Welcome to Day 18 of the 2017 #sendcardsspreadlove challenge for National Card & Letter Writing Month! We have a special extra blog this week, with a new designer feature AND a bonus challenge!

As a reminder, the challenge this week is to spread love and kindness. You can get the details here along with a recap of the first two weeks. There’s some good stuff, so make sure you go back and read the other posts.

To be eligible, share your week 3 challenge card and/or letter on IG (remember to follow us) or in the Facebook group. Be sure to tag @prettybypost, and use the #sendcardsspreadlove hashtag by April 24th at 11:59 pm EST. All winners will be announced on May 5th via newsletter, on IG and in the Facebook group, so make sure you’re connected in one of those ways.

Day 18 Of The 2017 #sendcardsspreadlove Challenge

Week 3 Bonus Challenge

The BONUS challenge is to send yourself a letter.

I’m guessing that almost all of you have never sent a handwritten or email letter to yourself. For an online class I took a long time ago (so long that I can’t remember what it was), we had to email ourselves a letter from our future selves five years ahead, and email it one year away. It was quite a surprise to receive an email from myself and I really enjoyed reading my own advice.

For ideas, you can refer back to Reason #14 on the BIG LIST of reasons to send cards (pssst, this was made into a PDF for the challenge subscribers only – you can download yours when you sign up). To be eligible to win a package of support/encouragement cards, follow the same instructions as above, and enter by April 28th at 11:59 pm EST.

Today we have our second special designer feature and interview with Richele Silva of Richie Designs (read the first feature with Sara of Constellation & Co. here).

Richele’s Thank You From The Bottom Of My Heart card is available in our September 2015 curated collection AND was picked by the PbP community for inclusion in this year’s Best of Collection. I continue to receive emails about this card from people who have received it or from subscribers who want to purchase it as a single card. Also, her Today, You’re The Girl With The Most Cake card is included in our Birthday Themed Collection.

Richele sent me my very first National Stationery Show invite ever, and a girl never forgets her first NSS invite. She is another designer that I was fortunate to meet in person.

Designer Feature With Richele Silva

Tell us about yourself and Richie Designs (why you design cards, why you love stationery, etc).

I’ve had a love affair with stationery since I was a little girl. I think it might go back to two significant moves away from girlfriends when I was young. I began making cards and sending letters to them to feel connected to my friends who weren’t so close anymore. I’m also a pretty quiet person in general, so writing a letter is much easier for me than actually speaking to someone until I know them well.

So, take that and add art and design and voila! I just kind of have always thought in “greeting” quips. I spent 16+ years working in design and advertising, and had always had this dream. When we had layoffs (a month before my 40th birthday mind you), I just said F*%$ it, let’s do this now. That was almost eight years ago.

I really try and design for needs that come up for myself. The Thank You From The Bottom Of My Heart card that is a favorite of yours was like that. Someone had really helped me out in a jam and that’s what I really wanted to tell them, so I made it.

What does letter writing/sending cards mean to you?

For me, it’s a way to connect with friends around the country, to tell them “I’m thinking of you” even if it’s just to say just that. I feel like we all don’t say “I adore you” enough to people we care about. It’s also a physical representation of caring to me. Beautiful paper and taking the time to write out a note is special and also a lost art. When my grandmother passed away a couple years ago, I got some of her literal dance cards from college, where she wrote my grandfather’s name in as her dance partner. Hence, the saying “my dance card is full”. That’s something to be cherished.

What is your happiest letter/card memory (a card you received or sent, writing your first letter, etc.)?

I have two memories from my husband, one when he was a little boy and one of his letters to me when we met.

The first was my husband’s letter to Santa when he was a little boy. His mom gave it to me a few years ago. He phonetically spelled out words and had his little boy handwriting. He asked for his stuffed bear Henry, who we still have.

The second was actually an email, but I have it printed out and saved. My husband and I met while he was a professional fly fishing guide, and I was buying wardrobe for a photo shoot. He was pretty low-tech at the time and didn’t have an email address (or cell phone), but he signed up for one so he could ask me out on a date. It’s probably the sweetest thing I’ve ever received. I promptly forwarded it to all my girlfriends, much to his horror.

PbP was founded to honor those we love with what matters most: loyalty, support and unconditional love. What does #fierceloyalty mean to you?

For me, loyalty, support and unconditional love can look a lot of different ways. I’ve gotten into my car to drive to my best friend who was in a crisis a few hours away. But it has also been standing next to someone who maybe is making a bad decision, or maybe a decision I wouldn’t have made, but trusting that their journey is theirs to make.

Unconditional love is just that. I may not like it, but it’s not mine to sort out, it’s just mine to witness and stand next to the person and love them.

If your creative work were edible, what would it taste like?

Vanilla and salted caramel ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. Classic, somewhat elegant, a little salty with some humor sprinkled on top.

What is playing on your iPod/fave music app/etc. right now?

I’ve been kinda obsessed with Rufus Wainwright for the past month or so. Taylor Swift for the inner 15-year-old in me. And then because I’m an 80’s kid and my 30th high school reunion is this summer (gahhh): The Go-Go’s, Haircut One Hundred and Elvis Costello and all of that fun music.

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Author Bio

Richie Designs is a boutique design and letterpress studio located in Long Beach, Ca. Owner, Richele Silva, is a print and greeting card lover and the woman behind the curtain. Richele has been featured on notable sites such as Rachel Zoe’s, The Zoe Report, Brides Magazine, Cool Hunting and Oh So Beautiful Paper. You can find Richele on social media @richiedesigns for more fun.