snail mail | kimberly ah

Feb 12 2014

Whirlwind of Preparations

Tomorrow morning, I’m leaving for San Francisco! That means today will be a whirlwind of preparations. I’m happy to report that I finished three loads of laundry before nine this morning, and I think I have enough clothes to cover the next four days. (What is it about packing for trips that makes you realize how dull your wardrobe is?)

Most importantly, my calling cards are made, the treats for my friends are packaged (more on that tomorrow) and my address book is updated for postcard writing…the important stuff, you know…

Today I am packing my bag, packing up my mail supplies (while referring to this post) and I’m working on updating my calendar with information I’ll need while I’m gone.

Oh, and I’m cleaning up the apartment a bit…just in case Naoto and Presley throw a party while I’m gone.

If you will be at Ex Postal Facto, let me know so I can look for you during the events!

Tagged adventures, crafts, diy, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, washi tape

Feb 09 2014

2 Comments

crafty adventures, Letter Month, Office Supplies, snail mail

Letter Month, Round-Up 2

Welcome to the second installment of Letter Month mailings (Monday-Saturday). Even though I’ve sent out a total of fifteen pieces, I’m a little behind on sending out all of my Valentines. I’m hoping to get them all finished today so they have a chance of getting to their destinations before the fourteenth. And because a Letter Month post wouldn’t be complete without an appearance from Presley, here she is crushing some Valentines. Between Naoto spilling coffee on my cards and Presley crushing them, working at the dining room table has turned out to be a big mistake. Apologies in advance to Cath and Melissa for the kitty imprints on your letters.

How’s Letter Month going in your mailbox?

To see last week’s round-up, go here.

Tagged crafts, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, washi tape

Feb 05 2014

12 Comments

adventures, crafty adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail

Calling Cards for ExPostalFacto

Next week I’m heading to San Francisco for Ex Postal Facto, a mail art show and conference. I am super-excited about the trip, mainly because I get to meet–in person–many of the ladies I’ve been corresponding with through the mail.

I decided, since I will be meeting new people, too, that I needed some simple calling cards. I was going to order some from MOO (I’ve used them before–they’re great!) but I’m a huge fan of creative and complicated calling cards (I have a Pinterest board dedicated to them!), so I decided I should raise the bar and try something fun.

I bought some plain business cards from Paper Source and played around with a few ideas. My original plan was to type directly on the cards, but I had mixed results due to the tiny card not staying securely in the typewriter. I was disappointed to have to resort to labels, but then I had the idea to turn the calling card into a mini “envelope”. Anne sent me a big bag of used flag postage with my Christmas card so I decided to put them to good use on the calling cards. (Thanks, Anne!) And, since an envelope isn’t an envelope without a little washi tape, I added a strip of skinny airmail washi at the top.

As far as the labels, I used my Royal Safari typewriter to type out the information, toggling between red and black ink (just for fun…or to complicate things.) After going back and forth about it, I decided not to include my address on the cards. It feels weird not to include it, since it is a mail conference, but it’s better to be safe than to have some stalker climbing on your balcony, right? Instead, I included my name, web address, Twitter & Instagram handle and phone number (the blurred part).

So far, assembly is slow, but I have a week–I can do this!

Have you seen any interesting calling cards lately?

Feb 02 2014

3 Comments

crafty adventures, Letter Month, Office Supplies, snail mail

Letter Month, Round-Up 1

Letter Month started up Saturday–are you playing along?

I mentioned last week that I wanted to share each week’s mailings here every Sunday. (And I got sidetracked with a Law & Order marathon and the Super Bowl, so I’m already behind! Monday it is.) I sent out my first Valentines this weekend (shown up above, with sweet Presley). The rest should be heading on their way this week, thanks to a Valentine-themed crafternoon last Friday. I feel like I’m off to a prepared start for Letter Month…of course, that’s easy to say this early in the game!One thing I am trying to do this year is to use the Letter Month Participant stamps on each of my letters. I was pretty faithful about using them in 2012, but last year I kept forgetting. I printed out two sheets on regular paper and numbered them by hand. Then I cut them out each day (with my little Fiskars Stamp Scissors) and paste one onto each letter. The stamps usually end up on the back of the envelope (because sometimes it just doesn’t go with my mail art theme!) I’m hoping to remember to put one on each piece of mail I send out.

That’s all from the outgoing mailbox this weekend. How’s your Letter Month going so far?

Tagged crafts, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, washi tape

Jan 31 2014

2 Comments

crafty adventures, little red toolbox, Office Supplies, snail mail

My Little Red Toolbox | Bone Folder

My Little Red Toolbox is finally back again…

Today’s featured product is the very utilitarian bone folder. For the non-crafters out there, a bone folder is a tool that scores, smooths and creases paper. It is made from real bone (sorry vegetarians & vegans), but there are other options. Martha Stewart’s bone folders are made of plastic (but I find Martha’s don’t work quite as nicely as other bone folders). And, for the “Rolls Royce” of bone folders, the teflon bone folder is dreamy to work with. (I only own the teflon one because I temporarily lost my original bone folder. When I went to the store to buy a new one, they only had the teflon ones–which cost more than twice as much as the bone ones..sigh…the cost of being unorganized!) Today, I’m glad I own both because each has its own strengths for crafting projects.

I bought my first bone folder when I started “bookbinding” and making boxes from these kits at the Paper Source. The bone folder is crucial to perfecting the corner folds and smoothing the papers while adhering them to the book board. Now I use it more for origami and scoring card stock.

The real bone folder has a sharper point, making it better for scoring and getting a really clean crease in the cardstock. It’s so sharp that if you press down too hard, it can actually cut the paper. The teflon folder is much more forgiving. It’s not as sharp on the end and it doesn’t leave a sheen on the paper like the bone folder can. I use my fancy folder for more delicate papers and for messy projects. Glue doesn’t stick to it so it stays nice and clean. If you’ve ever tried to fold a piece of cardstock, you know that it’s difficult to get a smooth fold because the edge gets wrinkly. The red card above was folded in half without any help of the bone folder. See how it’s all sad and imperfect and lumpy? For the next piece of card stock, I used my ruler and the bone folder to score the fold ahead of time. It’s hard to see, but there is a faint scored line down the middle (or, almost-middle) of the card. The scored line allowed me to get a nice sharp fold on the card. See the difference?

I pulled out the bone folders to work on some Valentines. (Spoiler alert.) I decided to use the Paper Pastries Cat Note Template for some cards. (A 4-bar heart fits right inside…genius!) Because I was using card stock to make the cat, I wanted to score the folds in order to get a neat kitty in the end. I dragged the bone folder along the fold guides in the template to score them. Then, once I folded everything over, I used the bone folder to gently smooth the folds. It worked like a charm.

Off to make more Valentines…

*This and all posts about my little red toolbox are not sponsored posts. I just thought it would be fun to share my favorite tools for paper crafting. For more about my little red toolbox, go here.

Jan 29 2014

11 Comments

Letter Month, snail mail

Letter Month III

On Saturday, Letter Month begins again. This is my third year participating, and even though I ended February last year feeling a little bit burnt out, I’m really excited to jump in again. This year, I plan to try to send at least one letter every day through the month of February, including Sundays and holidays. (To see the challenge guidelines, see the Letter Month website).

I have two things on my side again this year: 1) Valentine’s Day…I am already working on creating my Valentines so I can have them at the ready for mailing on February 1st, and 2) my trip to SanFrancisco where I will be bringing a slew of postcard stamps (even though more than half of the people I correspond with are going to be there with me). I also downloaded the Letter Month planning calendar and put it in my datebook so I can keep track of my plan and progress for the month.

In addition to sending one letter every day throughout the month, my other goals are to spend out some more of my paper/stationery/washi tape stashes, to be more creative with the ol’ mail art (I feel bored by my attempts lately) and to beat last year’s number of 41 letters mailed.

I will be posting my mail daily on Instagram (I’m @adamihasegawa over there) and I’m planning to do a mail round-up each Sunday during February to show what I’ve sent and received during the previous week.

Are you participating in Letter Month? Are you doing anything special to celebrate?

Tagged crafts, mail art, office supplies, snail mail

Jan 20 2014

4 Comments

Honor Flight Chicago, snail mail, some stuff about me

Making Some Changes

Last week, I made the very difficult decision to give up the Mail Call volunteer work I’ve been doing with Honor Flight for the past two years.

In some ways, I’m very sad to leave the job. I loved packing the mail for those veterans. I loved seeing all of the creative and sweet letters that area school children wrote to the veterans. I loved hanging out with my volunteer friend Barb on the Friday night before the flight, eating dinner and packing up the mail together.

But I was feeling very worn out by the job at the end of last season and I wasn’t really looking forward to going back in April when our flight season resumes, so I decided to step away. After I made the decision, I felt sad and kind of like a quitter. I work with amazing volunteers who always seem to be taking on more, not less…it’s hard not to feel like a “slacker” when I compare myself to them. But I really want some freedom this summer–freedom to spend less time monitoring mail emails, freedom to travel with Naoto without the constraints of the Honor Flight schedule, freedom to not spend anymore beautiful sunny summer days inside sorting mail all day. (Last season, every single mail sorting day happened to be a perfect summer day…)

In the end, we all make choices about how we spend our time and I have to make the choice that is right for me.

Today I feel good about my decision and I’m looking forward to spending my time on fresh new adventures.

Tagged Honor Flight Chicago, snail mail, summer

Jan 17 2014

2 Comments

Christmas, snail mail, vintage

January Paper Parcel

My first installment of Paper Parcels arrived in the mail on Wednesday. It had been the cause of much stress for over a week because apparently the Polar Vortex was holding it hostage for awhile. When I saw it lounging in my mailbox, I squealed with delight and opened it right away. The picture above shows it right out of the package…adorable, right? I didn’t unwrap the package for two days because I was savoring it. Today I finally opened it and pored through the fifty pieces of old paper, playing cards, labels, stamps and other vintage bits. All of the pink and red goodness is getting me excited for Valentine’s Day…I love Valentine’s Day (as mentioned here) and now I’m feeling the urge to start working on some Valentine mail. (Too soon?)It was hard to pick out my favorite vintage bits from the pack, but the things above caught my heart. I’m especially smitten with the Mohr Beverages label, the playing cards (the medallion, the horse, the girl and the hugging cat & dog), the vintage Valentine (she’s TYPING!) and Dennison labels, saver stamps and old BINGO cards are always enjoyed around here. And this little card–from a 1970s penny arcade game–made me laugh. In case the type is too small, it says:

Modern Miss:

The pace you set is too speedy for me. You travel on five wheels with no brakes, and have lost all control. I like the shy, old-fashioned miss who hasn’t forgotten how to blush. With women I am just a babe in the wood, so you are too dangerous for me. Bye Bye baby–get a hip flask daddy.

Your old fashioned,

Ralph

Ralph sounds fun, right?

I’m super excited for the next five months of my subscription. I love a good themed package and Xenia has a true talent for vintage paper pack curating. Thanks, Naoto, for such a fun gift (and for taking the hint from my Pinterest boards!)

For more detailed pictures of the Paper Parcel, see the Saturday Morning Vintage blog.

Tagged Christmas, crafts, mail art, snail mail, vintage

Jan 16 2014

2 Comments

Christmas, crafty adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail

More Mail Fun with the Cat Note Template

One of my favorite Christmas gifts was this ingenious Cat Note Template from Paper Pastries. It was a gift from Mollie, who knows me well enough to know that cats + letter writing = perfect gifts. I decided to use it for my long-overdue thank you note to Mollie.

Basically, you just trace the template onto any paper of your choice, cut it out, fold it up and it it’s ready to tuck into a 4-bar sized envelope. (Which, at 3 5/8 x 5 1/8, is almost the smallest mailable envelope size.)

You can use the cat template on plain paper and write your letter directly onto it, but I decided to use the template to make an “inner envelope”. I used an old USA Philatelic magazine as my template paper and then I wrote my note on a 4-bar flat card (from Paper Source). I used my bone folder (more on this tool, soon!) to help crease the edges as I folded the template up with the card inside and I used a piece of washi tape to hold it together. The template comes with marks to make slits so you can tuck the folds into the slits to hold without the help of washi tape, but I like using up some of my washi stash, inch by inch. (You can see the “slit indicators” on the right and bottom sides of the template.)I tucked the kitty in a fuchsia envelope, used my new Vintage Email stamp (clearer picture below…gold is hard to photograph!) and called it done. (Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of my corresponding cherry blossom postage stamp before I dropped the thank you in the mailbox.)I’m looking forward to creating more cat-themed mail soon!

Tagged Christmas, crafts, diy, mail art, office supplies, snail mail

Jan 06 2014

2 Comments

holidays, Japan Does It Better, snail mail

Japan Does It Better 5: Nengajō

I love the tradition of sending holiday cards to my friends and family. I also love that throughout December, my mailbox is a flurry of greetings from people I hear from regularly as well as those friends and family who only send greetings once a year.

In Japan, instead of sending Christmas cards and other holiday greetings, people exchange nengajō–New Year’s Day greetings. These greetings come in the form of postcards, either store-bought or handmade. Usually the messages are handwritten and the cards are always hand-addressed with the sender’s best calligraphy.

The best part of nengajō though–and this is where Japan Does It Better–if you send your cards during a window of time (usually mid to late December), the Japan Post Office holds the cards and delivers them ON New Year’s Day!!! Wouldn’t it be fun to open your mailbox on January 1st to find a flood of new year wishes from all of your family and friends?

The best.

According to this tweet (which includes a great picture of the delivery team), the Japan Post estimated 1.82 billion nengajō cards were sent throughout Japan on the first.

The cards pictured above were nengajō that I purchased at Mitsuwa last month. I filled them out on New Year’s Day, so they won’t be arriving anywhere on time, but the spirit is there. The one on the left says “Happy New Year” and the one on the right says “Welcoming Spring”, both typical nengajō greetings.

Nengajō and well-orchestrated New Year’s wishes…another reason Japan Does It Better!

(For more JDIB posts, click here.)

Tagged holidays, mail art, snail mail

kimberly ah

kimberly at home

Category Archives: snail mail

Whirlwind of Preparations

Letter Month, Round-Up 2

Calling Cards for ExPostalFacto

Letter Month, Round-Up 1

My Little Red Toolbox | Bone Folder

Letter Month III

Making Some Changes

January Paper Parcel

More Mail Fun with the Cat Note Template

Japan Does It Better 5: Nengajō