Incoming Autumn mail (late post)

My Happy Mail Box!

I am sorry to be so behind on posting incoming mail.  But here are two of my most recent.

This cute little Halloween Letter made it to me rather late because it was sent to my old address.

But, because we live in the most efficient  postal  country in the world...it was delivered to me after a little visit at my former home in the country.   Laura is a Pinterest folllower, and if my stats tell me ANYTHING....there are a lot of you out there! ;-)   Laura is a calligrapher...and her work is beautiful! Thank you so much, Laura, I will be writing you soon!

The beautiful autumn themed envelope was from my dear friend , Elaine!  She is one of my super talented card making whizzes!  I absolutely love to be on the receiving end of one of her beautiful cards.  She has recently started selling her cards locally at a local book shop.  She should do very well!

My Incoming Mail Pile

Is in sorry need of

me to start

writing

back.

!

Pam


Pen Pal Kit

Snail Mail From Across The Pond, Mail Call!

I love walking to my mailbox!

You never know what surprises it may hold.  This day was a good day for mail.

Mail that arrives from another continent always intrigues me.  Just to think of it traveling across the ocean, then to my mailbox.  

There were other letters too!  So much happiness!

Do you have a favorite place to sit quietly and read your mail?  This is a definite favorite during the spring, summer , or fall...haha, the picture makes it sort of look like "Jurassic Park", but it is really just part of my front yard.  I am so blessed to live in the country...

Espresso was so curious to see what I would be doing on the swing.  She is a good little puppy, she takes a great interest in everything I do.  Now to get to work on responding to these lovely letters!  

Happy Snail Mailing!

Pam

FAST FOOD Snail Mail????

Fast Food  Snail Mail???

YES!

I've had some really lovely mail lately...and some of it makes me hungry!

This super cute folder book with the "Fast Food" theme, came from Cathy in Sunny California! As typical of her wonderful, creative style, she carries the theme throughout...everything was "Fast Food"!  How delightful

The envelope was just the best!  She is so talented with her CRAZY good drawing skills and color.

Look at all of this that she packed into this small folder mail package....tea, stickers, journal cards, sticky notes, mail tag, a post card from a recent trip and her lovely letter!

And her letters are always so cheerful and newsy, just the way I like them!

I finally got around to answering her amazing happy mail (I've managed to get rather behind with my letter writing. )...I hope she enjoys it!

Happy Snail Mailing,

Pam

Fruity Incoming Snail Mail...

The Fruitier, The Better!

I am spoiled.  Look at this cute mail that just found its way into my mail box...googly eyes and all.  Just a side note:  USPS gets a thumbs up by me for all of those cute googly eyes making it through the mail intact but one.   I think little blondie is just winking at me! The envelope gives a "clue" to the contents of this packet of mail, some "Fruit of the Spirit" mail!

The contents built on the envelope's theme  of Galatians 5: 22-23 by delivering all sorts of Fruitful goodness!  And by the way, isn't it cheerful?  

 What a great reminder to be "filled with the Spirit"!  Thank you Cathy!!

Make someone's day today,
Happy Snailmailing!

Pam

Another Peek Inside My Snail Mail!

January Incoming Continued

This lovely snail mail came  all the way from Spain in a darling velum envelope.  I have a "thing" for velum envelopes.  I haven't sent any out lately, but...I'm inspired to dig out my velum envelope about you?

 Inside the velum envelope was this cheerful Snail Mail Folder.

I love the color scheme going on here. It's like orange zinger or something!  I just love it!  Great for those long, interminable, cold, grey,  sunless days.  It brought sunshine into my life, and certainly brought a smile to my face.

All of the little pockets held something sweet.  Tea, stickers, mail tag, washi tape samples, and my favorite, a Banana Cake Recipe.    Isn't that a homey thing to include in your snail mail?   Thank you Lucia for your cheerful, inspirational, sunny mail!  I will be busy at work on a reply today.

Let's get busy, especially if you are on the east coast...this might be our last day to be completely snowed-in.  Lets get some letters in the mail!

Happy Snail Mailing!

Pam

Incoming to Lost Art Revived!

A Peek Inside My Mail!

View out my front window, overlooking the snowy landscape.

Hey everyone!  I'm snowed in here in Virginia!  We have about 13 inches of snow...and we have been hunkered down for 4 days now.  It has given me a good amount of time to work on some snail mail projects, and write some letters.  I also want to apologize for being MIA on this blog for quite some time.  My sister calls me a SLACKER! ;-)  But here is what has been going on.  I live quite rurally, and recently (about the last 2 months) our Internet, wifi, cellular have been almost non existent during regular working days.  I have finally figured out that if I want to blog, I must arise at 4 AM and get to the wifi,cellular before it gets jammed or gobbled up by someone else!  Hopefully I can get back on track.

I have received quite a variety of snail mail coming into my mail box, making ONE HAPPY MAILBOX. Some are from old friends, and a few are new.  I am going to share 2 letters, one in this blog, and the other in my next blog.  I'm always excited to share what OTHERS are doing, so we can ALL be inspired!

First, this one is from a new pen friend, Annie.  The envelope.  Wow.  What can I say?  It is gorgeous...I love Kraft envelopes, and WHITE INK.  I die.  Not shown (because it got chopped off in my editing by mistake) is a wax seal.  The stamps?  Fantastic.  Just the complete arrangement of the lettering, the stamps...oh, this is spot on!  But wait.  It gets even better!

Look at all of this goodness!  Home made envelopes, mini envelopes...and more.

The card houses an accordion letter which is shown below, but look at the sticker.  This delightful lady is wearing my kind of hat.  Where can I get one of these?   Ha, ha.   The top  of the hat is an inkwell, and the brim holds feathered quills.  

The blue envelope holds a most interesting card.  This is a facsimile of the Library Of Congress card from their card catalog of Pride And Prejudice!  Annie did her homework and found that I am a Janeite.   I love anything and everything Jane Austen.  And did you notice that the card holding her letter has another one of these  P & P cards on it as well?

When you open the card, a cascade of stationery pages all connected tumble out into a nice long letter.  I love how she used several different styles of stationery for this letter.  A great way to use up the stationery sets that have only 1 or two pages, right?  It was a lovely letter.  I'm inspired, how about you?  Thank you Annie, and I will be working on a reply soon!

Happy Snail Mailing

Pam

More Incoming Snail Mail!

My mail box has been quite happy as of late, and what makes me even happier is that I get to respond to each of these wonderful letters!  When you have more than one or two to answer, how do you approach it?  I keep saying that I am going to write one letter each day...but by the end of the day, I seem to be out of mental steam.  Does that happen to you?  It is next to impossible for me to  write when my brain is tired.  But, I think that I am going to give myself a little push to do some writing in the evening.  We'll see what happens!

I got a pumpkin!  I got a pumpkin!   It is from Limner herself---why, I got one of her FANTASTIC  Halloween  mailart letters!  Haha, and it spooked me as it arrived, eerily in my mailbox on Oct. 31st itself!  Check out her amazing art work and blog here.


Ok, can't spend too much time on the computer, I need to get started on some letter writing.

Have a great weekend!

Put a smile on someone day today,
Happy Snailmailing!

Pam

What's Happening In My Mailbox!

The Goings On of a Snail Mailer

I received this letter  recently and noticed that there were not cancellation marks on the stamp.

A young friend of mine made this  gorgeous origami flower with a jewel center--it arrived in perfect condition.  I think that it was saved from going through the machines and someone lovingly directed it to me.  OK...I like to think that, but hey--maybe!  Anyways, thank you, USPS for a job well done!

Some Great mail that needs my attention.

I love this New York Stamp, and look at that great 2 cent stamp with the light house. I love the art of postal arrangement, I'm still learning about it.  Some people just have a knack for it...I need to work at it.  I guess it starts with a wide assortment of postage stamps at the ready.  Do you work at making a beautiful arrangement of stamps on your letters? 

This sweet letter came from Spain!  I loved the fruit slice garland and the package of goodies.  Really cheerful  mail.  Now all I need is some quiet time  so that I can get busy  and write some letters.  What about you?  Are you behind on letter writing or on top of things?  

The craftier, the better!

Happy Snailmailing,

Pam

Utica Snail Mail Incoming!

Some Recent Finds In My Mail Box

This came in my mail  some time back.  My niece has started a new enterprise called:  #uticablueprints on instagram.  I believe she will have an Etsy store up soon.  She makes these prints  of Utica's wonderful architecture ,her home town.  She is so talented isn't she? Then she included something else for me in the package. She picked up a customized rubber stamp for me in India. Perfect! Thank you Sarah.  (Update:  here is her Etsy store:  UticaBlueprints )

Here is one of her cards that she sent me while she spent a year in India.  I love how she sketched her surroundings.  I am wondering  if she kept a paper journal with her sketches.  Hmmm, I'll have to catch up with her and find out.

The Craftier the Better,

Happy Snail Mailing!

Pam

Incoming and Outgoing Mail

Incoming Mail Deserves Outgoing Mail!

I have had some super nice mail coming in lately. I even got a letter from the famed: Limner over at Oh Write Me  blog.  I had been wanting to send her off a letter for such a LONG time, and she beat me to the punch!  Be sure to check out her blog for  some very artistic inspiration.

Writing letters is a labor of love!

Here is a batch of Postcrossing that is going out,  I have been rather inactive with this group  for a few months.  Time to get back into the groove.

I have been having fun with Swap-bot and having an Etsy store allows me to work on my "parceling" skills!

Two Austen Letter Writing Kits going out!

Some more yummies going out from Etsy.

Stay tuned.  I have an update on my letter writing organization that I would like to share with you soon.   I am hoping that it will help me stay a bit more organized.  What do you use that works?  I think that I am going to model my approach from Mrs. Murphy's Mailbox Magic 's system.  More on that later.

The Craftier, the Better,

Happy Snail Mailing.

Pam

Tuesday Tea Time and Letters... in Pink!

Join me today for a pot of tea and  pick up your pen to write a letter.  What tea are you going to select?  I'm going to make a pot of Raspberry Pineapple Luau.!

Hoping to  get some nice letters off today!

Here's a few of my recent incoming:

I'll stay busy for the next month with getting my letters out for Lettermo.  

Write Letters,

Write Often.

Lady Pamela

Long Lost Kindergarten friends...reunited through the Old and New

Friends...Reunited!

This is a story about two little girls who met in a Kindergarten class in  South County , St. Louis, Missouri...long, long, ago.  The two little girls became best friends, and did what little girls years ago did.  We had slumber parties, and played together at recess.  Memories are fading.  I have often thought of my "Bestie" from Kindergarten, but never really heard what had happened to her.  UNTIL...Facebook reunited us! About 6 months ago, Ruth sent a short message...hoping I was who she thought  I was. (I don't list my maiden name on my profile, however,  I might change that now! But my twin sister does list it, so I am assuming that she traced me through my twin sister.).  We had exchanged several messages over Facebook which was nice, but I decided it was time to send Ruth a letter and have a little deeper communication.  Many thanks to Facebook for the reuniting...Yay for Technology...but  a slower, deeper  exchange needed to happen.  There were lots of years to piece together.

The story continues:

Being an identical twin (see Twin Adventures post), and we happened to be in the same Kindergarten class as Ruth.  Unknown to me at the time, our teacher, the beloved Mrs Van Reese was Ruth's God Mother and next door neighbor.  Ah ha!  That gave her a distinctive edge in the class! ;-) Ruth remembers the first time she saw "the twins".  I don't have too many memories, just a few.  

I couldn't put my hand on my Kindergarten photo...if I can find it, I will upload it too.  But here we are... uhhh...that is me on the right in the Twin picture.  

Well, as normal...these fast friends grew up, and we progressed through  early elementary , I think we were in at least one  other class together.  But then she moved away in 3rd grade and in 4th grade my family moved to Japan.  Ruth tells me that we did send a few pen pal letters.  I sent her a necklace, and  a Japanese cushion.  But that is where everything...fades!  What happened over the years?

Remember this?  I actually sent this accordion letter to her!  I included , a bunch of  typical penpal prompts in this letter,  I wasn't sure how she would respond to this, it is very snail-mailish...and for people who are not in the habit of writing...it might seem a bit strange!

But my, oh , my!  Look what I got in the mail from Ruth!  I'm sorry for the torn paper...I couldn't help myself...I just had to tear into it! ;-)

Ruth stated that she wasn't too crafty, so she enlisted a friend who helped her with this.  I am blown away with the thoughtfulness...and just the fact that she would even get a friend to help her. Honestly, I never dreamed of receiving something like this!

.  

Look at this gorgeous box...loaded with scenes of far away travel!

This is what greeted me, upon opening this sweet box.  (I loved what was in the "Open this First" envelope!)

Each little owl envelope had answers to all of my pen pal questions...and a beautifully type written letter, telling me all about her life after our girlhood memories had faded and our lives took very different directions.  This is my treasure.  She had to overcome many obstacles and  endured many hardships growing up.  But these things made her the beautiful woman she is today.   I am greatly inspired.

The pillow boxes contained goodies...some delicious tea...  And the scrolled paper, detailed her interests in Family Genealogy!

There was also this mysteriously wrapped gift...

 How  gorgeous is this?  This is a mason jar soup mix, with that cute little bottle of Tabasco sauce!  I can't wait to cook it up. Yum!

So much love and thoughtfulness boxed up...with so many unanswered questions...finally answered.

What a blessing to be reconnected with a very old friend, reaching back into the corners of my mind.  I am so thrilled to be able to stay in touch by ...using the new...and especially the old ways of communicating.

Write Letters,

Write Often!

Lady Pamela