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

Organization is key...

I have several pen pals with whom I am often in contact and have started collecting several letters from each. For this reason I devised a creative way of organizing my letters, and pretty at that too! Envelopes can be bulky and also I often cut out the stamps and whatever decorations my pals have added to them so I end up with a rather strange looking bunch of paper. I recycle whatever I can and discard the rest of the envelopes. This allows for my letters received to sit cradled well in my letter carrier. 

my little desk where all my creations take shape...

Above you can see my desk covered in stamps and decorations I was collecting from my envelopes, a few notes and letters which I was working on organizing, tools and ribbon in my jar (I need to get a couple more jars because that one is jam packed). My desk is probably my favorite place in the world to write and craft at. I paint there, write letters, draw, do pretty much everything at my desk--including writing this and my other blogs.

Organizing and Gathering:
1. My letter carrier is organized as such:
European pen pals in the first slot, followed
by pen pals in the Americas in the second slot
and the rest of the world in the last slot.

2. Detailed shot of the second slot with my
friend Maria Laura in front.

3. Ephemera I've collected from my envelopes.

4. Stamps I've gathered and my hole puncher. 

I love the way the ribbon looks bundling the letters and holds the little name tags I made for each bundle. It is simple and easy to do, not to mention aesthetically pleasing. I simply used enough ribbon to loop around each bundle three times before tying it off, giving it room to increase capacity when I need more space to add letters. My ephemera and stamps I placed in decorative soap boxes that the soap my family buys at Tuesday Morning come in. I love those French and Italian soaps! The boxes are so beautiful! I have lots of them filled with crafting supplies and little gifts that have been sent to me by my pen pals.

A bundle and letters waiting to be bundled...

Such a joy it is to send and receive letters! Yesterday I received a letter from Ida in England in a very cute Mini Mouse envelope. No mail today but I have TONS of letters to write back to! So, that being said, until tomorrow and happy posting!

Lots of love,

Nadia Marie