#LuckyDipClub #Unboxing!

We all love great happy mail, right? Who can resist a brightly coloured envelope or parcel getting pushed through the mail slot or deposited into a mail box with their name on it? For about a year and a half now, aside from the rest of the fabulous pen pal mail I receive, I have been receiving a subscription box called the Lucky Dip Club box. Lucky Dip Club is the brainchild of Leona Thrift-Ola and has evolved over time to include some of the best curated paper, fashion and other accessory goodies that one could ever hope to receive. From cute and quirky pin badges to lovely prints and stationery items, these boxes have it all. Bright and cheery, they are a dream to receive monthly in the mail. Don't believe me? Just have a look at the #luckydipclub hashtag on Instagram and you will squeal! Leona has a massive following and being such a creative lady has sparked a mass girl gang of creative minds and lovers of all things kitsch alike.

I am always excited to see the box waiting for me on the landing when I've just rolled out of bed (the mail gets here quite early for me)! This particular box was even more thrilling as it was the debut of the new printed boxes as shown above! I took a photo of it for my personal Instagram account (@mrsnadiabugler and it also appeared on the IG account of this blog (@this_is_myletter_2u). So, without further ado, here's a photo of all the contents of this particular box:

This box featured the 5th installment of the Girl Planet zine (new this year), a lovely flower card, cute seed packet, a "bloom where you are planted" patch, a super sunflower with two ways of affixing it (I used the brooch option), a cute cactus pin badge and a fabulous "Petal Power" canvas bag.

The sunflower seriously makes a really cool brooch and will brighten up any outfit or day for that matter!

It seemed rude not to photograph this pin badge with my very own mini cactus on the window sill!

A closer look at the details of that fabulous sunflower brooch...

That seed packet! It's just beautiful in its own right and I am certain the flowers that will come from those seeds will not only make the butterflies & bees happy but will no doubt be pleasing to the eye as well!

Just fabulous! I must get a jean jacket to add all the patches I suddenly now have to! And this bag is a perfect addition to my growing collection of printed canvas bags...go figure!

Fun colouring page on the back of the zine...

And lastly, You are blooming wonderful! Yes you are, each and every one of you! The zines are always a huge inspiration!

Leona and all those who work on all the Lucky Dip Club goodies are such talented people it's hard not to get excited each time a new theme is announced and a new box arrives!

Do you subscribe to Lucky Dip Club? Are there other subscriptions you think I should check out? The next Lucky Dip Club theme is "All the Fun of the Fair" and launches on 1st June at 7am! Set your alarm clocks and grab yourself a subscription or a one off box!

Cheers,

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!