Incoming Mail: 5 Jan

Any day that a letter comes through is a good one; but today two come through!

 

 

Very cute letter! This is the first letter I have received from Gabi, who contacted me through the Postal Society. Adorable! Gabi is almost 15, and has an interest in all things Australian, as well as fashion, models and art. I love how she used tea cup as her theme, and has centered everything around that. She inclued cute stickers, holepunched teacups and saucers, and a washi tape sample. Great first letter! I'm looking forward to having a penpal that's a little younger- she is the same age as my niece.

 

 

This card is from Cyndi in the US. We were matched through the Letter Writer Alliance, presumably because we share a name! I wrote Cyndi quite a long letter a few months ago- she is interested in history and lives near a Civil War era homestead that has some interesting stories. Was hoping to hear more, but by the looks of it she has been busy. I'll wait for her next letter for the New Year!

 

I like the festive wax seal she has used, too. I like that even though she didn't have time to write a long letter she still sent a note so I didn't think she'd forgotten me. Very thoughful!

 

I  better get working on some replies :)

Outgoing Mail: 5 Jan 15

My plan is to take photos of the inside of the letters, too- but I sealed these ones before I decided to create this blog. Watch this space!

 

This piece of mail is going to Ontario, Canada. Alysia is a new penpal from the Postal Society. She chose me because we are the same age, both unmarried and without kids (which becomes rare when you are in your mid to late 20's.) I went for the standard brown cardstock because it' nice and thick, and I think always looks good. Also, the stock is thick enough for me to use my new Derwent water colour pencils I got for Christmas.

 

 

The back of the letter to Alysia. I'm new to using wax seals- my boyfriend bought me some traditional red, flexible wax from Notemaker for Christmas. It's quickly becoming my new favourite site! Bill also made me my own stamp, out of a 3/4 inch copper tap washer (he's an ingenious plumber!). He used a metal stamp kit to imprint my initials, and used a sharp tool to etch an envelope shape (though the envelope doesn't show up so great, so he may have needed to etch a little deeper.)

 

 I've seen lots of handwritten fonts similar to this, so I thought I would try it too. I like the gold gel pen- it shows up just enough on the brown cardstock to lift the plain outlined text. It's just a cheapy gel pen from Typo. This envelope is going to my new friend in France, Celeste.

 

 I used my new wax seal kit for the first time on Celeste's letter- note to self: practice first! What a shame. You can see I was anxious to use the stamp and didn't wait for the wax to be completely melted. The silver wax looks good, I think. It's only a cheapy hard wax from ebay.

 Late last year I got a postcard from Mel, from the US. She had my address noted down in her Postable account, and wasn't sure if she had written to me or not. I can certainly relate- I way overcommited when I first started writing to penpals from the xojane thread and am still unsure on who is still waiting on a letter! I like that she was willing to send a note to double check.

 

I'll be sending these on their way tomorow, and I look forward to hearing back from these new friends!

Cindy, Sent & Received

Welcome to my mail art and penpalling blog!

 

It all started with this thread on xojane- followed by a Postable account which quickly snowballed my rekindled obsession with penpals and mail art. Next thing, I was joining the Letter Writer Alliance, followed by the Postal Society and had more penpals than I had ever bargained for!

 

I may have over commited- and now need a blog to keep straight what I receive and when, and also I'd like to record what I send out. I put a lot of effort into my mail art (although I'm still a novice!).

 

So, starting in 2015, here is my mail art journey!

 

<3