Happy Mail For A PenPal! - #SendALetterDay

I was trying to think of something more 'interesting' for this hashtag, but figured that actually sharing some happy mail I'm sending along with a few of my personal tips when it comes to sending mail, might be helpful.

I've been out of the routine of sending letters to my penpals for a while now. My journals took over at one point and when MyGreenCow became my full time job I had to focus my time into other creative hobbies that I found myself being more motivated about. I basically had too many creative hobbies, and not enough time to do them all!

But I'm slowly getting back in the groove of things with happy mail, and I have missed it a lot. Saying that, the past couple of months I have been a little MIA from my penpals with everything that's been going on. But I am getting there, and I'm excited!

I wanted to share this not so 'super fancy' piece of happy mail. As much as I love sending out a flip book or something that I've spent a while creating, I do love putting together a simple but fun piece of mail. 

My go to for this is just the letter, and a little pocket of goodies. It doesn't have to be super decorated and packed full of things. I do my best to keep my letters to the 'letter' sizing that Royal Mail have, not just to keep costs down, but it also restricts me from going too over the top on decoration etc.

The little pocket of goodies tends to include some fun bits and pieces from my stash. In this one there is a few pieces of ephemera, some sticky notes and some mini envelopes. Sometimes I don't include a whole pocket of things, I might just pop a few flat pieces inside the letter. I think for things like goodies, you just have to talk to your penpal and see if they are wanting to do lots of goody swapping, or if they would prefer to focus on the letter writing. 

Personally I like shorter letters (1 or 2 pages) and a couple of goodies, with both sending and receiving. I don't have the time to sit and reply to a letter for hours on end, I'd prefer to be able to write a reply to someone in half an hour or so. 

There's no right or wrong length to a letter, just make sure you and your penpal are on the same page.

Envelope decorating is probably one of my favourite parts of creating happy mail. I think it's because I know that this part of the letter will put a smile on any postal workers faces too (well I like to hope!).

With all the bland, beige envelopes passing through the system everyday, I feel like it's nice to just make a little effort on the outside to break up all the blandness. 

You do have to be considerate of placement of stickers etc. Make sure you leave some space for the address label, the stamps and if you're sending it abroad then an airmail sticker and sometimes a customs form. 

One of my personal must have tools for happy mail is a set of weighing scales and one of these postage rulers! I have used this thing so much since I've had it. It's handy to be somewhat prepared for how much things will cost to send, before I get to the post office. 

I sometimes buy stamps in advance, and use the online postage calculator Royal Mail have. That way I don't have to go to the post office to buy stamps and send things, I can just pop them in my nearest post box.

You can find these rulers for about £5 on ebay if you search 'postage ruler'.

The ruler I have has two slots, one for the 'Letter' size and one for the 'Large Letter' sizing (I'm not sure if there's something similar for those of you who aren't in the UK).

Do you sending happy mail?

- Daisy X

*Please note, no products featured were sent to me for the purpose of this blogpost.

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Happy Mail For Alice! April 2016

I'm definitely getting back into the swing of things with my happy mail. I'm still quite slow with getting replies out, but I'm at least managing to juggle my time around so I can create something fun and pretty for my penpals!

Today I have my most recent piece of Happy Mail to share with you all! This is for my penpal Alice (@the_lost_fox81 on Instagram). I did do a process video for this, and that will be at the bottom of this blogpost if you would like to see how I made it from start to finish.

For this piece I used two 6x6 pieces of card and stuck them together. I then folded both ends inwards to make it more of a rectangular shape (see the video to understand exactly how I did this). On the front I added a doily to break up the space a bit, stuck down some washi, and a little wooden 'hello' tag. I wrote 'Dear Alice' on some white sticky labels, and cut out each word separately then stuck them on. Instead of sticking down something else in the gap at the bottom, I decided to tie some string around the letter to hold it together, and tuck in some little glittery heart stickers.

Inside on the left I decided to stick down a little mini envelope with some stickers inside. At the top is where I put the actual letter, I chose to use a binder clip to hold this in place instead of sticking it in. Underneath the binder clip I also added some little cupcake stickers along with a little hand cut and hand drawn envelope. These little envelopes are the simplest things to create, and they make such cute additions to happy mail!

On the right hand side of the inside, I stapled down the flap at the end to make it into a little pocket. In here I added lots of little gifts for my penpal. Because the pocket is folded inwards, it means I could fit a lot of things inside, as when the happy mail is closed nothing will fall out. 

Remember, you don't have to include goodies for your penpal, they are an added bonus. I don't always send this much every single time, but I've not written to Alice for a while, so wanted to send a bundle of goodies in this letter!

I also sent along a Travelling Postcard that I received from someone else, I'm really enjoying sending travelling items with my happy mail. They are great fun to take part in and something a little different to receive. 

On the back I added a little tag with some washi tape samples on. When I send washi tape samples with a letter I tend to send the tapes I've used on the happy mail itself. They just look like they 'go' with the happy mail better by doing this. I collaged a few stickers on the doily, to fill in some of this blank space.

I really like how the pocket on this one turned out, it's definitely a lot 'safer' because things are very unlikely to fall out of the letter.

If you want to know a little more about Travelling Postcards, then you can take a look at my blogpost on them here.

Feel free to watch the video I made, to see how I put this happy mail piece together:

There's a full list of the supplies I used to create this happy mail in the description of the video!

- Daisy X

Happy Mail For Masturah! March 2016

The other day I posted a video on some Happy Mail I created for my penpal Masturah!

I thought I'd share a few close up photo's, and talk a little bit about what I chose to use and why.

There is a full list of supplies in the description of the video I posted, so I'll leave that video at the bottom of the blogpost if you want to find the products I used.

As usual I picked out some card stock that I liked and used that to create a colour scheme. Once I'd figured out the sort of colours I wanted to go with I then picked out some washi tapes, and other bits and pieces I wanted to use.

I find this is the easiest way to start as it gets you thinking about what colours look good, and sparks ideas for pockets & goodies too! I've found that a good way to finish a piece of happy mail is by using some twine. Quite literally tying things up in a neat bow really does work!

I've been stapling a lot of the pockets onto the happy mail recently, as I find this a really simple and strong way to create them. Especially as a majority of the happy mail I've been sending has been sent abroad, so the strength really helps. Of course washi tape works just as well, but the stickiness can vary depending on the brand and style, and after being bumped about in the postal system you don't know how it will be when your penpal receives it!

As far as the goodies I included go, I decided to send one of my new Travelling Postcards with this happy mail (you can find out more about those here), I added some stickers in the pocket on the left and some sticky notes, and die cuts in the middle pocket. On the right I used one of the notecards from Fancy Paperie, and wrote my mail tag on it.

I didn't get a photo of the pocket for the actual letter (well done Daisy haha, but it's already been sent now!) but you'll be able to see in the video when I'm putting it together.
I did manage to use up almost all of the 'blank' space on the card, fingers crossed my penpal will like it!

Though it looks like there is a lot going on, this is a very simple style of happy mail. I could have added a lot more, but I was very aware that it was being sent outside of the UK, so in order to keep postage costs down, I tried to go with minimal decoration and instead pack it full of goodies.

It's definitely something to consider as I'm pretty sure this cost me around the £4 mark to send?

I don't think happy mail has to be super busy to look good. Sometime you just need a nice colour scheme going on and it will look just as fun!

You can watch the video below to see how I put it together, and don't forget to check the description for a full list of supplies used!

- Daisy X

Travelling Postcards! [ TAKE PART & JOIN IN THE FUN! ]

A few months ago one of my first ever travelling postcards arrived back with me! I had completely forgotten I'd even sent it out, so it was a wonderful surprise when it was back in my hands.

I can't remember how long ago I started it as, being one of the first ones I'd sent out I didn't really know what information I wanted to included on the card so forgot to ask people to put the date.
I kept it simple and just asked people to put their name and where they were from on there.

Everyone who took part also added their Instagram and a little message which was really sweet. It was nice to see what was added as it was sent from one person to another, and it gave me ideas on what I wanted to include on any future travelling postcards.

I know it must have been a long time since I sent it out because it had my old email address and blog on the info sheet, both of which I hadn't had used for a good half a year. I've now obviously updated this and it's something to keep in consideration, you need to make sure at least one of the contact details isn't something that will be changed in the next year or so.

It can sometimes take a while for them to get back to you, but at the end of it you will have a postcard that has been lots of different locations.

The info sheet to send along with your postcard will contain your contact details (an email and your IG if you have it), so when it's complete the last person can contact you to get your address and then send the postcard home, this way you only have to give you address to one person.

There's also information on what to put on the postcard, and a short section with some rules and guidance for anyone who is new to travelling postcards.

I have actually created a PDF file that you can easily print off, cut out and fill in to send with your postcards. So the 'hard work' has been done for you! You can of course create your own, you might have a particular goal in mind, like specific places you want your postcard to travel to, or a certain number of people to take part. Make sure you include this information on the info sheet to make it easier for the people contributing to your postcards.

I have created a facebook group for travelling postcards and this is where I have uploaded the file for anyone to use, so feel free to come over and join in the fun. I'll talk a little more about the group at the end of this blogpost.

When it comes to what you actually need to send out a travelling postcard, it's pretty minimal.

You'll need postcards (obviously haha), preferably the classic size as you are going to be sending these along with a penpal letter or on their own so you'll want to keep the postage cost's low. You'll also need the info sheet, a paperclip to attach the sheet to the postcard and an envelope to send it in!

I get many of my postcards from Paperchase, they have an amazing selection, and thanks to them I've become a bit of a postcard hoarder! So I thought it was about time I found a way to get the postcards travelled but also ultimately be able to keep them.

So if like me you hoard postcards but feel a bit bad that they are sitting in a box blank, then this might be something you want to try. At the end of the day if they go missing you've lost out on a postcard and a bit of postage, BUT if they make it full circle it's an awesome to find out where it's been and who's contributed.

They also don't take up a ton of room, so once you get them back you can easily store them in a photo album or something.

The point of these postcards isn't to share a story or a message with one person, it's to share a journey across the world with many people who also enjoy sending snailmail.

If you don't have any penpals then you can still join in! As I said before, I've created a Facebook group where you can find people to take part. You will also have access to the printable info sheet so you can get started straight away! Come join the group here.

I just want to thank everyone who took part in my first ever travelling postcard, especially Erica for getting it back to me safely!

I'm looking forward to getting some travelling postcards sent out, and fingers crossed contributing to some of your postcards too! If you have any questions then let me know.

- Daisy X

P.s. 'Travelling' is spelt right, we spell it with two 'L's' here in the UK ;)

Happy Mail For Jack!

I put together this card/letter/mini project thing for Jack almost two weeks go now, but I obviously didn't want to do a blogpost on it until he had definitely received it!!

I did briefly mention a little bit about this, on an Instagram photo I posted. But basically, me and Jack are currently going long distance (again, lost count of how many times this is now), and we would always send each other mail, but recently I haven't really sent him anything.

We are going to be moving into our own place very soon, it was mean to happen at the end of 2015 but didn't. There's been delays with the process and the house is still a complete mess. BUT it's all moving along gradually, and we are closer than we've ever been before.

Anyways, I wanted to put together a nice bit of happy mail for him, seeing as once we've moved in together, this is something we will no longer be able to do!

I picked up this Paperchase card a while back, and I kept it to send to Jack. But I wanted to do something a bit more fun with it, instead of just writing a little message inside.

I had plenty of ideas whizzing around my head, so like always I just rolled with them. No planning, no initial colour scheme to go by, just my brain ideas and trying things out as I go.

When you open it up this is what you first see. I added a large journaling card in the middle so I can have an extra page to work on, and a smaller journaling card on the left with a beautiful quote on.

Because the larger journaling card was very orangey, I went with that as a colour scheme for this section. I picked out some gold and orange tapes, and also put a splash of red & orange watercolour on the bottom section. At the top of the left side I added some film strip washi tape and a fun sticker from Anke Panke, along with a little sun emoji sticker.

When you open the flap on the left, there is one of my favourite little photo collages. This is from the only holiday me and Jack have ever been on together, we went to surprise my family in Cornwall. We were laying on one of my favourite beaches in Cornwall, trying to take a nice selfie but the sun was so bright we couldn't actually see what was being taken. We were trying our best to smile and then ended up laughing because we couldn't see what was going on, none of the photos were overly posed, they were natural and lovely.

On the left hand side I added a little caption. Over the photo collage I added a little bit of 'Love You' Washi Tape from HEMA, and a kiss face emoji sticker.

When you flip the larger journaling card over, this is what it on the other side. This colour scheme was a little more random, each side sort of has it's own colours going on. 

I was going to have two flaps in this section but I didn't like how it would be unbalanced, having double flaps at the bottom of each of the pages.

The left hand side flap is a square journaling card which meant I could stick a larger photo onto it. It is a photo I found on Pinterest and has a very similar layout to our living room. Obviously it's not exact, but having visual goals is always really nice especially since the whole moving process is taking such a long time. 

Hooked onto the photo is a little Noodoll bookmark I got for Christmas from Jack. I've found these really hard to use because they are so cute, so I've been hoarding them. But adding this one to a card to Jack means I technically get to keep it about right?!

When you open the flap there's another photo, this one is actually a photo of some polaroid photos I took when we went on a little trip up to Pendle Hill. It was the first time I'd tried my Instax camera to take selfie's and it was hard to know what was in shot and what wasn't. It was also super sunny which never helps things haha.

On the back of the square journaling card flap, I attached a little bingo card. I got these in a Hey Little Magpie random grab box (I think), and the instructions on how to use them confused me. So I basically told Jack to use a random number generator to generate ten numbers. If he got a row then he would win a prize. Funny enough he didn't win, even after letting him have two extra goes!!

Last of all I added a little photo of our new house, with a sarcastic caption of 'hopefully by spring yeh?!' seeing as moving in wasn't happening anytime soon. But now looking at the timescale and what's getting done with the house, it will most likely be somewhen around Springtime that we move in! I used a mixture of alphabet stickers from Hey Little Magpie, HEMA and the 'Spring' sticker is from a Simple Stories sheet.

So that's how my little happy mail project for Jack turned out. I was really chuffed with it, even though it's a bit all over the place. I enjoyed making it and he was totally surprised to receive it, so all in all it was a success!! 

It definitely makes me want to do more happy mail projects like this, because they are so different to other sorts of mini projects. You know you are making them to make someone else smile, so there's a lot of motivation to make it as fun and interactive as possible.

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I created, and thank you for reading!

- Daisy X