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

Happy Halloween and some outgoing mail! :)

It's a very brisk day on this All Hallow's Eve and I took a short walk to look for the only post box nearby, down the street a ways, in order to post a few letters I had ready to go out to Belgium, England, The Netherlands and Wales! I was finally able to get stamps the other day (wreath ones for the international mail, flowers for within the US) so that I could post the letters I had all ready and waiting.

Autumn hit its peak here in the State of NY (I'm visiting and will write more about why I am back in the US in another post) the week of the 18th October and now the trees are starting to look barren. Only a few have leaves left but soon enough they too will have none and only the evergreens will look green and full. I took a few photos as I went back and forth between the house and the post box.

You can see the remaining leaves on the one tree in the lower right corner of the collage of photos, the walk to the post box seemed infinite but it is really only about a 10 minute walk back and forth. The autumn leaves and berries are breath-taking though!

Like I said earlier, I posted four fab letters, two of which were to brand new penpals and I have learned from my husband back home in England that I received a letter from Norway and had received a few postcards about a week and a half ago as well! Have you all received many letters lately? Here's a photo I took right before putting my outgoing mail in the box...

I'm looking forward to writing more posts in the next few days! Happy snail mailing all! 

Don't forget to check out our Facebook page! :)

#CreamTea and #Letters...

Though I have some more bits of mail to show off to you, I couldn't help sharing with you what I had for breakfast today. Hubby brought be two lovely scones yesterday afternoon from work. He doesn't fancy raisins and someone had brought these in to share so he saved them for me and I made myself a cream tea breakfast this morning! Yum!

I finished off a letter to a pal in Florida as well as I had my yummy breakfast! Have any of you written any letters today?

Little pen pals...

Today I got the sweetest little letter in the mail from my niece whom I am going to see in a week and a half. I love when little kids start to write letters!

What are some special memories you have from your first letter?

If you are like me...

If you're anything like me you probably have certain movies that you often watch as you write letters or craft. I say watch in italics because these are usually films you know by heart and do not actually have to watch, per say but rather listen to and occasionally take a glance at as you go about the business of writing or creating. I find that watching a familiar film while crafting enhances my creativity just as with listening to particular music. My creations will be fairly modern if I am watching a modern romantic comedy and slightly more vintage if I am watching a period film.

Here is my top ten list of favorite movies to craft/write letters to:

#1: Pride & Prejudice, this version originally from the BBC
is by far the best one I've seen and a favorite to craft to. 

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#2: Little Women, the 1994 version is one that I know by
heart and frequently revisit when writing letters or working
on a craft project. It is a classic that warms every girl's heart.

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#3: Ever After, power house Cinderella story which shows
us that we can be beautiful and intelligent without apologizing
for it! Creative and witty for amazing inspiration.

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#4: Sense and Sensibility-- Jane Austen's tales brought to
life in film are always a great source of inspiration to me.

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#5: Emma, another beautifully done adaptation of Jane Austen's
novel, my favorite thus far. I watched it so many times when it
came out that I memorized it rather quickly. 

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#6: Notting Hill makes me want to go to the market to find
crafting materials that are out of the ordinary. It is chic and
elegant and inspires much!

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#7: 13 Going on 30, if for nothing else but to hear those
great tunes from the 1980s and to get some really great
color inspiration for creative letter writing! 

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#8: Heidi, who isn't inspired by Shirley Temple? I like this
one for when I want to get in touch with my inner child.

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#9: Sleepless in Seattle, is one I can watch while crafting
and remember the sites I've seen in both Seattle and
New York. Great music in this one too!

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#10: Kate & Leopold, romantic and witty, with a hint of sarcasm.
Perfect for crafting or writing with a cup of cocoa and some
cream filled cookies! ☺

Which would you include in your list of films you craft/write to? There are many more which I have often used for the same thing but these are my top 10. Look forward to hearing what your favorites are.

Hugs,

Nadia Marie

Decorated letters...

Hello again dear friends!

Sunday evenings are the best for blogging, letter writing and the like. I find that sitting down to write while listening to classical music soothes the soul and gets the creative juices flowing. I wanted to talk about decorating letters today. Like most of you, I adore trying to find the cutest and most decorative stationery out there but I must admit that I rather like decorating my own paper and making unique forms of stationery.

This is a postcard I made using papers and ephemera I had lying around...

The postcard above was hand-made for a postcrossing swap I had done. You can see another example of a hand-made postcard by clicking here for my blog Mes Petites Creations. That one in the link was for a fall swap. 

Another form of decorative stationery is hand-made cards and I have seen some really gorgeous ones out there! I have a limited amount of resources right now so I make cards with what I have on hand. Here is another example from my other blog:

I made this one a while ago using up scraps of paper I had
around. To see more images click here.

Besides making and printing my own cards (I print my own photography onto card stock and make my own blank note cards) I like to decorate my letters with stickers or hand-drawn embellishments. I have an enormous sticker collection and find so many uses for all those stickers in letter writing.

Here you can see that I've used stickers to decorate plain white envelopes. 

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Here you can see a couple of the stickers I've used. These were actually
images I'd printed myself onto sticky full label paper. Aren't they lovely?
Home printed stickers!

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Sometimes I decide to get even more creative and include drawings in my
letters...this one unfortunately never reached it's destination, it has been
lost in transit...hopefully someday it will reach it's intended recipient...sigh!

So, those are just samples of what I've done...how about you? How do you like to decorate your letters? Do you make your own cards? I'd love to hear from you! 

Lots of love,

Nadia Marie

Letter writing inspiration...

Good Wednesday Morning to you all!

As some of you may have noticed besides speaking English I also speak Spanish and love it! I'm once again watching Despierta America while I write. I think it makes me feel closer to my relatives who are in Venezuela and whom I do not always get to see so frequently. It also makes me feel closer to some of my Spanish speaking pen friends who are in Latin America and the few which are in Spain.

So, as I was watching the show and thinking about pen pals I thought it would be interesting to go to Pinterest and see what people find inspirational for letter writing and I found some beautiful images which I will share with you here!

This was pinned by Kristy Schaffer and  I found it
to be just beautifully inspiring. Simple and pretty. 

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Who wouldn't want to write a such a gorgeous desk
as this one? I love the simple set up and the chair is
exquisite! The flowers, small lamp, books and photo
give it a tranquil and familiar touch. 

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A book to inspire us all to keep writing. I think I
will look for a copy of this one soon. What books
inspire you all to writer more?

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This just made me want to create more of my own decorative stationery! Yes,
I occasionally make my own stationary. I've made some Jane Austen inspired
papers with lines on my computer and want to make more adding other images
or vintage ephemera. Wouldn't that be lovely? 

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I would love to have a pink type-writer! I love the way letters look when
typed on one of these. It gives the letter an authentically vintage feel and
every now and then I like to be vintage. What about you? What are your
favorite styles of letter writing?

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Hand made envelopes have always called my attention! They are always so
unique and interesting. I know that many of us make them so I included this
photo to remind us to keep reusing and recycling! When we reuse we conserve.

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On Etsy you can always find the neatest stationery and letter sets! This vintage
one is just wonderful! One of these days I will buy some of these from Etsy! I
love them! Where do you get your stationery from? I buy mine from various
places (and of course you already know that I make some of my own as well. 

Well I hope these images will get you inspired to keep on writing and treat your pen pals to something special...a letter from YOU!

Have a fantastic Wednesday!

Lots of love,

Nadia Marie

Paper craze...

Show or Song: Despierta America on Univision

Time: 9:02AM EST

Mood: Bright and Cheery

Anyone who love pen-paling as much as I do knows that a love of paper is pretty much a must in our lives. I adore paper and am always looking for the next best thing when it comes to writing letters and crafting. One of my favorite paper companies to look at is {papermash}, it's a UK company and someday soon I will be able to buy some of their lovely products. Granted, their paper products are not exactly letter writing papers but we all know that a creative mind will always come up with an ingenious way of using the product even for writing letters. Here are my favorites from {papermash} this week:

I love these retro style folk cards...

I also adore this pretty patterned Post-It Note...

Being a poet and writer in my own right, I just adore these
notebooks as well...

And of course, the Washi Tape craze did not escape me,
look at these gorgeous patterns...(can you tell I am into all
things retro??)

Those are just a few of the things which I can see myself using to decorate letters, cards, notebooks and more. Let me know what you all think! I'd love to hear from you! Here's to an excellent Monday and a fantastic week!

Lots of love,

Nadia Marie

Dear friends...

I was perusing my own pen pal Maria Laura's blog today and thought how very exciting would it be to have my own pen paling blog. So, here it is. I have created this blog not just as a place to share ideas but as an ongoing letter to you, my friends and readers, in hopes that I might share even more with you a little bit about my own letter writing journey and whatever else comes along. I have a great many other blogs which you will shortly be able to see here listed on one of the side-bars. I also hope to share with you other pen-paling and letter writing blogs I may come across as we embark on this journey. I hope to share creative letter writing ideas and how to recycle bits and pieces of your letters soon as well! I am thrilled and excited to being this journey!

Lots of love,

Nadia Marie