Outgoing for January 7th

My first More Love Letters drop!

So I stopped in at a Starbucks tonight and left some love.

The picture isn't very good because it was taken with my phone but I really wanted to record the moment for posterity's sake. ;)

I hope whoever finds the letter smiles a bit! And I hope you smile tomorrow because your mailbox is full of love!

Jumping in with both feet but I need some input

I've decided that I really must try my hand at mail art. Two things have held me back from trying it. One, I couldn't come up with any kind of "theme" that really appealed to me and two, I'm not the most artistic or creative person. The first obstacle I've managed to overcome but the second one has me feeling pretty shaky.

I was the kid who got glue in her hair in Kindergarten. And I was the kid with marker all over her face, hands and arms because grace certainly isn't my middle name! Alas, I was also the kid whose eyelid got glued shut when she turned in her seat to say something to a friend and bumped into said friend's raised rubber cement brush. I haven't forgotten those incidents though the traumatic aspects have faded. Ha!

Paper, pens, pencils, stickers, crayons, wax, markers, tape, and yes, even glue, have been lifelong loves of mine but only in a sit down, write a letter, glue or tape the flap of the envelope if needed, seal it prettily, and mail it sort of way. I've never taken it further though I've felt a strong desire to do so. Finding all the wonderfully creative mail art bloggers out there has deepened that desire and I've been torn between wanting to dabble and wanting to tear my eyes out so I can't see all the pretties! The pretties won.

This morning, as I worked with a faded, smudged, printed census record, eyes squinted, magnifying glass over a very hard to read name - it hit me. Why not use my love of genealogy in my attempt to create some kind of mail art? 

I like that idea, I really like it! I even have a picture in my mind's eye of an envelope I want to create. The problem is I'm not sure just where to start. 

I know how to make collages and used the concept to cover the counters in a business I co-owned a few years ago. The result was lovely and received many compliments. I have a nice collection of pens, markers, and other writing instruments and I have more paper than the local library, I think. What I lack is basic knowledge on how to pull those things together to create something from nothing. 

For example, if I want to make an envelope, can I/should I use an existing envelope or is it best to start from scratch and make one? I've collected some information on how to make envelopes but don't know if an existing one would work. 

Okay, so for you mail art and creative folks out there, how should a newbie like me start? I really need input. Thank you!

Love letters to strangers. No, I'm not kidding!

MoreLoveLetters is a grass roots organization that encourages people to give handwritten letters of love to strangers all over the world. Yes, you read that right. They encourage people to write love letters to others in need, people they've never met but who need a little more love than what the world is dishing out.

On the site, you can subscribe to the newsletter to find out just who needs your love. You can also learn about anonymous love lettering.  The idea behind leaving anonymous love letters in public places gives me the warm fuzzies just as much as Operation Beautiful and Letterboxing do because I'm all for anything that brings smiles and a sense of hope.

Really, if you haven't gotten involved in MLL you should. After all, you love to write and send letters and what's better than sending letters to someone who needs them?

A pretty good mail day Friday

After work yesterday I went to the post office to drop off a nice stack of letters. I forgot to take a picture of the outgoing but have more to write and send today so I'll snap a picture of those. I had three things waiting in my postal box and not one was a bill. Yaaay for no bill days, right?

The top envelope contained a slightly late Secret Santa gift from someone presumably on Google+ but that's just a guess. It's a hot pink keyboard skin for my laptop. One of my nieces got me one early last year and I wore the thing out so it's great to get another. The other two envelopes are from letter writing bloggers kind enough to send to me and one contained two sheets of pretty stickers. Thank you for the letters and stickers - they'll definitely be used and enjoyed!

I'm off work today and have a lot to do. Enjoy your weekend and I hope you have good incoming and outgoing times!

LetterMo, my father the postman, and Kevin Costner

Yesterday, I finished making my list of folks to send to during LetterMo. It looks as though I'll be sending a lot more than 23 pieces of mail and I'm okay with that. Hopefully I'll have a good response rate and the more mail sent and received, the better.

On Pinterest last night I saw a vintage photo of a mail carrier. I thought it looked familiar but couldn't place it so I clicked and lo and behold it led to Delivering the Mail, a short but lovely photographic recap of how mail delivery used to be. I had that bookmarked a few years ago but lost it in a crash. Rediscovering it was a wonderful end to my evening.

Speaking of vintage and postal, my father was a postman. He started working for the postal service in Dallas soon after we moved there in 1962 and took medical retirement sometime around 1982. I grew up seeing him in his blue uniform, carrying the then common leather mail bag. When he came home in the afternoons, the bag was usually empty but if it held a surprise for me, he'd plop the leather bundle on the living room floor, inviting me to look through it. Sometimes I'd find a piece of candy or a small toy and on special occasions a postcard or bookmark. To this day, I can't see a leather mail bag without wondering what's in it!

On top of Daddy's chest of drawers was a collection of paper clips, thumb tacks, pens, pencil stubs, stamps, and rubber thumb covers. Remember those thumb covers? They weren't the very thin kind you find now in office supply stores. They were thick and didn't easily fold or roll. There was always a stack of three or four of them, discolored and worn from use, ready to grab as he headed out the door before the sun rose. He would occasionally let me play with them and I remember well thinking they smelled not like rubber but like paper, ink, and the adventures of some kind of hero.

Yes, its no surprise I'm a mail loving gal. I have "The Postman", one of my favorite films, sitting by my television and this evening Sammy and I will curl up on the couch and watch it. He'll purr with contentment to be toasty warm on the down comforter and I'll purr with contentment to see Costner and crew bringing hope through precious letters. There's no doubt I'll think of my dad several times as I watch the movie and there's also no doubt I'll be thankful letter carriers still deliver hope. 

Just Friday morning ramblings, my friends. I hope your day is full of smiles and your mailbox is full of goodies!

Yes, it's horrible but what can I do?

I read a blog entry today from Jackie Flaherty at Letters & Journals. It touched me in a way few have.

A lot of people have forgotten already about the Sandy Hook tragedy but if you've ever lost a beloved, whether that person was a child, a parent, a sibling, or very dear friend, you know the ones left behind haven't forgotten. As someone who has lost two children, a sister, a parent, and a few friends and co-workers, I know that even as time passes, the grief will stay. It will change and hopefully be less sharp and less destructive but it won't leave. 

From day to day it will be different. Sometimes it will be so intense the bereaved will think they can't function and perhaps they really can't. Other times they may smile and laugh and the realization that they're almost happy again may bring guilt. They'll learn to live with the grief, guilt and other feelings and will incorporate those feelings into the person they are, the person they become. To some, it will look as though they're "moving on" but in reality, they're just surviving, managing each day, each hour, each moment as it comes. 

When my daughter died in 1998, for months going into years I received notes, letters, and cards from people I "knew" via the Internet. Most of those people I'd never met but the mail meant so very much to me. I still have each letter and card and occasionally I remove them from their resting place and read them, savoring the feel of the paper, each postmark, each scribbled or beautifully written line. Every one of those pieces of mail is a tangible reminder that my daughter mattered, that she lived, that she died, and that she isn't forgotten.

Jackie's idea to send a card and short note to each family of the victims at Sandy Hook is a lovely one. I'm going to use her idea, including sending the mail over a period of time so I don't feel hurried and I can spend a bit of time thinking of each victim and their family. 

Thank you, Jackie, for such a heartfelt way to let the families know they and their loved ones aren't forgotten.