wallace and gromit stamps

Sometimes when you say you like something, people will just send it to you. For no good reason except that they're nice people.

Many months ago, I randomly expressed my envy over the Wallace & Gromit Christmas stamps that the Royal Mail issued last fall. To my great surprise, the wonderful Shadow Akiyah on Swap-Bot offered to send me some from the U.K. once they came out and refused to receive anything in return. I'm not really a formal stamp collector, but I do enjoy seeing interesting ones as well as ones featuring images with some significance to me. These W & G stamps that I just received this week are really fun, especially since the pack comes with a paper advent calendar and commemorative folder.

Have you been on the cracking new Wallace and Gromit site, by the way? There are tons of cute games, activity packets, and e-cards available there. If you're handy with the needles, you might try crocheting your own Shaun the Sheep with the free pattern from Purple Linda, too!

I find it really reassuring that in today's digital world, you can still see human fingerprints on Wallace and Gromit's faces. It's one of the many reasons that they'll always remain timeless classics.

3 handmade postcards

A quick break from all the hearts and flowers today.

Here is the postcard I made for a swap using vintage book paper and some of that lovely washi tape from West Elm. My partner loves children's books and Pooh in particular, so it was an especial pleasure to do. Since the card will have to travel through the postal system, I sealed the top with some clear acrylic spray as well...hopefully that will do the trick.

I sent my partner a couple of extra postcards made from Where the Wild Things Are and The Tale of Benjamin Bunny as well. I'm always on the lookout for inexpensive/damaged books at thrift stores to use in crafting, and I especially like the ones that have yellowing, brittle pages--it speaks to both their age and how much they were loved.

Postcards are such an easy and cheery thing to make, too. One day I'd like to do a really, really big postcard to send through the mail, but I'll have to look up the dimensions and such first. Hallmark used to sell those really giant (2 foot?) cards and envelopes, so I would think that postcards would probably go by the same standards of measurement.

fun postal stamps

Some good news for 2011...the United States Postal Service will be issuing a set of stamps this year featuring images from 5 Pixar films! I like most of the choices included here, though I do wish Finding Nemo and The Incredibles had made it as well. It looks like the stamps will be issued in August, so there will be some fun mail to look forward towards the end of the summer.

Speaking of stamps, I received this sweet set of Royal Mail Pooh stamps from my friend Holly recently. I'm very fond of Pooh, of course, and although I'd received a couple of them on postcards, it was nice to get the sheet as well. I just love E.H. Shepard's illustrations, and these drawings are so perfectly rendered on the simple cream-colored background. I also have this set of Wallace and Gromit Christmas stamps winging their way to me courtesy of a kind Swap-Bot member in the UK, which I'm very much looking forward to.

I really don't collect stamps in an official capacity, but those two British sets just happen to feature themes I enjoy--and I do like to use good ones on domestic mail when they're available. We don't seem to have nearly as many author stamps here in the U.S. as they do in other countries, particularly for children's lit...and I somehow missed these stamps featuring Laura Ingalls Wilder and Louisa May Alcott books from a few years back. Where was I? What was I doing? I should have been at the post office with a fistful of cash in hand. Oh, well.

Hope your new year has gotten off to a great start, philatelic and otherwise. Cheers to another great year!

christmas card 2010

Every year, I look for months and months ahead of time for just the right holiday card. This year it turned out to be a postcard from Rifle Paper Company, whose amazing invitations and cards I've loved for awhile now, though I've never before purchased from them. As soon as I saw this Night Before Christmas illustration, however, I knew we'd found our perfect 2010 card!

The card stock is smooth and creamy and such a pleasure to write on. I love the whimsy and sweetness of the card, as well as the warm colors and old-fashioned drawings. The postcards came packaged up in glassine packets tied up with peppermint string, and were almost too pretty to use.

Every year we send out around 40 holiday cards, give or take a few. The list changes every now and again, but for the most part it's the same people we've known and loved for years. It's a little sad because I think every year we receive fewer and fewer cards in return, since it seems to be one of those traditions that unfortunately seems to be going by the wayside. It's a shame because people already correspond so little as it is.

But you know...for us, it's the act of writing and sending the card that is most important. There are some people we don't speak to or see nearly as often, so it's the one time of year we reach out to them. And I figure it's always nice to know if someone's thinking about you, especially during this time of year.

red riding hood cards

Received from a tag game this week: two Little Red Riding Hood cards, hand-drawn by hollycm6. Holly makes a lot of really cool journaletters and stationery that she sells in her Etsy shop (she was also the one who sent me that amazing manatee postcard a few months ago), and I really like the dark, dark woods and lonely cloaked figure depicted here. I also like the drawing she did on the front of the envelope with the wolf peeking out from behind the tree. I'd never heard of the term zentangle before Swap-Bot, but many people seem to enjoy this technique and it's quite beautiful when it's well done.

Holly also stamped the inside flap of the card with a Postcard stamp, so that it may see a second life by turning into a postcard by the recipient! So cool. I'm glad she sent me two, because I'm not sure I'd give this away otherwise.

jane bookmarks + download

If you can stand looking at a second set of bookmarks in one week, I have another download to share with you! I'm very fond of Jane Austen of course, so I made a set of these for a Jane bookmark swap during last week's paper crafting.

I decided to keep them pretty simple, since the quotes themselves are already so lovely.  The images are of a Jane silhouette, the covers to a couple of her books, and the picturesque logo for Houghton Cottage in Hampshire, England. If you'd like a set for yourself, you are welcome to download a copy here. Just print them onto cardstock, laminate and cut...and once again, these are for personal, not commercial use, please.

For a slightly different take on Jane, I bought a set of hilarious Pride and Prejudice and Zombies postcards a few months ago and used quite a few of them during the witching season. I never really finished the book itself, but these pictures are fantastic, and the postcards themselves are really well-designed and of great quality. Quirk did a really great job with these, and I hope they'll branch out with more interesting book projects in the future.

old-fashioned calling cards

I've always rather liked the idea of calling cards. I thought it would be fun to design some for an imaginary character, so I created a Design a Calling Card swap for our fairy tale group. My partner Candy is an enormously talented artist, so it was great fun to plan this for her (along with another swap I'll share later).

One of my favorite fairy tales is The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen, and I thought it would be neat to make a set of cards for the Emperor. I found an old illustration of a nightingale I liked by J.F. Naumann and printed it out along with a quote onto textured card stock. The cards were still rather flimsy, so I spray mounted them onto another sheet of card stock before I cut them up, which worked really nicely. I liked the weightiness of the card, which felt appropriately formal and elegant.

I thought these would also make really pretty tags, so I printed out a few extra ones without the text and put them into a tiny envelope along with a letter from the Emperor, written to the young maiden who first found the nightingale for him.

As luck would have it, I was also able to find a nice hardback copy of the book on sale at a library bookshop, so I wrapped everything up in gold tissue paper tied with red ribbon--which is rather befitting a royal gift!

akin to anne

There are little gremlins at work, because I was "randomly" partnered up with my new bosom friend Naomi for two more children's lit swaps by the supposedly impartial Swap-Bot computer. And this is after we'd already plotted to do a 1:1 Christmas swap together--hmm! Curiouser and curiouser.

At any rate, one of the swaps was something I created for lovers of Anne Shirley. Everyone was to send a gift to her partner inspired by Anne of Green Gables, meaning something that might have actually belonged to Anne. I printed out a autumnal poem written by L.M. Montgomery--did you know she wrote poems? I didn't, but somehow I'm not surprised--with pretty graphics that I mounted in a vintage frame, along with a be-ribboned bookmark featuring a vintage image and one of my favorite Anne quotes. I also sent a pretty pearl necklace similar to the strand that Matthew Cuthbert gave Anne for the thrilling concert at White Sands.

As Anne says, "Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world," and I'm very glad I got to send these particular presents to someone who has become such a dear friend from afar.

Through this group, I'm actually learning quite a bit about my rather egocentric view on the world. I'd always assumed that books by L.M. Montgomery and Laura Ingalls Wilder were beloved the world over (I know Anne is especially popular in Japan, for example), but as it turns out they aren't quite as well known as I'd thought in some other countries. One of the things I hope we'll accomplish with The Hundred Acre Wood group is that our members will find new books to love, in addition to sharing their own favorites with others. I know my "to-read" list has grown since the group's inception, and I hope that this is true for everyone else as well.

tomboys

Were you a tomboy when you were little? I sure was! Nowadays I'm a little bit more of a lady, but there are times when I wish I was still an adventurous little kid, complete with scraped up knees, toting creepy crawly things and forever up in trees.

I still have a soft spot for rough and tumble little girls, and I've always loved the Ramona Quimbys and Trixie Beldens and Turtle Wexlers of the world. These kids were fiercely independent and stood up for their ideals, but beneath all that bravado you knew there was just a scared, uncertain little girl who was just desperately trying to find her way in the world. So for a swap I recently hosted, I invited participants to write a letter about their favorite tomboy heroine, and to send some small related trinket along with the note.

I received a letter yesterday which absolutely floored me. My partner Shandymink sent me a long letter about Harriet the Spy, who of course is one of my absolute favorites! She watermarked the letter with an image of a black and white composition book and wrote about her memories of the lending library she frequented during her family's camping trips, when she first discovered Harriet and her nefarious activities. It's so wonderful to read a letter like this, which is so full of love and remembrance for a very important part of childhood, especially when I happen to love the subject, too.

The "trinket" my partner sent was actually not a trinket at all, but an infinitely precious present. Shandymink drew a Harriet the Spy paper doll for me, which as you might guess, I just LOVE. Harriet comes complete with a spy belt, her favorite comfortably worn spy clothes, a pen, and of course, her all-important notebook. Love love love! I would never have imagined that something so special would come from a simple swap like this, and I'm so grateful to my partner for this wonderful present. I have to find a suitable way of displaying this, because it's much too wonderful to keep hidden away.

I can't share what I made my own partner quite yet, but I will as soon as she's received her package. I actually have quite a few days' worth of posts and photographs to share, which is good since I'll be away from home for a few days, likely without creating very many new things. But you never know...there's inspiration everywhere.

postcards galore

Apparently a lot of people collect postcards. Just what do they do with them? I've heard about people putting together themed collections like Post Secret, which sounds really cool, but I've always wondered: what about all the regular people who are just...accumulating them? What do they do with all the cards they receive?

Well. Now I have to find out, because I've gotten oodles of postcards over the past few months. Since Swap-Bot came into my life, I've joined and hosted a few postcard exchanges because I like the idea of sending notes to other people and receiving them...but I'm far too lazy (and my handwriting far too messy) to be an actual pen pal. One thing led to another, and now I have...lots. Especially because I won a "winner takes all" group game and got flooded by all the other members who joined! On one glorious day, I actually received 12 postcards all at once, which was pretty exciting. Our mail carrier must think I'm crazy.

I've gotten postcards from Australia, Switzerland, Holland, Japan, Poland, Norway, the UK, the Philippines, Canada, and of course, all over the United States. What I'm most impressed by, however, are the amazing notes that people write, as well as the trouble they take to send a card they think I'll like. I mean, it's a postcard, right? Averaging maybe a dollar apiece, and the cheapest form of mail you can send? But many of my partners show just as much thought and care in sending this little "hello" as they would a big package, which I really, really appreciate.

I've gotten cards with fairy tale images, made from children's book illustrations, drawn specifically for me, with vintage-y themes, with places I've mentioned I am fond of, with book recommendations, written backwards, with animals I absolutely LOVE such as pigs, hedgehogs, manatees, polar bears, owls, and koala bears...and better yet, some of them came with amazing stories.

One lady in England wrote that she leaves food out in her garden for the wild hedgehogs that regularly visit. Another wrote about her family's annual trip to the apple orchard every autumn. And still another sent a koala postcard with koala stamps and with a koala story, about how she sees them out in the wild in the gum trees. (Apparently they are beautiful, but they smell funny.) I loved reading these stories so much, which were not only about subjects my partners knew I loved, but also gave me a little glimpse into their corner of the world.

I've been so surprised and touched by all these little notes, and it's made me into quite a big fan of the whole postcard thing. I suppose at some point I'll have to figure out what to *do* with them all, but for now I'm just keeping them in a great big envelope. But I do like spreading them out every once in awhile just so I can gloat over them.

parcels of postal goodness

Departing this week: two parcels of postal goodness, filled with fun mail-themed goodies. 

According to the swap guidelines, only one item could be store-bought, so it challenged participants to be a little creative and resourceful about finding things to send. I'd actually ordered copies of the U.S. philatelic catalog awhile ago, thinking they might be fun to include if my partners were overseas, but as it turned out they're both here in the States, so I'll just save those for another time.

The packages include:

* packet of hand-stamped postal images

* fold and seal aerogramme

* V-Mail stationery sheet  inspired by stationery used to communicate with soldiers during WWII

* Secret Decoder Cipher Wheels

* vintage Cathay Airways airmail envelopes and stationery

* Griffin and Sabine postcards

* personalized address labels

* sheet of fun facts about mail from USPS

* hand-stamped "write your own story" tags

If you're a mail lover and you haven't checked out the Letter Writers Alliance, by the way, you should! The blog is full of wonderful news and information about the art of letter writing, and they offer many amazing downloads like the ones above. You can even become a member and correspond with other like-minded lovers of the written word.

I wrapped up the packages in vintage papers, one with illustrations from Mother Goose, since one of my partner likes children's storybook illustrations, and wrapped the other with maps since that particular partner likes to travel. Pretty fun stuff! I hope they'll both be able to use the items I sent, and I can't wait to receive my own.

studious cupcake

I held a swap recently in which participants were invited to Make Food with a Face. I sew a lot of veggie plushies, of course, though I've never made anything in the bakery category...but since my partner has a sweet tooth, I thought this would be a good time to experiment!

I made a funny little plush cupcake out of wool felt, and  decided to give him a pair of glasses as well. Being that my partner also collects yellow hardback Nancy Drew books, I had to enclose a note written on my spiffy stationery from Fred Flare, too. If I'd thought ahead I would have gone out to get a bakery box to pack him in, but instead I just wrapped him in soft tissue with a tag and sent him on his merry way. I've been sidetracked for over a week now with a minor wrist injury, so it was nice to ease back into the crafting with this project.

In other news, I can't tell you how excited I am by our little children's lit swap group. I just posted A Little House Christmas swap, in which participants send stockings filled with Laura-inspired gifts to their partners. You've probably noticed that I'm crazy about Laura Ingalls Wilder, so I can't wait to get started on this one. Sometimes I have the sneaking suspicion that I might have started this group just so I could get *exactly* the kind of present I really wanted for myself.

thoughtful books chosen for me

I received a wonderful, wonderful box of books yesterday. I joined a I Refuse to Grow Up swap (for obvious reasons), and was thrilled to receive four vintage children's books picked especially for me by my partner Vicki.  This exchange came with the additional challenge that the items had to be from a thrifted source.

Vicki read my profile and saw how much I love children's books and old books and illustrated books, so she sent me a book of fairy tales (with the same cover illustrations as a book she herself once had), a big book of poetry, a fantastically old almanac from the 40s filled with interesting facts and pictures, and a Kate Greenaway book since she noticed it on my Amazon wishlist. How is that for a thoughtful partner?

I'm not sure how she found the books so quickly, but I love everything...especially the long, juicy letter that she wrote to me explaining how much she loved reading as a child. I do so love meeting other people who love books!

I actually sent Vicki a book myself along with a few other small trinkets that reminded me of my own childhood. The book was The Stories Julian Tells, which I vividly remembered because of one particular chapter in which Julian helps his father make a wonderful, magical lemon pudding.

"A wonderful pudding," my father said. "It will taste like a whole raft of lemons. It will taste like a night on the sea."

Many years later, when I found the book again as an adult, I felt the exact same eagerness to taste that smooth, bright, lemony pudding in my mouth--I still do, actually, every time I re-read the book.

I also sent Vicki a picture of something I couldn't actually be parted with, but is a very important part of my childhood...my koala bear. She's worn and threadbare from years and years of loving, since she's been with me since I first got her in a box under the Christmas tree when I was 5 years old. Now she sits on a shelf near some of my favorite children's books...waiting patiently for me whenever I want to feel like a child again.

two children's poems + download

Do you have a favorite children's poem? There's something about the classics that are endlessly appealing, and I do so enjoy sharing them.

I recently hosted a Share a Favorite Children's Poem swap, and I sent my partner a copy of Nancy Willard's "The King of Cats Sends a Postcard to His Wife." I've loved this poem since I first read it as a young adult, since it's a touching letter that inquires after the well-being of many members of his household. As you read it, however, you begin to realize that the king has a very specific reason for writing...he wants to make sure all is well, since he can no longer be there to take care of everyone himself. It's a well-written, imaginative poem that's also incredibly thoughtful and sweet. I lost my own father right around the time that I first read this poem, so in retrospect it may have struck a particularly poignant note.

I also sent my partner a copy of another poem that means quite a lot to me. When my husband and I were married, we asked one of our best friends if he would read two poems during the ceremony. One of the poems was Shakespeare's beautiful Sonnet 116, of course, and the other was "The Owl and the Pussycat." It's a charming, tripping tale full of humor and whimsy, which was just the right bit of "us" in all the solemnity and quiet of the day.

If you'd like a copy of the poem, I've put it into a pdf that may be downloaded here, and it includes the text from the poem along with Edward Lear's original 1871 sketches. Perhaps you'll enjoy sharing it with a friend, too!

don't look if the holidays stress you out...

...because I'm sorry, I just love them. Love them! I'm ridiculously happy pretty much from Halloween through New Year's because I'm busily plotting away how to spread Christmas cheer. And yes, I know it's still only August.

I've talked about how much I love Christmas before, and it's a sad fact that it's never too early for me to start thinking about it. It's nice to find like-minded people out there who are as crazy as I am, though, so I had great fun putting together a Pick Two Paper Christmas Items package for my swap-bot partner Lisa.

Being me, I couldn't just pick two items of course, so I included:

* a packet of several different holiday cards
* a recipe card with my favorite recipe for Royal Icing for sugar cookies
* two cozy knitting project cards, since Lisa enjoys knitting
* a packet of hand-stamped holiday tags with cheery striped yarn ribbons
* personalized shipping labels with vintage Santa image and "Merry Christmas!"
* personalized address labels with vintage Santa image and "Happy Holidays!"

I attempted to send the envelope with leftover Christmas stamps I had, thinking I'd weighed it properly, but was mortified to have it returned to me with postage due a few days later. Fortunately I'd made everything and sent it out on the first day, so the parcel made it safely with time to spare. Phew! Lisa wrote me a note to say how much she loved her "AWESOME" package, which I very much appreciate.

Here are a few other exchanges that also went out recently as well--three postcard swaps, for which I couldn't resist altering cards with images specifically for my partners, though it wasn't a requirement.

One partner said she likes gnomes, another partner said likes lighthouses (I sneaked in a little bit of my taste with the Rilla of Ingleside image there, too), and one partner made me really happy because she likes woodland animals such as hedgehogs. So of course I had to make her a sewn one using fabric left over from the baby quilt! All great fun to do. I can't believe I've never altered postcards until now, but I think many of the cards I send will be personalized from now on.

vella the sea monster

On her way to Finland tomorrow: a rare specimen descended from the octopodidae family. Named Vella after the goddess Vellamo, the mythical goddess of the sea in Finnish folklore, this small sea creature has been chosen to co-habitate with her new host family as part of a study by the Deep Sea Creature Recovery Institute.

I made her for the Adopt a Monster Plush swap for my partner Taija because she enjoys squid, octopi, and other creatures of the deep. Vella's friendly fanged face is embroidered by hand, and I used wool felt hand-dyed a soft purple with Kool-Aid--which is especially appropriate since her new mama likes to use drink packets to dye knitting yarn and expressed a desire for some. I put together a little packet of drink mixes for her, along with an official adoption certificate and welcome letter (whose shield is a real Finnish one depicting Vellamo). The letter is a little cheeky, but I think the recipient will enjoy.

Here's hoping mother and sea-child bond quickly and will have a long and happy life together!

 

bookmarks for soldiers + download

When I read about a Swap-Bot project that sent handmade bookmarks for soldiers, I thought it would be nice to join in.

Although the bookmarks didn't have to be specifically themed, I still wanted to do something that was a little tailored to the recipients.  I decided to put thoughtful quotes together with some favorite images from children's books illustrations, and I printed them out and stitched them onto cardstock for extra weight.

Click on the photo to see a larger image and to read the quotes. I like them all, but I think the Pooh one is my favorite!

This is an ongoing project, so if you'd like to send in some handmade bookmarks of your own, there's still plenty of time to participate. Send sturdy bookmarks (no glitter, please) to:

Handmade Bookmarks for Soldiers
c/o Misty Davis
8697 Infirmary Road
Ravenna, OH 44266

The bookmarks will be tucked into a big shipment of books going overseas. Because it's for our soldiers, I also included this little label on the back as well...I thought it was mightily appropriate.

And for you, lovely friends, I thought I'd share the bookmarks with you so you can make your own. You may download the bookmark pdf file and print them out to your heart's content, although of course they are for personal, not commercial use. Just mount them onto cardstock and laminate, or stitch them up if you like.

If you'd like a copy of the leaflet of Rossetti poems I made earlier this week, you may also download the files here and here. Just use spray adhesive to put the pages together, then trim the edges as needed. I hope you'll enjoy both projects!

fairy bookmarks, windy poem

I've always loved Australian artist Ida Rentoul Outhwaite's beautiful storybook illustrations, but it can be very difficult and expensive to find any of her vintage books or prints. So for a woodland-themed exchange I'm participating in, I thought I'd make a pretty set of fairy bookmarks paired with quotes about reading.

I printed the bookmarks and laminated them, but then thought that mounting them onto another piece of grey cardstock would be even better. So I stitched them up and they're on their way to Singapore at this very moment, which means they're traveling somewhere I've never even been. Lucky bookmarks!

I actually made four bookmarks (although the exchange only called for one), but one of the quotes was very short and I didn't like the way they appeared on the page once it was printed out. So they were ruthlessly cut and promptly turned into little gift tags, to which I've attached pink velvet ribbon; they'll be very nice for an upcoming gift I'll be wrapping up this weekend. I quite like the way they all turned out.

Also in the mail yesterday: a "discover a new poet" packet I made for Laura in Massachusetts.  Whenever it's windy, my husband will sometimes recite a poem to me called "Who Has Seen the Wind?" by Christina Rossetti, which is a poem his mother used to read to him as a child.

I decided to put together a little booklet of several of Christina's poems to send, which I paired with images of artwork by her brother, the artist Dante Rossetti. I like the vivid imagery in her poetry, as well as the melancholy that seems to run through all of it.

Who Has Seen the Wind?
by Christina Rossetti

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you.
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I.
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.

If you'd like a copy of the poetry booklet I made, you can download a copy for yourself here and here. Enjoy!

I have to say, I really like having quick, focused projects to work on for Swap-Bot. It's almost like being in a writing group--the accountability forces you into action! But since I don't want you to think I'm completely insane, I won't share the paper Christmas envelope I also sent out today. At least, not yet.

jane in the mail

Today I'm the one who got exciting mail. After sending maps to Cynthia in a Swap-Bot wish tag game, I requested "anything Jane Austen" other than the books themselves.

Libby Bear, also known as Ellen, was nice enough to grant my wish in the form of a ballpoint pen from the Jane Austen center in Bath, England. How fun! So now Jane may be helping me write notes and lists and such. Which seems like something she might've approved of.

Side note: I do so like receiving packages marked "par avion" and "Royal Mail" and such. I think it'd be nice if our U.S. postal service had more exciting postmarks and stickers...but until then, I suppose it's up to us to make our own parcels more interesting to look at.

Big thanks to Ellen for her clever pick. I never dreamed I'd receive something so close to the source when I asked for something Jane, but how nice it is to have your expectations exceeded.

our cats get more mail

Our fat cat, a handsome old Maine Coon, is the alpha cat in this household. He's the middle child, but he is so sure of himself and his place in the world that it just naturally falls to him to keep order around the place.

Because he's such a capable cat, and because I also wanted to keep our names off junk mail wherever possible, I usually put magazine subscriptions in his name (cheers to you if you can pinpoint the origins of his name, you 80s fiend!), and he also maintains an email account so he can deal with less personal items of business.

The cats do get real mail upon occasion, but both the name and the email address really come in handy for instantly spotting pieces of mail that are solicitations. This weekend our cat received a highly presumptuous but tremendously entertaining letter from AARP, the senior citizen organization which not only enclosed a letter and a bill, but also a plastic membership card with his name printed on it.

Exciting, yes? It was for us, anyway. He doesn't seem to think very much of it.