Packing

Last year around this time Jessica was moving to a new country for a new job.  She didn't want to store anything for when she got back, so she was selling, sorting, and then packing up just a few things.  Jess was having trouble both getting a sub-leaser and selling some furniture.  She drew this card to capture her mood!  I love the details in this card each time I look at it I see some other silly item like a birdcage or 1950's style TV. 
Its funny that this year, around the same time, I am moving.  Although its just across town I too feel like the girl on this card- suddenly surrounded by possessions coming out of the woodwork needing to be packed or tossed! 

Harvest

Lynn writes on the back of this card that she planned to visit my mom over the holiday weekend knowing that Thanksgivings had become a bit of a sad time for her, since the loss of the family Christmas tree farm. As a kid, Thanksgiving meant the start of the tree season. Car loads of people would come to my aunt and uncle's city tree lot and out to the farm to cut their own trees the day after Thanksgiving. We would all help to prepare for the crowds and spend the entire weekend in the cold selling trees. It made the meal my mom and grandmother made taste that much better. I distinctly remember sitting on the piano bench next to my cousin eating blueberry pie, my cheeks burning from the wind. Blissfully happy. A true harvest celebration.

Turkey for Lunch

Jessica started out this card with visions of carving a Thanksgiving turkey.  Instead, it turned out to be a brown bag lunch.  I hope you can see a bit of the 3-D texture from this card, very cool.

First she wrote some fun facts about Jaime Oliver's school lunch project and a few other health and calorie factoids.  Then, Jess wrote about her own penny pinching efforts- spending the weekend cooking things to bring to work for lunch.  She then admitted it wasn't saving much, because "I love produce"  And we all know that produce, tofu, tempeh and other healthier options are pricey. 

What a fun accident that her turkey card turned into a lunch because I sure heard a lot about what she'd been up to based on her theme- stuff I'm not sure she would have emailed about or mentioned in a phone call.

A ray of hope for Detroit

Lynn saw this image in her rear view mirror last fall and ran home to draw it. She found it ironic that this this beautiful image showed up in a reflection of downtown Detroit, especially since the city's decay is all that you see in the media.

For Lynn, this card also demonstrated that our card project had strengthened her creative muscle. She was getting stronger. She had an idea and she went home and drew it - just like that.

Perfect Pumpkin

The great thing about this card project is that you dont have to even try to ignore the obvious seasonal themes. That is what cards are meant for! This is a pretty standard pumpkin, but what you cannot tell from the scan is that its toothy grin is cut out as every pumpkin grin should be. The polka dots come from a magazine picture that has been pasted behind the card. In real life it adds some depth and an extra level of fun.

Lynn wrote on its underbelly that daylight savings time was coming, which the end of the year was near. Last year's close though was highly anticipated, though since she was looking forward putting 2009 behind her. After having just received bad news about my Samoan host family last October, I remember nodding my head in agreement.

Sometimes we need bright smiles to arrive in the mail on holiday cards, dont we?

A picture of Meripa

After calling the village mayor to check in on my Samoan host family after the tsunami last fall, I learned that not only had my family suffered physical damage to their oceanside fale, but that my host mother and three sisters had died since the last time I had called. Like so many poor people without access to proper healthcare in the developing world they went to the hospital and never returned - despite having treatable diseases like diabetes. I had called Falelatai expecting bad news, but I never expected that its cause would be from poverty rather than from mother nature. I also never could have imagined how it has felt to grieve four family members at one time.

Life from Above

Jessica sketched this image out of the book Earth from Above, which was a gift.  She re-received the gift when her Mom moved and a box of her things arrived in the mail.  I really like the photographs in the book, so I really liked this postcard. 

Unfortunately for Jessica, she had recently got bad news about the tsunami reaching the small island of Samoa.  This was very sad because Jess lived there while in the Peace Corps for two years.  Never one to sit back and mope, Jessica quickly got involved with RPCV's and organized a fundraiser for the survivors.  I'm so proud she was able to turn her feelings into action and give back to her adopted country and family there. 

On this card she wrote about hope for 2010 to be a more positive year, after several sad events in 2009 of my own I heartily agreed.