designing family stationery

I'm embarrassed to say that I've been a little lax about writing thank you notes in the last couple of years. Maybe I overdosed after Ben was born. So many generous friends and family members - not a bad problem to have!

Anyway, I'm back on the letter-writing train. We declined our friends' offers to host any kind of baby shower when I was expecting Owen. I really didn't want anyone spending money on gifts we didn't need. We were having another boy, less than three years after boy #1 and since I'm not big on a lot of stuff, it just made sense not to do another shower.

Well, wouldn't you know it, we did get some gifts from people, so those gifts obviously warrant thank you notes. And when I got sick after Owen was born, our friends and family jumped in to help with meals and care for Ben. I don't know what that first month would have looked like without all their attention, food and support.

Rather than using my normal go-to thank you cards, I designed something new: family stationery in my favorite colors of the summer. I'll be slipping them in with some of the birth announcements that will also go out this week. They're digitally printed on white cotton paper, so they're soft with just a little bit of texture.

Rather than printing return addresses on the envelopes, I printed 2-inch round labels with our return address. The back of the card also has our return address along with the date we're moving so our friends have a heads' up that it'll be changing. I find I toss envelopes but hang onto cards, so it made sense to put our address on the back of the card. So if you're one of the many people who has a thank you note (or a birth announcement!) coming from the Saunders family, please know that I haven't forgotten you!

What about you? Do you send handwritten thank you notes?