Wonderful Mail - Learning Etsy Too!


Here I am waving to you,
I have lots of mail goodness
to share too!

Before the mail~

Last fall, I thought I'd open a little etsy store and put a few envelopes in it.  I had just started making them and compared to the ones I make now, they were blech...at least to me.  Instead of closing my store, I put myself on vacation until I could decide what direction I want to take, fast forward to now.

I've always loved paper, punches, twine, garland, tapes just about anything in those areas and my stashes, stacks and piles of those things prove it to be true.  I found my direction, fantastic!  Finding direction is one thing, implementing direction is another animal.

I thought I knew how to take semi fair pictures until I started trying to take photo's of product for my shop, talk about hitting a major road block!  If you've ever been to or looked around on etsy you'll see that most photo's have a white or light background, natural lighting is preferred, close up images are a plus, size and scale is important and the list is endless.  My head spins just thinking about it now.

I started out taking pictures in every location in my house, at every time of day with every type of light adjustment you can imagine, did that work for me.  No!  Next, I read my camera manual from cover to cover at least seven times, I learned so much about my camera, it was like having a brand new toy.  Did the lighting in my pictures come out great, No.  Got a light box, it helped some but my preference is still natural light.

In a moment of frustration, pondering whether or not to push forward, I noticed amazing light coming in from a wall of windows in my living room.  My sweet spot!  The only hurdle, the entire living room had to be moved around to allow for enough space for me to work.  I stood there and thought, am I really going to move the entire living room around to be able to take pictures for an etsy store?  Without hesitation my mind said yes, and it got moved.

The improvement was immediate, nothing compares with natural light.  My frustration dropped immensely and though I've barely touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to taking great pictures for etsy at least I'm on the way now.

My next novel will be about learning SEO optimization, titles and tags.  My head spins every time I think about all of them.

Now to the wonderful mail~


Penpal Postcard
Such a delight to find this wonderful card in the mailbox from Mariska!

Cupcake Roses Postcard
Who doesn't love cupcakes, especially when they are sweetly decorated!
Arrived from the Netherlands.

Netherland Postage Stamps Penpals
Netherlands Postage Stamps

Postcards by By Kris
This might be my first or second By Kris card to ever receive, wheek!  Love them!
Arrived from Netherlands

Netherland Postage Stamp
Netherland Postage Stamp

Sweet Baby Lamb Postcard
Awwww...adorable baby lamb.  What's not to love about this picture.
Arrived from Germany

Germany Postage Stamps
Germany Postage Stamps

Praca Duque Da Terceira Portugal
Prace Duque Da Terceira
Arrived from Portugal


Portugal Stamps

Portugal Postage Stamps


Long Eared Owl Postcard
Beautiful Long Eared Owl, so pretty among the trees don't you think?
Arrived from Japan

Love Hearts
Love and Hearts Everywhere!  There can never be too many hearts~
Arrived from China

China Postage Stamps
China Postage Stamps



Hello Morning-Letters & Postcards Too!

Hello Morning,
you've come again.
A brand new day
to send mail to a friend!

Incoming Penpal Letter
What a delight to open my mailbox and find such a beautiful letter and envelope from Amit.  Amit, your artwork is beautiful!

Postage Stamps from India
Postage Stamps from India.

Incoming Penpal Letter
Penpal letter from Deb, cute envelope and paper.

Cat & Mouse Postcard
A little cat & mouse action going on here! Do you know the artist of these cards?  Is there more in the series?  I'd love to get them for Meredith.
Arrived from Russia

Russia Postage Stamps
Russia Postage Stamps

Kotovasiya Cats Postcard
Kotovasiya Cats-I adore this series of postcards-so cute!
Arrived from Russia

Russia Postage Stamps
Russia Postage Stamps

Mickey, Donald & Goofy Postcard
Mickey, Donald Duck and Goofy...looks like they are in trouble!
Arrived from Netherlands.

Netherlands Postage Stamps
Netherlands Postage Stamps

Giveaway Winner!

Thank you for sharing some of your favorite quotes and words on the giveaway, you are all so beautiful!

The winner is....

~~~**Jen**~~~

Jen, please contact me with your address and I'll get your package in the mail!


I Never Get Tired of Postcards. Ever.

I never get tired of postcards. Ever.

The variety is endless, artists are amazing, there's room for a short message or write small and send a long message, attach lovely stamps and ta-da you're done.  Drop it in the mailbox and know that when it reaches the intended destination, you're going to make someone smile...everyone can use an extra smile these days!

My giveaway is still open until Friday night, there's still plenty of time to enter!

Incognitio Cat Postcard
Clockwork Kitty Postcard
Arrived from Netherlands

Chicken Little Cat Postcard
Chicken Little arrived via sendsomething, beautiful cat.

Vintage USA Postage Stamp
Vintage Irish Immigration USA Postage Stamp

Adorable Owl Postcard
Cute little Owl
Arrived from Russia

Russia Postage Stamps
Russia Postage Stamp

Snowman with Flowers for You Postcard
Snowman with flowers for you!  Makes me smile!
Arrived from Finland

Finland Postage Stamp
Finland Postage Stamp

Happy Time Postcard
Happy Time Postcard-Thinking of you and wishing you all of life's best today and always.
Arrived from Malaysia.

Malaysia Postage Stamp
Malaysia Postage Stamp

Penpal Letters, Guinea Pigs & Silly Cats

Good Morning to you,
Good Morning to you!
It's time to send a lot of mail
and brighten someone's mood!

Incoming Penpal Letter
Penpal letter on cute stationery from Mariska in the Netherlands.

Penpal Letter
Penpal letter on beautiful card from Jackie in the USA.

Guinea Pigs Eating Cauliflower
Guinea Pigs eating cauliflower...wheek! wheek!  This is the cutest postcard to me, maybe because we have 5 guinea pigs!  If you ever see a guinea pig postcard, pretty please contact me.  I will happily trade almost anything to get a few.
Arrived from the Netherlands

Netherlands Postage Stamps
Netherlands Postage Stamps


Meredith loves cat postcards so I did a little trade as a surprise for her.
Cat Relaxing
Silly Cat!

Russia Postage Stamps
Russia Postage Stamps

Cat Writing Letter
Cat writing a letter!

Russia Postage Stamp
Russia Postage Stamps


Penpal Letters Headed Away!

After being gone and then sick
the inside of my head was very thick.

Thankfully, I'm finding my groove again and two letters are on the way!

Penpal Letter
I made this envelope from the cover that a calendar came in, just added a few touches here and there. It's off to my friend Mariska in the Netherlands.

Penpal Letter
I've held on to this envelope for a good while now, it's a personal favorite of mine.  It's pink, happy, has a cupcake (who doesn't love a scrumptious cupcake) and makes me smile every time I look a it.  JarieLyn, I hope you can handle all the pink headed your way.

Oh, don't forget to enter my giveaway, you can't win if you don't enter. ;)


Giveaway Time!

Hey, Hey!
Mailbox Happiness
is having a little giveaway!

A great card set and
colorful sticky flags too...just a little
something to keep your mail
fresh and new!

It's almost impossible for me to go into a store that sells anything for mailing and not pick out something or two or three.  Sound familiar?

Why these particular cards?

I still have a turntable like the one shown and mostly play Christmas albums on it, I love the sound of old vinyl. A big cup of hot chocolate, playing a board game or making something yummy in the kitchen with a great old Christmas album playing, makes my happiness meter soar!

The  hello and old phone remind me of being at my grandmother's house, she had one like it in brown.  I used to play with it every time I went to visit.  Memories. ;)

The headphones look like ones that were popular in my generation nice and cushy, not the kind that stick inside my ears and make them sore if they aren't the correct size.  Do you ever have sore ears or just me?

Of course, I rode a bicycle like that, at my grandmother's house (with a big basket on front) and the word Balance, well it's my "key"word for the time being.  

Now you know why I like the card set so much, hopefully you like them too!  (The color on the Bicycle card is light, not a defect)
Penpal

The sticky flags are just bright and happy, I'm sure they will make an appearance on an envelope or two I send out in one way or another.  We all need a little something bright and happy!
Penpal

So there you have it, all my reasons for buying the above.

I'm giving away a set of 4 cards with envelopes and a package of sticky flags.  If you'd like to participate in the giveaway, please leave a comment and share either a word that's important to you and why or one of your favorite quotes.  I'll leave this open until Friday, April 5th in the evening cst.