The pen in your hand is a magic wand with which you can send joy, hope, love and courage across deserts and plains, over mountains and seas, around the world and around the corner.

Wilferd A. Peterson, “The Art of Writing Letters”

In one of my classes during Bible college, we students took a “Spiritual Gifts” test to help us understand where we best fit in ministry opportunities. One of my gifts results was that I was an encourager. One of the ways I enjoy encouraging is through making and sending handmade cards. I wrote a bit about this cardmaking journey in a previous blog post, Stray Gifts Studio. I have a list of friends and family I create for regularly, but sometimes life gets busy and time is short for playing with all my pretty paper. I was determined to get nice Christmas cards out this year and worked at making cards to send out. I had come down with a bad cold a few weeks before Christmas and I wasn’t sure I would even be able to get these out in the mail. I had wanted to write a nice long ‘catching up’ note in each card, yet as Christmas grew nearer, I had to settle for a quick Christmas and New Year greeting. I hope that even with a short note, the cards sent brought a bit of joy to the receivers. Here are my latest creations in cardmaking.