This year, I decided that I wanted to focus strongly on gratitude. I did a lot of gratitude-focused work in 2010 and 2011 but I feel like it sort of declined in 2012, so my plan is to bring it back front and center this year. I’ve created a few projects around it. The first one is Gratitude PostCards.
When I was looking for a project for David and me for 2013, I ran across these watercolor postcards and decided they would be fun to do art on and send out to people with notes of gratitude. After I talked to David, he liked the idea, too. Then I decided that I also wanted to make my own cards and send them out to people for whom I am grateful. People who make my life so much better.
And thus the Gratitude PostCard project was born.
The watercolor paper quality in the postcards isn’t perfect (at least not to my personal liking) and I am still learning how to use it. But the goal here is not to create perfect art. It’s just to couple something I love to do (art) with something that will give me joy (gratitude) and hopefully show someone how much they mean to me.
I will share the art part of the cards here with you so you can see what I’ve done. Since I am not selling these cards, this will be my opportunity to use mediums I haven’t tried, create similar art to what I might want to learn from, use my templates, and just have fun.
Some will be great, some not so much. That’s just how things go. My goal is to keep them simple.
With that here’s the first card I created:
it says: celebrate every single day.
not my favorite one, but it’s the first one I created.
Here’s to celebrating gratitude in 2013.
Hi Karen! I love this idea! I think I may do something similar. You are such an inspiration!
i hope you do!!
I love this. I am grateful for so much, but I feel I do not express my gratitude enough. I also love the water color postcards. By no means am I an artists, but I love to try out different mediums because it is fun. Thanks for sharing.
it’s absolutely not about the art. just gratitude and getting to share something you created along with it 🙂 i deeply encourage you to do it! 🙂
Awesome idea.
What a wonderful idea, and if anyone can be successful at it, it’s you!
Love the way the card came out (I can even see my birthday on there Jun9) 🙂
It’s a really great idea!
Love your ideas and looking forward to seeing your journey. Thanks for so much inspiration.
Ooooh such a lovely idea!
I loved this first one, and how you left so much white on the card showing. I am so bad at that with watercolor.
More, please.
I am grateful for you and Happy New Year.
What a lovely idea! Love the colors and feeling of your postcard. I keep a gratitude journal that I just write in to take a moment to think of all I do have to be grateful for. It helped me when my hubby was dying, just to get through it. Then afterwards, it helped me focus on all the good in life when I was just seeing all the sadness around me. Life has become happy again for me, but I still do it to put things in perspective for myself. Happy New Year!
LOVE LOVE THIS!! How beautiful this came out, really think it fits the New Year well!! What a great idea and having David do this with you. ENJOY!!
I love your cards! They are so light, but still have that collage look. Beautiful!
I love your postcard and I love your idea for this year. Thanks for the ongoing inspiration.
am enchanted with your gratitude postcards…so inspiring…thank you
thank you so much 🙂
You have a wonderful and inspiring site… Love your work!
thank you for your kind kind words 🙂
beautiful beautiful, what a lovely lovely way to start my day.Thank you so much for the generousity of sharing your creations with the world wide web!
😉 glee
Karenika,
I love LOVE your work. I wish I could buy a set of these postcards, what a great idea. (have you considered selling on ETSY?)
I wish I had an ounce of artistic talent to do something so wonderful! I am embarking on my own year of Gratefulness, which is how I happened upon your site.
I will watch to see what you do next, thank you for the inspiration. Maybe I will add a little drawing to my journal over the next year.