Welcome to Day 29 & the final day of the #sendcardsspreadlove challenge for for National Card & Letter Writing Month! Today, we have our last guest post from Ashley Reale with tips on spreading kindness AND our second HUGE GIVEAWAY from Breathless Paper Co.!

I’m already thinking of ways to make next year’s challenge even better & I can only do this with your feedback on what you’d like for tips & resources (let me know your burning questions regarding sending cards and letter writing) as well as recommendations for future guest bloggers & topics. Please take this quick survey and help me improve next year’s challenge! I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! (Psst…in gratitude for your help, there’s a coupon code for filling it out.)

I want to start off with saying that I’ve been so inspired by each & every one of you & I’m in awe of your creativity, your thoughtfulness & your dedication to sending cards & spreading love. You rocked these challenges!

You don’t know how happy it makes me to see all of your cards being sent out into the world. This challenge wouldn’t be a success without your participation & support. Thank you also to the incredible guest bloggers who provided such awesome content. Lastly, all winners will be announced May 4th via newsletter & in the Facebook Group, so make sure you’re connected in one of those ways.

How To Participate In The Challenge<h1>

For those of you just joining us: welcome to the party & it’s not too late to participate! There’s still 1 more opportunity to send cards & win prizes! Check out this post for the details on the week 4 challenge AND this post for the first BIG GIVEAWAY from Mr. Boddington’s Studio for $100 to their shop!

Day 29 Of The 2018 #sendcardsspreadlove Challenge

Week 4 Challenge: Love + Kindness

The challenge this week is to spread love and kindness. DETAILS here. (Ends tonight 4/30 at midnight EST)

The prize is a collection of love cards (plus a 48 page downloadable pdf The Together Journal!) In order to be eligible to win:

• share your card and/or note with the week 4 challenge
• tag me on IG @prettybypost or in the FB group along with the #sendcardsspreadlove hashtag by April 30th at midnight EST.

SECOND BIG GIVEAWAY

It’s our second BIG giveaway! Today, in the spirit of kindness, Breathless Paper Co., is generously offering challenge participants a $200 shop credit!!!

Breathless Paper Co. is the passion project and creative endeavor of partners in crime, Jessica and Matthew Berinato. The husband and wife team pours every ounce of wit, laughter and heart they have into creating the perfect design for their paper goods, from greeting cards to coasters. At the core, Breathless Paper is about facilitating an environment centered around sharing love and kindness — something the world always needs more of.

To be eligible to win you MUST follow the instructions above for the week 4 challenge AND for a second entry, please leave a comment below OR on any other of the challenge posts (recap below) telling us which weekly challenge was your favorite & why (scroll down for a recap of all the posts). (To be absolutely clear: you must participate in one of the challenges. If you only leave a blog comment but have NOT participated then your entry will not count).

A winner will be picked randomly from ALL challenge participants. Which means if you’ve already participated in any of the weekly challenges then you’ve been entered. If you haven’t yet participated you still have 1 more opportunity by participating in the week 4 challenge (by April 30th at midnight EST) AND for a second entry, please leave a comment below telling us which weekly challenge was your favorite & why.

Here’s just a sample of their gorgeous cards that you’ll be able to choose from. Good Luck!

Also, make sure to check out all the fabulous guest posts and resources from the past four weeks on the blog (recap below). There’s a lot of really good tips, ideas and inspiration for sending cards/letters.

Lastly, join us in the Facebook Group to meet fellow card/letter writing enthusiasts & participate in  monthly challenges with prizes, along with special giveaways, coupons, etc.)

And now for today’s guest post.

I adore Ashley Reale’s commitment & passion for spreading love by leaving hidden notes of encouragement for strangers. And for the past two years, not only have we included a bonus challenge encouraging participants to do the same, but  leaving notes for people to find has become a hobby of mine.

I’ve left cards with inspiring quotes & quick messages of encouragement at my local craft stores, in Target, at Barnes & Nobles tucked into books / hidden in between books / at the magazine rack, in waiting rooms at doctor’s offices, at the coffee shop, at a Panera’s, etc. The sky is really the limit. So, I’m excited for Ashley to share her easy tips to spread more kindness in today’s guest post.

5 Easy Ways to Share Kindness

What if we intentionally sought out the people society usually ignores and helped brighten their day with a little extra kindness? My name is Ashley, and I’m here to give you a few ideas on doing just that!

1. Start with yourself.

We’ve all heard it before, “Self care is not selfish,” but it is SO true. We cannot authentically care for others if we are not first caring for ourselves. It’s like they say on airplane safety instructions: put your oxygen mask on first before trying to help your neighbor. You’re a much more effective helper when you have the ability to breathe! Try this: Take a donut break. No really, go get yourself a donut and eat it guilt free. Give yourself extra time each day to do something you love or enjoy. Even something as simple as taking 10 minutes to step outside for some fresh air and a walk around the block (to buy yourself a donut) can vastly improve your mood and free you up to love others with intention.

2. Write an anonymous note of encouragement for a stranger.

This one is my favorite ways to spread love. I do this on a regular basis with my small business, Love Everywhere. What began as a personal passion to share kindness and encouragement with others has birthed an entire community of golden hearts that are intentional about sharing love through handwritten words of encouragement. Together we have distributed over 18,000 kind notes! Being kind in this way doesn’t take very much time, and requires very little money—all you really need is a piece of paper and a pen—and yet the impact it has carries infinite possibilities for the lucky person who discovers it. A message as simple as “you are loved” can lift someone’s spirits after a tough day, and let them know they are not alone.

The beauty of having our community behind us is that we can keep track of the cards that are being written and discovered. We’ve had cards in locations as distant as the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China, as well as in cities all over the United States.

3. Look for the good in someone and speak it out to them.

Fellow Nashvillian Ruthie Lindsey says it best, “If you see something beautiful in someone, speak it.” Complimenting someone’s eyes, hair, or outfit is the easiest way to vocalize kindness, but what if we took it a bit deeper and pointed out their stellar kind heart or how rad it was that they helped a friend out during a difficult time. Complimenting someone’s actions versus how they look speaks to who they are, and goes deeper than the typical “You look nice today” superficial compliment (even though we still need to hear those, too!!)

4. Give your parking spot to someone else or let someone ahead of you in line at the grocery store.

We’ve all been there: in a hurry trying to run errands and trying to find that prime parking spot or the shortest line to get us out the door. What would it look like to wait an extra three minutes at checkout to let that busy mom with three kids ahead of you in line? Or to walk a few extra feet so that elderly man can have the closer parking spot? These are simple ways to make a positive impact on your local community that really do make a difference.

5. Say thank you.

To your friends. To your family. To your local coffee shop barista. Your hairdresser. Your mailman. To the janitor at your local fitness center. Find people doing jobs that are usually ignored, and tell them thank you for the work that they do and the way it makes your life better. They will never forget it, and you will find that it feels so good to fill your gratitude tank up that you’ll start seeking out ways to be grateful in every last part of your day.

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P.S. Scroll down for a recap/links of the entire challenge!

***I’d be so grateful if you found this post helpful to please share it using the buttons below!

Author Bio

Love Everywhere began with Founder and Chief Heart Officer, Ashley Reale, asking the question “What if one tiny act of kindness could change a life?” So, she began to share love with strangers through hidden notes of encouragement, leaving these notes hidden in plain sight everywhere she went. In 2014, she launched a website, and with the help of a team of ambassadors and an enthusiastic social media community, over 19,000 notes have now been distributed globally. Ashley lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and two children. You can connect with her on Instagram.

Here’s A Recap Of The 2018 #sendcardsspreadlove Challenge

Week 1:

• BIG LIST of reasons to send cards [Day 1]
• Resources on what to write [Day 3]
• Guest post from Alexandra Franzen on the urgency of letting someone you know how much they mean to you [Day 5]

 Week 2: 

• Guest post from Amanda Sue Howell on hand lettering envelopes [Day 8]
• Guest post from Jill DeLuce on Letterpress Printing & Why It’s Special [Day 10]
• Guest post from Naomi Hattaway sharing how empathy muscles are strengthened through letter writing [Day 12]

Week 3: 

• Guest post from Katelyn Woolley on what to say to someone who is going through a difficult time [Day 15]
• Guest post from Nancy Gaines with snail mail sending inspiration & FREE graphics [Day 17]
• Guest post from Sara McNally with a training regimen to help aspiring snail mail superstars sail over the obstacles of sending cards [Day 19]

Week 4: 

• Guest post from Brynn Fowler with a wax seals 101 tutorial [Day 22]
• Guest post from Skylar Liberty Rose with a beautiful memories & milestones ritual [Day 24]
• Guest post from Josh Solar inspiring us to spread love, kindness & hope. [Day 26]

This concludes the recap of the 2018 #sendcardsspreadlove challenge! And don’t forget to take this survey to help me make the 2019 challenge even bigger & better!

Click the button below to opt-in to our newsletter list and you’ll get instant access to our free resource library filled with PDFs and worksheets to make it as easy as possible to send cards and spread love.

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