creative thank yous
I have to write a lot of thank-you notes these days, what with friends and family delivering food to my door nearly every day. I like to have home-made cards on hand for this type of situation, because they're cheaper and look nicer than store-bought sets. Also because I am insane and when I convey my heart-felt appreciation to someone who brought me food, I like to do it with a little nidge that says "you may have helped me out this time, but I'm the type of person who sends hand-made thank you cards, so in the long run I'm probably more put-together and better than you."
Just kidding, I only say that in my subconscious.
Pre-children I used to make cards with trendy rubber stamps, but now that I'm a stay at home I figure nobody's interested in my artwork anymore. It's cuteness the world cares about now. So these days whenever the supply runs low, I set my children to work in the card-making sweat shop.
The artisans hard at work
I got the idea of using their artwork on cards when I realized their desire for experimenting with paint far surpasses their desire for saving their creations. So for a while I was cutting up their unwanted canvases and gluing them to cards. But now they're into decorating the cards themselves, saving me a second step.
Zion makes some lovely blue watercolor
Zion is deep into his blue period, while Harvey experiments with red and things that can be mixed with red.
Harvey can't make just one card, bless his heart he's just like his mama
Harvey also refuses to confine his artwork to the outside of the card, which means my words sometimes need to snake around his beautiful drawings.
this amoeba says thank you
Meanwhile, those of you who think I'm a heartless mother for sending their creations out through the mail will be happy to note that some drawings DO make it to our fridge. Here are two of my favorite Harvey sketches:
Square-headed monkeys, charge!
chameleon
Harvey has captured the essence of what it means to be a chameleon in a way that's both explanatory and touching. It makes me happy every time I see it on the freezer. Hmm, I should send him a thank-you note.