Saying Yes to Creativity and Connection: My Season of Yes Project

If you’re not familiar with Club Mäksē, it’s an amazing and supportive online community focused on goal-setting, mindset training, personal development, and mind-body wellness. Every summer, we kick off what’s called the Season of Yes—a 12-week celebration that runs from July through September, focused on saying yes to yourself and to the things that light you up.

This year (2025), the theme was A Season of Remembering. We took a nostalgic approach—finding joy in rest, pause, play, and dreams of summers past. August’s sub-theme was “Find Your People,” which encouraged making connections with new friends and old.

In the spirit of nostalgia and connection, I decided to create and send handmade cards to fellow Club Mäksē members—”clubbies,” as we call each other—like the pen pals I had as a kid. Since I work in academia and have a lighter summer schedule, I always look forward to Season of Yes as a chance to embrace that slower rhythm and use my time with intention. So often in the past, I’d get to the end of summer and wonder, Where did it go? But now, I make space for things that bring me joy—and cardmaking is one of my favorite ways to say yes to myself.

As a throwback to my youth, I used a the Mix Tape Die Set from Taylored Expressions to make cassette tape cards—a nod to the mixtapes I made all through childhood and young adulthood. Now, most people wouldn’t think of paper-piecing a fiddly die cut as a great choice for mass production… but I was determined to make each card feel special, even though I was making 20!

Step 1: Choose a Color Palette

To honor the nostalgia theme, I searched for color palettes inspired by the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s and ultimately landed on a bold 1980s-inspired color scheme.
I used:

• Dragon Fruit and Cookie Monster cardstock from Taylored Expressions
• Starfruit and Grape Soda cardstock from Concord & 9th
• Mushroom cardstock from Concord & 9th for the cassette body and tape details

Step 2: Batch Die-Cutting

To streamline the process, I taped the dies together using Best Ever Craft Tape from Spellbinders. I cut five full sets from each color, then mixed and matched the pieces to create 20 unique cassettes.

Step 3: Sentiments and Labels

For the sentiments, I used the Best Mix Ever Stamp Set from Taylored Expressions and heat-embossed them in white on Mushroom cardstock. I stamped 10 of each sentiment to give me options while assembling and cut them out using the coordinating dies

I also printed out the phrase “Season of Yes” on my label maker to act as the tape label on each cassette—this little detail added a fun, personal touch!

Step 4: Backgrounds

For the backgrounds, I used the Mix Master Background Stamp also from Taylored Expressions and matched the background colors to the cassette colors, choosing a less dominant hue to keep it balanced. I ink-blended the edges for a soft tone-on-tone look. With Concord & 9th’s Dragon Fruit ink, I found it worked best to ink-blend lightly over the whole panel before stamping to avoid harsh saturation.

Once all the components were ready, I got into assembly-line mode. I popped up the cassettes and sentiments with foam tape—but for the sentiments, I ultimately decided to stack three die cuts underneath instead, giving them a chipboard-like sturdiness without the “floppy” feel of foam alone.

I finished each card with a few embellishments just enough to add a bit of sparkle.

With two sentiment options, two cassette layouts, and four color combinations, almost every clubbie received a one-of-a-kind card. Even in mass production, each one felt meaningful and handmade.

And of course, I wrote a little personal message inside every card. 📝

Final Thoughts

This project was my way of saying yes to creativity, connection, and self-expression. I got to enjoy one of my favorite hobbies while making something heartfelt for people I’ve only met online but genuinely care about. And based on the kind messages I’ve received, I think they enjoyed the cards as much as I enjoyed making them.

That’s what the Season of Yes is all about: saying yes to what fills your cup—and sharing that joy with others.