms of technique - on this card I blended the background with Distress Inks and then used water to spritz and make the pattern. I die-cut the numbers using shimmery silver cardstock to represent how old [young?] my friend is turning. I also die-cut the top koala and his party hat. I used Prismacolor markers to color the images - it's so relaxing and fun! The sentiment might be my favorite - [both it and the koala images are from Lawn Fawn] - [I got it with an order I placed earlier this year.] I don't often stamp on the inside of the card, but decided to on this one. 

These stamps used are from Papertrey Ink and they are some of my favorites as well - super versatile and I love the font choices. I raised the little koala up with 3M foam tape - man do I love that stuff! Such fun dimension without a lot of weight. 

I just love the way he turned out!

I really enjoyed the creative process on this card - getting messy and inky on the background and then coloring in the images. It's much easier to do this for individual cards based on the time it took to finish it. I hope my friend likes it - and has the best birthday ever!

Upcoming dates:

October 22 is National Color Day [I didn't know this but am thrilled - do you know how much I love color?!] and this card would be perfect to send!

October 26 is Make A Difference Day and I feel like this is the perfect day to let someone know that they are special to you. This card stands out to me - what do you think?

Thanks for sticking with me - I can't wait to get to work on making more cards. I'll be back next week with another edition of Mail It Monday!