Staying Connected

MAR 21, 2020 – This card message has become our new mantra, helping us reclaim our hope and optimism when it wanes. We wanted to share it with you, and let you know that — at the request of some very active and caring Cardies — we’ve put together a Stay-Connected Collection. As every good Cardie knows, sitting, feeling our feelings, and scribbling them into some carefully-selected cards can help keep us all emotionally close in these surreal, social-distancing times.

Below you’ll see a link to the set of eight. We’re offering no discounts or promotions now because we will split any and all income from your orders with our Reps and the independent card and gift shops where — in better times — many of you discovered our cards. For 28 years we’ve said to these partners, “We’re all in this together,” and we aim to keep walking the talk as long as we can now.

If you’re a Cardie who wishes to do some good with our Stay-Connected Collection and just can’t manage the expense at this time, use promo code goodkarma at checkout and a set will be shipped to you free of charge. Which reminds me to say, all your Fairy Cardmothers are staying safe and sound at home. Your orders will get out the door thanks to a duo who will tag-team in order to stay safe and in good health: Our amazing Chief Administrative Officer, Ana, will personally enter the orders, and tireless Fulfillment Manager, John, will then pick, pack & ship them.

Now let us tell you who inspired this Stay-Connected Collection and how … in response to last week’s Cardie Newsletter in which we said lets “acknowledge the helpers,” Cardie Leslie Post left a Comment, “As always, I was listening to NPR while drinking my first cup of coffee this morning. Reports on the spread of the coronavirus, the dismal response by our country’s leaders, and the crashing stock market were getting me down. Out of the blue, I thought of the young man who manages my retirement savings. It seemed likely that he was having a terrible week. I remembered a Cardthartic gem in my collection. ‘Sometimes we have to just hunker down … and get through it. Keep on.’ I wrote a few lines of encouragement to Justin inside and guess what? I felt better. I smiled when I found this newsletter in my email. My Fairy Cardmothers are always on the same page, and often one step ahead of me :) Reaching out and offering support is good medicine. I will keep on!”

Another beautiful comment came from Karen Trostle: “We have much to learn in these days ahead. How to slow down; how to become aware; how to reach out; how to remember kindness is free and one size fits all. Let’s remember to share kind words and words of encouragement as we grow together as a community and a country.”

Then Cardie Helen Miller emailed, “My plan for this period of social distancing is to write three hand-written notes a day. I include a small blank notecard & envelope in each of the cards I send suggesting that the recipient of my card reach out to someone else.” And, in her order yesterday, Amy Beamer Murray added an Order Note: “I’m a card-sending fiend in the face of COVID-19. You’ll see I’m stockpiling enough cards and stamps to ride out the crisis. Thank you for creating such beautiful cards to share with others — it’s a wonderful way to connect in the face of such uncertainty.”

Thank you, Cardies, every one of you, for keeping us on our path of, together, making the world a better place … one card, one small kindness at a time. Be well.

Jodee Stevens
Founder & Chief Creative