track 025 - coffee and letters

It's been a while! I have been extremely busy and stressed out with school lately, and haven't written a lot of letters, or at least not ones that look pretty enough to show over here. I sometimes resort to ready-made stationery, too..! However, I have received lovely, lovely mail as demonstrated here:

I'll post some more pictures tomorrow, since the battery of my camera died, had to be charged and now there's not enough light anymore to take decent photos! But just let me tell you... it's ALL SO WONDERFUL!

The green envelope you see is from Mickey, who included something very precious, which you'll see later (yes, I'm a tease). I figured that the reply required some special stationery, so I decided to give coffee a try. Now, normally I'm a tea person through and through... but when it comes to aging paper, coffee is the way to go! There are plenty of tutorials out there on the wide web on how to do this yourself, but here's my method very briefly:

1. Brew strong instant coffee.
2. Apply on letter paper with wide brush.
3. Add blotches/splatters/lines/ whatever your heart desires.
4. Let dry, or, if you're impatient like me, blow carefully with hair dryer.

Ta-dah!

track 023 - perfection without words

track 022 - an abundance of mail

I'm back home and, as promised, showing what goodies I have received lately. It's not a lot, but I value quality over quantity!

Some of these were received a while ago and even replied to already, such as Mickey's letter, which was a pleasure to read as always, and a wonderfully chatty long letter from Helena, Japan:

And a couple of them were received by opening my mouth in the right place at the right time:

A wonderful Easter goodie bag from Katri, Canada. A while ago she asked for comments from people who wanted her to send them something, and obviously I was one of them. I follow her blog regularly and have seen the beautiful things she creates, how could I not want something from her?

This one came from Bubbles. One of her blogs, Make My Day, specializes in, well, making people's days by sending them various things. In addition to the gorgeous Alice in Wonderland post card, she included a bunch of funky memo sheets. I love Pingu! This definitely made my day. (:

And lastly (but definitely not leastly), I received some 'normal' correspondence as well - that is, things I didn't go begging for! Sofie from Sweden sent a beautiful tomte-postcard after I sent her something during my Month of Letters, and Caroline from France sent me a letter with some extra goodies.

That's my incoming mail in a nut shell! Now, from letters let's move on to something smaller, but equally important when it comes to snail mail... stamps! I already mentioned I got a bunch of old Finnish stamps when I spent the Easter at my parents' place, and here's some proof. (Also proof that I celebrated Easter: origami bunnies!)

This is the pile. Most of them are from the 80's, but I did manage to spot some older ones:

The dark green ones are the oldest ones: they were manufactured in 1932. The rest of the stamps in this picture date to the late 1940s or early 1950s.

In addition to the old stamps, the pile is full of otherwise interesting stamps. I really liked the visual look of these, for example! I can't wait to stick them on envelopes and make collages. (:

And finally, as promised, bunnies. Instructions from here and here.

track 020 - a week's worth of mail

Hi everyone!

It's been a week since my last post! That means I have a week's worth of mail to show you guys. I have one more day to go in my Month of Letters challenge, and this week I fell behind - but I caught up yesterday and wrote 3 letters! Also, for AGES I've thought I have to send 24 pieces of mail, when in reality it's just 20! Oh my, Monday's the last day! I think I will continue after that, too, though. I'm hoping that with all this letter-sending I'll receive something soon enough too... This week I did get some incoming mail, thank goodness! I've been worrying that all the mail to me gets lost on the way, because I haven't heard from my pen pals in forever. 

Monday's mail! Was I happy!

This postcard-looking item is actually an envelope. How fun!

And then for Lettermo letters #14 - #19:

To my newest pen pal Anna, USA.

To Mickey, The Netherlands.

To Jesse, USA, via Sendsomething. Inspired by this post, I loved making this!

To Anna in England, via Sendsomething.

This folder was so much fun to make as well. In this picture it's still without most of the items that I put in the small pockets. I'm just afraid that since the sides are open, something will fall out or it'll be ruined by dirt/moisture... let's hope that the mailmen are delicate. It went to Carissa, USA, via Sendsomething. Inspiration from here, but without the button closure system.

This mini-accordion envelope was inspired by this Martha Stewart craft. It looks super funky when closed! The backside is like the front side, but upside down and with reversed colours. It goes to Aline, also via Sendsomething. I used that site a lot this week since I haven't gotten a lot of mail that requires replying (=non-swaps).

I am quite sad that the challenge is over in one day! All of you who did Lettermo during February, how did you avoid post-partum depression?

track 016 - holiday

Happy holiday to me! Or, a period of independent studying as they put it... meaning, I can't fully get away from school things, but at least I can fully get away from school! I'm celebrating that by watching Zoo Days accompanied by popcorn, reading a lot and writing this week's last Lettermo letter. A classmate of mine is celebrating his 24th birthday today, but the last few days I've felt sluggish and afraid that I might be catching a flu of some sorts, so I'm probably not going. There will be more parties... (:

Yesterday's Lettermo letter was something I really enjoyed making! It's a part of Self-made envies swap on swapbot. Now, I'm not sure if swaps count towards Lettermo, but I also included a short letter so I'm deciding it counts. Plus I really wanted to show the envelope to you guys! I usually stick to basic stuff when I make envelopes - making them out of interesting paper so I don't have to add a lot of embellishments, or making it out of plain paper and collaging on it. But yesterday I felt like drawing, and my swap partner's profile mentioned feathers, so I drew a feather. And it ended up pretty!

Today I got a package from my mum: she always sends them with loads of stamps instead of the boring post office barcode. This package featured this year's and last year's Finnish Valentine's day stamps! Also some autumn stamps on the left.

This is what was inside: magazines, a couple of kitchen wipes she made and a card that also doubles as a sticker sheet. She said she got the car insurance letter I forwarded to her after it was being sent to me, and wished me a happy holiday, reminding that if we have the energy/desire, we can visit them, too. I think we're staying home this holiday, but I already reserved Easter for visiting my family! (:

Happy weekend, everyone! And those who finished their Lettermo - congratulations! What are your feelings now? (:

track 015 - in and out

I've had several nights of bad sleep (nightmares and waking up constantly) so my brain feels like pudding at the moment. Therefore I won't even try to write anything interesting... a picture is worth 1000 words, right?

Incoming:

Outgoing (Lettermo 4-7):

A card to Sofie via Sendsomething, in two envelopes - a see-through red one and a smaller one made out of a magazine page.

A reply to Romy in Austria. Nature themed (ish).

To Nicole in U.S.A.

This is actually both in- and outcoming: on the left you can see a card sent to me by Helena in Japan (she was doing Lettermo, too!), and on the right is my reply.

That's that! Has your mailbox been happy lately?

track 011 - bits and pieces

So, I said there wouldn't be any more mail pictures unless I received something awesome... well, I did receive something awesome! I tend to order quite a lot of stuff from Etsy and eBay, and it's always lovely to see an envelope from a person whose name you recognize but don't remember what you ordered! So, today I received my sticker order from Hong Kong and an ephemera kit and lovely extra goodies (a post card and some cute stickers) from Wreckthisgirl (that was fast! I ordered it last Saturday!).

Fun fact: I was actually going to enclose a sheet or two in Satu's envelope (she's my partner in a swap at the moment), but then saw on her blog that she just received the same stickers this week... so I didn't. :D

Now, I still have a ton of stuff to so before taking off tomorrow around midday. So, packing and organizing, laundry and sending some mail awaits!

track 010 - post office accident

I believe this is going to be the last post showing my in- and outcoming mail for a while. Our flight to Amsterdam (via Stockholm) leaves on Thursday morning, so unless I receive something really interesting tomorrow, no mail pictures for at least a week! However, I'm already looking forward to returning home and seeing the pile of mail that will (hopefully) be waiting!

I got a letter from Bee - it seems that either the Irish or the Finnish post office did something really interesting with it. It arrived wrapped in plastic, which I wondered but didn't really think too much about, until opening the envelope!

I wonder what happened! Luckily all the writing was still mainly untouched. The envelope was even covered with tape to begin with, and the dirt still got inside, so I wonder what would've happened to a letter in a normal, thin paper envelope!

I'll try and answer Bee before taking off, but if I don't have the time, I might just pack the letter with me and reply from the Netherlands.

The outcoming mail for yesterday was a letter I sent to my newest pen pal to USA. I happened to have an envelope made of very good quality paper, almost like watercolour paper, so watercolour is what I did with it! I finished it off with some rubber stamps - on the left you can see I used a plain stamp (handcarved by my pen pal Mickey, who's actually in New Zealand on her honeymoon now!), my goal was to take off some colour instead of adding it. The envelope stamp I made myself (and I'm very proud of it)!

The font I used on the envelope is called BlackChancery, I really enjoy writing with that one! Does anyone else use different fonts when you address your envelopes?

track 007 - catching up

Good evening / morning / midday / whatever time it is in your area!

Today I sat down and replied a couple of letters, and I'm still in the middle of writing 2 and haven't even started one. So, I know what I'll be doing with my long weekend (no school tomorrow)!

Romy had sent me a post card through Sendsomething. She ended up writing it so full that she had to continue it on a piece of paper... that's exactly what happens to me! Also why I tend to prefer sending letters to post cards... (: This teeny envelope (you can't properly see the size, but it is about 2/3 of a normal card-sized envelope) holds my reply to her - it's one of the sets I showed earlier on the blog. I realized that I had written in the wrong side of the letter paper! I thought you were supposed to write on the patterned side, but turns out the other one has lines (although they, just like the envelope, are minuscule! Maybe the South Koreans have really petite handwriting or they just like tiny things?).

This doodled envelope is on its way to Russia by now. I participated in a mail art tag, and this is my contribution! I doodle things like that very often, it's calming and if you just have the time and patience, can look very intriguing when you fill areas with different branches, vines and patterns.

In addition to outgoing, I was pampered with incoming mail as well!

The second package in Surprise in an envelope was also definitely more than three items! It included a diary/daily planner for 2013 in a cute cupcake design - something that will come in handy, actually! I bought myself a perfect a5 diary from London last October, but my boyfriend bought me a new handbag for Christmas and it doesn't properly fit in there. This way I can still carry a small diary with me and then copy the stuff in the bigger one if I deem it necessary! Also included were notecards, envelopes and letter papers, a couple of postcards and a stack of pencils.

Tomorrow me and my boyfriend will be having some Mexican food with my family - my mum and brother as well as my aunt are coming over and we're all going to grandma's place, which is about 20 minutes from here. I'm getting hungry just by thinking about it! Mmm. I wish you all a great Friday - and weekend!

P.S. Remember when I told you about the puzzle we were working on? Turns out all our tables are too small for it! We're trying to figure out something now - maybe we'll do it on the floor and hope the cat doesn't eat too many pieces...

P.P.S. The Month of Letters is coming up! Drop me a line in my e-mail (biograffitist@mail.com) if you'd like to receive something in the mail from me in February! I could still use many new people to send something to!

P.P.P.S. Remind me to tell you about how we got locked in the sauna and my boyfriend had to climb out of the window. Next time. I'm going to bed now!

track 006 - mailbox happiness

Yesterday I had three lovely thick envelopes waiting for me at home!

The one on the top was a letter from U.S.A. - Erica wrote to me via Sendsomething. I love it when I receive something I haven't been expecting!

The one in the middle is a very thick envelope from Canada - I finally received the letter papers and airmail stickers I ordered from Julie! I'm always low on letter paper, so I opted for a stationery grab pack. I like surprises and it included several random letter paper designs, a fair amount of each - 50 altogether. That should be good for a few letters! I may have let out a little squeal when I realized what the envelope was - the anticipation between seeing it and opening it is just delicious, don't you think?

I also got an envelope from Germany, one that included tag items. It was a tag where you were supposed to send 3 items in an envelope without checking your partner's profile. It was great to receive something completely surprising! My partner sent me more than 3 items - I feel spoiled now - and they included a beautiful postcard with dunes and a lighthouse, and a big flat felt reindeer! I really loved that one, since I sent some reindeer / elk felt stickers to my pen pals around Christmas (even saved a couple for myself because I liked how they looked) and it looks exactly like them!

Since I'm in the process of talking about stuff I've received, here's some more goodies I ordered online:

So cute lettersets! I ordered them on eBay from DreamingiDesign. Since I couldn't decide which set I liked the best, I ordered the pack that included one of each. The time between ordering them and receiving them was 9 days and they shipped from South Korea - fast!

I think the beige one might be my favourite.

On another note... I discovered a genious game the other day! Challenge Accepted is a game where you play as a role playing character, completing tasks, quests and odysseias - that are your life! Since I'm so hooked on RPG's, I discovered this is a great way to achieve things - I add things I need to do on my list, and when I don't feel like doing them, just the thought of the +50xp gives me some sort of motivation! It's in beta still, so if you do try it out and find bugs, do report them so the game can keep on developing. Oh, and it's made by two American women, Amy and Daisy - girl power all the way.

So, at the moment there are quite a few things on my to-do list. I'm quite busy with school at the moment, since we're doing a project that involves a customer, and those always take time and require loads of meetings. But I won't be forgetting leisure either - me and my boyfriend are working on a 3000-piece puzzle of Picasso's Guernica! That might not sound like fun to everyone, but I happen to thoroughly enjoy puzzles, and when you combine it with us planning our summer (touring around France, anyone?), it is very relaxing AND productive!

photo from pablopicasso.org

Next time I'll try and finally show you how I store my letter-writing stuff and hopefully I'll have some pretty outgoing mail to document as well as incoming! Now I'm off to see if we can make any sense of the puzzle yet...