Three More Outgoing

This past Saturday Morning I sent three more overdue pen-pal replies and one package of photos out.  Because the envelopes were lame, I didn't photograph the outgoing.  These are pictures of the letters I replied to.

I received this beautiful, hand-made envelope from the very crafty Laura DH over at the suburban pen pal.  

I love the wax seals and the barely visible washi tape.

I also very much love the use of the paint chip on the back and the giant numbers.  Here is the post where she included pictures of the envelope she made for me.  Scroll all the way down to the bottom.  I sent Laura a pretty long letter along with a stack of photos.

This hand made envelope is from the lovely Mrs. Duffy over at Letter Matters.  It was so thoughtful of her to include my initial on the back!  If you don't already write to Mrs. Duffy, you should know she has beautiful handwriting.

I finally replied to a letter from Anna of The Lettering that dated back to August.  Anna is the pen pal I have exchanged the most and longest letters with so far.  This was the back of the envelope.

She makes all of her envelopes and always puts on the cutest stickers.  She also typed my address out on a typewriter.

Another thing I like about Anna's letters, aside from the fact that they are legible, unlike my replies, is that she writes on different paper.  Anna got a 9 pager back plus a stack of photos.

She also includes really neat inserts.  This card from the Smithsonian was great.

I also sent a stack of photos to LR McArthur.  I had said I would include them in the letter but I couldn't get to the photo shop in a timely fashion and her letter was already so late I decided to mail them separately.

Incoming & Outgoing Last Week

Incoming from Sam, my cousin!

Sam is clever :-p and not originally from Hawaii.

Incoming from Ms. LR McArthur.  I love her handwriting.  This was a fold-and-mail.

On it's way to Anna.  My first time using the Target "washi" tape and I love it!  Also having fun using paint samples as address labels.

I picked up the entire series of these stamps on ebay several weeks ago.  Mostly I put them on postcards to the kids but I love them!

Outgoing to PostMuse, Auntie Pat and a postcard for Sara Renee

Olive & Lucas

For Caddi, Erin, Stephanie and a postcard for Preston

So with that completes my little mission to write to everyone whose blog I follow.  I hope I get some new pen friends out of this last batch!

Correspondant Cards

In my very first letter from Anna, she sent me the most clever thing I'd ever seen, which I am calling a correspondant card.  Seriously, I swooned.

I didn't scan it because censoring out all of the details would ruin it, but trust me, it's beautiful.  She had hers done professionally, and it's obvious.  The card seems to be a thick cotton card-stock with lovely medium gray branch details on the top.  In a pretty pale gray, it lists her name, her date of birth, her address, her likes and her mail blog.  The font is lovely, the texture is nice and she decorated the back making sure I knew that card was for my keeping.

A second card, not matching the first, was for me to complete and send back to her for her records.

I told everyone who would listen about that card from Anna and what a brilliant idea it was.  Then I started thinking about how I could make a set to send to my new (and hopefully expanding) collection of pen friends.  I realized that I still had a box of Avery Post Cards left over from my college graduation party invites.  Not professional, but free and immediately available.  

So I stayed up until two in the morning copying Anna's genius concept while wishing I could have them professionally done instead.

This was the end result, with my personal details redacted :-)

And this is the card I that gets sent back to me.  With the exception of the card I sent to Canada, I include a self-addressed stamped envelope for my pen pal to mail back to me. It's strange to see my own handwriting arrive in my mailbox, but people seem to like them so far and I love getting them back!

So far my card has been received and returned by Emilie, LR McArthur and Anna.  The trouble now is that I've forgotten who I sent them to.  I tried to only mail them to people who had written me at least once.  The upside is that they surprise me in my mailbox.

So I graciously and gratefully thank Miss Anna of The Lettering for the idea.  If you're lucky, maybe you can get one of her correspondant cards in the mail too.

Good Mail Weekend

I had a good mail weekend, on top of making a wedding cake, which was a nice distraction.  Below is the front and back of a note I received from my cousin Hailey, who is going to be 4 in about a month.  I've been sending her mail for the last few weeks, which she has been saving at my request.  This is my very first mail from her.

Her Mom, my cousin Charlene, translated the below message for me.  If you're wondering, I regret that I do not own a blue princess dress.

I received this postcard via PostCrossing from the Netherlands.









And I received this postcard from Minsk, of all places!  Olga included a lovely quote for me: "A miracle happened: another day of life." from Veronica Decides to Die by P. Coelho.

I received all of the below envelopes from the lovely Anna Lorton, from The Lettering.  You should really check out her blog.  The first envelope contained my correspondant card (more on that in a separate post).  Anna is my new pen pal and we have quite a few things in common so far.  Also, she makes the most beautiful envelopes.

This envelope contained the last letter (the second) she mailed to me, which I am still in the process of responding to (I got this over a week ago).  Wedding cake delay, sorry Anna!

Note how she put a little #2 on the back of the envelope, to keep track.  Love it!