Handing out Smiles

Happy Wednesday, my friends! It is Wednesday, isn’t it? My days are all mixed up. I totally missed Monday, but I’ve been having so much fun with Amelia and Mike! Mike finished all of the course work for his doctorate a couple of weeks ago! He said it was very bittersweet to hit the “send” button for the last time. All he has left is his large project, which he hopes will be finished by May. Since he usually did his schoolwork on weekends, I’ve been enjoying having him around on Saturdays and Sundays.

Amelia, of course, didn’t have school last Wednesday because of the snowstorm. Since Friday would have been a short day (and mostly they watch a movie in pjs on the last day before a break), the school was canceled Thursday and Friday as well. She is getting a lovely Christmas vacation – and so am I! We have crafted a lot and have enjoyed just being together.

Today, she decided to do things to make people smile and give them something to be happy about. She made cards with positive sayings inside, like, “You bring joy,” and “You make me happy.” Then she went throughout the neighborhood and passed them out. Everyone who answered their doors had smiles on their faces by the time she left. No one – except for our immediate neighbors – knew her name or where she came from, but they were all touched by this simple little gift. The Amazon Prime driver and the policeman down the street were, I think, the most grateful. She was definitely “handing out smiles.”

This was such a small thing and all it cost was a little time and some paper and ink. But I hope it brought joy to our neighbors during this hectic and uncertain time. I know Amelia loved it. She loves to give things to people.

Here’s a card I made as a sample using the Friends Are Like Seashells Stamp Set from the upcoming January-June Mini Catalog. Amelia saw it and liked it, so I gave it to her.

I die-cut the shells from Whisper White Cardstock, then stamped the shells using Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, and Pretty Peacock Ink. After I inked each stamp, but before I stamped on the card stock, I added some Frost White Shimmer Paint over the ink on the stamp with a Sponge Dauber. It gave it a little extra shimmer since I used Whisper White instead of the Pearlized paper. (You can see how I aligned the seashell stamps with the die-cut shells in this blog from last week.)

To mimic the sand, I sponged some Crumb Cake ink on Crumb Cake Cardstock. I added the sentiment, which is perfect for Amelia, in Pretty Peacock Classic Ink, then added the top layers to a Blushing Bride card base.

Thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy. I hope you have a lovely day!

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