Handmade

From here.  Do you guys fill up imaginary shopping carts on sites like this too and drool over things you really shouldn't spend money on?

It's another warm day here where I am... woke up at a decent time and got in a an hour of tennis and a nice breakfast out with J before he had to go to work.  I set up a desk area for myself (finally) after being inspired by a couple other bloggers here and here.  No more writing and working at the coffee table hunched over, or at the kitchen table with all my stuff strewn about.  I finally have a dedicated area with all my mail supplies, all my wonderful inbound mail to look at, etc., and a nice open desk space with room to do my thing.  And that's exactly what I did today!  I opened the window wide up, made myself an iced coffee, put on some music, and started rifling through magazines for good material for some handmade envelopes.  Check 'em out:

All 8 of 'em together...

A couple of my favorites from today:

From GQ mag...

Also from GQ

Dog food ad from a food magazine...

It really does make a huge difference to get a nice space set up for yourself to do your work.  I am so much more inspired to be creative and do good work at the desk now!  I can't wait to fill it up with fun stuff... I'm thinking of hanging favorite postcards, inspirational quotes (anyone have any good ones?), and fun art all over the place.  Once it's a little more exciting to look at I'll post some photos for you all to see.

Before I end this post I wanted to prove that I've made some headway on my list of outbound letters that need to be written, haha.  I had 10 letters to respond to, all in order, and of course they got out of order, so I just kind of randomly chose who I responded to first... and the winner was...

I tried to send a nice pile of goodies for Bianca since she sent me such a wonderful set of stuff in her last letter to me.  It's hard to match her level of wonder...ful...ness(?) haha, but I think she'll like what I sent along!  :)

I p-p-promise to get to work on the rest of my incoming pile of letters that need responses ASAP.  Until next time!

P.S. - See an envelope you like?  Don't hesitate to ask; I have more than I know what to do with so I'd be happy to send your next letter in one or just send you one for you to use however your please.  Leave a comment if you're interested!  :)

Mail-Tag

Today was one of the better mail days I've had. I think it's so funny how when you really want something or you anticipate something happening, it doesn't happen, and when you're totally not expecting something, it happens, or you get it, or whatever the case may be. Today I went to the mailbox expecting a letter from someone in California, only to find that not only was that not there, but a CD for the Mix CD Scavenger Hunt I participated in was, along with a much anticipated letter from the wonderful Bianca of Goodnight Little Spoon. Her blog was, I believe, the first I came across when searching for mail-related resources and it is so well-put-together, fun to read, amazing to look at, I could go on. A while back I sent her a letter and couldn't WAIT until she posted it on her blog...it finally arrived after two[ish] long weeks and then there it was! Even more exciting was when she posted pictures of her reply to me...I couldn't wait to get something in the mail from her! And then today, there it was - and the contents inside did not disappoint! Sorry, I may sound a little strangely excited about this but my fellow mail geeks will understand where I'm coming from here. Here is a picture of my lovely first letter from Bianca:

^Front...I love the story behind the mustached Mona Lisa; I guess Bianca had just read a theory that the Mona Lisa is actually a self-portrait of Da Vinci in drag...so she went ahead and put a mustache on her...LOVE IT!

^Back. Jeez, I just love all her accessories...labels, stamps...

^Contents...wonderful letter, peppermint tea, and a game of Mail-Tag!

The thing I loved most about this letter is that it really broke the confusion of what to say in a first letter. All the first letters I've written have kind of followed the same guidelines - age, location, hobbies, etc., etc., etc., which her letter did, but also made it fun. And, the game of Mail-Tag is such a fun idea, and a great way to keep the subsequent letters fun and interesting and really gives you something to look forward to! Here are the guidelines for Mail-Tag:

'Mail-tag consists of an exchange of postal correspondence between (2) people. The first person begins the game by requesting one or more desired things. That person then mails those requests to the other participant - who interprets those requests, writes a list of their own requests for the other participant and sends them back. You can take as much or as little time to compose and send back your reply, ask for as few or as many things in your requests and generally interpret requests in whichever way you see fit.'

I really can't wait to respond to Bianca and put together the 3 items she requested for Mail-Tag.

Onto my other great piece of mail from today, my first CD for the Mix CD Scavenger Hunt on Swap-bot. I haven't given the CD a full listen yet, but when I popped it into the CD player I liked what I heard so far. This type of swap is a really great way to expose yourself to new music that you [probably] would never have listened to otherwise.

^Tracklist and postcard enclosed in the Mix CD Swap.

OK, on to my last piece of mail for the day - my V-Day gift from J. It's not mail yet, but it will be eventually. He did some very sneaky over-the-shoulder snooping and discovered a website called Zazzle that I've been looking at recently. It's a great website that does custom printing, custom postage, sells cards and postcards, etc. Combining two of my favorite things, J got me about 20 Alice in Wonderland themed postcards...great right?! Here are a few of my favorites from the group:

^My favorite Disney movie in postcard form. <3

Oh shoot! I almost forgot one more thing - a cute handmade Valentine I got from my co-worker Jacquie. She was on time and gave it to me at work on the 14th, but I'm just now getting around to posting it. I love the way she did this - so simple, no envelope, just a couple different kinds of paper turned into a great card. I actually used the same flowery scrapbook paper that she used on the center of this to make one of my many handmade envelopes a couple weeks ago.

^J says the chinese symbol means 'hope.'

OK, that should do it for today folks. Hope you all are having a great day, be it food, fun, or post-wise! Until next time,

Aaron :)

Happy [Early] Valentine's Day

Hello, hello! This is going to be what I consider my first 'real' post. I have finally taken some good quality photos of some incoming and outgoing mail, edited it properly, and am ready to roll! This will be a mail-only post, with a culinary club post [hopefully] soon to come. We had an amazing dinner the other night and I can't wait to share our menu and photos from the evening. I have an amazing group of friends... Now, on to the mail!

I started making valentines about a week ago and finally got around to finishing them up tonight by writing out the cards, putting stamps on the envelopes, and sealing them up, ready to go in the mailbox. Most of my effort went into the making of the envelopes, so I bought some simple, cute handmade cards at the store - hopefully people will enjoy them! Before I started making all these, I had this epiphany that I should use paper grocery bags to make envelopes! I know, I know, there's no way I'm the first one to think of that, but it was the first time I had thought of it and had never seen it anywhere, so I was pretty proud of myself after that one! Haha... ok let's get to the pictures!

This is the whole bunch together. Pretty cute bunch, don'tcha think?

Close-up of one that I thought came out particularly well, going to my dear friend Sean.

This one goes to my co-worker Maria; it is her birthday on Valentine's, so her envelope was a little extra special! :)

So that's that for Valentines. What do you guys think? Onto some more outgoing mail, non-Valentine...

This is another grocery bag turned envelope, already delivered to my [long-lost] cousin Colleen. I think the last time I saw her was when I was about 8 or 9 or 10...we reconnected on Facebook and discovered each other's love for mail...how perfect is that!? BTW, I love how the 'REUSABLE RECYCLABLE' words on the bag came out [pretty] perfectly on the front of the envelope! Very apropos, no?

Reply to Belen, a fellow blogger who has become a regular correspondent. It has been great finding new pen-pals who share the love of mail! The envelope is another I made from a children's Beauty & the Beast book I bought at the thrift store.

Zoom-in of the recipe I sent Belen. She's trying to eat healthier and make a positive life change so I thought I'd help her out with a healthy go-to recipe of mine.

Replies from Belen, both envelopes I love, made from scrapbook paper. I especially love the labels she cut out on the black envelope. I recently sent a reply to her on an envelop I made out of scrapbook paper myself. (no picture...)

Reply from another blogger named Lauren I wrote to a week or so ago. I don't think I ever took a picture of what I sent to her to begin with, but her letter back is great, no? Whoops, didn't take a photo of the back either, which was great. It had a great 3-D sticker on it that I loved...oh well...I'm still getting the hang of all this...

My favorite postcard I've received from Postcrossing so far. It is from South Africa and was FILLED on the back with a great message from the sender. I loved it too because it reminded me of all the postcards I sent and received from my BFF Madison when she was studying abroad in South Africa.

Phew! That was a lot of work. I don't know how some of these bloggers do it with all their numerous amazing photos and multiple blog posts in a day...kudos to you all! Signing off for the night...I hope there is more to come soon.

Aaron :)

Song of the moment: The Sound of Music

Artist: Julie Andrews

Album: The Sound of Music Soundtrack