Christmas Postcards!

Announcement time!!

Last year I wrote a Christmas poem to include in all of the cards I send out to family and friends. I had so much fun doing it that I want to write a small Christmas poem again this year… but I’m going to share it with you too!

If you aren’t already on my Christmas card list and you love snail mail that isn’t asking for money or selling something, then I’d love to send you a Christmas postcard with a poem on it this year.

I’m not putting a limit on how many cards I’ll send out just yet. If the requests are overwhelming I’ll edit this post that I’m no longer accepting addresses for this year when I hit a limit on what I can handle.

I am accepting requests from now through November 30th. International addresses are okay.

(I hope to mail everything the first week of December.)

Please post your name and mailing address in a comment below or email me at lissa.clouser@gmail.com if you don’t want the information publicly visible.

Legal/Privacy: I will not be sharing your name or address with anyone. This is simply for the purpose of a one-time postcard mailed to you. Addresses will not be kept afterward.

*Photo by user Jo-B at Pixabay, creative commons usage

Letter Writing Extravaganza

Mar23

In February I decided to take part in a challenge known as InCoWriMo or International Correspondence Writing Month. The goal was to write and mail or deliver a letter every single day in the month of February. These letters could be to family, friends, or even strangers. Many participants shared their addresses on the InCoWriMo website for those who wanted to write to strangers. I added my own address to the mix.

Honestly, I had hoped to receive maybe a dozen letters throughout the month. What little I found on the internet about the challenge didn’t really seem to tell me much about how big the event may or may not be, so I was careful with my hopes on the receiving end. It would at least be a chance for me to indulge my desire to send a bunch of snail mail while waiting on replies from my regular pen pals and that was good enough for me.

I wrote to a combination of existing pen pals, family members, friends who wouldn’t expect to receive letters, and the occasional stranger. Due to some health flare-ups I only got 20 letters sent out. (My hands didn’t work the best there for a few days, so letter-writing wasn’t really an option at that time.)

What did I receive? Continue reading →

The Quest to Tidy: Stationery, Round 2

Oct17

The first things I am tidying as I once again pick up the KonMari process are the things I have already tidied. The things whose categories are already in pretty good shape, but need some re-tidying to make sure they stay that way. Clothes came first. Next up? Stationery.

I’ve talked about postcrossing and letter writing a little on this blog. I’ll be talking about it much more in the future. But for the purpose of this post… let’s just say I have a lot of stationery. I prefer letter sets over note cards, but I have both, in addition to stacks of loose envelopes, extra holiday/birthday cards, and even some old personalized post-it sized sheets.

In fact, perhaps a picture will demonstrate better.

See? Lots and lots of stationery. I’m always looking for more, but perhaps I shouldn’t look so hard for at least a little while. Continue reading →

For the Love of Writing Letters

Sep5

Most people like receiving mail. Not bills or credit card offers or sale ads, but the kind of mail that means something. Birthday cards. Christmas cards. Just thinking of you cards. A brief note saying hello. An announcement of good news. The old-fashioned sort of letter catching a friend up on one’s life.

Most people like receiving that sort of mail, but most people don’t seem to want to take the time to write it, and that’s the problem. It’s not that we want less snail mail in our lives, it’s that no one believes they have the time to send it.

This last month I’ve been on a bit of a mailing binge. I’ve sent out 15 postcards and 4 letters. It would have been more if my postcards had registered faster or I’d received more replies. I suspect September’s numbers on those fronts will grow now that it seems I may have some new pen pals as well. Continue reading →

Getting Back to Postcrossing

Jul5

‘Postcrossing‘ is one of my favorite hobbies. I love snail mail and postcrossing helps to satisfy that love, especially in a world where so many people don’t even send birthday cards or Christmas cards through the mail anymore. It’s as easy as uploading my mailing address to the site and creating a basic profile. I request an address from someone else in the world, write them a post card, and once they have registered it as received, someone else is given my address! (Your address is only seen by the people who are given your address as someone to write to. The general public cannot see it.) You never know who you will write to or receive from next.

The nice thing about this hobby is you can easily put exactly however much time and money into it you want. When we hit a rough patch in finances and were saving for some big expenses, it was easy for me to simply stop requesting new addresses and thus put the hobby on hold.

I’m happy to say that I’m actively postcrossing again. I’ve missed it dearly.

Here is the first one received after nearly a year of taking time off…

To be honest, I didn’t even know postcrossers really had meet ups. This one of course had already occurred and this was just a commemorative card they had made.

For me, I think, I prefer to stick to the snail mailing side of things. I think it is awesome any time a group of people can get together over a hobby they share (assuming that hobby is, you know, non-detrimental to themselves or society). But for me when it comes to postcrossing it feels a bit odd. I like the slight anonymity and briefness of a postcard and leaving it at that.

Do you still send snail mail?

The Quest to Tidy (Week Eleven): My Favorite Sorting Project Yet

Jul29

This week I tackled a small project to get back into the swing of things.

It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I *love* snail mail. I have 3 pen pals. When I’m really lucky I get the surprise note in the mail from other friends. (And yes, I absolutely reread letters I have received!)

I’m also a postcrosser, which means I send and receive post cards to and from all over the world. Postcrossing is always a surprise. I never know who is going to write, what they are going to say, or what sort of card they will choose to send. (I share some of my favorites from time to time on the blog.)

What this boils down to is I have a lot of stationery and I love collecting more when I can! It was time to tidy up the messy pile strewn about in three places through the house.

My sweet pup, Maggie, decided she was going to be extremely helpful in this task. Here she is posing with a few of my note cards. I tend to prefer letter-style stationery, so I only have a few note cards, though I found at least a couple more sets after taking this picture. Continue reading →