Map of my little world....

Meet my Atlas, I bought it in 2002 when I first got my car even though I'd been passed for 2 years already. I have thought many times over the years to pull it apart and use it to craft with but I couldn't bring myself to do it... I haven't used it for years as its been sat in my bedroom but last weekend I decided to finally take out the staples and chop it up. It was a little weird to look at places at realise they no longer exist, something new has ended up there or that the names of things have completely changed. It made me realise it was high time to do something with it even though it may have made some money one day... I don't have a sat nav though but the internet is always there.

I mentioned a while back about a mini letter, decorative envelope and postcard exchange. The person I'm doing it with listed maps as something they love. It made me think of something I think I saw on Pinterest where a person did the place they met, got engaged and got married in a heart shape...I loved that idea so created this (not quite along the lines of a 2 people relationship love)...

I decided to do the journey of my envelope instead. I wanted to do each square as a circle so it looked like a telescope looking in but when it came to finding the locations I wanted all 3 of them were the square next to the spine so I couldn't cut my circle completely of the map which meant they ended up staying as a squares.

The first square is my home, the second is the post office which is marked with a star. Its so weird to see how many of them have now been forced to close. The last one is roughly where the sorting office is. I couldn't find the exact location for some weird reason but I think it may just be it.

The background is meant to be like a letter with the writing, the postmarks and then the punched stamp shape along with the stars to match the Post Office. I don't know if its the white card or something else but this card just lacked something for me but I do still like it.

I then of course decorated an envelope. I would have loved to have made one but my sheets weren't big enough.

This I decorated with places that I love. On the front the city center. Despite my moaning about the lack of shops I just love wondering around the city when I do go and most of all I love the old stone buildings.

On the back is Lister Park which I just love going to and have blogged about a few times. My niece loves it there too and the last time we went we saw such a variety of animals it was lovely for an autumn day.

Even though the postcard was meant to be the letter part I had to create the little notepaper to explain the postcard as I just ran out of space... it definately is going to be a challenge doing these mini letters.

The place on the note paper is the area around the woodlands and the woodlands which I love and would love a house there.

 

I'm really going to enjoy this mini letter exchange....

Do you decorate your envelopes?

I'm curious to know if you decorate your envelopes for letters to friends. I used to in my teens but once I got into swapping FBs etc... I stopped due to the huge volume of letters I was getting. I often miss it now and have thought about doing it again but I'm worried about things falling off or letters never arriving. I did in August decide to take on an envelope/postcard mini letter friend but this envelope never reached her house so now that I finally have holidays I hope to create a new one soon to resend it to her. Weirdly 2 people sent something to me around the same time as that envelope and I never got them, I feel so disappointed and I'm now at the point where I need to get my act together and get a complaint filed to Royal Mail as the problems have been none stop this year, I've never known anything like it and was always so pleased that my things always arrived to where I sent them.

 

I may one day ask for envelope/postcard friends if things work out well with the one I'm doing but first letters need to reach their destination. Would you be interested in trying this project with me if I do find it is for me to swap handmade postcard letters and envelopes?

 

Do you have any advice for me? 

With Love....

On Instagram I have received a couple of offers from people to write letters but unfortunately I haven't been able to take people up on it as I worry about not being able to write back. One person though I decided to become a postcard pen-friend with as I've read about it on a few blogs and liked the idea. We agreed to create our own postcards but to send them in an envelope which meant I also had to decorate that which is fun.

As you can see I decided to follow the theme of what I created for make my day with this one too as I was having so much fun. I can't wait to think of new themes to create for her if she decides to continue with these exchanges.

This postcard is smaller then the ones I created for make my day but it didn't matter with the word being shorter... I nearly cut up these tickets to remove the words but now I'm glad that I waited before doing it. I really wanted the tickets but didn't like the choice of words on them which I didn't pay so much attention to when buying it. These rubber stamps are now half price compared to when I bought it (£3 a complete bargain if you ask me). I have since bought some blank tickets so won't be chopping these ones up.

I managed to squeeze only a small amount on the back about myself which was hard as I'm used to rambling for England in my letters but it also makes it quite a challenge to see what unfolds over time in our postcards.

I decided to go a little further and add some extra love in the envelope with these origami hearts and some half made origami lucky stars which she'll have to squeeze herself to create the stars. All those stars are one of each design of my paper strips that I own. I will soon need to buy some more strips as I'm starting to run low but I'll wait some time before doing that as it will only tempt me into buying some stationery from Janet Stores.

 

If this goes well that I may ask some of you if you'd like to do a handmade postcard exchange too on a regular basis.

Do you do a regular postcard  exchange?

Spotty....

I came home one day recently to this lovely spotty envelope, it definately was such a cheerful thing to receive.... the stamp is a great one too, I have of course had this stamp before but it amazes me every time...

It contained a great letter of course, a report of a recent event but also this newpaper clipping for a local store (I'm guessing) which was actually really fascinating to see.

Bradford is known as mini Pakistan we have such a huge variety of shops for food and clothes  plus mosques that we forget its not so easy for people in other countries as my auntie in France complained all time and would take things from here on the few visits she's made.

Its also nice to see the different greetings that people use in other countries too, in Pakistan its know as Ramzan  (Ram-zan) boys are named this too... but in other countries its Ramadan... usually we say Mubarak but I've on the rare occasion heard Kareem too.

Its one religion with different casts, different languages but also different interpretations of the same thing.

By the way I'm writing to you at the moment and by chance have choosen something spotty too, keep your eyes peeled :).

Have you had any great mail days?

Stuffed Envelope: Crafting Supply

I took part in a stuffed envelope supply swap last week and hopefully my partner should have received her things by now. I received mine today...

1. The Envelope
2. Note Card: The images are so delicious looking I may end up taking a bite out of the card.
3. Fabric
4. Dream Catcher, apple post its, ribbon, confetti, stickers, notepaper....

I'll show you what I sent again just incase you're curious. I also added in a pro-marker pen as I had 2 of the same colour for some reason..

I just hope my partner likes everything I selected for her.

Have you had some good mail days recently?