Yesterday, I was flooded with gratitude & kindness.
First, let me pay homage to Lily with the required cat tax. It is a tax I am always happy to pay with my lovely, photogenic, people-hating feline.
That aside, yesterday I received a lot of gratitude. I receive a ton of kindness. I received appreciation for my Letters of Care. This morning, I was entrusted with a special letter for someone else’s loved one.
I’m simply feeling this flood of appreciation and love coming in, just by the small acts I send out.
It feels beautiful.
The recipient of a letter created a short, couple-second video to thank me.
She is a lovely woman who admired a piece I had made, so I offered to make one for her. It took me a couple of weeks to finish this & countless hours.
The background shading is a series of zentangled art (like in the worded area), then I created lines over it to give the yarn effect. In turn, it created that speckled yarn effect.
I went all out. It was a passion project and a hard one to relinquish. My heart and soul went into this piece.
I rarely get feedback on what I send. Most of the time, I don’t even know if they ever received everything. To have such a thoughtful video thanking me for this?
It melted me to pieces.
I am a literal puddle of goop writing this right now.
It brings me joy to know how much she loves it. She wants to frame it and put it on her desk.
It feels good to have seen her joy like that.
I generally don’t need to know. I just know my intention & the reality of how hard it is to reach out to ask for a letter in the first place.
People who ask for a kindness are generally at their wits’ end & in need of a friend. I’m just glad to offer a little visibility to them & their struggle.
Then I received some of my small business orders for future letters (plus my own bliss).
CL is an amazing artist & a beautiful soul who often posts mental health-related art. I am very fond of her motivational sprites, which share messages of positivity & healing.
I purchased her entire stock of motivational sprite trading cards for two reasons:
- I wanted to have an entire set for myself. Something I could use to reflect when life is kicking me (or my mind is, at least).
- I wanted to use all the extras to include in my Letters of Care. These are the perfect messages for those struggling!
She included a little scratch art & some homemade fidgets she created with spare craft supplies. Such a beautiful kindness!
But mom, I want to make scratch art too!
Along with the above kindness, CL also inspired me to consider trying scratch art with my line art style.
You know, the child at heart that I am.
Looking above at my own work, you might see why I am intrigued. Artfully created lines on scratch paper could create some gorgeous final products!
I also thought it might be enjoyable when practicing my handlettering.
I’m down to try different mediums. I also collect hobbies. Literally put, collecting them is the hobby.
I’m eternally growing and learning. I couldn’t imagine finding joy in being stalled.
Thankfully, scratch paper and professional tools* are relatively cheap!
(*Yes, they do make tools for those who create scratch art, not just for passive fun. I learned that today.)
I am excited to see if my line art style & handlettering transfer well to the scratch art style.
This will be fun!
I need some time to unwind. I’ve been dealing with some fatigue lately. It more or less varies, but I am feeling more like taking a nap & less like staying and working on fun things.
I hope you’re all having a beautiful day. Until next time!
Angela J Shupe 
I was thinking…