Time to Say Goodbye

Today I finished and shipped my Anthropologie holiday order--1,264 cards. I have mixed feelings about letting go of all those cards. It took me more than two months to make them, mainly because I'm slow, but also because these required a lot of cutting and gluing, and more cutting and gluing, and then more cutting and gluing. I feel like a mom who had the kids around all summer and today was the first day of school: I'm glad they're gone. But I miss them. I hope they're doing okay. And I'm not sure what to do with myself now that they're gone. People ask me if I get tired of making cards. I definitely get tired of making them. It's repetitive and fairly boring as you can probably imagine. But as I make them what keeps me going is thinking about all the people who will buy them and write on them--I picture all the different kinds of handwriting, different color ink, all the words: I love you, I miss you, wish you were here . . . etc. Then the best part is seeing them in stores. The first time I saw my cards in a store, the first store that ever ordered, I felt like a singer who heard their song on the radio for the first time. Very satisfying. Getting the check in the mail isn't too bad either.