The “Postcard Club” is back for year two! Since beginning in 2023, I’ve been creating and mailing these monthly designs.
To kick off 2024, the January postcard features dragons spelling out the year and celebrating with hand sparklers - it’s the year of the dragon after all!
February’s design featured some animal friends sending love with handmade Valentines Cards!
For March I painted a hanami (flower-viewing) picnic scene with some little rats enjoying a meal under the cherry trees! The setting is based on the scenic Sai River here in Kanazawa.
In April’s design, the Treasure Hunters (from September 2023’s card) were back! This time though, they’re collecting sea sparkles and moon drops.
May’s design features some frogs taking a coffee break in a lotus pond. The area where we live has a lot of rice paddies and lotus fields, and soon they’ll start getting planted! I’ve already been hearing some frogs singing in the fields on evening rides.
June is notorious for being the rainy season in Japan! It's also the month when hydrangeas start blooming, and it's said that hydrangeas look prettiest in the rain. This month's postcard design featured some rats enjoying the hydrangea blooms despite a little drizzle.
July’s postcard featured a garden with a tiny tomato town. 🍅 🌱 There was also a sticker for "Tanabata" (七夕), or "star festival" that happens this month, and a sticker with a bear and rat friend wishing on dandelions.
August’s postcard was my last one sent from Japan before our move, so I wanted it to feature some of the beauty of the country. I had finished painting all 12 original castles as “catsles” earlier in the year, and combined them on one postcard to mail out together!
September’s postcard featured an apple orchard wedding, where they lived h(apple)y ever after! We moved back to North Carolina just in time for apple season, which inspired this month’s design.
October’s postcard was inspired by the vibrant fall leaves and fun pumpkin patches in Western North Carolina. One of the little friends having apple cider around the stump table is an opossum - they frequently visited our porch looking for snacks as the weather got colder.
November’s postcard took place on the day after Thanksgiving, when the leftovers are best. The rat was carefully tightrope walking to steal a pumpkin pie slice - but I don’t think anyone would mind :)
December’s postcard was of a “Christ-mouse” Market! The snowy scene was inspired by memories of festive winter markets.
