Match-box conversation hearts

Oh hello! *waves in enthusiastic and dorky manner* Remember me? I am so busy finishing my book that sometimes I don't get time for writing in this blog, but I have so many posts in the wings that I can't wait to share with you. Hopefully I'll get my time-management act together and can revisit this tiny and lovely community that is You Folks a lot more often. I really love this space. I love how comfortable it feels, how like-minded we all feel, even when actually we are quite different and diverse and opinionated and creative and quirky (because how boring would things be if we weren't), but on the MAIN THINGS (kindness, openness, encouragement, friendship) we are all on the same page, I think.

NEWS ALERT. Oh my goodness HOW EXCITING are the updates on the Serial podcast lately? If you listened to Season 1 but then kind of dropped back off, drop back in!! After almost 16 years, a new hearing on Adnan Syed's case is happening in Baltimore RIGHT NOW and you can follow what is going on each day on Serial. It is crazily compelling.

In the meantime, I have been having some fun lately jumping on the "decorate old matchboxes" bandwagon, creating decorated little boxes for homemade "conversation heart" lollies (from a lolly shop in Maldon, more on that soon to come), to send to folks all over the world. If you'd like to replicate this idea for Valentine's Day, it's super easy. Just wrap some paper around a matchbox to get the size right, trace the outline, then unwind it and draw/paint/paste whatever image you like before pasting it properly back onto your matchbox. I lined my boxes with paper doilies but you could also use tissue paper, cloth, foil or anything else that inspires you.

On another matter, conversation hearts! How great are they? So much vintage fun.

Happy Mail Day

∧∧ To welcome us into the new week, I thought I'd share some beautiful mail that I've been receiving lately. Like this "Happy Mail Day" mail-art postcard.

∧∧ And this amazing mail from Yam in Spain, a real life postmistress. Believe it or not, this is the first mail I've ever received from an actual postal worker and that made Yam a bit of a celebrity for me!

Also, she designed her mail-art to work with the stamp, which was an art design by artist Eduardo Chillida, who she also quoted on the back.

∧∧ Then there were these adorable, handmade ceramic magnets from my accidental pen pal (i.e. we became pen pals by accident) Selise from style blog Lovers, Saints & Sailors. Selise is a writer and people who don't pay her to write SHOULD pay her to write because she writes the best letters. Hands down. The BEST.

∧∧ Another friend I recently made online is Micu, who sent this seriously amazing bounty of beautiful mail ephemera all the way from Budapest. Those stamps!

∧∧ THOSE stamps! Micu runs a sweet blog called Mail a Smile, galvanising strangers to send mail-art to people who are sick or sad or stressed or for any other reason, need a smile. That's pretty special, don't you think?

ps. Right now as I type this I am watching a TV show about Tiny Houses. It is so fascinating. Would you ever consider this?