Snailing Along

I am not sure if I have mentioned it or made it clear, but I was just thinking today, while watching Avatar, how much I love to write letters.  I started snail mailing about a year ago.  I can't believe that I started something so long ago, and I am still totally interested in it!  I started with about 40 pen pals, mainly from Europe.  And then, I went down to less than 20.  I preferred that actually.  I like being able to write long letters to people, with no stress about time or anything.  I used to spend hours and days responding to all 40 of my pen pals.  Lemme tell ya!  It's really expensive to pay for packages, postage, cute letter sets, and everything for 40 people!  So I was happy to be able to invest the time and money for just a few.

Then, I lost my job back in May and I just.... I don't know.  I wasn't depressed or anything, but I just didn't know what to do!  It was like when I decided I wasn't finishing grad school.  I didn't know what to do with all the time.  I didn't have 100s of pages to read, papers to write, community service projects. I just had work and motherhood, and those two things were kicking my butt!  But eventually, I filled that time.  And I felt the same void after losing my job.  "What am I gonna do all day?  Just me and my Little Darling?  Together? Alone? All day?"  It took a while, but after a few months, I got the answers to all of those questions, and I am just as busy as if I were working a full time job, part time job, and going to school 12 hours and doing my practicum 25 hours per week.  I know, you're thinking, "Do wha'?  How in the world did you manage all that in a week?!"  I would say the answer is obvious:  I DIDN'T!  Hahahahaa!  That's why I am here, focusing on what matters most out of it all, Home.

As I was figuring everything out, I didn't write any letters... And lately, I have been back!  I have been decorating paper...

I am not great at making stationery, but I love to decorate my own letter sets!  I wish I knew how to duplicate some of my favorite designs...



My favorite thing to do use a crayon to lightly color the paper, and then use rub-on stickers.  I also like to do some small doodles myself.  Whenever I have some time, I am going to find a high quality copy/print service and see if they can make copies of my papers. That way, I can create and copy piles of them to have whenever I write.  I can't even recall some of my favorite letter set designs! 

Going through my random archives on my phone gallery, I found these that I made for some pen pals.  I wrote my letters inside of them:

The quality of this picture is terrible because it's from my phone (in bad lighting)!  These are little envelope book thingies for me to write in.  The strawberry was the first one... my trial version...  The cupcake one was MUCH better!  

This is what's inside the cupcake one.  I had fun making this, and I hope that my pen pal who got it enjoyed everything inside!  I can't remember, but I am sure she loved it - LOL.

This is also some fun stationery that I made for one of my favorite pen pals.  We stopped corresponding over Christmas 2010.  I really enjoyed writing her, so I am sad about that.

This is another letter I wrote to her.  I made all the pages with this fun sort of graffiti looking pattern.  I wish I had made some better pictures or at least a copy!  But I didn't.  I also made the book behind the letter.



This is what is inside the book that I made.  She is very artistic and she was great at decorating paper for my letters too.  She also made me some cute things from felt.  I wish I knew how to make such cute things from felt!

I also love to make envelopes...

I have envelopes that I have made in all shapes sizes and colors.  I just pulled these out of my stack in order to be "Festive"! HALLOWEEEN!

I love a hand-written letter.  I love that personal touch.  That kiss and a hug with a pen and a stamp.  I love that someone special out there would take the time to sit and write to me, think of me, share with me.  I love the chance to do the same thing.  I have made some GREAT friends this way.  I hope that one special day, I can meet every pen pal in person.  I would love to surprise them with their next letter by handing it to them in person.  I am not rich!  And I definitely can't haul my Little Darling all over the world to meet and greet everyone I have made a friend.  But a girl can dream, right?

Well, I guess I better get back to writing!  Good night!