Saturday 29 May 2010

Outgoing!! :D

So I finally plucked up the courage to go the post office. The lady put the stamps on herself, so I didn't get a chance to study them :( But they looked pretty cool. After a comment from the bf I'm now worried that she didn't actually post them (although, I'm sure that isn't true) so let me know when you get them people!!


Letters to Muriah, Nicola, Brianne and Candi.

I'm off to Turin in a bit, I hope you all have a lovely weekend! :D

4 Letters

2 NA
1 EU
1 AU

Friday 28 May 2010

Update

Ok, Ok, I've actually finished my reply letters to everyone. They've been sitting, ready to go for two days now, but I haven't yet plucked up the courage to venture to the Post Office and test my Italian skills. I know I'm being totally silly about this, I managed to get my Codice Fiscale and open a Bank account all by myself, but for some reason this is worrying me more. Maybe because I live in a tiny town here and it's all more personal and so I'd be known not only as the foreigner who wears dresses (apparently unheard of in Cameri) but also as someone who speaks bad Italian and made a fool of herself in the post office on friday?? Maybe I'm being too big headed to think these people will remember me, or maybe just too insecure. Anyway, I've resolved to go there in a bit, money and letters and translation in hand.

Also, I have my full Italian address now (although, still no key for the mailbox), so as soon as I get my key I'll post my address here if anyone wishes to write me in the next month or so, as I will probably be going back to the UK in July for a bit.

We're going to Torino this weekend and I have much cleaning and cooking to do before then... the life of a housewife is not as leisurely as I imagined!

Ciao for now xx

Tuesday 25 May 2010

p.s.

I GOT THE JOB IN MILAN!

I'm way too excited!!! I keep trying to call my mum but she must be out and is not picking up her mobile! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! I'm so happy!!!!!!

Finally!

I finally got down to writing letters yesterday. I biked to Lago Vittoria and sat in the sun for a couple of hours writing a reply to Candi. I then dutifully sat on my doorstep this morning and wrote a reply to Muriah and I'm just taking a break from writing a reply to Brianne! It's all go here and my lovely rollerball has almost run out :(

The problem is that I am all too aware that when I finally stop writing letters I have to go to the post office and actually buy stamps to post them with. My lack of Italian makes this scary, intimidating and a little embarassing. But I have to do it, otherwise my lovelies don't get their letters.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that Italian post offices don't open on a Saturday, so I'm never going to have the help of my trusty interpreter/translator/moral supporter/boyfriend seeing as he's all grown up now and has a 9-5 job!

Be expecting some picture posts soon :D xx

Monday 24 May 2010

Promises, promises!

I had promised to get replying to letters last week, but with the impending interview doing things that brought me pleasure, also brought with them guilt. Now I am free and intend to spend this week catching up on all things mail related. This means there will likely be few updates on here, but I've scheduled a few posts on my personal blog if you want to see what I've been up to.

In the mean time I shall leave you with some beautiful stationery I've been lusting after...
(All images from here)



I have wanted this London notebook ever since laying my eyes on it at the National Gallery some time ago. Next time I go to London, I'm snapping it up!


Seeing as I live in Italy now, it's a perfect excuse to but this gorgeous notebook :)



This little beauty says 'Mail addicted' quite nicely. Perfect for the poor soul, who like me, is both mail and notebook addicted ;)



I saw this a while ago on papernation and would have bought it straight away if it weren't for my sickly bank balance. It's so cute and a steal at only £1.99


I love the simple, understated, yet beautiful style of this retro notebook. I. Must. Have. It!


I love simple patterns and designs and I just love these apples. It's so fresh looking and perfect for Spring. I'd smile while pulling it out of my bag. Everytime :)


I have a whole separate wishlist of notebooks and journals from this company (Design Doma). Their products are playful, beautiful and whimsical. Each page is adorned with a different pattern and picture. Notebooks like these are perfect for me, because each page is inspiration in itself. I want so many of these books, but my wishlist is on my laptop which is in the UK and is broken :( Just do a search and see how lovely they are. Design Doma also make letter sets and letter writing pads. Really pretty ♥

I hope everyone is still enjoying lovely mail and I will get your letters written asap. Again, anyone who has sent me a letter recently, I should be either going back to the UK next week, or my mum is going to bring some stuff (including mail) over to Italy soon :)

Oh and as soon as I have a reliable Italian address I'll be updating with everyone, I promise ♥

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Incoming (from last week)

Here are my two incomings from last Wednesday...

A cute package from Costa Rica for the cookie matchbox swap. I love the way she packaged the matchbox and I got pretty ribbon And a cute little postie with a Tortilla recipe on the back :D


Here is the cute little matchbox. I love the little cookie-like stars.


And here is the recipe. I can't wait to make these, I love love love lemon flavoured things :D


I got a letter from the lovely Nicola. She said she replied quickly to me to make sure I got her good luck wishes before I flew to Italy. Bless her :)


She also sent me more tea :) And I love the stickers on the back, a cute little plane and a good luck mascott in the form of a hedgehog (or roly-poly as I like to call them.) I ♥ roly-polys

And that was that. I have 4 letters to reply to now, but I won't start writing until after my interview which is on Thursday 20th May. So apologies for the delay, but I've got lots of studying and such to do :(

I hope you're all enjoying beautiful mail days ♥

Matchbox Heaven! pt II

This little guy went out last Thursday. I didn't make the matchbox this time but used an empty one. The theme was black/white/silver/grey. I wanted to use some of my silver star stickers, but had already packed them by this point :(


Here is the outside. The white paper is actually the lining from the shoe box my bf's airforce ones came in. I thought it was pretty cool, so I snapped it up. The little heart is from polymer nail cane.


Here is what my partner will see as she opens up the little box of treasures.


And here are the goodies. Giant heart buttons, various beads made fo
rom glass, plastic and wood, some silver paper stars, some star beads and charms, two tiny bells, about half a metre of ribbon and a tea bag charm necklace made by me :)

I hope my partner likes it!

1 Package

1 NA

Outgoing (from last week)

These lovelies went out last week on Wednesday and Thursday, I'm glad I remembered to take pics ;)


This went to Austria for the 'Love my cat' swap. We had to send a pic of our cat, a letter about the cat or why we love cat and a cat themed goodie for our partner.


I sent two of these sets out, one to Norway and one to the States for 'Just a card and some Tea' swap. I know I seem to send these tea bags out a lot, but they are two of my absolutel favourites and I think everyone should try them because they are FAB!


Here is one of two sets of handmade envies sent to the US for the 'Handmade Envelopes' swap. I tried to go for a variety, so here we have a tube map, some printed craft paper, a map of the Tate Modern art gallery, two dolphins from a kids book on sea animals, an ad page from Motor Sport magazine (Nov 1964), a page from an old souvenir guide to the British museum and a picture page from an old National Geographic. I really liked them and had a hard time parting with them, hehe.


Here is the second set, again sent to the US. We have the printed craft paper, some killer whales, another ad page from Motor Sport mag, the Tate Modern Map, a page from the British Museum guide and a page form National Geographic. I wanted to send a Tube Map with this one too, but I didn't have any left :( I may just grab a massive handful next time I'm at a tube station so I always have a constant supply ;)


This went out for "Stickers Stationery and Notecards" Swap, to the US. I actually sent more than in the pic... I sent a sheet of Kawaii penguin stickers, two gliter pencils, one gold and one silver gel pen and a pack of mini erasers. The extra goodies were intended for my partners children. I hope it goes down well :)


And last, but by no means least, a letter to Darcy. I wonder if she's received it yet??


2 Letters
2 Cards
3 Packages

3 EU
5 NA

Monday 17 May 2010

I miss you!

One of the things I miss most about being in England (after family, my cat and reliable transport) is post.

I really miss getting post.

I didn't think I would miss it this much, but I've been up for two hours now and I have that feeling of anticipation brewing inside me, but I know there is no post for me here :( We aren't even sure if we have a mailbox key, or a mailbox for that matter. If we do, it sure isn't labelled!

I promised pictures of mail received last week and I shall post them soon, but today I have lots planned. I have to try and get the pharmacist to give me prescription meds without a prescription by badgering them in English until they give in (father in law's suggestion), I have to go to Milano and work out where the prospective job locations are and I also have to call said prospective employers to arrange and interview date. That isn't taking into account all the ticket buying in between that will stretch my Italian to the max and involve a lot of red cheeks.

I've never been to Milan, so I'm both excited and nervous, but I've got my journey all worked out so it should be fine. I'm going to hunt down a Grom so I can enjoy some gelato :D

Wednesday 12 May 2010

Eep!

I got post yesterday and today and was going to update tonight but just realised I already packed my camera... oops!

I will do proper updates within a few days, I'm flying to Italy tomorrow so there won't be any incoming posts for a while, but there should be a few outgoings.

I've got 4 letters to reply to, so if you haven't seen your letter here it will likely come from Italy. Also, if you've sent a letter recently you may not get a reply for about a month because I'm away for 3 weeks, so I apologise for the delay, but the letters you get when I come back will be great, I promise :)

I hope everyone is well and is having lots of yummy post!

Monday 10 May 2010

Incoming

So today I didn't get round to posting anything because I spent most of the day out shopping and a big shopping centre near where I live. I got some clothes for my impending interview and some other lovely things :)

I got a parcel which I have to collect from the sorting office, but I'm pretty sure it's my artbox order and I got this postie from the swap entitled "Not from your home" which was um, to send posties not from your home :)


This one is from Lancaster County in the States.

Sunday 9 May 2010

Saturday's Incoming and Outgoing

I really should have posted this last night, but I was trying to be good by getting an early night after studying, but it was not to be and arguing neighbours, some random knocking on our door at 4:30 am and our cat waking me up twice with horrendously loud meows meant i did not get a good nights sleep. Never mind, I had a great mail day yesterday and I made a load of envelopes for a swap today, as well as more interview prep, so I'm happy :)

Incoming


A postcrossing card from The Netherlands


A Postcrossing card from Finland. It says "Life can be happy, if you have strength to jump!"


A swap bot quitecard postcard from Canada. The quote reads:
"I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?" - John Lennon


A letter from Brianne in the states, with this FAB envelope! You should click to enlarge :)

Outgoings


A letter to Nicola up in Scotland.


A letter to Julie in the States.

Fingers crossed for a non-bulky mail day tomorrow because I'm going shopping with my mum. then again, a trip to the sorting office is always fun and exciting ;)

2 Letters

1 NA
1 EU

Friday 7 May 2010

Incoming

I got lovely post again today. I've been really impressed with Royal Mail recently, I received two postcards from the UK, one from Northern Ireland, that were only sent yesterday! Super fast ;)


This cool card from Belfast. The lovely swapper has a snake too and is soon to be getting a cat *jealous!*


Hello Kitty!! This came from the UK, my second super fast postie :)


A letter from the lovely Candi. There are absolutely no post marks on this, it's as if someone hand delivered from Australia. Also she put pretty things on the sheets she wrote on ♥


This was too cute not to share. I love cute little lady birds and the one and only stuffed toy I have from my other half is a ladybird :)


The contents of said package. I love that this swapper read my profile and sent me some foreign coinage. I love the interesting designs on foreign currency and have satrted a tiny collection. Also a notebook! (strangers are feeding my addiction, heee)

I'm not posting anything today. I'm concentrating solely on replying to my incoming letters (but some of them will have to come from Italy because I have to prepare for my interview) and watching Yojimbo which I started too late the other night and had to stop half way through.

I hope you're having a lovely friday and that the sun is shining on your part of the world xx

Thursday 6 May 2010

Incomings & Outgoings

I was a very lucky girl today. I got TWO more letters in the post, both with handmade envies *squee* Amongst other things which I will take great joy in showing you...

Incomings


A lovely letter from Darcy. I love how she used tracing paper for the add labels. She also wrote on tracing paper which looked amazing :) Thank you ♥


My second letter of the day from the lovely Nicola. she included a bag of calming tea, which is just what I need right now, stressing about this job ♥


I got this pretty postie from Germany via postcrossing


And I got this awesome postie for a non-touristy swap. This is going on my wall :)


I also got all these goodies from a random envie swap. The ribbons are adorable and I love those push up pencils :)

I also got two packages, but they were things I'd ordered, so don't count. Although they were mega cute and also helped to make my day :D

Outgoings





These two were both going to the US for a 'Not from your Home' Postie swap. These are both from my lovely Caiti stash (As I call it) I hope they are well received.


This is a reply to the lovely Caiti herself. She's a cat lover, like me :)


This is my 'Getting Gummy' gummy package going to the states. There was also a pack of juicy fruit that didn't make it into the pic. This guy was so heavy it cost me over £5 to ship. Ouchie!






These three were all going to the UK as part of a UK postie swap. I adore those vintage style London postcards. It's so hard to part with them!


This is a postcrossing card to Finland


A postcrossing card to the US


A postcrossing card to China


A postcrossing card to the Netherlands


The back of the postie. I had to actually sit on the grass to try and draw those bluebells. The grass had just been cut and now I have a green bum! This postcrosser set a challenge to draw on the back of the card and the bluebells have been taunting me with their beauty for a while now, so I picked those to depict.

I say taunting because I've waited ages for them to blossom and they've been in bloom for a while but it's been so cloudy I can't take any pictures with my 35mm camera, but I got some today, so I hope they come out nicely!

I have three letters to reply to now and some envies to make for a swap. If I've been promising to write to you and you haven't received anything, I'm really sorry, but I'm so disorganised I keep leaving everything to the last minute and have no time to start anything new. SO... when I go to Italy (and after my interview) I'll have plenty of spare time to write to you ♥

1 letter
9 postcards
1 package

5 NA
5 EU
1 AS