usps costume.

Image from: https://www.facebook.com/USPS

Is this not the cutest little halloween costume? My future child will totally be sporting this one halloween!

p.s. What are you and/or your kids dressing up as this halloween?

happy halloween.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I hope you have a spook-tacular day!

"More than kisses, letters mingle souls."

-John Donne

hand-lettering a quote. part 1.

I signed up for a skillshare class on learning to hand letter a quote or phrase! I thought I would share my progress with you guys for the class. Since I am very much into letter writing, I decided to do the phrase: To get a letter, you must write a letter.

The first step was to come up with a quote or phrase and determine how it would be applied.

After I came up with the phrase that I wanted to use, we had to break it down into different words that described the quote for inspiration when starting to hand letter

Then we had to come up with an inspiration board using some of the words listed above. I chose images that spoke to me. I also tried to go with a more vintage feel to my inspiration as well. 

Stay tuned for more posts from my progress. Wish me luck!

p.s.- To sign up for a skillshare class of your own. Go here.

"I love the rebelliousness of snail mail, and I love anything that can arrive with a postage stamp. There's something about that person's breath and hands on the letter."

-Diane Lane

old newspaper envelopes.

My mom gave me a bunch of old newspapers not to long ago. While I was looking through them, I found an article where my mom was featured, and another article about my cousin Rita. I thought it would be cute to make envelopes out of each article and mail their next letters in them!

I hope they like them! I think it would be fun to receive an envelope with your own picture on it!

vintage postcard packs.

I found a big bag of vintage postcards from different states and decided to put together a few packs of vintage postcards to put in my etsy shop. The sets are from the following states: Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and Maine!

Alabama: 10 pack

South Carolina: 6 pack

Maine: 6 pack

Mississippi: 7 pack

etsy shop. now live!

I have exciting news...

My etsy shop is now LIVE!!

I have posted several things in my etsy shop and will be posting more new and exciting things as I make them! Take a look, shop around and help spread the word!

Thank you!

nkotb envelopes.

I recently went yard saling with my best friend Amanda and I found this awesome New Kids on the Block Christmas Comic Book! I used to be in love with NKOTB. When I bought it I knew I wanted to use it to make some great envelopes. I received an envelope template kit for my birthday, so it was time to put it to great use.

I got my supplies ready and started making some envelopes!

I got quite a few envelopes out of the comic book!

I will be listing a 5 pack of handmade NKOTB comic envelopes with 10 white mailing labels in my etsy shop very soon! Stay Tuned!

business cards for etsy.

I wanted to add a little something extra special to my business cards that I send out with etsy orders. I saw an idea on oh, hello friend and it got me thinking...

First, I cut some shapes and punched holes out of some paper I picked up at michaels. I got so excited, because the paper matches my blog perfectly!

Then, I designed some stickers in Indesign and printed them out on white sticker paper. AFter they were printed I used my 1" circle punch to punch each sticker from the sheet.

I then used some scratch off 1" circle stickers that I picked up on ebay. I placed them right on top of the sticker I had printed! 

This is what they will look like once scratched off! I printed various types of stickers. Some with quotes and some with discount codes. It will be a surprise when you get it in with your etsy order!

I then put the scratch off sticker on a piece of paper and stamped it with "Scratch Me". 

I completed it all by putting the business card, a little bit of confetti and the scratch me sticker in a kraft envelope and sealed it with washi paper tape! I am super excited to get my etsy shop back up and stocked with goodies so I can put these in with outgoing orders!

fisher price post office.

I went yard saling with my best friend today and was beyond excited with I came across this vintage fisher price post office. We got to a yard with a lot of vintage toys and I spotted this great one out of the corner of my eye. Now, we do not have children yet but I could not pass this by because of that!

Isn't it super adorable? It looks like a giant blue mailbox with two post office boxes that open on the front and a letter slot that you can drop mail down into. You can retrieve your mail by opening the white cover on the front!

Then the big blue mailbox opens up to reveal a little safe that opens up and a time clock for the postal employees on the left. On the right, there is a yellow container and a red container that comes out and has a handle to carry around as your mailbag. Then there are two little stamps that you can put in the stamp dispenser and press the handle and they pop out. 

I think this toy was the best $2 I have ever spent! I can't wait to have kids so they can play with this awesome toy!

stamps: virgin and child

Image from: beyondtheperf.com

The Virgin and Child Christmas stamp is the newest stamp issued by the USPS today.

Five centuries ago, Jan Gossaert helped bring the genius of the Italian Renaissance to northern Europe. Today, his devotional paintings still vividly evoke the traditions of Christmas.

The new Christmas stamp features Gossaert's 1531 painting Virgin and Child. Draped in purple and blue, the Virgin Mary supports her own head by leaning on one of her hands. In her other hand, a curly-haired infant Jesus draped in white holds a bunch of red currants.

Gossaert's painting is currently in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Richard Sheaff was the art director and designer for this stamp. The Virgin and Child stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp.

stamps: poinsettia

Image from: beyondtheperf.com

The USPS issued its newest stamp today rendering America's favorite holiday flower, the poinsettia.

The art on the stamp depicts the rich red and vibrant green leaves surrounding the flower-the cluster of small, rather modest cup-shaped structures in the center. The red "petals" that we think of as the flower are actually modified leaves called bracts. A potted poinsettia was used as the reference for this stamp. 

While considered by the ancient Aztecs to be a symbol of purity, the poinsettia today symbolizes good cheer. The gift of a poinsettia is said to bring wishes of laughter and celebration with it. 

The poinsettia says "Christmas" more than any other flower. This stamp with its vibrant colors will add a decorative and celebratory note to cards and letters during the holidays. 

William Low painted the stamp art and Ethel Kessler was the art director. Poinsettia is being issued as a Forever® stamp.

sent with love.

I mailed letters to three of my pen pals, a congratulations card to a dear friend, my pen pal ad (which I will be sharing with you all soon) and invites to my friendly family feast that we host every year! 

It was a nice feeling carrying a large stack of happiness to the big blue mailbox!

received with love.

I received this fortune in my cookie the other day. A perfect fortune if I do say so myself!

When I got home from work that night, I did have cheerful mail waiting for me! We received a Save the Date from our friends for their upcoming wedding and I got my license plate tags that I was waiting on after being expired for three months. oops! My fortune knew I would have some good mail waiting for me!

p.s. Did you receive any cheerful mail today?

business cards.

Last week I decided its finally time to start working on some business cards promoting my blog and etsy shop!

I have not had anything in my etsy shop in a long while, so it is time to get crafting and sell some of my handmade paper goodies!

First, I designed my card layout in Indesign. Then I printed them out on clear sticker paper (I had a ton laying around the office) and cut them all out.

Second, I took the cut out stickers and placed them onto kraft business card paper that I had. (I really like the frosted look of the sticker paper combined with the kraft paper).

Then on the back of each card I stamped "send more snail mail" with my custom stamp kit.

p.s. What do you guys think?