Once in a blue moon, the Letter Writers Alliance will release a small subscription series called the Royal Society of Venturesome Parcels, or RSVP. It’s a four-week themed mailing of postal and vintage surprises. Most recently, the theme of the RSVP was Pigeon Fancier and I managed to get one of the subscriptions. There is so much mail love in the mailings…Donovan and Kathy really go all out curating the perfect items for each theme. And the design and the details–like the pigeon stamp and wax seal on the address label–just make it such a treat to find in your mailbox each week. 
The first mailing included a Pigeon Fancier membership card. Subscribers received an email asking us what our pigeon’s name should be. I chose Dorothy Zbornak of Golden Girls fame. And there was a bag of tea (that I haven’t tried yet) and a bag of delicious coffee, too. 
And! There was a pigeon espresso cup! (I believe it’s made by Circa Ceramics here in Chicago.) 
The second mailing was a sweet little box. This is what it looked like inside. 
There was a pigeon patch, two tiny pigeon rubber stamps, a pigeon washi tape, and a pigeon tape dispenser. (OK, it looks more like a dove, but you get the idea…)
The third mailing was Dorothy’s papers. It arrived in a personalized kraft folder with some pigeon stamps. 
Inside, there was a stack of vintage pigeon awards and diplomas that can be used in mail art (or added to my paper collection.) 
And, Dorothy has her own personalized stationery…she will be penning a letter shortly. 
The final mailing–surprise!–was Dorothy herself! Donovan’s calligraphy adorned a banner on the top of the box. 
Each pigeon was hand painted according to our specifications. (I requested a blue pigeon based on this information.) For now, Dorothy is living on my (messy desk) but I have plans to hang a shelf for some of my mail things and she’ll probably live there. Or maybe I’ll mail her someday…
kimberly ah
kimberly at home
Tag Archives: washi tape
Write On Party
Last Sunday I had a few people over for a letter writing party. I ordered the Party Pack, which was kind of a party-in-a-box with pens, confetti, and Write On packs for everyone, along with other goodies like a printable invitation, a letter writing themed playlist, and a Write On calendar and tote. 
I hung some vintage air mail envelopes and a Japanese air mail kakejiku (hanging scroll) from the ceiling and I strung up a few more air mail envelopes to make a garland. 
I covered the table in kraft paper and sprinkled the confetti along with some mail things from my collection. Each person got a Write On kit and a little brochure about letter writing. 
On the stereo, I had all of my mail themed rubber stamps and washi tapes along with some extra air mail envelopes, postcards, and my new Mr. Zip book. (He deserves his own blog post!) 
For snacks, I made a pot of tea and put out some Trader Joe’s truffles, some Japanese Happy Turn crackers, and I made these little envelope pies. I found the idea here–they were so easy and even though mine looked rather imperfect, they were a really fun addition to the simple menu. 
It was a relaxing afternoon of chatting and letter writing. We all really wrote letters! (I finished two!!) My only regret is that we didn’t have Naoto take a picture of us writing in action, but we got a fun group shot using Photo Booth (at the top.) I think I’ve said this before, but I love letter socials. Obviously letter writing is a good solitary activity, but sometimes it’s interesting to get together and share our hobby in person.
I’m a little sad Write On is over, but the letter writing shall continue! I managed (thanks to a solid push to the finish line last night) to finish 31 postcards and letters and I’ve replied to everyone from my pile of overdue mail…whew! I need to give myself a pep talk to keep that momentum going in May!
Letter Month, The End.
How did your Letter Month go? I have to admit, I crawled towards the finish line. Not making and sending a bunch of Valentines really messed with my mojo for this project. And I’ve been feeling very boring lately, even though I’ve been busy this month, so letters aren’t coming easily. Meh. Thanks to everyone who sent me mail this month! You guys were the light at the end of the tunnel because I wanted to make sure I responded to all of the mail I received in February (as the original Letter Month rules suggest.)
I tried to take a picture of my hand “feeding a mailbox” each day so please enjoy some of my favorite shots from the month. 
Good things:
- I sent a few packages this month and it’s been fun to play with stamp combinations and mail art on tiny boxes.
- I did mail at least one item for every day of February. I missed one day completely (but made up for it the following day by writing two letters.)
- I am all caught up on my mail pile!
- I enjoyed clicking on the #lettermo hashtag on Instagram to see what other people were doing throughout the month.
- A package I sent to Danielle weighed 12.9 ounces, a mere 0.1 ounce under the 13 ounce weight limit for mailing a package from a blue box. It was a mail miracle!
My totals for the month:
- 19 letters/cards
- 9 postcards
- 3 international letters/postcards
- 3 packages
- 34 total mailings
Aaaaaaand off to mail my first card for March.
Don’t Be Cruel Valentines
I only made a few Valentines this year. (I got behind in planning as usual.) I made a few Elvis Presley Valentines and a few MY Presley Valentines. For the Elvis ones, I started with my usual heart cards and stamped them with some hearts. Then I used my vintage DYMO label maker for the words “Don’t be cruel.” I added an Elvis sticker. (Ah, that gold lamé suit is fantastic, right?) On the back, I wrote “Be mine.” (Get it? Don’t be cruel, be mine?) Easy and kind of cheesy…perfect.
For my Presley-the-cat fan friends, I made cards using A2 cards and some pictures of Presley hanging out with Yeti holding our special Presley patch. I added “Presley loves you” with my DYMO on some and “P *heart* Y” with Thickers on others.
They were fun to make and, even though some will be late, I suppose a little message of love is well received all month long, right?
Mail Totals for 2015
How is January almost over? Before we move too far into 2016, and before we get into Letter Month, I wanted to share my mail totals for 2015. Last year was the first year I’ve kept track of what I sent and how much I spent on postage.
Each day I write on my daily calendar page what I sent out and how much the postage cost. On this particular day, I sent out three letters, four international postcards (for a postcard swap I participated in), and one U.S. postcard. 
Throughout the month, I tally up the total number of U.S. letters, international mail (letters and postcards cost the same, so I lumped them into the same category), U.S. postcards, and packages I sent that month.
Then, at the end of the month, I total up the number of pieces sent and the cost for the month and write it on the monthly page of my calendar.
My totals for 2015:
$231.41*
U.S. Letters: 213
International (Postcards & Letters): 31
U.S. Postcards: 63
Packages: 9
Letters & Postcards Sent from Japan: 26
Total Mail: 342
Not too shabby, right? My best month was December (no surprise) with fifty-six, but February wasn’t far behind with fifty-one. And September was the worst with a piddly FIVE pieces of mail leaving my mailbox. Womp, womp!
This week, I’m trying to respond to all of the mail I’ve received since the start of 2016 (some is pictured at the top) so I can start Letter Month on a clean slate. Wish me luck!
How’s your mailbox so far this year?
*This total does not include the cost of postage of mail sent from Japan.
2016 New Year’s Postcards
After buying Japanese New Year cards (nengajo) for the past two years, I decided to try making my own for 2016. They were pretty simple…so simple that I made a stack of fifty! So far, I’ve sent out about half of those. 
I started with some A2 Paper Bag flat cards as my base. Last summer, I picked up a traditional nengajo stamp at a (yet-to-be-blogged-about) stamp shop in Kyoto and I was happy to get to use it for these cards. I embossed the Japanese characters and then added my Greetings from Illinois, LWA member, and a giant 2016 in blue, red, and gold inks. I added a quick message to each card. 
On the front side, I added a strip of Japanese patterned washi tape and a label. It feels good to start off the year with good mail momentum!
Thanksgiving Mail
I finally finished my Thanksgiving invitation…about three hours before Thanksgiving. I wasn’t feeling very inspired in November but I really wanted the invitation to include the vellum ledger paper and vintage Avery metallic tape I bought on Instagram. (Note: Vintage paper sales on Instagram are very addictive. And fun.)
I always try to add a quote to our Thanksgiving invitations. (Here’s a list of some favorites.) “Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way” is a Native America saying and I love how optimistic it is. I typed it out on a leaf that I cut from patterned paper and layered it with some other leaves from my stash. I added a strip of the vellum and a bit of the tape and a Japanese stamp. Done, right? Well, no. I had to make a mess of things and try to stamp the year on the top with my giant number stamp. But I didn’t press down hard enough and the numbers were messed up so I had to write over the numbers…anyway…I’m trying not to dwell on the numbers…or the fact that I handed the invitation to my parents when they walked in the door on Thanksgiving Day…
I did send some other Thanksgiving mail. A few weeks ago I attended the LWA letter social at my library and there were some vintage books available for mail art. I had too much fun choosing images for mail art. And when I didn’t use vintage paper, I had fun using postage stamps and turkey stickers to jazz things up. (That Write More Letters postcard is from Craftgasm. I added the turkey.) 
And now…holiday card season begins. Once I finish decorating, that is.
Have you started your cards yet?
KimBOOly HAUNTSegawa’s Mailbox
My mailbox was filled with a steady stream of Halloween mail last month. Margaret sent the package above, adorned with all of the fabulous spooky stamps of the post office’s history! Inside, there was a Halloween card and a tiny wooden casket filled with candy. I LOVE the creative use of the wax seals! Margaret wrote a blog post about creating the little candy caskets. Such a fun postal treat! I’m going to use the little casket in my Halloween decorating next year and I’m hoarding the envelope too. 
Sarah sent this fun see-through candy corn postcard. It was laminated into the postcard size, like the corn was floating. 
Yuki sent this amazing Japan Post Halloween postcard. These seasonal cards are coveted by me and many other Japan Post lovers…I screamed with delight when I saw it in my mailbox! 
Yuki sent the postcard in an envelope, but still used vintage stamps with special postmarks on the postcard. I’m sure the postcard will make a reappearance next year in my Halloween decorating. It’s too good to file away with my other mail. 
And, above are the other sweet, charming, funny Halloween cards I received. 
Danielle, who sent me two Halloween cards, addressed them in the BEST way! KimBOOOly Adami- HAUNTSegawa and KimberlEEK! ADOOMi-HAUNTED HOUSEegawa made me laugh for days. And that Parcel Ghost sticker–so good!
Thanks to everyone for making it a great mail month! Anyone else receive anything spooky in your mailbox?
Halloween Mail
I’m behind on my Halloween mail because I got sick this week and I was down for the count for a few days. But, earlier this month, I got a jump start on sending some festive mail out to a couple of cat lady pen pals. I had these glow-in-the-dark cat buttons from La Familia Green that I wanted to send in a slightly more creative way than just sticking them in a plain envelope. I was inspired by the peek I had of my Presley patch from Margaret, so I decided to use a cellophane envelope instead. 
I used washi tape to attach the button to the card and wrote my note. I tried to place the buttons on the middle of the card, where the machine wouldn’t be canceling the stamp or printing the bar code on the bottom. 
I stuck it all in the cellophane envelope with an address label and added postage. Since the envelope was lumpy, I added the extra twenty-one cents. 
I also used a cellophane bag to attempt to protect the googly-eye “bra” on my mail art to Kathy. Thanks to a Halloween mail art party with Donovan, I’ve have a huge stack of Halloween envelopes to work through. Now that I’m feeling better, more spooky mail will be written. Better late than never, I guess.
My Heart Belongs to Presley…and Mail
Margaret sent me the best mail last month–a Presley patch in a Midori Kraft Window Envelope adorned with an Elvis sticker!! She hit all of my favorite things!! 
Margaret loooooves Presley. (Presley loves Margaret, too!) Margaret said she couldn’t resist getting this custom patch from Tuesday Bassen (Link is to a similar one because the “My Heart Belongs to” version was a limited edition, see Margaret’s comment below.) at the Whurl & Friends Shop ‘n Pop. I love this patch! Think of the possibilities! You could get your own pet’s name, or your partner’s name, or your favorite snack. (“My Heart Belongs to Hot Dogs.”) Perhaps mail lovers need a “My Heart Belongs to Letters” or “My Heart Belongs to the USPS.” 
And in true Margaret fashion, the patch came in the sweetest package. She addressed it on the flap side so that the patch could be seen clearly through the window. The label is letterpressed with the turquoise design and Margaret hand-stamped my name. Thin washi tape sealed it all up. I was delighted to find it in my mailbox. Thanks, Margaret.
P.S. Did you know today is World Post Day?
kimberly ah 