Raise a Garden. Raise Good Children. Raise a Ruckus.
Raise a garden, raise good children, raise a ruckus.
– Robin Wall Kimmerer
Hey all,
This is what Robin Wall Kimmerer said during her talk at GVSU this month. It lingers with me still.
That, and the Indigenous man who began the talk sharing what a handshake means to the Pottawatomie nation; when you shake another person's hand, your spirits become in conversation with one another. They continue to communicate after the handshake has ended.
We are the present expression of 4,042 grandparents, our ancestors, he explained. What we do with our time here on Earth will affect the seventh generation beyond us. I have an impact now on how my great-great-great-great-great-great grandchild may live. This knowledge makes me live differently. I am not here solely for myself.
If I could summarize what I’ve been up to since raising my first garden, that would be it; I’m trying to make decisions prioritizing the long game beyond myself.
I’ve begun working part-time at a marketing agency near home. It's the catalyst to shifting the kaleidoscope of light again; the past 2 years are looking different now that they’re in the rearview. Story for another day. It’s long & layered like my mane as of late. I’m giving myself the space to unpack it.
In this letter, you’ll find:
print resources for the holiday
a new passion project
how this newsletter will shift moving forward
Thanks for being here, I love sharing this stuff with you. xo, Em
Photo & Print resources for the holiday
I promised a round-up of print resources for getting photos on your walls, in your books, and sent to family & friends this holiday. I’ve looked into each of these in more depth &/or have used them myself for years. My top 5 from highest ($$$) to lowest ($):
Artifact Uprising | $$$
Artifact Uprising is my tried and true for elevated photo prints. Their calendar is a perennial favorite. Cards, photo albums, and large-scale photo prints are top quality here. I always order my photos in matte (instead of gloss or semi-gloss).
Calendars starting at $35 | Prints starting at $1.11/print | Albums starting at $62 | Holiday cards $1.45/ea.
Upcoming sales:
Periodic sales leading up to their Very Merry Sale, offered around Black Friday.
One-time coupon code 10FORYOU for 10% off.
Paper Culture | $$
I recently switched to Paper Culture for our holiday cards. These are eco-friendly, they dedicate a tree in honor of a loved one with each purchase, and are great quality for the sustainable aspect (hard to find!). They offer free address printing (unheard of elsewhere). This is one of those places I was like, is this too good to be true? No, it isn’t. Highly recommend.
Prints starting at $1.33/print | Albums starting at $40 | Holiday cards $1.79/ea.
Upcoming sales:
50% off through November 21 on holiday cards and photobooks. No code needed. This is an amazing deal!
30% off invitations. No code needed.
mpix | $$ | *people’s choice
mpix was recommended the most in my question box. It sounds like many of you are given this option by your family photographer to print out high-quality photos from your sessions. I see Shutterfly as the equivalent of mpix but I don’t care for Shutterfly’s photo quality so I don’t recommend them, ha. I will however try mpix thanks to your recommendations.
Prints starting at 36¢/print | Albums starting at $20 | Holiday cards $1.79/ea.
Upcoming sales:
25% off your first order.
mpix coupon page circulates ongoing offers, 10%–30% off.
Google Photos Print Store | $
The Google Photos Print Store is available with a free Gmail account. The standard amount of free space you’re given holds A LOT of photos. This option is a no-brainer. I highly recommend it as an alternative to convenience store prints. My experience with Walgreens & Meijer Photo lately sucks (poor color quality, surprise cropping, low-quality paper) so I’m a Google convert. At least with their print store.
It’s simple to navigate the interface to build a photobook from the albums made in Google Photos. You can also coordinate pickup at your nearest participating convenience store (the ones I shit on in the paragraph above ha). I like to make both my photobooks & prints and then have them delivered because the print quality is better that way.
Their new Premium Print subscription series is $7/mo for 10 prints/month. An automated print shop is the convenience factor I need to keep up with our child doing cute things. All I have to do is give up one Starbucks vanilla sweet cream nitro cold brew per week and it’s paid for. Easy peasy.
Prints starting at 18¢/print | Albums starting at $15 | Subscription photos $7/mo.
Upcoming sales:
25% off and free shipping through November 30.
They consistently run deals 10%–25% off throughout the year.
Still Novel | $$
Still Novel is a fun option for memory prints. A customized framed photo with details from an important milestone in your life; wedding anniversary, family vacation, birth announcement, pets, whatever in a range of styles and sizes.
Snapshot birth stat print (11”x17”) starting at $49 | Signature memory print (16”x20”) starting at $65 (these prices don’t include framing)
Upcoming sales:
Coupon code MOBILE10 for 10% off (unsure when it expires).
10% off with email sign-up.
The order of priority (& what I’m doing) is:
Holiday cards at Paper Culture before this Tuesday, Nov. 21 for 50% off & free address labeling.
Photo albums and prints at Google Print Store before next Thursday, Nov. 30 for 25% off and free shipping.
Annual photo calendar at Artifact Uprising sometime before Christmas for their Very Merry Sale discounts for my desk calendar.
sunday linen vintage collection
When I’m not scouring the web for print deals, I’ve been curating & collecting coastal vintage wares for my new online vintage shop, Sunday Linen. Read the posts here to see the what, why, & when of it. Spring 2024 is the first available collection for sale.
the state of this letter
The latest evolution of this newsletter was about the intersection of art, motherhood, & healing, Spring 2022–Fall 2023. I haven’t done a great job expressing these 3 categories to the depth I’ve felt them but I’m proud of the braid I wove. Each letter was tender, intentional, and true. It may be the catalyst for a book I write someday, the original hope since my August 2022 letter.
Motherhood posts will be archived soon with a pay-to-peruse option. I’m grateful I’ve offered my writing on the internet for 10 years free of charge but offering your heart willy nilly eventually weakens the spine.
I don’t have a plan moving forward for this letter. It’ll reflect something of my nature in some way as it’s done since 2013. You’ll stick with me if you want, as you have at some point between 2013–2023.
You’ll notice a refresh in photos, colors, maybe a logo (a brand, they call it ;)) soon. A designer seeks out another designer to craft her brand refresh. We shouldn’t do all the work ourselves, how ever can there be self-awareness without the aid of trusted others?
A reading/listening/watching section may be added to the letter. I like reading those from others. Open to hearing what you like in the newsletters you let into your sacred inbox.
in the meantime, get your memories into print. make those moments tangible. invite people over to your house and show them all those beautiful beautiful things you’re doing with all those beautiful beautiful humans in your life. Your great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren will thank you.
Love, Emily
Originally sent to Substack subscribers in November 2023.
