Just a Quick Note

Hello everybody!
I've been informed by a few of my readers and pen friends that blogspot is behaving badly and not allowing them to leave comments.  Sorry to anybody who has tried!  I still appreciate your reading and wanting to make comments, and I'm hoping the bugs will get worked out of the system soon!
On another note, I am on a short vacation to Ohio to visit family this holiday weekend.  For those outside the USA- this weekend is Memorial Day which is a day to remember and reflect on relatives that have passed, though many also see it as a day to honor those in the armed forces who have lost their lives.  Memorial Day is also the unofficial start to summer for most of the continental USA! 
I'll try to get some pictures of my travels for the next post!
Until then, I hope this finds you all happy and well and receiving lots of mail,
-Becky

The Big International Give Away!

Hello all my darlings!
I wanted to post a reminder about my First International Stationery Giveaway.  The rules are simple- send me a card or letter with a number between 1 and 100 and some info.  And be from a country other than the USA.   For more details, please check out the original post. 
So far I have a total of 2 entrants.  If I don't get anymore by the end of June, I will probably call the Giveaway a bust and send them both something!
Some stationery that is up for request

and

Some Crane I got for cheap!

Hope this finds you all happily mailing!
-b

Sad Announcement

Hello all,
I'm a bit bummed.  I have a sad announcement to make.  The post office I frequent and where my PO Box is, has closed the lobby down to just office hours while they undergo some maintainence.  This means I won't be able to get to my mail for the next 2 weeks!!!!  This is do to work and travel schedule (this weekend is Memorial day!)
So letters will be at a stand still unless I can con a willing friend into fetching mail for me sooner, but unlikely. -Sigh-
Anyway, here's some new stationery to tide you over.

Hope this finds you all mailing well!
-b

As promised . . .

Well I promised a view at the projects and outgoing mail I was working on.  So here are some that I like and hope you like too.

The first is from that cool PC book at the Hirshhorn in DC.  It invites you to finish the picture.  (That's one of my favorite poems).  It's a nice way to encourage kids to create- or folks like me with training wheels on.

A budget moment: the Dollar Tree has a lot of great stickers and paper pieces and cards.

Some colorful envie fun!  I have to say that I personally love the celebrate stamp!
And for anybody not taking a chance on making your own envelopes- get the training wheels off and try.  There are about a thousand sites that show you how and it's an easy wow factor for your next letter!
Then I quacked up ! )


Did you find the odd duck out?



Rachel has a mail blog too and is always happy for more mail.

I love that rubber ducky punch I found in the bargain bin!  That's all for now.  I have a few more but they can wait for another day's post!
Remember, nobody cares what you send, as long as you send something!
-b

You Tease!

Hello all,
How's your week been?  I had a really nice mail week.  It wasn't overwhelming and sometimes it really is all about the quality!  Here's the recieved.

Several nice postcards and a few nice letters made it up- which means a reply is imminent.  One mention is the jugglers up in the corner.  Nancy at TrampStamps made that and called me an enabler as my circus post made her curious enough to drive to Micheals (a local arts and craft store) to check out the circus themed supplies.  How can I feel bad when I'm rewarded so handsomely : )
And now a tease
What do you get when you cross free time with clearance priced paper punches?

I'll let you know!  I send a lot of premade, but sometimes creativity happens!  It's almost time for an outgoing mail.
With that, I hope this finds you sending the dream!
-Becky

Budget Makers

Dear friends,
It's been an extremely busy week and I'm glad I was indoors as the weather has been just gray and crummy with rain, rain, and more rain!  I did however find some time to go to Goodwill and was surprised by the goodies I found.
Deep in the back of the store in the bottom of a storage bin was this insane huge bag of stationery.  It was so big!  And only $3.97.  I spend more than that on stamps in a week!  So here is what $3.97 buys.

I wish I would have gotten a picture before I opened the bag!  But I was like a kid in a candy store and I couldn't wait to get this out to my car before I started to sort through it!  Yes I said car, I didn't even make it home before this bag was opened : )
Here's the break down.

Art postcards to the left bottom, had made cards on top, and random mini envelopes in the right corner.

Left upper- a stack of Thank yous, right upper- 2 artist original cards apparently signed (?), and some gray Hallmark paper and envelopes.

Upper Left- a set of scenery cards, Left lower- Caspari art cards, Right upper- more art cards and below them are some greeting cards.

 These are from current- the autumn bird set and my prized Colonial Williamsburg cards

Some miscellaneous incomplete card sets.

And finally a random bunch that fell on the floor while I was taking pictures of other cards.  The blanks to the right are just that- a set of ten blank cards and envelopes to make more stationery!  The insanity continues!
Now for those already jealous of my find- Don't read further because it gets better!
What can you get for $1.97?

How about a whole set of Crane Stationery!  It's not flashy, but it is Crane.
And last but not least, I needed another container to put my stationery in and I like vintage tins.

So for $0.97, I bought this old Whitman Chocolates box to help with the storage!
I love it even if others question my sanity.  (Wait . . . I question my sanity on a daily basis!)

I hope this finds you all getting a bargain!
-Becky

p.s For those of you outside the USA, Goodwill is a chain of second hand stores that resales donations and funds work programs through those sales.  Because the stores work on donations, the daily merchandise is incredibly random and different.

Caught Up!

Hello all!
I finally caught up with all my return letters, postcrossing, and this months birthday list!  I feel soooo triumphant!  That I went a little crazy and started random mailings.  Actually the random acts of mail make me incredibly happy : ) 
So sendsomething folks and old friends- maybe you've been targetted. 



And my postal labels came in!  To quote Speck "Woot!"  What else does a girl need?  (Um . . . besides chocolate, pens, and pretty paper)

Hope this finds you all in good spirits!

-b

End of Week: Mail Call!

Hello all,
The mailing god has been good to me this week.  Or was it just that I was gone and had accumulation  . . . ?  Oh well, I got mail!  Many of the pieces are from postcrossing and http://www.sendsomething.net/ but I would say 4 are from old friends!  Slowly but surely I am drawing them into my underground world- Mua-ha-ha-ha! 

I do want to point out Specks' postcards.  We did a little private exchange, but she has a mail blog too, so feel free to check it out.  But all in all, it was a nice haul and I really appreciated it.  I know summer is coming to the Northern hemisphere, so I expect my mail load to lessen for a bit while everybody is out enjoying the sunshine!
Speaking of which, I should go too and taking a certain patient pooch for a potty break.
Hope this finds you all well and happy!
And remember- to get you must give,
-b

More Adventures On the Road

On the way to DC, I mentioned to my travel companion that there was this weird little roadside place called Roadside America.  The place houses a toy train collection and miniatures and was recommended by several people as place to see.  Now my travel companion and I have been friends for years, and I had no clue she liked miniatures! 
So stop, we did.

The display was made by Paul and Laurence Gieringer.  They and their children worked on it for years.  It was moved to its current location and opened to people in 1941.  The place is like a time capsule! 

It depicts life in the late 1800's to early 1900's and shows the rapid transition from carriage and horse drawn work devices to the days of cars and industry.  The detail is magnificent and there are buttons for kids (or adult kids like me) to push to make things move in the exhibit.

Sorry the pics aren't great.  The place was rather dark and my camera didn't want to work with the lighting.  But I did score some postcards fo the place at the throw back price of 25cents a piece!
Hope this finds your travels surprising and your mailboxes full!
-b
one final pic

I Need A Vacation from my Vacation

Hello All!
It's been a busy few days since I've been back.  Catching up at work, house cleaning, laundry, and letters!  And before I move on to new subjects, I wanted to highlight a few more interesting finds from my travels.
So here are some more lovely finds from my time in the Washington, DC museums.  I strongly recommend that if you are looking for fabulous stationery and live near an art museum, look in their gift shop.  It's a bit pricey, but will help support the museum- always a good cause!

I loved these, but was slightly disappointed when I got them out of the box.  They are flat panels instead of cards, but then I remembered that I can always send them as postcards!  I like stationery with options.

These were a cool pack of cards.  They are used to support a Brazilian young artist program. 

So you can read for yourself!  A double charity purchase- bonus!

These cards depict images made as part of the arts and crafts movement.  Something I've been much more interested in since my visit to Fonthill and the Moravian Tile Factory.  Thanks Pomegranate for bringing art to stationery or is it vice versa?

 And finally, this was the only picture I got to take in the National Gallery of Art before my camera batteries died! It depicts the Shaw Memorial Project.  The best thing to do is to tell you to watch the movie Glory. 

This is one of the first black regiments and most died during the the Civil War trying to take Charleston, SC.  Again, watch the movie Glory, as it goes through the basics of the story and is a really good movie.
Hope this finds you all happily mailing and getting out to see the world!
-b

Is Today Really Monday?

The title of the post says it all!  I'm back from my DC excursion, and its back to mail and the business of everyday life.  At least the resort complex at the National Harbor, Maryland was very relaxing and I enjoyed beautiful weather the whole visit.
I took some letters with me to respond to- so here's my in box! 

I was going to tape these to the docks, but I never seemed to get around to it.   So here they are back at home on the guest bed.  Most are from the usual suspects, but I did get a few new folks. All in all, it was a good haul!
I also made some amazing stationery finds in the Museum Art Stores.  If you have never been to an art museum's gift shop- you are missing the most interesting stationery finds you could image!  The best was at Hirshhorn's Sculpture Museum and the Native American Museum.

The book to the left is a postcard book that invites you to draw and edit the postcards!  I love this type of interactive art!  The stickers are of the Day of the Dead!!!! They make me very happy.

These are all honorable mentions for the coolest- also all available in the Smithsonian gift shops. 

And finally, a little vacation pic from the National Harbor, MD!  Happy travels my friends!

-b



The Circus is Coming to Town

Another one done before I left!  Got to love internet access while on vacation!


Lions, Tigers, and Bears! Oh my!  I had a fabulous day at Micheals.  I went there to find a few stamps to send to a friend and as always, I looked through the dollar bin and I found! ! !

The most beautiful vintage themed circus cards.  I loved them so much that I bought one of each style. I also went a little crazy with all the accessories!
The matching sticker tablets

The stamps

And these were all only a $1 a piece!  I also couldn't control myself and got these recipe cards with attitude.

All in all, I think they are terrific finds!  I can't wait to send them out to you all and look- no uber scary clowns ! ; )
Hope this finds you all creatively happy,
-becky

My Find at the Oldest Bookstore in the World

Hello all!
I was a busy little beaver before my DC departure and made a few posts to through up in the interim. Enjoy!

I have been to downtown Bethlehem several times and I have known about the Moravian Bookstore, the oldest bookstore in the world, since before I moved here.  I have shopped there a few times, but today I found the coolest bookmarks!

They are old used stamps lamenated in strips! My friend who is not into mail or stamps, even bought a few because they are so beautiful!
While downtown I also found a bunch of art advertisements- perfect for postcrossing! And free!!!!!

So if you're around Bethlehem, swing in and get yourself a few of these beauties!
Hope this finds you all finding amazing things,
-b

In Box- A Little Late

Hello All!
I hope this finds you all doing good.  Well it's a late post for this weeks mail but with good reason!  I missed going to my P.O. Box on Saturday and wanted to check it today before the post.
Sadly . . . .

Oh well!  I hope that means the weather is beautiful and pulling everybody outside! But that gives me a chance to catch up and Jackie was very sweet and sent me some supplies and these beautiful antique P.C.'s

Alright folks- go write somebody and wish me a good trip to Washington DC!  Expect some posts from the road.
Happy Travels!
-b