Grandma's Fruitcake

You may have noticed, I'm feeling some winter holiday glow already.   That's because I am designing the new cards for our USPS Mail Carrier Thank You and Holiday cards.    

To come up with designs. I started thinking about my own memories and what I love about the Holidays.  My Mom had these little stuffed ornaments from Avon, that smelled like pine.  My Grandma always made some GROSS fruitcake, that my father would gleefully eat in giant slabs of green and red, speckled, rum-ness. I also loved getting tins of cookies, because it was a REAL treat to have junk food in our house.  My Aunties in Louisiana would send care packages with hand-sewn pillow-toys and little trinkets.

Christmas in our family also meant driving out to the farm in rural Ohio, every pothole in the dirt road softened by deepening lake effect snow.    We didn't do gifts, we did long stories, big laughs, sarcasm, and helped in the kitchen.  We brought in wood for Grandpa's wood stove and talked about odd foods my Uncles LOVED, that I thought looked weird.  Grandma was Volga German and Jewish, and just the perfect, hardworking, role model.  Even with 36 Grandchildren, they always called me "Baby" and Gram would find time to brush my hair.    She also never threw things away that were "still good" and used her gifted microwave as a breadbox.  <3

These are the things that give me the "warm fuzzies" and inspired the sweet kitty illustration below.  You can see all my works start as a sketch with a lot of erasing, then the color is hand painted using gouache paint and watercolor techniques. 

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Mail Carrier Holiday Cards... how did this all begin?  ​

My partner is a city carrier in NY State and as a shop steward for our office, he's really passionate about his fellow carriers.  For years now, I would make one simple illustration, and print them on my home printer to share with his co-workers.  Then other offices heard about them and asked for a few for their own customers.   Before I knew it, I was working with my local printer to run a small (but for me, HUGE) order.  

Printing postcards doesn't make millions, or thousands, heck or even hundreds of dollars for us.  However, it does give me a chance to talk with other carriers that understand the #mailcarrierlife and are simply a joy to get to know.  It's a pleasure, and I am so thankful they chose my art to send their warm regards.

​Don't forget to shovel your mailbox, and walkways if you live in a wintery zone!!  
(My mail carrier hubby and I thank you, kindly.)

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