WHO NEEDS HALLMARK?

After taking trips and relying on friends to house us, feed us, drive us, I always like to send some kind of thank you card.  It used to be origami cards but now I am so enjoying thinking up and sending etegami card.  You can personalize them exactly for each friend.

When we arrived in LA, a friend I had not seen in 40 years picked us up from the airport. We recently reunited on Facebook and I had discovered that she lived near the LA airport. I asked if she would pick us up and house us for the night and after an enthusiastic "yes!", I booked our flight to include a night at her house. We had an absolutely wonderful time with Miriam and her husband. Miriam is a 70s troll buff 

so I just had to paint two trolls for her thank you card.

The next day, we needed to get to Anaheim but also hoped to have a short visit with high school friend Grace. Couldn't believe it when Grace offered to drive us to Anaheim through typical LA traffic.  We stopped at Huntington Beach and had a lovely lunch. When I saw the photo of these lemurs, it made perfect sense for a thank you card!

A trip to MN also required an overnight stay and my friend Naomi graciously offered us to stay at her house.  Such a great time talking and laughing! I thought of all the times she has offered "shelter" and this photo captivated me.  Too cute!

Yes, I have been reuniting with SO many high school friends that I went to school with in Japan. Thank you, Facebook.  My friend in New York was a childhood friend and I hadn't seen her in 40 years either.  I found this word on my Facebook feed and just loved it. Our friendship was a rediscovery for sure.

The trip to MN was to visit an old pastor who had a stroke recently.  My friend Dawn and I went to kind of say our good-byes.  There were tears and there was joy.  I thought of the beautiful MN loon who sings such a mournful song at night.  When I went to paint it, I discovered how complexly beautiful it is.  We never did see one so I painted these for her so she will remember our beautiful but mournful trip.

A Mother's Day card for my mom.  She used to take care of me and now I take care of her. We are each other's treasures.

Lastly, and a bit crazy is my Father's Day card. My dad and I have a very contentious relationship which has gotten more difficult as he ages.  I just couldn't paint a lovey dovey card. My dad has always liked jokes and craziness so this was what I came up with.  Inside, it says "just kidding"....  Maybe.