Showing posts with label Animals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Animals. Show all posts

Happiness in the Mailbox!

Sharing a little Mailbox Happiness with you today!

Isn't it great to come home to mailbox with real mail inside, always brings a smile here at the 2809!

Sweet Fairy Postcard
The sweetest little fairy, this postcard is dreamy to look at!
Arrived from far away Japan!

Japan Postage Stamps
Pretty postage stamps from Japan.

Squirrel in the Snow Postcard
Just a squirrel eating his nuts...in the snow!
Traveled from Estonia to Texas in perfect condition, the postal system continues to amaze me.

Year of the Snake 2013
Year of the Snake 2013, love the bright and happy colors!
Arrived from Australia

Paradise on the Yun-Gui Plateau Japan
Paradise on the Yun-Gui Plateau, China.

Wyoming Sunset
Beautiful Wyoming, USA!

Little Black Cat
Cute Black Cat made it's way from Australia

Australia Postage Stamp
Wonderful Australia Kookaburra Postage Stamp

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



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


Olavinlinna Castle in Finland & More

Let mail fly!
Everyone can use a hello, hug or words of kindness...they are always in style!

I'm in love with all my incoming mail!  No pictures of outgoing mail, no decent light lately.

Olavinlinna Castle Finland
Olavinlinna Castle in Finland-
The building of Olavinlinna, castle of St. Olaf, began in 1475. The Danish-born founder of the castle, knight Erik Axelsson Tott, decided that a powerful fortification should be build to protect the strategically important Savo region. The castle was supposed to repel Russian attacks from the east and to guarantee the control of the Savo region for the Swedish Crown. The history of Olavinlinna is a mixture of medieval arms clashing, cannons roaring and every-day chores inside the security of the castle's thick walls.

The changes in the ownership of the castle left their mark on Olavinlinna: this can be seen in the varied architecture of the castle. These days the castle's halls and rooms can be rented and used for all kinds of events.

There are two small exhibitions in the castle: the Castle Museum displays artifacts found in the castle or related to it, and the Orthodox Museum displays icons and other religious artifacts both from Finland and Russia. 

More Information can be found here.

Finland Postage Stamp
Finland Round Postage Stamp

Long Eared Hedgehog
Long Eared Hedgehog-
The long-eared hedgehog is a small and rather pale hedgehog, with short spines covering the upper parts of the body. Like other hedgehogs, these stiff spines, which are brown at the base and white at the tips, act as effective armour when the hedgehog rolls into a protective ball. The legs, feet and underparts are also whitish, the latter of which may be tinged with yellow. The long-eared hedgehog has a pale brown face, with a long, pointed snout and large, rounded ears, which appear somewhat whitish and translucent. The tail is short, but the legs are relatively long, which is particularly apparent when the hedgehog is trotting. The long-eared hedgehog produces a variety of vocalizations  including a snuffle, a cat-like hiss, and a growl when threatened.

Belarus Postage Stamp
Belarus Postage Stamp

Happy 2013 Calendar
Happy 2013 Birdhouse Calendar.
Arrived from France

France Postage Stamp
France Postage Stamp

Leo Tolstoy Street Moscow-Cat in the Window
Cat in the window on Leo Tolstoy Street in Moscow, Russia.


Greetings from Heidi-Switzerland
Greetings from Heidi-Switzerland

Switzerland Postage Stamp
Switzerland Postage Stamps

Postcards are Mailbox Happiness!

Waving Hello & Hugs to You!

We just returned from a fantastic trip to Disney World!  Weather was perfect, parks weren't crowded and we had the best time!

I came home to a lot of mail...Yay!  I have a lot of mail yet to answer...Yay!  If you are waiting on a letter or postcard from me, I hope you'll understand my delay in replying.

Easter Egg Hunt
Let's go on an Easter egg hunt!  Made by a wonderful postcrossing member and sent to Meredith.
Arrived from USA

Moomin
Moomin cards are adorable, always make me smile!
Arrived from Finland

Finland Postage Stamp
Finland Postage Stamp

Mountain Goat
Whoop!  A Mountain Goat card!  Mountain goats are seldom seen since they prefer rugged rocky terrain above 2,000 metres (6,500 ft.).  Ideally suited for this harsh and unforgiving environment, these animals have a thick shaggy coat which has 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 in) long guard hairs with a 10 cm (4 in) inner layer of wool to keep them warm.  Their hooves, split, sharp-edged, flexible and rubbery, enable them to climb effortlessly along sheer rock faces even when covered with snow or ice.

Malaysia Postage Stamp
Malaysia Mount Everest Postage Stamp

White Cat by Loes Botman
A very beautiful cat by the artist Loes Botman who specializes in pastels.  Another reason I love postcards, the exposure to many different artists and styles of art.
Arrived from Belgium

Belgium Postage Stamp
Belgium Postage Stamp

With Love at Valentine's Day
With Love!
Arrived from Russia

Russia Postage Stamp
Russia Postage Stamps