Friday, February 28, 2014

received with love.

It has been a great week for my mailbox!
Pink hot chocolate from my dear friend Kathryn! yummy!

Look at those beautiful postcards from my penpal Tiffany! I have them hanging on my bulletin board in my office at home!

A letter from my new penpal Ashley!

And a great letter from my new penpal Melissa! It was filled with so much goodness! (Images below)



Thursday, February 27, 2014

sent with love.

I am finally getting caught up on writing all of my letters! Woo! Here are some letters I mailed out this week!

I mailed a letter to my friend Tiffany and my dear friend Kathryn! Look at those cow stickers! I have a box of stickers I have been collecting since high school and found those gems!

Broke out some of my awesome kawaii letter sets to write to a few of my newer penpals!

And last but not least a couple of letters to two new penpals and one to my penpal dawn!

I hope these letters find you ladies well!

Saturday, February 15, 2014

received with love. valentine's day edition.

I was so excited to get a letter from my mom and husband postmarked from Valentines, VA! What an extra special touch to an already special letter!
A mailbox filled with pretty pinks and reds always makes for a nice mail day!

Each card mailed through Valentines, VA gets hand stamped with this adorable heart stamp.

Then the extra special touch is the heart shaped postmark!

Friday, February 14, 2014

stamps: winter flowers.

Image from: uspsstamps.com
With Winter Flowers, the U.S. Postal Service continues its tradition of issuing stamps that present beautiful, floral-themed art.

The flowers depicted are amaryllis, cyclamen, Christmas cactus and paperwhite (clockwise from top left).

These winter-blooming flowers are popular potted plates, especially during the holidays when people enjoy them as gifts or as festive decorations. Just as these flowers brighten our dark winter days, these stamps will add a decorative and cheerful note to all your correspondence.

Winter Flowers will be issued as a Forever® stamp.


happy valentine's day.

Image from: zazzle.com
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
May your day be filled with lots of love notes and candy!
XOXO

Thursday, February 13, 2014

valentine's cookies.

My mom and I never need a reason to bake, but Valentine's Day is the perfect reason to get in the kitchen and bake our hearts out!


We loved how the mailboxes and postage stamp cookies with the hearts turned out! We can't wait to make more like this next year too. 

I even bagged a few up and gave them to my mailman for Valentine's Day! I hope he enjoyed the special sweet treat!





Wednesday, February 12, 2014

valentines, va.

This past Saturday I took a little road trip to Valentines, VA! I have been planning this little road trip for almost a year now and was really excited! The town of Valentines isn't even really a town but more of a community within Brunswick County. There is one building offering up expressions of love. The Valentines, VA Post Office!

Outside of the Post Office from the street.

The front porch and Post Office sign.

The Post Office is combined inside this tiny building with Wright's General Merchandise. The two have shared this small space since 1935. When you step inside you step back in time. Coca-Colas sold in glass bottles, an old stove and rocking chairs. The Post Office dates back to William H. Valentine, the town's namesake who served as the first postmaster from 1887-1911.



Mr. Wright bought the store took over as postmaster in 1951. He unknowingly started what would become a sensation! Embracing the town's name, he began rubber-stamping the mail with an emblem-featuring a heart and dogwood blossoms-that he designed himself.
Finishing up stuffing some of my letters!

My mom and I patiently waiting our turn!

The mail ladies working hard!

Sorting all my of valentines!






While we were there we overheard that there is a possibility this gem of a Post Office could be closing down. To hear that breaks my heart. Kathy did say that if it does not close, than most likely the hours would be reduced. I hope that the Postal Service realizes what a gem this place is and keeps it open.

I have found my new yearly tradition for my Valentines! If you would like your valentine's day cards postmarked from Valentines, VA next year than mail your pre-stamped cards in a larger envelope to:

Valentine VA US Post Office
23 Manning Drive
Valentine, VA 23887

Read more about this great Post Office here.

Post Office Contact Information here.


valentine's letters.

I was really excited to make my valentine's extra special this year!
I picked up these great pink chevron lined envelopes and washi tape from michael's! I decorated each envelope using the cute valentines washi tape and then filled each one with valentine's day goodies! Each envelope had a valentine, stickers, confetti hearts, and most importantly candy!

Look at these adorable paper airplane valentines! Martha Stewart hit a soft spot in my heart with these adorable valentines!


Do you go all out for Valentine's Day?


Tuesday, February 11, 2014

local postal service news.


This past sunday, there was an article in our local paper about the U.S. Postal Service.

It stated that mail sent between cities in South Hampton Roads now travels more than 160 miles round-trip. The U.S. Postal Service transferred the processing of outbound local mail to a complex outside Richmond from a Norfolk center.

Due to the Postal Service changing the processing from Norfolk to Richmond for local mail, it is causing delays in the arrival of mail within local cities.

The union is going to hold a rally Feb. 17th at Greater Metropolitan AME Zion church in Norfolk. A public show of support could help persuade the Postal Service to return all processing of local mail to Norfolk.

All information was provided by The Virginian-Pilot. Article written by Philip Walzer.

received with love.

What a great mail week last week was!
A beautiful purple valentine letter from Lynsey!

A wonderful cat letter from my friend Yuko!

And look at this adorable notebook letter! I love how Dawn did her mail tag answers!

Friday, February 7, 2014

stamps: hummingbird.

Image from: uspsstamps.com

A new postcard stamp celebrates the beauty and grace of the hummingbird.

Hummingbirds, known for their agility, brilliant colors, and long bills, are among the smallest birds in the world, ranging in size from about two to eight inches long. Some weigh less than a penny. Special wing anatomy enables hummingbirds to fly forward, backward, and upside down, as well as to hover in one spot. The "humming" sound they produce is made by their rapid wing movements-the wings of some species beat up to 80 times per second!

The Hummingbird stamp features the art of illustrator Nancy Stahl. Carl T. Herrman was the art director.

The Hummingbird stamp is being issued at the postcard rate of 34¢ each.

You can read more about the Hummingbird stamp here.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

new travelopes.

I have finally had enough time to catch up on crafting some stationery sets! I listed two new sets of travelopes in my Etsy shop!

Paris, France Travelopes

Norfolk, Virginia Travelopes


You can shop around my etsy shop here!

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

penpal patches.

Are these not the cutest patches?
My friends daughter is a girl scout and when she went to the store to get her daughters patches, she saw these and knew I had to have them! Ahhh! So great!

I look forward to sending these out to some special pen pals in the near future!

Sunday, February 2, 2014

letters in a pill box.

I saw an adorable idea on Pinterest a while back about filling a pill box with candies and little letters to send to a friend who isn't feeling well.

I was at Target about a month or so ago and found these adorable red pill boxes in their dollar section! I stocked up on them so I could create this cute idea whenever I had a friend that needed a little pick me up!
Arn't these the cutest little pill boxes?

I filled each section with various small candies (tic-tacs, m&m's and jolly ranchers). I found cute quotes online about feeling better, printed them out and put them in each section with the candy.

An example of one of the quotes I put inside the section with m&m's!

I think these are just the cutest little pick me up for a friend that needs it. Once it's all filled just place it in an envelope and send it on its way!

Saturday, February 1, 2014

month of letters 2014.

Today marks day one of A Month of Letters!

Are you participating? I participated last year and am looking forward to taking on the task of a letter a day again this year! If you haven't signed up yet, it is not to late. Sign up here!

You can even download participant stickers here, to put on your letters to let everyone know that you are participating!