2012 Gratitude Campaign!
What, you may ask, is the Gratitude Campaign?
The Gratitude Campaign is my annual attempt to save Thanksgiving from the commercial limbo between Halloween and Christmas. I resent that Thanksgiving only gets an end-cap at Target. Those of you who read my other blog know how important an attitude of gratitude is to me, and it's just sad that Thanksgiving has become an excuse to over-eat rather than an opportunity to jump in a big pile of autumnal gratitude and roll around in it.
So every year for Thanksgiving, I send cards to random people in my life, telling them how grateful I am to know them.
And I invite you to play along.
My campaign is WAY more fun than politics.
Nicer, too.
So let's kick it off with one-layer cards intended to let people know how grateful we are that they exist.
Here's the first of many Gratitude Campaign cards I will make.
It riffs on the design style I pulled from the book 1,000 Bags, Tags, and Labels. LOVE all that white space. Or, in this case, vintage cream space. And the brown and dark green color scheme screams masculine card to me. Definitely going to a guy...perhaps my uncle, who is an awesome dude.
And now it's your turn. Will you commit to sending at least one card for Thanksgiving to someone you appreciate? We're starting so early because my friends in Canada celebrate Thanksgiving earlier than we in the States do. I want them to have time to make plenty of cards to share their gratitude.
And what if you're not American or Canadian, and your homeland doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving? Well, we believe in equal-opportunity gratitude and are happy to share our holiday of thankfulness with the entire world. Please join us!
OLW104 Rules
1. A ONE-LAYER card is defined as a SINGLE layer of card stock folded in half. NO OTHER LAYERS allowed!
2. Make a card that expresses your gratitude for a loved one, friend, coworker, barista at Starbucks, or any other person who has been important to you. It's always fun to send these cards to people you've not had contact with in a long time!
3. Post your card somewhere online and link back to it using the InLinkz button on the sidebar of Simplicity. Please make sure you link to the specific post on your blog rather than your blog's main page.
4. HAVE FUN!!!!
Supplies
stamps: Papertrey First Fruits (sentiment), Fall Elegance (leaf)
ink: Memento
paper: PTI vintage cream
accessories: rhinestones, post-it mask, sponge
This is a great idea. In a way I enjoy thanksgiving more than Christmas because my family is all together w/out the stress of all the holiday preparations.
ReplyDeleteYou're awesome Susan! Love the idea of the 2012 Gratitude Campaign! Just the kind of positive kick I needed this morning. You've got my vote!
ReplyDeleteI'm so grateful to see the return of the Gratitude Campaign. Super card! I can't wait to see what people come up with in the challenge.
ReplyDeleteYour card is lovely. Using cream instead of white gives it a real richness. Still simple, but elegant. I'm BIG on Thanksgiving cards, for all your reasons. My friends and family have received them for many years, and many of them send us cards too. I bring them out the following Thanksgiving, and use them as part of my Thanksgiving decorations. Love it!
ReplyDeleteWonderful :) Love your card , with all the white space, your eyes are immediately drawn to the lovely focal point :)
ReplyDeleteGreat card. I really like the "simplicity" of it.
ReplyDeleteAnd since you brought it up, I agree that a gratitude campaign might be more fun than politics, but this year politics is so important and people need to spend some time becoming "truly" informed. (And to be blunt that doesn't mean just listening to the morning or evening news on network TV.) Our country is in the mess it's in because of a lack of interest in politics. If people had put a little more effort into being informed citizens we wouldn't be in danger of losing the wonderful country that you and I had the good fortune to grow up in. The U.S. is sitting on a fiscal precipice and if things don't change the children of today won't get to know the country that so many of us have loved all our lives. I don't have kids but if I did, I'd be terrified for their future and would be doing all I could to try and make it possible for them to have the same kind of life that I have enjoyed.
Fabulous card design Susan - and lovely way of getting a little positivity out there into the big ol' world!
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of spreading the gratitude around! I need make some serious effort and get some cards made so I can do the same.
ReplyDeleteGratitude is a very positive thing - looking forward to joining in.
ReplyDeleteWow... almost missed this one. Yahoo decided to put the notice of this post in my spam folder but I caught it.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for a gratitude campaign. I love to make Thanksgiving cards. If you asked my husband, he would tell you how often I complain about how difficult it can be to find actual Thanksgiving stamps in my local stores.
It is my goal to make Thanksgiving cards this year. I actually already have the stamps and the plan of how I'll use them. So, at this point I'm way ahead of where I usually am in my holiday card making process! LOL!!
Your card is wonderful. I wish I had the courage to send a card with so much white (cream) space!
LOVE your card and I'm so excited for the Gratitude challenge to begin again! Is it gonna get all fancy and have another button?!
ReplyDeleteI'll be joining your campaign! Love your card!
ReplyDeleteYou have made another beautiful and simple card Susan, as we all know they can be the hardest of all to make :0) Thank you for a wonderful reason to be creating, great idea, we never say thank you enough, Gay x
ReplyDeleteGorgeous card and challenge~thank you for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteHi Susan,
ReplyDeleteI'm heavily medicated, but I thought your wonderful Gratitude Campaign, which was started with OLW 104 would remain open until Thanksgiving or have a special place on your sidebar. I must have misunderstood because I see the 104 collection is closed and there is not a link on your fab new Transforming page.
If there is anywhere to direct folks to for this campaign until Thanksgiving, will you please email me and let me know. Speak very slowly to me! Thank you, dear!
Psst, sorry, me again. You forgot to put your own beautiful card in the link - it should be first I think.
ReplyDeleteI think this campaign can run all year around...I love the idea and hopefully can be part of it! You do amazing work, Susan!
ReplyDelete