Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. 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



Penpal Letter Out-Postcards In!

Oh Happy Day!
I hope every little
thing is going your way!


I haven't had a lot of time to write penpal letters this week but I did manage to get another one off to Malaysia.


I'm loving the Lancy Cat series of postcards. This one is Happy Time-Thinking of you and wishing you all of life's best today and always.  Looks like the sweet kitty is all ready for tea and muffins.
Arrived from China.


China Start Here Postage Stamp


Contentment by Valerie Baines.  I'm going to assume this is a female cat because she's so beautiful and posing so gracefully!  My female cat often poses like this!
Arrived from Germany


Germany Postage Stamp


Joyeux Noel-Merry Christmas Postcard!  Love Christmas any day of the year, this is a cute Santa with his very full toy sack!
Arrived from Japan



Japan Postage Stamps including an adorable Christmas Kitty Stamp


Still working on completing my State Capitol Postcard Collection-Columbus Ohio State Capitol!


USA Postage Stamps-Bobcat & Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.

Penpals, Postcards & Stamps!

Hello, how are you?
Sending mail too?
It's time to get in gear,
after all, it's a brand new year.


Departing from Mailbox Happiness today to a very sweet penpal in the USA.  I've always wanted to have chickens for fresh eggs but since I can't, I bought these adorable cards instead.  My husband was happy, no more chicken talk...for now!


I squeeked (maybe because I have guinea pigs & they squeek for dinner) when my local post office had the new Emancipation Proclamation Stamps in stock.  Four sheets made thier way home with me! ;)


This beautiful art postcard, "Song in Praise of Coral Reef" by Shiroma Eijun arrived from Japan.  Look closely and you will see fish everywhere.
Arrived from Japan


Japan Postage Stamps


I love all postcards with cats on them, even more if they are illustrated, drawn or painted.  Grandmother's Cats by Daria Gerasimova is adorable.
Arrived from Ukraine


Ukraine Postage Stamps

Christmas from Russia, Estonia, Japan & Lithuania

A fresh batch of cards to see,
Christmas is so special to me.
My mailbox has been filled with cheer,
what a great way to top off the year!



Am I the only one who loves sweet birds on cards?  This beauty arrived from Russia.


Sweet children finishing up the snowman they made.  Love the cute pup and birds watching what's going on.
Arrived from Estonia.


Ho! Ho! Ho! Santa's finished checking his list and is on the way!
Arrived from Estonia.


Estonia Year of the Dragon Postage Stamp


Japan Kintai Bridge at Christmas, little Santa's everywhere!
Arrived from Japan.


Japan Postage Stamps, my favorite is the Christmas one!


Sledding Down the Hill-cute unicef card with snowman and children sledding down a very snowy hill!
Arrived from Lithuania


Lithuania Griezle Postage Stamp


Christmas Angel, so pretty!
Arrived from Lithuania


Lithuania Train Postage Stamp

The Rose-Bay Willow-Herb Fairy-Cicely Mary Barker

The Rose Bay Willow Herb Fairy-Joy Cicely Mary Barker
The Rose-Bay Willow-Herb Fairy
Flower Fairies of the Wayside by Cicely Mary Barker

Japan Postage Stamps
Japan Postage Stamps

A Big Variety of Cards to See

Here I am on wednesday am
ready to post lovely mail that came in,
a big variety of cards to see
make me as happy as can be!

Beautiful Peacock
This is the first Peacock card I've received, it's beautiful.  The blue and green colors are so vibrant!
Arrived from UK.

Vanity Fair Cover Skiing Lake Placid 1936
It's always exciting when someone parts with a Vantity Fair postcard.  This is the Skiing at Lake Placid cover dated 1936.
Arrived from USA


Torri Gate of Itsukushima Shrine & Fireworks Japan
Fireworks!  Love them! This card shows the Torri Gate of Itsukushima Shrine in Itsukushima Japan.
Arrived from Japan

Japan Stamps
Japan Stamps

Time for Christmas Mail~

Kitten & Puppy at Christmas
Sweet Puppy & Kitten under the Christmas Tree.
Arrived from USA.

USA Disney Ants Stamp
USA Disney Ant Stamp


Merry Christmas Snowman
Merry Christmas Snowman & Birds
Arrived from Australia

Australia Gold Medal Stamp
Australia Gold Medal Stamp


Big Eye Christmas Card
Big Eye Cat and Snowman Christmas Card
Arrived from Taiwan.

Taiwan Stamp
Taiwan Stamp

White Bear & Tree Christmas
White Bear & Snowy Trees Merry Christmas
Arrived from Belgium

Belgium Stamp
Belgium Stamp

New Envelope Set in the store.
New Envelope Set-MailboxHappiness on Etsy
A new envelope set I added to my shop, Mailbox Happiness, on Etsy.  These come plain with no address labels or seals so you can finish them off in whatever style works for you!

Envelope Close Up-MailboxHappiness on Etsy
Close up of  new envelope set I added to my shop, Mailbox Happiness, on Etsy.