cards – Kay Foley

The New York Times recently ran an article titled “We Could All Use a Little Snail Mail Right Now.” Naturally, I jumped on it! I have more than once said with chagrin that the greeting card business–my business–is dying. Self-fulfilling prophecy or a depressing realization?

According to the NY Times article, the average household receives only 10 pieces of personal mail per year. Aiyiyi!! If true, that is even worse than I thought.

My stash of card and letter writing supplies

But according to the article, choosing a card, picking out a stamp, and writing by hand is not only good for the person who receives the card, but can be good for you, too. It just feels good to do something nice for another person. Sending a card is one of those small, feel-good tasks. As Hallmark says, “It’s the biggest little thing you can do!” It shows the receiver that you’ve spent a little extra time and effort for them.

And writing by hand is beneficial, as well. Julia Cameron, in her wonderful book, The Artist’s Way, is adamant about the benefits of writing by hand. She suggests that we write at least three pages by hand every morning, a practice otherwise known as her Morning Pages. She claims that writing by hand does much more for us, internally, than does writing on a keyboard.

In another article, The Times cites research that finds that children who learn early to write by hand may learn better, retain what they read, and might even be more creative. “Children not only learn to read more quickly when they first learn to write by hand, but they also remain better able to generate ideas and retain information. In other words, it’s not just what we write that matters — but how.”

Funnily enough, a friend just texted me about taking a walk today and I replied that I wanted to finish writing this letter first. She suggested, facetiously I’m sure, that I have AI write up a first draft for me. There’s yet another fly in the ointment, perhaps a subject for another day. Do we really need a tool that takes us even further from our own authenticity, our words, our thoughts, our interiority? I don’t think so. It’s a little heartbreaking for me to have one customer after another ask, “Does it say something inside? I never know what to say.” I always reply, “They are blank inside, ready for your loving words.”

Having said all of this, I will admit that I don’t send cards quite as often as I plan to. So there. But you know, one can always do better.

“My spelling is Wobbly. It’s good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“. . . the beauty and nobility, the august mission and destiny, of human handwriting.” ― George Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion

“Handwriting is the garden of the sciences.” ― Abu Dulaf

“Writing longhand opens up and exercises parts of the brain that keyboarding doesn’t. It does get more uncomfortable as we age; then again, it wasn’t all that comfortable when we were learning it – remember? Handwriting is a lovely thing, though, with practice.” – Julia Cameron

If you’re looking for my cards or art, you’ll find all of that on my website. If you enjoy these letters, feel free to forward this one to anyone you think might like it. And if someone forwarded this one to you, you can sign up here to receive the letters right in your Inbox. Finally, you’ll find past letters and poems here.

Thanks for listening,
Kay

P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the “merry thoughts.”

This year marks the 25th birthday of Ampersand Cards!! As I always used to say in the early days, I haven’t lost the house!

I can hardly believe all these years have gone by and I’m still at it, still have energy for it, and am planning some exciting changes this year. I started the business after reading Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, with my sister. The book broke me wide open! I was working then at an incredibly difficult job as a therapist with alcoholic and drug-addicted women. The good thing about the job was that it made me feel very grateful for the upbringing and life I’d had. The bad thing was that I was ill-prepared for the soul-crushing stories I heard every day from clients. And with almost no support on the job, it did not take long for me to realize that being a therapist was not my true calling.

My earliest handmade cards, using sponge prints

I left the job. My sister, who lived in Tucson at the time, suggested we start a card business. I thought that sounded good, so I got going. Pretty quickly we both realized that we couldn’t do it long distance. so I went ahead on my own. She remained my well-loved moral support.

Anyway, I sat in my yard one lovely day and wrote a bunch of verses. Then I played around with how to make the cards, settling on sponge prints like I’d taught my sons to make for their boxes of school Valentines. I cut shapes out of sponges, painted them with watercolors and pressed them onto cards, embellishing with glitter glue. Then I glued the words on. I spent an inordinate amount of time searching for glue that would not make the cards curl up, and in that search, befriended two wonderful local cardmakers.

Tired of all those sponge prints and glitter glue, especially for wholesale, I tried this for awhile.

I still have the notebook in which I tried out names and logos. 3 Boys & a Dog. Imagine Cards. Real Dog Cards. 2Trees Cards. Tea & Chocolate Cards. Us Girls Cards. In June of 1998 I registered the fictitious name (I thought this was a funny term) of Ampersand Cards. It turns out that, to sell handmade greeting cards, I had to undergo a criminal background check!

In August I obtained a business license and the rest, as they say, is history. Okay, it’s not a particularly well-known history. Neither I nor Ampersand Cards appears in Wikipedia, for example, or even, I would guess, any local history. I do have a friend here who calls me LAKF, which stands for Local Artist Kay Foley. I am grateful for that.

The first store to carry my cards was Poppy, right here in beautiful downtown Columbia MO. I stood nervously in front of Barbara McCormick, then owner, who very graciously looked at my cards and said, “So you’re a poet!” She agreed right then to try out my cards in her beautiful shop. To this day, my cards grace the shelves at Poppy.

I’ll be continuing the story of our 25th birthday throughout this year, a year of change for me and for Ampersand Cards. Stay tuned.

“Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace, and power in it.” ― Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way

“I decided that the world of work is not conducive to JOY–and so I became a dreamer of dreams that come true. I’m much happier now.” – Kay Foley!

“No matter what your age or your life path, whether making art is your career or your hobby or your dream, it is not too late or too egotistical or too selfish or too silly to work on your creativity.” ― Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way

Thanks for listening,
Kay

Tag: cards

Handwriting

The Birth of Ampersand Cards