Halloween 2015 Snail Mail

I'll elaborate more on pen pals in upcoming posts - how I find them, how I attempt to stay organized, etc., but I will say that I am lucky to have found so many people who love Halloween. I'm having so much fun that I'm hoping to continue the theme with a few people! Here are some things that went out in the last few weeks.

My first attempt at decoupaging an envelope. 

I saw @dovbee on Instagram posting decoupaged envelopes, realized I'd gotten a similar package of napkins as a gift, and knew I had to try! I will continue to work on my technique, since most of what I do (like "painting" the envelope with ink) feels half-assed, but I sill love the result!

Envelope: #10, curry, by PaperSource; Pen: Sharpie Water-based marker in white, vintage stamps from my collection. The napkin was a gift but the label says Paperproducts Design U.S. Inc.

When I learned that one of my new pen pals love The Bride of Frankenstein/Elsa, I knew I had to do something special. I found a high-res image of the iconic scream, printed it on 11x17" paper, and made this envelope. Then I had to use a Frankenstein's Monster stamp!


Template from JetPens, vintage stamps from my collection; pen: Uni-ball Signo broad, also from JetPens.

I've not found fun/affordable catalog envelopes, and recently landed on a way to fancy them up! I found this fun Halloween-color zigzag sticker paper at a dollar store and cut it to fit (I think I taped around the edges for security) & used a 4" circle label for the address*. With my letter, I included my Pen Pal intro & quiz card (I'll post about that sometime soon), my 2015 Halloween mix & a pen pal merit badge patch from the Scout Project.

Can you guess this was a Halloween-themed swap package?  I was pretty excited to only have to use one non-themed postage stamp to send.

Vintage Stamps used on this envelope: American Bats 37¢, Edgar Allen Poe 42¢ & 3¢, 3 Universal Monsters & Alfred Hitchcock 32¢, Legend of Sleepy Hollow 10¢ & Washington Irving 1¢ (author of Sleepy Hollow). Current stamps: Harry Potter** 49¢ (Forever), & 4¢ chair.

Just a little fun writing thank you notes with some Halloween washi tape (in one of the gifts I was thanking someone for). The motif for the party was skeleton keys (for a haunted house), so all of the related correspondence came from my hoarded collection of key stationery.

The pen is my favorite for addressing, just above the white pen linked above. It is literally an "envelope address-writing pen," comes in 3 sizes and I just love it!

*You'll notice one thing very quickly: I display as little as possible of my pen pal's addresses & names. I can't keep straight who would be okay with showing that info., so I err on the side of caution, since I know I do not want my info. out there like that!

**No longer selling at the Post Office, but still available for regular price at the online USPS store.

Happy Halloween! A Good Day to Start Blogging Again

Halloween 2015 Jack-o-lantern,
designed & carved by my hubby.

Goodness, I have missed blogging so much! I've been toying with the idea of starting again, and bring all of my current interests together in one place, and since this is Halloween and my favorite holiday, I figured, why the hell not?

I am a crafty geek. I have lots of interests and craft-ADD. So while this is titled "Mel Writes Letters," and will have lots of content related to that topic, there will also be posts about road trips and making wine, making candles, making healing balms, knitting, sewing, cats, etc.. You get the picture. There will also be swearing, because I swear, but no nudity unless you count adorable kitty bellies. I seriously doubt there will be diet talk because there is seriously enough of that shit elsewhere. Let's have some FUN!

I've lately become slightly addicted to Instagram, discovered when I was looking for ways to find pen pals. I post there almost daily and will probably be using pictures from there a lot, once I figure out how, but with more exposition.