Incoming/Outgoing

I've been more than awful about charging batteries for my camera. The charger was in a suitcase I hadn't unpacked from getting back from France two weekends ago *shame* so this pic is overdue!

This wonderful little postcard of joy was sitting in my mailbox on saturday. It was totally unexpected and had me grinning for ages, thank you so much Maike!!

I also wanted to show you the beautiful stamps gifted with the postcard. I love looking at stamps from other countries. Sadly the lady at the post office has been using metered mail stickers lately... and then complaining that I haven't left enough space for the HUGE sticker, when she could just use a freaking stamp and there would be plenty of room. If only I could argue in Italian.

I've had in my possession 3 letters that were written last Thursday and Friday, but lack of cash and energy prevented me from posting them until today. I took a couple of pics before I went out this morning but my batteries were pretty much dead and I managed not to get macro shots, so they are terribly out of focus and do no justice to the letters whatsoever. So, no picsture I'm afraid :( I can tell you that there were 4 letters in total, 1 reply to the sweet Sarah and 3 mystery letters... wooO0Ooo!

4 Letters

4 NA

Letter writers block

I have noticed recently that there has been a lot of banter about writing long letters. Maybe it's always been the way with those who write letters, so many longing for kindred spirits who will reply to pages and pages with novellas of their own? I'm relatiely new to the scene, so I can only guess. I to have felt the distant pang of vague disappointment when a reply finds me at one single page, but I am also aware that my correspondence is all new, fresh and difficult. These early letters are a challenge. The anxiety of not wanting to write selfishly, or to come across as boring. Not knowing your new pen pal makes it difficult to know what they will find interesting in a letter and also makes it difficult to share those feelings and secrets we share with a partner of many months or years.

I love every single letter I receive, I enjoy every word written by each individual pen pal, because it is theirs and I value the time they give me by writing their letters immensely. Please don't misunderstand this post, don't feel worried that your letters aren't long enough! Each of you gives me something different from your precious paper packages, but they all bring me happiness, and that is more than enough :)

The point of this post is about my letters and what I would like to achieve...

My letters usually range from 4-6 A5 pages, I would classify this as a medium letter. My writing is smaller than most, but larger than some and I like to keep my lines tight. This means that when I think of trying to fill 4-6 A4 pages, my confidence crumbles a little. How many of my words would it take to fill such a vast amount of pages?? (I also struggle with the idea of writing on plain old lined paper... where do I find pretty A4 paper with narrow ruled lines?)

I believe it is the quality, not the quantity that makes a great letter. I hope that the recipients of my mail feel the same way too.

However, this doesn't stop me from wanting to become a long letter writer.

I don't believe I would write 'long' letters to every pen pal. Especially not in these early days of penfriendship. But I'd like to give it a go... here is where I need your help.

After spending some time working in Lyon, I'm struggling to write letters. I'm finding myself uninspired, a little bored and totally unmotivated. I blame my lack of motivation on the heat and humidity. It's unbearable. Seriously, the only respite I get is one or two hours in the early morning before the sun has risen above the rooftops. And it's only going to get worse :(

So, I'm struggling to find subject matter to write about.

I also struggle with my belief that I'm not a very exciting or funny person and have a fear that if I managed to write a long letter it would be a terrible experience for the recipient. Like having to read a boring book for school and finding your eyelids getting heavier with each line until you realise you've been napping for the past 20 minutes. I don't want to be that kind of penpal!

So, help help help! Even if you aren't a penpal of mine, I would love your input!! What would you like to read in a letter? Do you have any ideas for subject matter that I could really elaborate on, or examine in depth? Are you a long, medium or short letter writer? How do you find inspiration for interesting/funny/moving material?

I really would love to hear from you all, so I'm going to leave this as the latest post over the weekend.

Incoming//Outgoing

I've been terrible about posting my mail regularly, I'm sorry! I also realised that I posted my outgoing last week without posting about the incoming I was replying to... double sorry :(

Anyhoo, I went for an early bike ride because the morning was cloudy and cool yesterday (but it got sunny and humid toward the end of my journey) and when I got back to Via Cavour I found two letters poking out of the mailbox, just waiting for my return! I was so excited I yanked them out before I'd even gotten off my bike, but managed the self control needed to wait until I got back to the flat to investigate :D

Incoming

They were both surprise letters, what a treat!! The first was from my sister in London and the second a first letter from the sweet Sarah.

Outgoing

The large envie is for a swap 'Just Draw 2' where you had to sit and draw for an hour. The smaller envie is a reply to my sister. Just a short note really.

For the drawing swap I pencilled the view from my balcony of the church clock tower and rooftops and I sent another pen drawing inspired by the beautiful landscape of Novara. Silly me forgot to take pictures of the drawings before I sealed the envie, so you'll just have to imagine I'm afraid.

I've yet to check the mailbox today, so if I'm a very lucky girl then there may be an edit to this post. Fingers crossed!!

1 Package
1 Letter

1 NA
1 EU

Empty mailbox

I'm not sure when or how often the mail is delivered in Cameri. I think I'd have a hard time finding out because the post office staff here aren't the nicest.

I'm sad for other reasons, but my empty mailbox doesn't help :(

Maybe it's a good thing that I don't have mail to reply to...? There's so much to do in the flat it's unreal and if I start writing letters I'll never get anything done!

I'd better get on with that 'stuff' eh?

I hope you're all having much better mail days than me ;)

Outgoing

I've had a super busy and tiring week, but I've been workng on these letters the whole time. Or rather, I worked on them when I was free and wasn't too tired. I was most pleased to get them posted today, my last day in Lyon, because the post office experience is much less traumatic here ;)

So we have a much needed 1st resposne to Zoe, a terribly delayed reponse to the lovely and patient Ashley, only slightly more prompt replies to Julie and Nicola and a surprise 1st letter to a fellow blogger. I'm hoping they all reach their destinations safely :D

I'm going back to Italy tomorrow, I am aware that some of you have posted things to me in Italy. I'm hoping that they arrive soon because I'm back in the UK for a couple of weeks as of the 6th of July. (Italian post isn't the most reliable, especially in the middle of nowhere like Cameri) I'm hoping to find a mailbox full of things come Monday, but I know that shan't be the case :(

I hope you all have wonderful weekends!! I'm not looking forward to the weather in Italy, it's been pretty hot here in France, but I have it on good authority that it's boiling down there :( I'll leave you with the view from my bedroom window this afternoon... xx

EDIT: if you wanna see my efforts for the superhero day at the ISL, jump to here :)

5 Letters

3 NA
2 EU

Outgoing

Today I posted an Italian care package to Micaela. I had intended to post it before I came to France, but never got the chance to shop for it, then I decided to post it on Saturday from Torino, but after 5 hours of walking, a boozy night and terrible blisters on my feet, I didn't make it to the post office before closing time.

I kinda wished I'd posted it from Torino after all. Postage in France is super expensive. Seriously. But it was worth it! I hope she likes everything :) I didn't get any pics because I had to buy packaging in the post office (which is also why it was expensive), sorry!

1 Package

1 NA

Inspire Me Swap - Pic Heavy

So, as I said a very long time ago, I'd go into more depth on the inspire me swap I put together for the start of June.

As a recap, the swap required filling an envelope with 7 smaller envies, each containing an inspiration item, quote, poem, drawing etc. And they had to be decorated. I didn't go overboard with the decoration of the envelopes, but I included more than one inspiration item in each envie, so I hope it balanced out ok.

Here goes...

I took most of my inspiration from two books: When I loved myself enough by Kim McMillen and 101 Poems that could save your life, I also used a quote from William Blake in each envelope, he is one of my favourite artists... such great poetry and illustrations! I also used a few quotes that I found on the net.

I really hope my partner likes it and can draw comfort and inspiration from each page. I know that is what it brought me as I was making it!