How was your summer? Around here it was hot, hot, hot but the very opposite of hectic... which is pretty much the perfect way to pass the hot season. Slowly!
Anyway, we're gearing up for the next Pretty Postal swap and I didn't want to launch into that one without writing a little recap of the first one first. For posterity... or something!
In case you missed it, The Pretty Postal Floral Swap invited snail mail lovers to exchange flower-themed mail with 3-5 partners. We ended up with over 100 participants from all over the world... California to Nova Scotia, Australia to Finland, Ghana to Japan. So exciting! I was really blown away by the response and both the talent and the generosity of the swappers. You can sneak a peek at lots of the pretty mail that was exchanged over on Instagram.
Here's the handcrafted mail that I sent out to my partners...
I started with the envelopes. Simple kraft envelopes are made special when embellished with labels made from scrapbook paper and index cards, birds cut out of vintage wildlife books, watercolour flowers and a touch of washi tape (of course).
The envelopes were then lined with colour photocopies from my sketchbook. A fun way to personalize your mail without cutting up your art!
On to the contents...
Handcrafted floral cards made of washi tape, colourful paper doilies and either twine or sticker bows. A little fiddly to make (especially when making more than one) but a fun challenge for sure!
Individualized floral monograms for each partner - simple watercolour and pen but I think they turned out quite prettily!
I collected lovely floral stamps from eBay, then used a sticker maker to turn them into stickers. Each set of six was then packaged up in a clear bag with a little washi tape accent.
Everything slipped easily inside that standard envelope... which is always helpful when mailing internationally!
And finally, sealed with a little washi tape, a sticker and one of the postage stamp stickers.
I really loved putting this pretty mail together... I hope the recipients loved it too!
