Another Lovely Mail Day

Tons of mail over the past couple of weeks... mostly postcards. And I also joined a site called Swap-bot. So fun!! They have all kinds of swaps, but I've stuck to smaller ones while I get accustomed to the site. : )

I'm also really looking forward to The Happy Mail Project over on Gracie's Blog. Go check it out if you love mail like me!!

Okay, here are my latest outgoing pieces. These all went to Postcrossing Peeps:



On its way to Russia



Making its way to the UK



Virginia bound



Monkeyed its way to Belarus



Late for a date in China



Sent to the Netherlands

This one was requested for a direct swap to Belarus


And these are Swap-bot swaps I did this week. The 1st was just a single postcard of my choice to one person. She liked to read, so I thought she may enjoy this cute postcard I got from The Little Fox's etsy shop:

And this swap was called "What The??" I was to send 5 postcards to 5 people (1 each) where the postcards were weird ones that you would probably never send to anyone... These are the ones I chose:

I'm sure you're all super jealous that I didn't send you the horndog or tapeworm postcard, right!?! ; )

And here are some wonderful items I've received lately:

Super cute postcard from the super cute Gracie :)



This lovely postcard was sent to me for a "Favorite Quote Postcard Swap" hosted by Gracie. My swap buddy was the talented Angela. Thanks again for the awesome postcard... I love it!! :)

 

And this was the quote she sent ;)



I believe this one came from a direct swap on Postcrossing...

 

Postcrossing from Russia





Beautiful stamps from Russia



This cutie was a Postcrossing sent from a Taipei Flora Expo

This sweet card was a Postcrossing sent by Martijntje in the Netherlands, who also sent me a beauty definition:

"My definition of beauty is, not the way you look like, but who you are. I personally find beauty in my dog's behaviour and not to forget the eyes of my husband."



She also sent these awesome stamps... Thanks again Martijntje!! :)




This sweet postcard was a Postcrossing from Finland. Love the angels!



"The World's Largest Dump Truck" was one of the "What The??" postcards from Swap-bot :)

 

"What The??" #2



"What The??" #3... Love the owls!!!


And I guess that's it for this installation... I've already signed up for 5 more swaps on swap-bot, so I should have another post soon. Maybe I should start calling these "Another Large Mail Day" instead! ; )

Another Lovely Mail Day

Wow, I really need to work on how often I blog!! I've been such a slacker lately... But here's a little mail love until I can work up a bigger post.

Mostly postcards on the outgoing this week:



The only letter that went out... to the wonderful Sarah




Postcrossing to Serbia




Postcrossing to Finland




Postcrossing to Taiwan




Postcrossing to the UK




A little love for Lauren

And lots of lovely postcards received this week:



Pretty flowers from a direct swap with Marjolein in Amsterdam




And check out the cool stamps she used : )




More pretty flowers from a direct swap with Penny in Australia




Gorgeous scene from Tracy in Canada, who also sent me her definition of beauty:

"I believe beauty is anything which ignites any or all of your five senses in a pleasurable or satisfying way - could be the simplest thing that takes your breath away or something complex and intense."

 
I've been trying to find a photo-album type book to keep my postcards in, that'll let you see both the front and back of each card. But no luck so far... all the ones I've found have either slots that are too small for the postcards or have an attached insert preventing you from seeing both sides. Do any of you know where I could find something that would work?

Hope all you moms had a wonderful Mother's day!! And hopefully I'll get another post up sometime this week. : )

Beauty is Lauren

I believe it was July of 2008 when I went with our church's youth group as a chaperone to Six Flags and a Braves game. Most of the youth wanted to branch off in groups and do their own thing, and I got the impression that my husband wanted to hang out with the guys. So that left me to wander around alone... Luckily, a lovely young lady by the name of Lauren decided to hang out with me for some unknown reason. Maybe she felt sorry for me... maybe her younger peers weren't as intellectually stimulating as me(ha, ha... yeah right). But regardless of the reason, I'm extremely happy that we formed a bond that day.

Right off the bat, I could tell Lauren and I shared a lot of the same interests. She was really big into books, movies, and photography. I think we talked about "Across the Universe" most of the trip up to Atlanta. :) I could tell then that she was much more mature than most girls her age, and it was very refreshing to have someone to talk to while walking laps around Six Flags.

After that day, Lauren and I hung out a couple of times... But then she broke the news to me. She was moving with her family to Florida. What a bummer... I was really looking forward to having a cinema buddie and someone to go get coffee with on rainy days. But we vowed to write to each other, so it wasn't the end of the world.

To be honest, it felt a little weird to be getting so close to one of the youth... I mean, I am 10 years older than her! But Lauren has been such a Blessing to me and has taught me so much.

She is one of the most awesome and unique girls I know, not to mention the greatest pen pal I've ever had! She is so creative it's ridiculous... Actually, she is the main reason I started this blog. I saw hers for the first time a few weeks ago and was totally blown away! You should definitely check it out:

http://postwiththemost.blogspot.com/

I've always considered myself a really artsy-crafty, creative person. I love to draw and paint... I love to write, sing, and dance. But as I got older, I found I didn't have time for that sort of thing anymore. I was an "adult." I had to spend my time working and cleaning the house (although I admit I suck at the latter). I was always so "busy" that I never sat down to just paint anymore.

In the past few weeks though, I've joined Postcrossing, where you send postcards to perfect strangers all over the world (see link at top right of page). I've sent 5 postcards so far, including two that I actually painted myself! I also joined a swapping site and a pen pal group... not to mention starting a blog. I haven't felt this artistically liberated in I can't tell you how long! And I owe it all to Lauren! :)

Beauty according to Lauren:

'freckles. smiles. scrunched noses. eyes filled with hapiness. whenever you're most comfortable in your skin.'