:: Snail Mail ::

Hands up if you love snail mail! There is nothing better than opening your letter box and finding happy mail inside (even if it is nestled between bills and junk mail). I realised today that I haven't posted about my pen pals since June last year. So, get ready to feast your eyes on some pretty stationery.

:: INCOMING ::

:: OUTGOING ::

:: Etsy Love - Papered Thoughts ::

Back in March this year I was looking through my etsy activity and one of my friends had 'favourited' a super adorable packet of confetti that was labelled as a perfect pen pal gift. Well, colour me interested! I love things I can send my pen pals! I clicked through to the etsy store and that is where my obsession with Papered Thoughts began.

Papered Thoughts is the gorgeous etsy store run by Rin from the blog of the same name: Papered Thoughts. Rin is a creative genius and is always dreaming up the most adorable hand made items: from hand drawn stickers, to paint chip letter seals and confetti tape (it's just as awesome as it sounds).

I am in love with her hand-drawn stickers. I'm forever having an internal battle with myself: to use or not to use. I love them, but I didn't buy them to sit in my sticker box and feel unloved! Such a dilemma.

Papered Thoughts is a great place to go for creative, homemade items - including mail art envelopes! Rin's envelopes are amazing and she's selling some on her etsy store. My favourite is the Confetti Monster Envelope.

I think 2013 should be the year of the snail mail revolution! I urge you to sit down and put pen to paper and send something pretty to someone you love - maybe it's a postcard, maybe it's a thank you note. You never know what will come of it. Who doesn't love opening up their letter box and finding something gorgeous inside?

:: Package Pals ::

How good are blog swaps? I love signing up for them. There's the excitement of finding out who your partner is, and the fun of putting together the perfect package to send them. A little while ago I participated in Shannah's Package Pals Swap. This swap had no theme, instead we had to read our partners blog and figure out the perfect thing to send them. And, the best part was that my partner didn't know I was sending to them, just as I didn't know who was sending to me!

:: What I Received ::

The amazing stash above was put together for me by Emily from little dancing bears. Perfect right? Green sunglasses, stationery, stickers, gift tags, bows, fingerless gloves (very handy in this chilly weather we've been having, thank you!) - oh me, oh my! I was VERY spoilt! Thank you so much, Emily!

:: What I Sent ::

I sent the above to the gorgeous Sabrina of The Year the Pumpkins Arrived Late. I spent some time scouring her blog for some ideas and I found a very helpful '101 in 1001' post. I decided to theme a few of my gifts around helping her achieve a few of the 101 things on her list - send a message in a bottle (or three!), learn to knit, and finish a colouring in book. Sabrina is also a huge Diet Coke fan, so I sent her some Coke Lip Smackers (as close to Diet Coke as I could find), and she is also a fabulous pen pal, so I sent her some pretty pens, washi tape, and stickers. I also sent her some postcards (not pictured). You can read Sabrina's post about what I sent her here!

Thank you for putting such a fun swap together, Shannah!