Prepping for Card Sending Success

I really love to send mail to people. I always have the best intentions to send out birthday cards, then inevitably, I wake up and Facebook has reminded me it's someone's birthday. Or even worse, didn't remind me. This year, I am setting myself up for card sending success. 

I cleaned up my desk and gathered my supplies so I can be prepared to make someone's day.

Here's what you need:

1. A spot close to where you work, pay bills, or sit regularly. I am using this cute file box I got from Marshalls to keep my supplies close to me at my desk.

2. An assortment of cards. I have many fond memories of standing in the aisles of Hallmark picking out stacks of cards during my lunch break, I always had cards on hand. Pick some birthday, anniversary, and even a sympathy card or two in your stash so you're prepared for anything. You can even make it easy on yourself and grab an assortment of cards that will cover you for any event, like this one by Write Away. I have all my cards in a cute clear box, right at my fingertips and ready when I need them instead of tossed in a drawer or box somewhere.

I also have a set of thank you cards and blank patterned note cards for special notes and thank yous. With a few stickers and a special sentiment, these could make great birthday cards too!

3. Stamps. Even with the best intentions, those cards are going nowhere without these! Now that the majority of stamps are "Forever" stamps, you never have to worry about a postage increase if you buy these. I beefed up my stash with a few different styles. 

4. Address book. Years ago I picked out a 3-ring style address book and started a good record of addresses - in pencil. Really, this is key. I hated it when someone moved and I had to scratch out or white-out their address to put in a new one, or they got married and changed their name, it happened again. Now I write all addresses in pencil, so changes are a piece of cake, and my book stays looking nice. This book may not be my style forever but with the ring binder, I can easily take out the pages and put them in a new new without having to copy all the addresses again.

If you're a fan of having things digital, there's a great service called Postable where you can create an online address book and have your family and friends enter their information for you and even import your addresses, and it's free to join.

5. Accessories like washi tape, an address stamp, and fun pens. I mean, not that you *need* these things, but they sure do make sending mail fun and what fun is buying all these pretty things if you don't use them and share them, right? I love my PSA Essentials stamp, and my new set of washi by Sugar Paper. 

6. The last (and probably most key) item in my arsenal is my perpetual birthday and anniversary calendar. I make these because I LOVE them. This helps you keep track of birthdays, anniversaries, and special dates without having to transfer and move them from one calendar to another each year. Just add your dates to the corresponding month, and you are set to go. I like to add the person's birth year next to their name so I can keep up with milestone birthdays too. You can find these both in my Etsy and Amazon shop with various styles to suite your taste.

Now I'm ready. Ready to mail some happiness to the ones I care the most about, and I don't need Facebook to remind me. My goal is to set aside one day each month to write out the cards for upcoming birthdays, and get me back into the habit of sharing some snail mail love! I hope you'll join me! Share your mailing stations on instagram by tagging @polkadotpapercompany and using the hashtag #PDPsendcheer

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Center photo cards by: Create with Rebecca (Cupcake Girl), Ruby Red Paper (Howdy Pardner), Thimblepress (Confetti Girl), and Fisk & Fern (Bee).