From Chantal, Germany

Someday, I hope to create something with these stunning vintage cards. Thank you !

Hello, it's been so long and I feel guilty for not keeping my promise of updating this blog more regularly. There are no excuses except, I mostly feel uninspired to blog. Occasionally, I try to think of seeming interesting content, but it never quite gets pushed through. Oh well. 

Mail has been slow moving since December, there are days I too procrastinate a little too much and I apologise to all my wonderful pen friends for the delayed response. This week however, something cheerful finally arrived in my letter box and I haven't felt so excited like I did, in a long time. A letter! (a very long and well written one) from Italy and 2 gorgeous postcards from Japan and Germany. I have to say, receiving good hand written mail motivates me and I'm actually really keen at this point, to be fully enthusiastic about writing and putting together mail like I used to. Yet, I am also mentally, physically drained from work and other personal matters.
( Gosh, will I ever stop coming up with excuses? Guess not. )

 From Sara, Italy.

From Chantal, Germany & Miyuki, Japan

Thank you lovely ladies, I surely will pen a reply very soon. I also signed up for Fab's Secret Penpal Scavenger Hunt, which I missed out the past 2 years. So the good news it, I am getting back to doing more fun mail-related stuff and while I'm sitting here looking dreadful and lethargic like I need an oxygen tank and some vitamins to get going, I am actually really excited inside. 

Happy Weekend!

February mail to Yves in Belgium.

From Yves, Belgium 

& Claudia, in Korea

Thank you ♥

At last, letters to Mickey, Claudia, Sara and Fatima have been sent along with a stack of Christmas postcards illustrated by hand and printed on 250gsm. Travel safe & swiftly! 

Also, a winner has been picked for the Bird Glider Giveaway : Congratulations, Shakerra Rose Marie Joseph! An email has been sent to you, please get back to me asap. Thank you. :) 

A lovely letter consisting of wallpaper samples, label stickers and an old stamp from Fatima, The Philippines.

A postcard from Vethanee in Thailand finally arrived.

Thank you girls! :)

Just when I thought it was going to be yet another mundane Tuesday, the postman came by in the evening with 4 lovely mail from Italy, Japan, The Netherlands and The United States.
  

 Miyuki, Japan. 

A postcard of Zenko-ji Temple in Nagano. 

 Jacob, The United States. 

A beautiful flourishing of a bird on the envelope & an adorable postcard.

 Mickey, The Netherlands.

Her letters are always so vibrant and interesting! Mickey is also expecting her first child any day now and I'm ecstatic for her.

 Sara, Italy.

Sara's package arrived a few minutes after I collected the evening's mail, so you can imagine my delight when the postman stopped by for a second time only to deliver a very exciting mail from Italy. The items were uniquely Italian : A leonardo da vinci pen she bought during her recent travel to Florence, a postcard from Venice, a leaflet of a palace in Venaria which I shall properly look through while nibbling the biscuits that came in the mail. :3

Thank you Sara, Mickey, Jacob and Miyuki!

 

Beautiful things in the post, is what this week is all about. To complete his 5 days-long worth of delivering mail to different houses, I was handed by the postman 3 very lovely mail from Germany & Switzerland. Chantal's package arrived with an illustrated postcard, depicting what looks like an inspirational drawing of Germany's first submarine. Such technical sketches fascinate me, i like looking at the way each line stroke seem so flawless and accurate. 

Inside the small packet contained interesting bits and bobs of the old and the new : seashells (one of which had been damaged during the delivery process), an ammonite, a number of beautiful German art stamps, a polaroid depicting some of her beautiful plants under a fine German summer's day and an old photograph of a wedding. I could almost imagine the atmosphere of that special day. There is a face peeking in between the lady and the gentleman on the left, did you notice? :3

Finally, a letter from Virginia, who runs the tumblr postal service with an aim to share a little love and joy to anyone around the globe. Apart from a letter filled with kind words, she included her very own self-made strawberry soap (its delicious fragrance greeted me upon discovering her letter) and dainty petals of a violet flower. What a thoughtful person she is, albeit there isn't a requirement to send anything in return, I decided I'll write back a note of thanks.

Thank you Chantal & Virginia !

An old postcard of my father's, given by a friend of his during a holiday in Japan.

A photograph of a photograph of my great grandparents. I was unfortunately born too late and in a location too far away to meet any of my great grandparents, I cannot even imagine what sort of people they were. This is the only photograph I have of my great grandparents from the Evangelista side of the family, they were of mestizo ancestry and my great grandfather used to make beer out of sugarcane.

Some lovely mail arrived this week, including a postcard from Ludivine who went on a holiday in Annecy, France. As well as a surprise mail art from Heather Allen, who was my partner for postal society's Summer swap last June. 

A beautiful hand-painted card of the Taj Mahal from Madhura in India also arrived after nearly 10 long weeks. I was very pleased with the stamps on the envelope because of the colours and its unique cultural depiction. I believe these are my first Indian stamps, hooray! 

To end this lovely mail-week, the postman brought me a letter this afternoon, from Yves in Belgium, who contacted me on Instagram for an offer of old Belgian stamps. What a kind man he is, even his letter was written old-fashionedly ; with a brown inked dip pen.

Thank you Yves, Madhura, Heather & Ludivine. 

Last weekend's thrift finds. An old postcard and a few aged airmail envelopes that were given at no cost, by a kind ephemera (lady) collector.  I like that the sealing part of the envelope is circular, and has the words " Sailing Boat. Made in KwangChow China" underneath it, must be ages ago when she bought them since I don't remember coming across such airmail envelopes in stationery shops.

She also sells vintage local theater tickets, which I would have bought them all had they been priced cheaper. That's the thing about shopping for vintage paper ephemera where I live, they're so rare and expensive. However, if anyone is interested in acquiring one, do let me know and we could work a swap. 
 

Three very delightful & creative mail came Monday evening.  Each uniquely decorated with such nice words, the perfect remedy for a dull, uninspiring day like yesterday. 

From Charmaine in The Philippines.  

An Art Swap with Bernice from the US. It is one of those mail that arrived like an exciting goodie-bag filled with all sorts of eye-widening surprises, which upon discovering the contents, make you want to roll around in happiness and giggle until you get hiccups.

Lastly, a very sweet letter and a rather heartwarming "Dreamer's hand book" from Paulina in Poland. It is my first time receiving a handmade booklet like so, and I love how it feels in my hand. Thank you Paulina! :')  & Thank you Bernice and Charmaine! ♥

 

Tuesday thrifting.