The Create! Grant applications we received this year were incredible, and we are lucky to have so many thoughtful, creative community members. It was an honor to read every submission, and the final decision was a difficult one. This year’s winner combines artistic creativity with entrepreneurship, using her art to solve a problem that many members of the adoption constellation have encountered at some point. Congratulations to Sydney S., who is developing a line of greeting and holiday cards designed specifically for adoption relationships. Her project directly benefits birthparents, adopted people, and adoptive parents, giving them a way to connect with each other through cards that are written specifically for them.
Without further ado, we’d like to introduce our Create! Birthparent Arts Grant winner, and let her tell us all a little bit more about the program she created with it.
I'm Sydney, a recent college graduate in Business, hobby artist, and most importantly, I am a birthmother with a beautiful open adoption. When I'm not doing art, you can find me being creative in other ways, like helping people or caring for all my plants and animal friends. I have a knack for finding silver-linings in just about every situation and enjoy being witty and using word play to brighten others’ days.
Where did the idea come from, to create a line of greeting cards that are specifically designed to meet the needs of adopted people, birthparents, and adoptive parents?
For my daughter's second birthday, I was handing down a set of books that were really meaningful to me. While I was at the store, getting the wrapping paper and packaging stuff, I thought, I can quick grab a card, and then write in it what these books and this gift means, and the sentimental value behind them. I started looking at the “For My Daughter” cards, and as I was reading them, I realized their messages were things like, “I'm happy to have raised you,” which stopped me. Then I thought, maybe I am looking at the wrong group of cards. Maybe I need to be looking at the “For Girls” section of cards. I started looking at those cards, but they were all so impersonal. It seemed like they were meant to be sent by distant cousins and aunts who hardly ever see the recipient and aren’t really connected to them. There was just no middle balance between these two categories, so I just went home, grabbed a piece of colored paper, and just wrote out my message on that.
The problem wasn’t just that there wasn’t any kind of relevant card for a situation like this, but also the emotional confusion I felt in that store while trying to buy a card. I remember feeling like I didn’t want anybody to see me, or look at me, or know who I was or why I was there.
That is what led me to create a line of greeting cards that are tailored to our community, because we deserve to be able to find something that is relevant to us, and that supports us. I created something that gives adoptive parents and birthparents the opportunity to show each other support, and to give adoptees a way to express themselves to both their adoptive parents and birthparents.
This is brilliant, because you aren’t just addressing a missing greeting card category, but also supporting the emotional experience of the card-buyer, and giving them their first opportunity to buy a card that addresses their situation.
On places like Etsy, I have seen cards that say things like, “Happy Birthmother’s Day,” but they are literally just inserting the word ‘birth’ into a typical Mother’s Day card, and that is just not something we want to see.
One of the components of my line addresses how tough Mother’s Day cards are for adoptees. I have a set for them, so that there is a card for their birthmother, and another for their adoptive mother, that connects their story.
Mother’s Day is definitely a holiday that needs a line of cards like this. Are you doing other holidays as well?
I am also working on cards that offer more generic or less holiday-specific support. Cards that you can send to someone in the adoption constellation that recognize they might be going through a hard time, and that you are here for them, or cards that just remind someone that you are thinking about them or expressing gratitude that they are in your life.
I was also thinking about adding in cards that adoptive parents could send birthmothers each year, on that child’s birthday. For a little kid, maybe a car-themed picture frame on the front, that they could slide a child’s photo into, and inside it says something like, “Stop and Celebrate With Us,” and a road map, and each location on the map is a milestone that was met that year, like a highlights reel or recap, to share with birthparents.
How has nobody ever done this before? It’s brilliant.
I have to give a lot of credit for the inspiration to my child’s adoptive mom, because she is just one of the sweetest, wholeheartedly good people. I went through our text messages for ideas on topics, or ideas on how to word things, because she really nails it, knowing what to say. Things like, whatever is going on, we are here for you, if you want to talk. I've vented to her about some of my personal problems, and she will come back relating to them in some way - physical health, relationship stuff - making me feel like I'm not the only one struggling through things. She definitely deserves a lot of credit for this project. I don’t know how to thank her, except to keep telling her that, over and over again.
I've been sharing ideas with her, too, to get her input as an adoptive mother. I send her things, and she helps adjust the wording; helps me get it perfect.
Your card line recognizes that people want to do the right thing in their adoption triad, but don’t always have the words to start. Having a card that is specific to adoption relationships gives them that starting point, for people who may be struggling with the communication necessary for a healthy open adoption relationship.
That really is my hope. In my adoption, it’s been a positive experience so far. If there's conflict that comes up when we're supposed to go see them, they understand, and we reschedule and there's a lot of grace between us all, and in adoption support groups I have definitely gotten negative feedback, and told, just wait, things are going to change, but I think that they don't have to change. Yes, there's still the grief, but the relationship doesn't have to suffer because of the grief: you can be there and it can be open and it can be healthy. That’s one of the goals with this project: giving people the tools to foster more healthy, open relationships.
Are you designing and writing the cards on your own?
One of my best friends is also a birth mother. She sadly did not have a very open relationship with the adoptive family, she was very young and forced to place. She’s in college right now, in her last semester, and then she's jumping on board with me to help, she will be the creative mind behind the closed/ in reunion cards you'll be seeing.
Yours is a very creative and meaningful project, and you have clearly found your voice. What advice would you give other birthparents about finding their own voice?
Do what scares you, and don’t be intimidated by trying something new. Everybody gets ideas, everybody has a great thought pop up in conversation but doesn’t ever share it, so use those thoughts, and do something with them. Don’t just leave it as an unshared thought. I want to encourage people to put those thoughts out there, and just express yourself. In art, there is no wrong that can be done. It’s all about getting things out of your head.
That is such an important message, the idea that there is no right or wrong when making art. We get so hung up on the idea that something has to be ‘good’ but that really isn’t the point of making art, is it?
Exactly. Once, I collected chicken feathers; black like oilslick-colored chicken feathers, and I made a crow out of pine cones and chicken feathers. It is the creepiest looking thing. It's got these big, bulgy bug eyes, but the kids here, they love it. They think it's the cutest, coolest Halloween decoration. That is what is so important to remember: others may or may not appreciate what you make but, there's a therapeutic value to art—about getting what you are holding on to out—and being able to do some kind of creative expression when you don't necessarily know what your feelings are, let’s you get them out to a place where you're able to see them, untangle them, feel them, and process them a little bit better, and then they lose power over you, because you're not holding on to them and letting them weigh you down.
Part of why art-making can be so therapeutic is because you aren’t looking for feedback. There is no feedback on what you make except your own, to yourself. It encourages us to talk kindly to ourselves, and you don’t have to keep everything you make; just talk nicely to yourself about it and throw it away if you want.
When do you think your greeting card line will be available for purchase?
Next Mother’s Day. I think it is a great place to start, and a tough one for adoptees to find cards for, and I want to give everyone involved in adoption an opportunity to share their feelings, offer their support, and recognize both moms, because both moms are important.
I’ve thought a lot about price, too. Cards in stores can be expensive - $8 for a card? I couldn’t afford an $8 card. Mine are really, really affordable, because that matters, that people can afford them, and the profits from them I am going to send to On Your Feet as a donation, so that it helps this community.
Every step of this process is so thoughtfully planned. Are you an entrepreneur? Have you created other businesses like this before?
I’m not, but I did go to school for business. I just like doing good. You know, I'm here, and I'm doing
something good for somebody, and that's what makes me feel good. The more of a positive impact I
can make, in as many lives as possible; that’s what fuels me to keep going.
Cards will be for sale digitally or printable versions starting April 1, 2026! If you’d like to share any
ideas, please fill out this short poll so I can incorporate them. You’ll also be able to find other inspiring artwork of mine for sale, all on my Etsy, inspirationbysydney.
Thank you again to everyone who applied for a Create! Arts grant this year. Your creativity and vision inspires us every day. Watch our social media for more information about how to buy Sydney’s cards—we will keep you updated about this project as we approach Mother’s Day.
