handmade...alchemy cards

I had an hour before I left for a monthly gathering with a circle of women friends.  I really wanted to give each of them something special, something handmade.  I happened to have 6 small photos of the butternut heart on moss already printed out in a neat stack.  So I decided working small would actually work to my advantage.  I have done this in the past and it is much easier to work on a small scale like this.

I also decided to limit my materials to a small stack of cards, stickers, and an old calendar.  Having the need to have all 6 done within an hour required me to be focused and not waste time looking for something beyond the selection of materials I had in front of me.

I also decided up front that I wouldn't be overly concerned if they were not perfect.  I ended up making the first one upside down with the image on the other side. But I decided I liked that they were not perfect...they were so wabi sabi.

I gave each card a different theme: joy, heal, dream, peace, hope, shine.  And used various letters to place the word somewhere on the card.

Kelly's box of hope for the Wellness Tree Project.  

I have made several boxes like this out of altoid and other mint tins.

Since the backs all had the same image, I was able to place them in a small box similar to the one I made for Kelly (whose box also contained alchemy cards) for the Wellness Tree project.  When I got to our gathering, I shuffled the cards, and each person took the card on top.  I loved that I didn't know who I was making each card for, and each person seemed to genuinely connect with the card they received.  And now I am using those themes as prayers for my friends.

This was from Kelly's box of hope.

I forgot that dream was in there too and that I used birds flying...interesting.

I have a feeling you will be seeing more of these.  They are very satisfying to make and I love the idea of transmuting bits and pieces of things I probably could have thrown away into something more meaningful...that is powerful.