What are you thankful for this holiday season? Who are you thankful for? With just three weeks until the Thanksgiving holiday, I definitely find myself thinking over who and what I am most grateful for.
So Thankful for You Card (gorgeous maple leaves courtesy of my yard)
You can use the holiday as an opportunity to let your friends and family know what they mean to you...with a card! Or maybe you need to write a quick thank you note to the person or family hosting your Thanksgiving meal this year.
You can find Happy Cactus' Thanksgiving specific cards here. Shop all of our thank you notes here.
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November is my busiest month and personalized gift tags quickly become my most popular product category. They make perfect and affordable gifts for friends, neighbors, book club members, office secret Santas...the list goes on.
Each tag measures 2" x 3.5" and you can order adhesive sticker tags or flat paper ones. Personally, I love the sticker tags because they speed up the holiday gift wrapping process!
This year, I've added some new design additions to the lineup. They are sold in increments of 24 with prices starting at $20. Check out the digital custom lookbook - select your design, message, and font and we do the rest!
Get in touch and let us know how Happy Cactus can help you this holiday season.
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Happy November! Can you believe there are only two months left in 2015?? I introduced the Happy Cactus 2016 wall calendar last month and wanted to share some behind-the-scenes snaps of the painting work that went into creating the calendar.
I used gouache to paint some colorful wildflowers. The calendar year and months were handwritten and then I spent a lot of time double and triple checking to make sure all of the dates were correct!
Shop the calendar here.
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As I know from recent experience, there is something quite comforting about receiving heartfelt letters of condolence or sympathy after encountering a loss. They are not the easiest types of cards to write to a friend or loved one, but often the most meaningful and likely to be saved.
Here are a few tips to help you write your note:
- Send your note in a timely manner - within the first two weeks of a person's death.
- Genuinely express how sorry you are for the family's loss.
- Share a personal anecdote about that person. The recipient will love and appreciate hearing stories about the loved one that they lost. If you don't have a story to share, it's can also helpful to share how you relate to that person's loss (example: "I also lost my grandmother this year and know how tremendous the grief can feel.")
- Close by telling that person that you are keeping them in your thoughts/prayers.
Keeping You in My Thoughts Card
I find what's key in these types of notes is being authentic and honest and avoiding generic statements that can come across as trite. Also, a card is also appropriate if someone loses a pet that they were close to. I consider them family members as well!
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Today the USPS is releasing new holiday stamps! The latest stamps feature geometric snowflakes in different colors.
Earlier this month the Charlie Brown Christmas stamps were released. I just love that old Charlie Brown movie and quickly ordered a sheet of the stamps online.
What do you think about this season's stamps?
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This week I'm sharing a unique piece of Happy Cactus Hand Embroidery: ombre blue flowers on white cotton. This design was all done using the same ball of pearl cotton embroidery thread that transitions for a very pale blue to a deeper blue that's a mix between cobalt and turquoise.
Pearl cotton differs from traditional six strand cotton embroidery floss because it is comprised of two inseparable strands. You can see the thread in the photo below.
This was an interesting floss to work with and did take a bit of getting acquainted with as I'm used to separating threads and working with various colors.
This piece of artwork is already spoken for, but you can always request a commission by contacting me!
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The cactus notepad, one of my best selling products, is back in stock! Over the weekend, I packaged dozens of new notepads.
We have these scattered around our house - one by my desk to write little thank you notes to customers in their order, one on our kitchen table for quick lists, and my husband keeps one next to his laptop. I think they make a great stocking stuff, too! Find the cactus notepad in the shop here.
This week I'm sharing my very favorite piece of Happy Cactus Hand Embroidery. Delicate purple and pink flowers are hand embroidered on a light blue linen.
It's my largest piece to date measuring 4.25" in diameter. When I began this piece, I started with the large flower in the center with the various shades of purple. From there, the piece took on a life of its own!
I do not use a template nor do I sketch out what I am going to stitch; I just go for it. From that first flower, I added more vines, other large flowers and smaller buds until I was satisfied. It look a long time to complete, but I couldn't be prouder of my work with this one. You can find it in the shop here.
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It's hard to believe that we are halfway through September! The air is getting a little cooler and the leaves are just starting to turn. Here are some of my favorite finds over the past month!
Watch: La Blogothèque's Take Away Shows are some of my favorite videos to watch on YouTube. Singers and bands perform their music unannounced around the streets of of Paris. Soul singer (and fellow Texan) Leon Bridges recently did one you can view here. He is just so good!
Listen (Music): I've had one new album on repeat lately - Glen Hansard (of The Frames and The Swell Season) has a new solo album called Didn't He Ramble. It's a mix of pensive, brooding ballads and more upbeat, smile-inducing songs.
Listen (Podcast): Hidden Brain from NPR is my favorite new podcast. It explores "the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, the biases that shape our choices, and the triggers that direct the course of our relationships." I especially like how it's broken down into different segments and injects a sense of humor into the complex topics it breaks down.
Read: If you've ever come across a display of Mast Brothers chocolate in a store, you have probably oogled the amazing ariety of patterns they use on their packaging. This interview from Sight Unseen with Mast Brothers' creative director Nathan Warkentin about what influences the packaging design is a must read!
Follow: My new favorite Instagram feed is @thepostalproject. They post a photo of one post office each day. I love seeing the variety and uniqueness of small town post offices!
Blog: Maybe it's the changing season and the cooler temps, but lately I've been bookmarking a lot of recipes for soups, muffins, and other savory and sweet dishes. In particular, I've been all of the delicious recipes on Joy the Baker's blog. Apple Pie Biscuits, anyone?
Shop: I can't make it to the Victoria and Albert Museum's new exhibition on The Fabric of India (so sad to miss!), but I have been eyeing everything in the museum's webshop. This poppy scarf is a favorite.
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I feel like fall is flying by - the aspen leaves here have already turned gold, we've switched on our heat at night, and I have pumpkin and squash recipes on the mind. Before we know it, Halloween will be here! Here are my two favorite Halloween cards you can find in the shop. I plan on sending one to my niece and nephew and other young buddies near and far.
One of my absolute favorite products to launch this year is a 2016 wall calendar! The goal was to create a wall calendar that captured the entire year on a small amount of space. I like being able to look up from my desk and see ahead to the months ahead.
For this calendar, I hand painted a bunch of imaginary wildflowers from my mind. "2016" and the months are hand-lettered by yours truly as well. The calendar measures 8" x 10" and is printed on beautiful 100% tree-free cotton paper.
These are a limited edition item - once they sell out, they are gone, so plan ahead and purchase yours now before it's too late! Shop the calendar here.
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I'm excited to highlight another piece of Happy Cactus Hand Embroidery for you this week! Two features set the following piece apart - its square shape and the incorporation of gold thread.
Many of the other pieces in the collection are circular in shape. Granted, it's easier to create circular works when using a round embroidery hoop. For this piece, I embroidered an array of rainbow flowers in a small square shape. Quite small, in fact! It's only 2" x 2". Working this small takes a lot of patience and focus, but I've impressed myself with the amount of tiny flowers I can fit in such a small area.
To really make this tiny piece pop, I incorporated metallic gold thread into some of the flowers. Gold thread is much tricker to work with than standard cotton embroidery floss - it has a harder texture and takes a bit of practice to figure out what works and what doesn't. It really makes the flowers stand out.
Add a bright red mat board and this piece of artwork really makes a statement. Small, but mighty! Find it in the shop here.
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