A Postcard Paradise!

I haven't bought any stamps at all this year even though I do have last months range which I ordered in December. I won't be buying anymore though unless I really need them as I don't like the sound of this years stamps at all but I really need to see the designs first.

 

That doesn't mean though that I haven't spent any money on postage items at all... oh no! I am well and truely hooked to postcards and when ever I see a design that I truely like and think is affordable I have to get it. I have such a collection now that it should last me a lifetime but that probably won't stop me buying more.

Here are some of the ranges I have purchased so far.

I always really wanted to receive some shaped postcards so it was exciting to come across these transport ones that I can use myself. Its even nicer that I got an un-expected 2 sets when I assumed it was just one.

 

Have you made any great purchases lately?

Take it easy....

Yesterday I showed what I received from people on Postcrossing. Today I decided to share what I have sent just so you can see what I've been able to fit around the themes on other peoples profiles. I posted these ones on my first Postcrossing post

 

It's fun to choose a postcard but even more to read the response of the person receiving them. I really hope I never send one that a person truly dislikes.

 

Some facts for this one too.

The longest distance I have sent to is Malaysia

It took the longest time for a postcard to reach Malaysia and Russia, it took a whopping 23 days for a piece of card to reach its destination which is really something in my eyes. Its taken less for a letter to arrive.

U.S.A is the quickest destination my postcards have travelled to, taking only 4 days to arrive (since my latest one I sent on Monday and it got there today already!).  I have sent there 3 times and all have been fairly quick.

I've never sent mail to Ukraine, Belarus, Taiwan or China until now.

I've sent an eye watering 15 postcards so far considering I haven't been part of Postcrossing for a month yet! Its why I need to force myself to stop despite having the option to send more right now.

I love being creative with the background of my postcards but sometimes its finding the time to do it. 

Hou Doe

As you know I've joined Postcrossing. I decided to share all the postcards I've received so far as its fun to see all the variety together.

I love the complete mix of postcards I've received and its interesting what people have chosen to send me despite me being so vague on my profile.

 

Some facts about these postcards are that...

 

3 of the 8 postcards are from Holland which is almost half of my postcards.

Most of the people I write to are from Holland too so maybe its a sign to visit the country maybe?

Hou Doe translates as Hello in a region of Holland.

Apart from 1 postcard all others are from Europe.

The one that's not from Europe I received from Singapore.

I don't understand why people don't explain whats on the postcard as I'm quite curious.

Also one postcard I received from a Dutch postcrossing meet up. Its fun to see all the names on the card even though they weren't completely handwritten.

 

I will try not to send any more postcards this year even though its been so nice to come home to mail everyday nearly due to receiving a postcard. Its really exciting to see a postcard and wonder where its come from. I need to consider the fact though that I will be sending out postcards for Christmas like I have done for the last 2 years.

 

I'll show you what I've sent tomorrow.

Postal Fun

Some months ago I saw these moleskine notebooks...

I liked them but didn't think much about them as I absolutely have a love for all un-usual books but I know I won't have a use for them but will be tempted to buy them so its best to stay clear.

 

I only thought about them again recently when a friend mentioned it in her letter so I decided to look them up. It became quite tempting to buy them and then I did!

I bought mine from the book depository which I have only purchased from once before through amazon and it took forever for the book to arrive. I had decided to not buy from them again but it became tempting when I saw such a wide range available on there of these Moleskine Postal Notebooks. I purchased them and they arrived in the same week which was amazing.

I now can't wait to have fun with these and post them out to friends... the pink and white ones are mine only.

 

Whilst shopping for the notebooks I also ended up buying these 2 Postcard books which I absolutely love...

Have you bought any mail items recently?

Lazy summer days...

I have summer holidays at the moment and I'm really enjoying them even though I honestly don't know where the days are whizzing to. I have exactly 2 weeks left and I feel quite sad about it, partly because I know that winter is on the way with darker and colder days. I always get so used to going to bed when I want to and getting up without an alarm clock.

 

I've hardly spent any time online which is why my blogs have more or less been abandoned but hopefully once back at work I'll get back in to the swing of things... I hope! I have read a lot but just haven't got around to writing the reviews for those books but hopefully next week I'll get organised and have a week long book review session.

 

One of the things I've missed this year is the lack of mail. Up until Easter I hardly got any, not that it was a bad thing as I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to write so had forced myself to take part in swaps. I'm still feeling the lack of a happy mail box though so I finally after years of knowing about it joined Postcrossing! I didn't join sooner to be honest because I assumed people only swapped postcards with a view on and I struggle to get my hands on those type but its not the case at all. If anything a lot of people don't want them. 

 

These are the first postcards I've sent....

Its interesting to see that the first set of postcards had people who wanted train postcards. I accidentally bought these when buying my stamps and got such a shock when I was looking through my envelopes. They've been tucked away and me despairing what I'll do with them... well they've come in handy now.

 

The other interesting thing is that the first person I got was a lady in the U.S.A and she is the first person to receive my postcard considering I sent one to Holland and Germany that are much closer.

 

Its also interesting that all of these postcards were bought on the Internet as I have picked some up locally too.

 

Now though I'll have to hope that I'll never have an expired or lost postcard as its another interesting thing that letters take up to 2 weeks to reach a destination but a postcard can take months being lighter and smaller. What's the deal with that?

 

Are you are a Postcrosser and what do you make of it?

Dutch Kawaii

A couple of months ago a friend sent me a letter and a box full of goodies, the postman came to deliver it but nobody was home. That's not a problem we'll go and collect... my husband went and they said we can't find it, I went and they said we can't find it... I lost my patience with the worker as we all spend a fortune on letters/packages so you'd expect them to take care of things. He said he was there until 6pm and would look for it but we got no phone call, then Saturday came and went but nothing... I came home on Monday from work and was going to phone when my mum told me that they had telling her they found it... yippee!

 

It's a good thing that they did as it contained a looo>>>oong letter and these amazing goodies from DutchKawaii. Oh my friends sure know how to spoil me!

Letter Paper

Postcards

Stickers

Letter Paper

Postcards (There were 5 but I used one as soon as I'd finished drooling over everything

Stickers

There were also some A4 sheets of images of these 2 kawaii characters that you could cut out and craft with and I didn't photograph those but I did make this postcard...

It is such a cuteness overload and I can't wait to use everything but also I'm a bit stuck as I don't want to use it all up either.

Postcards

Wreckthisgirl is planning something for her readers and needed some funds in order to do it so she asked for our help. As I have been admiring her postcards for a long time I decided to purchase some.

They were really well packaged and contained a few extras as well as being shipped really quickly. My only complaint would be that there was no return address and after the problems I've had its not worth risking anymore. I can't wait to find out what the project is but I'm sure it will be fun.

Keep in touch...

I'm posting this now as I had a feeling that my friend was going to post one last postcard and was really suprised when I didn't last week but then I was even more surprised yesterday when the cutey in the last picture turned up.

 

Its been so much fun receiving all these postcards and I'm so glad my friend sent me so many. Its not a project I think I will ever take part in as I send quite a bit of mail in various other ways but of course I'll never say never as who knows one day I might like the challenge of it :). 

 

Did you take part in this project or maybe you received something?

A box full of something....

I first came across one of the owners of this store on Etsy which at that time was called 3.5 dollars where everything was priced at 3.5 dollars. I bought craft supplies even though many other amazing things were sold. Then Etsy changed its rules about sellers being able to sell letters sets and other such things so 3.5 dollars and Cotton Blue decided to get together and open this store. When they first opened I bought somethings but then I took part in a bet not to buy stationery for a year which I did and have done many times before in the past.

 

Since then I have ventured by Yozocraft a lot as I just love looking at all the amazing items but never felt the need to buy anything until recently...

and this is what I bought...

On Got that swings blog she once posted about writing a letter in a notebook I really loved that idea and wanted to try it at some point so when I saw these in Yozocraft's shop I couldn't help buying them even though I probably won't use the top one for a letter as its quite big but I like to pull booklets apart and trim the edges to write on. Every page in these notebooks are patterned and so pretty. I haven't photographed each one as they can be viewed in her shop. I mentioned this to a friend and she beat me to it in writing in one and I loved it as we do write about a books worth of letters anyway.

 

The reason I did make a purchase is these

Postcards! I fell in love with the first batch, those big eyes and the whole way its drawn, then came the collection of snow white ones which are just a selection of fairy tales and then the flowers... so I couldn't resist buying them along with everything else that you've seen so far. I can't wait to use some of these especially on Send Something which I've been part of for over a year and only this week posted something out. I just think its nice to surprise people sometimes without having an obligation or deadline to do it.

Whilst there I came across this letter set...

I love Happy Picnic sets to write on as there are plenty of lines and the paper feels nice also. My writing I feel looks nice on it so I can never resist buying the sets when I see one I haven't had before. Its just a shame the animals always look sad.

 

The last thing I purchased is all the paper you can see in the background of all my items. Its a wrapping paper book which I should hopefully make my own envelopes out of or use to wrap gifts where I need to. I love all the designs and if I ever buy from Yozocraft again I will definately be buying a couple more booklets... for now though I need to stop buying anything and have no more orders on there way. I also do not intend to go shopping this weekend so lets see how things go.

 

The only thing to spoil my package is this

of course the seller didn't know not to send me pig items but don't you think it unlucky that out of all the things I could have received I received this! Oh well, it will make a nice items to put into an envelope for someone.

One thing I would like to say is that the packaging is really good. Each item it individually wrapped in plastic, then bubble wrapped and packed in a really good and safe way.

Have a good weekend!