~ snail mail love ~

{incoming from @sarahshanahan2}

{incoming from @murderingtime and @sarahshanahan2}

{incoming from @petrinaturnerdesign}

{outgoing - planning stages}

 

{incoming - Ash}

Today is #worldpostday (I think it has to have a hash-tag these days doesn't it?).  Its not too late to write a letter to someone you love and make their day tomorrow (or sometime next week depending on which postal zone they're in...in my case Tassie's zone is like the end of the world - not infrequently we have had letters addressed to here go via Tanzania!!)

I was lucky enough to receive a real snail mail letter today (the bottom one) with special envelopes for my girls inside (these are the characters they are playing in their end of year ballet concert - not the real white rabbit, I hasten to add.. in case you think I am a real ballet mother {I'm so not} but one of a number of white bunnies that don't appear to be in Lewis Carroll's original version - poetic licence much?).

The other letters are part of a mail exchange going on over on instagram (I know I'm talking about IG again here - total IG addict  - but now there's not only pretty pictures and amazingly friendly people but there's beautiful mail exchanges happening too).  I've been lucky enough to receive really heartfelt letters and gorgeous bits and bobs and am making new friends with each letter I send.

So - go send a letter and make someone's day.  Or send me one - and I'll send you one back...promise.
(email me for my snail mail addy or leave a comment here)

♥

~ Monday's mailbag ~

I got an email from Kate this week as she wrapped up her awesome 100 pantone postcards project - she posted 100 separate postcards in 100 days to good friends and bloggy strangers like me.
I was thrilled when I got mine (and put it straight on instagram but never managed to blog about it)
So here it is in its new home (and on the day it came)

{on my wall}

{Kate's card to me}

 In the last month I've also posted off all my efforts in the latest elevated envelope project and have had some lovely envelopes (and bits and bobs) come my way too. I enclosed some fairy biscuit postcards in my similarly decorated envelopes -with some stickers and furry friends chocolate.

{my pile of elevated fairy biscuit envelopes}

{postcards I had made to go in the envelopes}

Disappointingly - a month after the deadline - there are still 4 or 5 missing.  I think its got beyond blaming living in Tassie (the postal end of the universe) - some people obviously just never get around to fulfilling the promises they make.

I've also joined Post crossing.  I kept reading about it and thought I'd give it a whirl.  I've sent about 8 cards and got my first one back today.  Real mail, even from a stranger, still gives me a little thrill. It was a pretty flower too - how appropriate.

{my first post crossing card - from the US}

I've been trying to fulfill my promise to myself to write more to the people I know too.  I've sent some cards and funny envelopes. I've also got a big missive on the go to a friend in Hong Kong who's been feeling the same lack of connection that I have (in our 20+ year friendship) - we've decided to write more - about the mundane, the everyday, the special and see how it goes.  It feels like having a penpal all over again.  Its exciting.

{post crossing mail going out}

{orphaned post card project}

{lovely mail in}

 Anything interesting in your letterbox?

♥

~ this week's mail ~

Hello

Not much to report in terms of elevated envelope news (although mine are almost ready to post) but there has been some exciting movement in the letter box this week.  (all iphone shots...)

First the outs - one of my post cards to some friends we haven't seen for a while.  The doily envelopes were part of the experiment for the other mail project - I like how they've turned out so will use that idea.

Much more exciting are the ins.

Lovely postcards from NZ (my brother and his partner have just had a quick trip there) for the children.  My lovely flickr friend sent that view from a Parisian window... sooo envious!

I love it when friends take the time and effort to send postcards from overseas.  We all enjoy looking at the stamps, reading the news and then learning where places are on the map.

The last shot is a pincushion I ordered as a little present to myself from Shelley.  I've been losing pins and needles down the couch when I'm sewing at night and thought this might make me a bit more responsible.  I can hardly bear to stick a pin in...its so beautiful.

The other exciting (for now) mail was our power bill.  A zero balance on our winter account.  Clearly someone has made a big mistake!!  We'll enjoy it for a week or two and then I'll ring and ask for the real amount (which won't be pretty - the tumble dryer and the heating have been on fairly continuously in recent times - wet beds, sick kids, damp Hobart weather etc etc).

Do you use a tumble dryer?

Are you scared of your power bills?

 ♥

~ mail in and out ~

I've written before of my love of real mail (here and here in fact) and this week was a goodie.

We all sat at a cafe last week and made great use of the free post cards ( I love them - we used to send them all the time when we were travelling.  Once we stocked up on about 50 of the same design and sent them weekly to a friend) ... 60c and we got to spread some snail-mail love to a grandad, a surrogate aunty, a flickr friend and my brother.  Best of all - we got follow-up within the week - phone-calls, texts, a post on fb - that our mail was received and appreciated.  We're all inspired to send more now.

My elevated envelope group are obviously very organised (the date for final post is not for another 2 weeks yet... I'm going to need each one of those days) because I got 3 lovely envelopes this week.

A very cute kisses and hugs Union Jack from the UK, complete with jubilee themed recipes and a little flag.

 

 

A sparkly, sequinny envelope - fragile enough to need to be encased again in plastic.  This also had little treats inside - UK lollies that the girls are desperate to try.

 

 

This one amazed me.  A see through envelope with handmade paper (with lace patterns imprinted in the paper) lingerie.  And instructions to make my own!!

I can't wait to see what the next few weeks bring.

Do you ever use those free post-cards?

What was the last exciting mail you sent?

 ♥

~ lovely mail ~

My love of getting something handwritten or pretty in the mail is well known. 

I stockpile cards and stationery and TRY to send out more than I get!

Not so long ago I discovered a project called the elevated envelope and jumped on board.

Its all about snail mail and in the most beautiful way.

Participants make and decorate their own envelopes to send around the world.

As usual for me, I procrastinated my way through the first few weeks/months of my project but the last few weeks saw me sewing and sticking like crazy to get my envelopes done.

The deadline was May 1st and I posted all mine the day before.

I've been very impatiently waiting for some mail love to hit the post box.

Today the first one arrived....and it wasn't even one from my list.  A very generous and kind lady called Elizabeth saw my comments about her beautiful envelopes and made another just for me.  I may have squealed at how lovely it was.

{this does not do it justice - it simply glows}

{its from Kent - how did Elizabeth know we lived there for a year?}

{a small cut out of a fairy on the reverse}

{I love this - a stamp made from one of her other painted and decorated envelopes}

I can't wait to see what other treasures will arrive in the next few weeks.

I hope mine (not even in the same league as these) find a happy home too.

Would you be interested in being part of a project like this?

Who was the last lucky person to receive real mail from  you?

 ♥

~ at the table ~

Today started and ended at our kitchen table - for once clear of the detritus of life.

A quiet day.

A walk, some pottering in the garden.

A cute new mail competition, a lunch alone, washing to do.

A tute at uni, afternoon tea with my girls.

And now can't wait to watch Part 2 of the Slap.

{breakfast}

{playing with light}

{my competition entry}

{picked from our garden}

{a moment alone}

How was your day?

Are you watching the Slap?

♥

~mail love~

I love getting real mail. 

You know, that stuff with a stamp, real handwriting and a non-white envelope.

I've always loved it.

I was one of those geeky kids who had a pen-pal.  And kept them.

I remember writing to one of my best friends who went away to South Africa for a year - every week for a year.  The fun I had choosing the paper, the envelopes, the little bits and pieces to include kept me going while I was missing her so much.  And of course it meant I got some replies.

I still get that little frisson of excitement if I see something handwritten and addressed to me in my letterbox - it makes my day.

So its no surprise that I joined up with a postcard swap I found over at Zoe's amazing blog.

(I would have joined the snail mail I found here in a FLASH if we had been around for the posting dates). 

We have received some lovely postcards with reading recommendations in the last couple of weeks.

 

We've loved reading the cards, looking at the stamps and just enjoying the little thrill of mail from people we don't know.  That we've found some fabulous new books to enjoy is a bonus.

So its got me thinking about sharing the love - I plan to spend some time every Sunday night writing a letter or two to some friends (instead of the brief facebook or email message that I seem to resort to when guilt strikes) and see if I can't inspire some return mail love as well.

♥