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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My Travelling Notebook, CAME HOME!

If you've been a reader of my blog for a while you may have heard me talk about travelling mail before. If you want to find out more about this hobby then take a look at this blogpost, as I go a little more into how it all works over there.

But I'm excited to share a finished notebook with you today. I set this notebook off on it's travels on the 27th of March 2017, and it arrived home to me on the 5th of June 2018. For a notebook, that's pretty quick! It is a really dinky notebook though, and that's one of the reason's I chose it. I gave this notebook a theme, it was 'favourites' so everyone taking part could share some of their favourite things. I thought this was a pretty simple theme, so again would help with making sure it wasn't travelling for too long.

The notebook has travelled all over the UK, and also made it's way to the US, Italy and Germany!

I didn't give it any specific goal on where it had to travel too, but it was nice to see that it went out of the UK a few times!

Below I've posted a full flip through of the notebook, it's an unlisted video, exclusively for this blogpost, so I hope you enjoy! I also hope everyone who took part doesn't mind me sharing this!

If you want to take part in travelling mail, feel free to join the Facebook group and set off your own notebook or postcard! Travelling mail takes a lot of patience, this took 1 year and 3 months to make it home to me, but that's fast in comparison to some. The waiting game is tricky sometimes, but it's so rewarding in the end when you get something like this arrive home to you.

I hope you enjoyed taking a quick look through this travelling notebook, thank you for reading/watching!

- Daisy X

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

What is Travelling Mail? How is it different from normal happy mail? How can I get involved?

Travelling Mail is a type of snailmail (mail sent through the postal service, not virtually/online) that ultimately makes it way back to you. 

You set it off by sending it to a penpal, or to someone on the Travelling Mail Facebook group. They will add something to it, and then send it onto another person, that person will go through the exact same process, and so on. When it's full up and there's no more room for other people to add to it, the last person will get in touch with you to send it on it's last journey home!

I've found it to be one of the most interesting and rewarding types of mail to send & take part in.

There's two different types of Travelling Mail that I personally enjoy sending, those are Travelling Notebooks & Travelling Postcards. I've created a printable for both kinds, which are both available to download and print off in the Travelling Mail Facebook group.

On these sheets there is all the information you will need to attach to your notebook or postcard, making the whole process a lot simpler for you. Of course you can create your own rules for it, but I know not everyone wants to go through that process, and would prefer to just get on with setting their mail off on it's journey!

Below I have put together some helpful how-to's, which should help you get started. I've included things you will need, and a few tips you might want to take note of to make sure your travelling mail's journey, goes as smoothly as possible.

What you will need...

1. A small notebook. I'd recommend nothing bigger than a C6 sized envelope, as this will help to keep the postage costs down.

2. The printable info sheet. This is available on the Travelling Mail Facebook group. 

3. Something to attach the info sheet to your notebook. Use whatever floats your boat really! Just make sure it's somehow attached to the notebook.

REMEMBER - If you are using the printable info sheet's I've provided, you need to number your pages in your notebook! 

Just go through from front to back writing 1, 2, 3, 4 on sets of four pages. This makes it easier for people to know how much space they have to use, and also gives you a good idea of how many people will be able to take part.

What you will need...

1. A postcard. Or a few! I usually set off a couple at a time.

2. The printable info sheet. This is available on the Travelling Mail Facebook group. 

3. Something to attach the info sheet to your postcard. Again, use whatever you fancy! Just make sure it's somehow attached to the postcard, a paper clip or washi works the best for postcards.

So I hope that has helped to answer some questions about Travelling Mail! 

A couple of things to take into account when sending out this type of mail ... 

- If you are under the age of 18 please make sure you have got permission to share your address before taking part in anything like this.

- This type of mail can sometimes go missing, it happens unfortunately. But at the end of the day it's only a small notebook or a postcard, and a bit of postage you are loosing out on. So if it happens, it happens!

- If you are unsure of how much something will cost to post, always, always, always, ask at your local Post Office! It will save a lot of faffing in the long run.

 Please come on over and join us on the Travelling Mail Facebook group! The more people over there, the more places our travelling mail can visit.

I hope this all makes sense, if anything confuses you though, please ask!

- Daisy X

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 Tabby! February 2016

I'm really getting into the swing of things with creating happy mail. I've always loved doing it, but I just haven't always had the time to sit down and do it. I've made it a personal goal to put a lot more effort back into my penpal letters! I have all these things to use, to create something beautiful, but because I'm worried about getting behind with replies I rush through them and forget about the whole reason I started sending snailmail. I haven't been taking on anymore penpals recently, and have also agreed to stop writing to a couple as I don't want to let them down. I feel like I've now got a nice amount of penpals to continue with this little snailmail journey without feeling too much pressure.

You may have already seen the video I did for this happy mail, if you haven't then it will be at the bottom of this blogpost so you can watch it there. But I have added a few things to it after I stopped recording, sometimes that just happens. I will record the process,  pack everything away, and then realise that actually I wanted to add something, or something doesn't feel 'complete'. Even though I'm dedicated to creating a good video, I'm not going to set my camera & lighting back up to film me putting down a strip of washi tape and a couple of stickers, so I hope you guys can understand that!

So I did go with a colour scheme for this one as you can tell. I didn't choose the colour scheme straight away, I picked out some card I wanted to use and then chose everything else to go with them.

If you aren't sure about how to choose a colour scheme then doing it this way might help you. The card is the bread of your happy mail sandwich!!

I did debate whether to write straight onto the card when replying to the letter part of the happy mail, but I didn't want it too look too busy. Instead I chose to staple a band one of the middle section, and just tuck the letter behind it. I used my Technique Tuesday Stamps to write 'HEY TABBY' (definitely my new favourite alphabet stamp set hehe). I stamped the date above this as I had kind of slanted the text a bit when stamping, so the date helped to fill this space above and it didn't look as wonky.

If you didn't want any of the written letter showing, you could always pop it in a mini envelope and tuck that behind it instead. It'd look just as cute!

I tend to write the mail tag part on an actual tag in my letters, as long as I have some tags hanging about in my stash. I feel like it's just a little bit more fun and something different to have in the letter. I attached some twine to the top, and stapled it to the card. Instead of cutting off the twine in line with the card I decided to leave it long, trim the end and add a sticky not to the top! I folded it round and cut a triangle out of the end to make it kind of look like a flag. It adds a little extra interest to the happy mail when you have things popping out the sides. Obviously being string it can easily be tucked in, to fit inside the envelope.

Under the mail tag I stuck down a journaling card to help fill in the blank space. I then answered the mail tag questions Tabby sent me, and on the end flap I added lots of paperclips which kind of went with the colour scheme I had going on.

Before starting this happy mail I did rummage through my stash and pull out a few things that I thought might go well with the colour scheme. I scattered bold text throughout the mail, as the colours I went with were all very similar to one another, so contrasting them with the bold make it all pop a lot better! If I'd gone with yellow/orange/red coloured text or a more 'floaty' style font, then it would have all blended into a big happy mail soup. Of course there's nothing wrong with this, but I prefer things to just POP!!

So there you go! That's my most recent piece of happy mail for my penpal Tabby!

I'm really really enjoying creating happy mail again, I can't wait to move so I will have more time to create! 

If you want to see the process video, you can do so here:

You will find a full list of supplies used, in the video description, so if you were wondering where things are from take a look there.

Speak to you all soon!!

- Daisy X