OUTGOING MAIL: Long letters

Hello you beautiful readers! It's been a while! Life kind of got in the way, I will be using a brand new mailbox very soon! Yes that's right, me and the boyfriend found ourselves a lovely new apartment, yay for that! (I am sorry for the exclamation mark overload, it's just that I'm THAT excited) The past few days have been about browsing both online and offline stores for awesome pieces of furniture, choosing laminate and the colors we want our walls to have, instead of paper craft and blogging.

Another thing that got in the way was stupid Autumn again, it's getting dark so early these days! When I come home from work, it's already too dusky to take proper pictures. So this has to wait until the weekends, and it's not really like I spend the whole weekend at home waiting for the perfect moment to take pictures of my mail.

Anyway, that's enough excuses for one blog post! The past weeks I have been into long letter writing very much. I always (ALWAYS) send my penpals a proper letter, to me that's what mail is all about. Ofcourse, the paper craft, the washi tape decorations and the bits and pieces you send are lots of fun, but really it's about writing. At least, to me it is.

On the other hand, I love sending things that make the postal system a happier place, so why not combine the two right? Lovely long letters and pretty handmade stationery with lots and lots and lots of washi. For Rinske and Joeylyn, I made a small 'envelope package', which actually is nothing more than two envelopes in different (preferably contrasting) colors glued together. I used the one envelope for my letter, and the other for some matching gifts and handmade goodies.

Like these two handmade postcards, so much fun to make! I have been very much into handlettering these days. It's so relaxing! I can use lots of practice (I am actually considering a calligraphy course!) but I am seeing some improvement, whoop!

Hopefully this gives you some inspiration for an easy but fun snailmail project. It's also a good way to prevent yourself from overloading your envelopes, just use two of them! I like the contrast of a plain kraft envelope and a brightly colored one, but it's so versatile: you can go wild with patterns as well.

Tell me: do you prefer long or short letters? Or maybe a combination, like a medium/short letter and some extra notes, mailtags and lists to go with your letter? What do you write about with your penpals?

I am happy I am back to blogging! Is there anything you would LOVE to read about on my blog? My head is almost overflowing with both creative and blog ideas and this weekend I have taken and edited lots of photos so visit back soon!

Love,
Anne

OUTGOING MAIL: Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower

Although autumn and I didn't start off as the best of friends this year (what's up with that flu, pal?!), autumn always makes a rewarding theme for a letter. This one went to my friend Aurelia in Poland.

I folded a piece of leaf-patterned cardstock in three to make a little folder (notice I've got a thing for folders lately?). Searched my stash for matching paper for writing sheets and mailtag, then I just decided to go for ocher because that's probably my favorite autumn color (ugly word though!) I decorated the writing sheets with some red patterned washi tape and used a dark green fineliner to write my letter. And phewwwww the ocher matched my cardstock! I do not only have a thing for folders, I also have a thing for matching colors and patterns. Might need to see someone about that.

For the mailtag, I used a leaf-patterned piece of paper by Flying Tiger (whew, I'm even matching patterns now!). I used one side of the folder for my mailtag answers and questions, one side to stick the letter (used golden washi tape for that), and I sent Aurelia a nice bag of autumn tea. Which I stuck to the folder with leaf-patterned (sigh...) washi.

One of my penpals sent me some beautiful fake flower leafs a while back, and since the colors matched the theme perfectly I used them as a decoration on the front of the folder. Baker's twine helped put it all together. Baker's twine always helps putting it all together.

My color-matching, pattern-matching heart is beating so fast right now! Hope you enjoyed, please share any links to your own fall-themed snailmail or crafts!

Love,
Anne

INCOMING MAIL: The cutest package in the history of snailmail

The past week I have been a bit under the weather, something I thought was 'just a cold' turned out to be a jaw sinus infection, I was not feeling well at all. I suck at being sick, I can't stand just lying around and not having the energy to do anything at all. So when this FAT envelope fell into my mailbox, I was soooo incredibly happy! It was such a joy to unpack everything, every page held a little surprise. 

This snailmail folder my dear Philippine penpal Joeylyn sent me has everything I love: pink, kraft, polkadots, lace, a button, it's just gorgeous isn't it? The envelope was also super pretty!

But the best was yet to come! Look at this beauty. Can't put into words how happy this made me. Look at all the work and love that went into it. This is exactly the reason I love snailmail so much: someone on the other side of the world puts love, effort and time into creating something beautiful for someone else, selflessly! Who needs social media when you can have a hobby like this? Sorry for being so melodramatic, must be the last flu symptoms speaking ;-)

Moving on! Let me show you the pretty surprises every page held. On the first page I found a, Captain Obvious alert, cute earphone holder. Oh and take a look at the neat stitching!

The second page held some Philippine recipes, because in my previous letter to Joeylyn I mentioned cooking to be a huge hobby of mine. These dishes all sound yum, will give them a try soon! I love receiving recipes from my penpals, and I send some of my own favorites around every now and then as well. It's an easy and fun personal touch to a letter I think.

On the third page I found a nice long letter, which kept me busy during my time on the sofa sipping tea and blubbering away kilos of tissues. Love the washi and all the cute decorations.

And then the last pages held some cute stationery and goodies, I especially like the wreath stickers! I already have a little project in mind I am going to use these for.

Bonus: a closer look at the cute charm bracelet Joeylyn made me! I loved the charms she chose, I guess the most fitting was the one on the left: "Made with love". 

Well, this whole post basically is a huge THANK YOU to Joeylyn, your package definitely made my day!

Love,

Anne