thank you!

i so appreciate all the fun & celebrations. thanks for humoring me and joining in on my little launch. {i loved reading your favorite blog reads and also what you're known for. and it looks like most of us are looking forward to being with family this coming week. i know i am.} i've began packaging the pretty li'l things and will be shipping orders soon. one of you asked how it all began. here is a snippet of my story.

once upon a time i started a li'l endeavor.
i called it martacards.

seven years ago i began making clever li'l greeting cards at my round kitchen table. a lamp from the seventies hung overhead, spotlighting my work. i sliced every sweet scrap with an x-acto knife and folded each card by hand. i was not necessarily breaking world records or even making fabulous cards. (most of them consisted of a few die cuts, buttons and gluedots. revolutionary.) still, i was creating and more importantly, practicing. and getting better. it's all in the process. since then, i've expanded my repertoire. yet am still practicing and attempting to create lovely little things with care.

to create something from nothing (or in some cases to create something from a whole bunch of somethings) for me, is cause for much celebration. and bliss. even if the triumph means just smiling to myself alone at my desk, be it three o'clock in the morning (the best ideas come at that time anyway, i may as well be awake to jot them down). creating is like breathing life into an idea. it's bringing it full circle. which i love and find thrilling. it should be enjoyed enthusiastically. so thank you for supporting me and my li'l habit for making stuff with my own two hands.

and to you who asked, my humble advice on finding happiness... i'll start with these 3 tips. one. love yourself, discover who you are, and begin believing in yourself. right now. two. find something (anything) to be passionate about. your life will be happier if you follow your heart. three. write it all down.

{now tell me. what is your tip for happiness?}