Cardiff Haul!!!

Been dying to share with you all the lovely things I got in Cardiff when we went a couple of weekends back! It was amazing to see Bryan Adams in concert and lovely to be back in South Wales for a little while. Next month, Alan (my hubby) and I are going to be embarking on a no spend month to save some money. I am both excited and scared as it means that I cannot spend on crafty bits at all but at the same time it also means I can FINALLY start using all the supplies I do have to make embellishments myself.

So, without further ado, here's my entire haul...

There are bits from Tiger, Paperchase, PRIMARK and TK Maxx in this haul! I am sure I could have spent tons more in other places but I could not resist all the above goodies. Tape, tape and more tape---my addiction must be curbed (but it's so pretty, right?). I am especially excited about the tag punch I got at Tiger. Such a bargain!

I am in love with the Paperchase writing sets above. I know they are plainer than what I usually buy but they are just so lovely! The Paris A4 paper pad is one I've been trying to hunt down for ages and who doesn't love Grumpy Cat? Found the notebook and sticky notes in PRIMARK. I had no idea one could find such great things in that shop. 

I am sure you've noticed there's a bit of a gold theme going on here! I am crushing on anything glittery and foiled right now. I am also crushing on office supplies and vintage botanicals and such.

Natural and pastels are also on my crush list of late. What are you crushing on these days? I would love to know! What in my collection makes you want to go out and buy something?

Let me know in a comment! I love to hear from all my readers!

Cheers,

Nadia xoxo

Linked to: http://www.thereadingresidence.com/papery-peep-may-2016/ 

Mouse Mail: Incoming from my twinsie Bekah, aka Miss Mouse Middleton

I believe that we all have more than one soul mate in life and that these soul mates can come in the shape of a close friend, a relative and even your other half. I find myself lucky enough to at least have two soul mates, my own other half Alan and my twin from another mother & father, Bekah. I swear, we share a brain! It is uncanny how much alike we are and when she was here visiting from Canada the amount of times we said "me too!" to one another was beginning to sound redundant! Hehehehe! So, of course, it makes perfect sense to assume that we both are very creative people and have quite similar tastes in things. Bekah is "Mouse" and that is why I am calling this entry Mouse Mail. 

I received this letter over the weekend and boy was I surprised! I had no idea she'd written to me so soon after having spent basically a month in each other's company but I was super excited about it anyway! As soon as I saw the envelope I was certain I'd love all the contents and boy was I right! I just have to show you how creative Bekah truly is:

Will you just look at the amount of gorgeousness that is this black/kraft/white/purple amazing letter and goodies!!! Right down to the Anne of Green Gables line art and the washi samples cleverly placed on a little tag with an Eiffel Tower sticker on it (because we are both obsessed with Paris). I love it all! Plus the quote card for my inspiration wall is just a lovely touch. 

The letter is contained in the beautifully embellished card above and everything is just perfectly and cleverly colour coordinated! Isn't it all beautiful?

I am in love with all the little bits Bekah sent and am already imagining what to do with them. I think I am going to start a pen pal scrapbook for just the things that Bekah has sent me or remind me of her and will add pics from our trips together here and there. 

I love, love, love the stickers and definitely want to use them to add to a scrapbook of our travels! They are just perfect for that! What do you do with all the things your pals send you? Do you tend to hoard them like I do or do you actually use them to send to other folk? 

I am very much looking forward to replying to Bekah soon and will do a few new posts on the things I am sending soon! 

Have a lovely day all!

Happy Snail Mailing!

Nadia xo

Incoming Mail, Unboxings and Outgoing Mail

Hello friends! It has been ages since I last wrote to you and shared anything snail mail related! Last week I had a pretty good mail week despite the fact that I have been dismal at getting much out myself. Sigh...I have been working on mail lately and am hoping to start another few replies tomorrow after I get orders out for customers of my stationery shop Walks In Beauty Paperie on Etsy. I've been adding new designs each week and hope to renew a few of our most popular items soon! 

Anyway, as I said, in the last week a half I've had quite a lot of great happy mail arrive, some letters as well as some subscription boxes which have been to die for! So, I'm going to share them here with you today.

Up first some of my incoming pen pal mail:

I receive a lot of mail from back home in the States from my parents. They've been slowly sending me the things I left behind so it is always a bit of a surprise to re-discover what things I had that my Dad is sending me in small boxes. 

He was able to get ALL of this into the top small box! 

This was also a bit of stuff that my Dad sent me in an envelope from home, a few Hello Kitty stickers, some Barbie paper bits I'd designed for a friend and a set of envelopes that came from an old stationery set.

A letter from my Belgian pen pal which came in the cutest envelope decorated with deco tapes! She always cleverly pairs tapes on her envelopes. There was also a little bag of gummy candies inside but I ate it before I took the photo! Whoops! LOL!

Also received mail from my kindred spirit twin, Bekah a.k.a. Mouse, @miss_mouse_middleton on Instagram,. As well as another envelope of goodies from home. The contents of Bekah's letter are so lovely I think they merit their own blog post so be on the look out for it. ☺

Now, all my pen pals know I am addicted to washi tapes and stickers and the internet has greatly facilitated my addiction and hoarding with the advent of online shopping and subscription boxes. I had, until very recently, only subscribed to the Lucky Dip Club boxes which I will do an unboxing post about with this month's box but then I finally caved and got Pipsticks and also Yoohoo Mail and OMG!!!

Mail nowadays has been taken to another level with all the bits one can add to it! And everything inside is just gorgeous! My other favourite place to shop online for bits, mainly washi tape, is Etsy!

First up: My order from Unwrap Colour's Etsy shop, 2 sets of sticker flakes for my diary and a lovely pink & gold foiled pineapple washi tape. I had two tapes like this before but in white and gold. I am hooked on foiled washi right now!

These fabulous vintage paper clip rolls of washi came from LobsterBisqueVintage which is located in New Hampshire. I sometimes miss the stuff I could get in the States. The lovely Susan added some extra bits to make the shipping worthwhile. Isn't that sweet of her?

Pipsticks is the sticker sensation of the moment! The pro pack comes full of 15 different sticker sheets plus a postcard and print. Plus that packaging is way fun, right?

I'm pretty sure all of these are being put toward my diary, not sure I want to share them! LOL!

Yoohoo Mail is a UK based stationery subscription box and it is to die for! I bought the Wanderlust box this month and it did not disappoint! I am over the moon with the amazing goodies that came in it!

Two fabulous prints, 3 postcards, 5 amazing blank greetings cards, one writing set and the cutest list cards ever! All travel themed and just extremely cute! 

What subscription boxes, if any, do you receive? Lastly, I'd like to show you my latest bit of creative mail I was lately working on which is going out this week to a pal who loves birds! I gathered as many bird themed supplies as I could find in my stash to create this lovely bit of mail for her.

Some of what I used to create a mail folder for her. The Kingfisher card was what I used as a base for making the mail folder, I used all the tapes pictured and some stickers from the booklets pictured. 

Inside the folder: I made a flap for the letter to sit in on the left and used washi tape to secure some bits on the right hand side. Stickers, labels and mini tags I punched using a new craft punch I picked up at TIGER in Cardiff.

Some of the stickers I included...

Mini tags secured in a mini envelope sealed with a feather and some birds on a wire holding in place some pretty pink tags. 

Just a tiny bit of polka dotted tape holding the folder closed and a mail art covered envelope. If you aren't already aware that I now have an instagram account for this blog, follow me at @this_is_myletter_2u where I will be posting the mail art in a photo tomorrow. You can also follow me on Facebook to see the photos which are always automatically posted on there as well. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing all the mail I've received lately! I will be posting tomorrow again with a look at some of the stationery related goodies I purchased in Cardiff two weekends ago. Stay tuned!

Happy Snail Mailing!

Recently outgoing & incoming post...

I was a bit busy this past weekend but I did manage to write quite a few letters last week and photographed a few of the lovely letters and bits I posted out to friends. Since most have been received I'll post the photos for you all to see.

Above is some Jane Austen themed mail I sent a pal in Georgia who's as much a fan as I am. Aside from my letter I sent her some stationery items I made & printed as well as my favourite Dorset teas for her to enjoy. I made her some regency themed sticker flakes, printed some Austen heroines images I found on Pinterest onto blank postcards, and made some letter papers with images of screenshots and Jane Austen portraits for her to use.

I packaged and parcelled it all up using bits I had on hand. Don't they look fab? Who is your favourite Austen heroine? Mine is undoubtedly Lizzy Bennet but I also love the sisters in Sense & Sensibility!

I also sent out a Birds & Butterfly themed letter to a pal in the UK following my alphabet themed letters with the letter 'B'. Here's a photo:

Peacock paper, Inspire Lovely Postcards and some funky bird stickers from Hallmark were all sent off to Essex!

Also, last week in a pen pal group I belong to we had a new pal event and these are just some of the things I sent last week to new pals...

The one above was for a pal who likes cats! :)

For the one above I thought to send a mini mail art kit. I sent two more letters out but sadly did not photograph the contents.

I also received some lovely goodies from my husband last week for Easter and a nice little surprise of goodies from a pal in Germany. Also a lovely letter folder from a pal in Wales and a beautiful card from a friend in North Carolina.

Above are the lovely bits from my hubby and below the other mail I received...

Am I not very spoilt by my friends and family? :)

Embellishing Letters and Recent Mail

Photography & Drawings by Nadia M. Perez Bugler

Hello again! Sorry it's taken me a while to get back on here and write a new post. I've had a bit of an emergency situation arise and have been working day and night helping an elderly couple out for the time being so I am happy to find some time to write and share with you mail and pen pal related goodies. I've been getting lots of great post this past week and I wanted to share some with you and a little about what I've been using lately to embellish my letters.

Most of us who pen pal generally tend to have a rather large haul of lovely stickers, pens, and nowadays decorative tapes we use to add a little extra flair to our outgoing post. In the next few weeks I hope to showcase some of what my own pals use to embellish their letters and how unique everyone's style seems to be.

Since I love to reuse things I took this soap box my father had give me and left the partitions in to separate this stash of stickers. Some are hand-drawn and hand-coloured others are ephemera turned into stickers, all homemade and hand-cut by me, Some are the ones I sell in my Etsy shop, WalksInBeauty2014, and others are a personal stash I made for myself. I love to have stickers that are unique and that very few other people are going to have.

Of course, I am a HUGE fan of washi tape and have a gigantic collection back in our bungalow in England but I've already stated accumulating tapes here in the States...go figure! Here are my latest acquisitions...

Top sets: Sheet music & pattern set plus the camera and film set were gifts from my nieces.
Bottom sets: The arrow and camera set came from Hobby Lobby, the Christmas set came from
The Range in Dorchester before I came back to the US.

I am notorious for looking for new tapes all the time...I really need to curb my addiction but I seriously doubt that will happen! *wink*

As for the post I've received lately, well, I feel that I've had a great mail week. I really can't complain! I received letters and even a parcel! First let me share the contents of the parcel my hubby sent me from England:

My journal I'd sadly forgotten to pack and bring with me, some lovely drink packets from the UK for me to drink so I didn't get too homesick for Bridport, and my little clipboard with some stationery I designed on it and some freebies I'd printed out from Wreck This Girl's Mailbox.

Aside from that, I also received a few postcards and a letter inside the parcel my hubby sent me as they'd all been sent there to the UK address...

Postcards from the UK, Germany, and Australia and a letter from my pen pal Renate in Norway plus a little pack of paper embellishments I purchased on sale at Hobby Lobby in the clearance section. It always pays to have a look-see there. ☺

Independently of that parcel I even got a little card from my hubby which came separately and some more fab mail...

This is the card from my hubby congratulating me on my new job and a letter from a new pal in London and the fab stickers she sent me. Take note that on the envelope she used one of my very own artwork,--a sticker that looks like an envelope which I sent her and my birdie air mail sticker which I made and shared out with her as well! It's nice to see people use what you've share with them. ☺

I got some more letters this past week but I have sadly not photographed them. I will try to get a picture of them all so you can see how lovely they were as well. Since I went to Hobby Lobby I couldn't resist purchasing a few more bits to use which I will showcase here...

The tapes you've already seen but these fabulous stickers were all on sale! They are ephemera stickers from Stickabilities and are just gorgeous. The Christmas Sweater stickers were fun too! 

Well, as I am not at home right now it has been a little difficult to be without my stash as I was only able to bring a few things over with me. Hopefully when I can get back to the house I can get ever so much more creative and share these creative lovelies with you!

Until then,

Keep Writing & Happy Snail Mailing!

Nadia xo

Letters, Gifts and Musings...

 

Hello from a sunny and hot Florida! Well, it was sunny earlier today and hot but here I am enjoying being in the warmer weather in November! I arrived her this past Tuesday and what a different scene it is from Western NY where I was!  I ☺had a nice little pile of post waiting for me when I arrived here from several places in the world. My dear friend and pal Jo from England had sent me a nice little gift (which included the little notebook and flowers pictured above) which she posted from Greece while she was visiting our mutual pal there, I received an intro from a new pal from the pen pal group I'm in on Facebook, a letter from a friend in Cardiff and a letter from a lady in Canada asking if I wanted to be pals. 

This lovely post was from my friend Ali in Cardiff! I love how all of my pals personalise things! Postcardsm paper bits and even a tea bag!

I think I may have to visit Cheddar Gorge and Glastonbury Tor when I am back in the UK! They look like fabulous places and Ali sure knows how to describe them enticingly enough! :)

Lovely gifts from Jo, my pen palling soul mate, full of loads of little goodies! 

I don't have a photo of the other letters but they were both quite lovely too! I have been re-discovering all the bits and stationery I'd left behind when I left for the UK earlier in April and decided that for now I am going to start using the cards that I have here to accompany my letters. I have so many cards and they are lovely but sometimes I forget to use them so I think I shall start putting them to good use! Today I wrote to my Finnish pen pal Maria on a lovely pink card which I added her name to on the front. I decorated the inside with hand-coloured round labels and other bits. I also answered her mail tag and added my own tag on the back of my business card.

Decorating the inside of the card with hand-coloured dots! Lovely aren't they?

I love mail tags because they are a great way of getting to know more about pals and also of sending things that your pal might like. To the left, on the Diddl paper, is the mail tag my friend sent me and I responded with some hand-drawn/coloured stickers, a little sticky note with something about my country, a list of 10 books that really moved/impressed me and a couple of bits of decorative paper as I sadly could not find a nice paper napkin to send this time.

Do any of you do mail tags and if so, what do you often ask for or include? I also received an intro letter from a new pal in Norway which I'm going to read tonight before sleeping with a cup of tea latte. 

Isn't this a cute envelope? I can't wait to read it with my warm drink all cosy up in my bed!

Anyway, thank you for stopping by and spending some time with me today. I hope you're all having an excellent week! 

Happy Snail Mailing!

Letter writing is the only device for combining solitude with good company.  ~Lord Byron