Well...hello, it's been awhile...

 

It's been almost a year ago that my "life event" occurred.  My dear husband of 34 years passed away from an illness, and my life took a sudden turn.  My charmed life of a wife, mother to 10 beautiful children and grandmother, now looked different. I was physically alone and making all the decisions.  Facing challenges, duties, and mundane items that I never had to bother with prior to this event. Notice, I said "physically".  I thank God that I serve a Lord that has promised to never leave me or forsake me.(Hebrews 13:5) But still...it has been a year of adjustments...change...and just struggle.  But, slowly one learns what one must do and as Elisabeth Elliot used to say  just "Do the next thing..."!  This simple advice has carried me through the long year and for that I am grateful.  

So many of you have sent cards and letters of love and precious thoughts.....I have so appreciated this.  I tried countless times to answer them...I did manage a few attempts, but I still have several letters that I wrote...never sent.  Finally I submitted to my relegated season of life  and focused my attention on the immediate, the necessary...life.  

I still face new challenges (who doesn't?).  I now use  youtube , not just for pleasure, but how to fix items around the house, and if that fails...I call a professional! But the sun still comes up, and I find myself falling peacefully into bed each night.  Thank you Lord!

All this to say...I hope to get started with letter writing again.  So, first things first...my desk!  This is where it all happens, so I want my supplies at my finger tips...and whatever inspiration I can find.  (More on that later-- it's still a work in progress) .  So here is a picture  (sorry it was taken at night) of my desk as it stands right now.  Leave a comment below if you have any questions about my set up.  Also, if you love your desk and find it to be a happy place for you, tell me why in a comment!

Check back later this week to see my outgoing snail mail!

Happy Snail Mailing.

Pam

Pen Pal Kit

Ahoy There!

Sending out thank yous...

With a wave of events...Mother's Day...my birthday...my anniversary...well, I had a bit of Thank YOU mail to send out!  The cute nautical themed cards were part of a gift from a dear pen pal who hails from the state of Massachusetts.  The quality of the cards...oh my, so amazing.  thick, white, creamy envelopes and the cards were dimensional--so much detail! 

After I got to work on these, it's like most anything.  Once you get started, you just sort of get involved.  I enjoyed writing my "mini letters"  in these note cards.    I kept the envelopes fairly simple.

I kept the  red, white and blue theme going with my wax.

And if they didn't feel thanked enough  from what was IN the card, I made sure they were on the Out side of the card as well.  I love this stamp, it says it plain and simple!

What about you?  Do you have any "thank you " cards that need to be written?  Take the opportunity to do so, and include a bit more about what is going on in your life!

Write Letters.

Write Often.

Lady Pamela

Birthday Love

This and That...

What's not to like about this card (for my birthday)?  It is definitely me!

I especially like that it had enclosed a tea bag...and a lovely scripture verse!

I received this lovely Tea Pot from one of my daughters....it is so photographic.

I had to get two shots of it.

This bottle...crammed with all sorts of fun "necessary" items was a result of another daughter's creative genius!

I have lots of birthdays and anniversaries to keep up with...so another super talented daughter made this~  now I will never forget these important dates!

These nautical themed note cards were dimensional and layered....really cool.  Can't wait to pen my "thank yous" with these!

 My twin sister knows me pretty well...and got me these aqua brushes for my water color and a new book!  Yay!  I love to water color and have been very impressed with these brushes.  Stay tuned for future projects using these.

Oh, I was blessed with tea to try out!  Isn't the Trader Joe's tea packaged creatively?

My older sister gave me this beautiful fabric covered tea caddy/tray.  I just love it.  Doesn't it look like it belongs on a front porch?  Oh...and do you see the Brookside chocolates.  Ummmm.....a total addiction.  Am I alone here?  I didn't think so.

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Yes, this is a sinking Titanic tea infuser, made by the same folks that brought us  Mr. Tea.   A great conversation piece, and a great infuser as well.  Now, I need to sit down with all of my tea and chocolates and do some letter writing!

For my final Mother's day and Birthday highlights...how about some watermelon soap?

Oh, and on my birthday....I got to play a small role in the musical "Little Women"!  Such a fun time.

Write Letters,

Write Often!

Lady Pamela

Send a note of Encouragement!

Do you know of someone who needs to hear these words?

I love these note cards.  The message is amazing and  is often needing to be heard by our loved ones.    So often I forget the place that note cards have in the life of a snail mail correspondent.  The note card is such a valuable entity, but easy to dismiss if you are  more accustomed to  penning the lengthier cousin, the letter.    Unfortunately  (for the note card) I fall into the letter writer camp.  But recently decided to take a second look at the note card.

First and foremost, I took down, and dusted off my beautiful copy of  Margaret Shepherd's The Art of the Handwritten Note, and began re-reading it. It is one of the classics of hand-written correspondence.   

Simply put  Ms. Shepherd states the value of the hand written note and what it conveys to the reader;

     'You matter to me... I thought of you...I took trouble on your behalf...here's who I am...I've been thinking of you in the days since this was mailed...I want to share with you the  textures and colors and images I like.... And that's just the unspoken  messages ,the pleasure anticipated before  the reader even reads the words that the pen and paper have inspired you to choose.... A note can deliver all this for less than a dollar's worth of materials and ten minutes of your time."

Of course, that is just the beginning of this lovely book.  I will enjoy re-reading it.  But I also think I am going to make Note Writing a more customary part of my letter writing  routine.  Perhaps, I will even set aside one day for using notes only!

I hope to share more about my adventures in Hand Written Notes with you soon! I am beginning  to look at the hand written note as a "mini letter", and so .   What about you?  Are note cards a formal part of your writing routine?  What occasions to you use to write a note card?  

Write Letters,

Write Often.

Lady Pamela