behold, summer

Howdy, folks! Summer is in full swing here in New Jersey. It's mostly been hot and sunny. Although, as I write this, it's cool and raining. I have been crocheting a lot, and also making some postcards, paintings, and other fun things. The other day, I used alcohol inks to color sea shells. I used Mod Podge and bits of tissue paper to decorate rocks on another day. I recently got LASIK eye surgery, and I'm still paying off the costs of the surgery. If you would like to support me, please check out my Etsy shop, GreenOwlCrochet. I also accept crochet commissions. Thank you!

decorated rocks

painted pineapple magnet

a painted sea shell

a postcard I made

Review of Gutwrench Press's "Keep Writing" postcard subscription

     I first heard of Hope (of Gutwrench Press) and her “Keep Writing” project when I was searching on Etsy for “postcard subscriptions”. I wanted to see what kind of independent artists offered a service where a postcard would be sent to customers on a regular basis, ideally once a month. Hope's listing for “ONE YEAR—Keep Writing Letterpress Postcard Subscription” came up on the first page of search results. And I'm so glad it did!

     The basic concept of Hope's service is that she mails you two postcards each month. Well, it's really one sheet of card stock that can be detached at the fold, but for simplicity's sake, I'll just refer to them as separate postcards. You get to keep one of the postcards and then you creatively respond to the prompt provided on the other one.

     I love to put the postcard (the one I'm supposed to keep) onto the door of my refrigerator. It makes me and my housemates smile to see Hope's work there. The postcard I'm supposed to mail back is even more fun, though. It's fun to give some thought as to how to creatively respond to the prompt. The prompts are not complicated, though. For example, December's prompt was about how you and your family celebrate the holidays. Hope posts all the responses on her Instagram account. It's fun to see your responses and others posted online.

     Gutwrench Press's “Keep Writing” postcard subscription service is a lot of fun. I highly recommend that anyone who enjoys postal delights (both receiving and giving) subscribe to this service. Thank you, Hope, for making the mail a lot more fun!