Catching up - Outgoing mail part 1

Before getting back on track with the regular mail updates, I guess I'll have to play catch-up a little... so expect a few posts about mail of the past few months. I'll make the cut at three months back, so I'll start with these letters I sent in late April.

 A letter to Din in the Philippines, who had sent me a lovely first letter.

 A letter to Fede in the UK, one of my longest long-term-pals currently :)

 A letter to Emma in Australia, who sent me a very nice mix-CD via sendsomething.

Okay, this one is not really a letter - it's the German version of the wreck this journal which I sent to Mira, as I completed a task and now it's her turn to complete a task and send it back to me :) (Anyone else doing this journal? Do you do it with a partner as a mail project by any chance?)

 A letter to Jennifer in the UK - always such a joy to hear back from her!

And lastly, a letter to Shelby Anne in the USA - I always worry when sending red envelopes about them coming back because they would actually require extra postage - shhh, don't tell!

Alles Liebe!
Caddi

How do you keep track of your mail?

Are you a snailmailer? Do you keep track of your mail? And if you do so, how do you do it?

When I started snailmailing again a few years back, I quickly realized I needed a way to keep track of my mailings. So I did the most basic thing - I grabbed a little notebook and jotted down the letters, postcards and packages I sent and received. I also wrote down how much money I spent on postage, as I was interested to know how much I'd be spending (now I believe it's better not to know... I want to enjoy this hobby without realizing what I'm spending :) )

However, I was not very consistent with keeping the journal up to date and often grouped dates together. When I sent a letter, I ticked the name of the receiver in the "IN"-section - but I often forgot that as well.


Later on I started stamping the dates of receiving and sending on the envelopes.

I didn't really like that however and didn't do it very often - while I then did know whether or not I replied to the letter I had in my hands, I like the letters the way I receive them and rather want to keep them the way my pals intended them to be, and not leave any marks on them myself.

Last month, I switched to a list, one for the incoming mail and one for the outgoing mail. You can put in the date, the sender / recipient, the contents of the mail and when you sent / received a reply. I do like this "mail register" (you can find the printable here), but we'll see how long I'll stick with it.

I'm also only keeping track of the personal mail in this list - no swaps or tags to be seen here :)

So tell me - how do you keep track of your incoming / outgoing mail?

Alles Liebe!
Caddi

Outgoing - two postcards and a short letter

Three outgoings of the past days - two postcards (to India and the US) and a short letter to my dearest cousin.

I just bought the notecards I used for her letter yesterday - love them!

I hope you are all doing good and are looking forward to a fantastic weekend - over here we're supposed to get more than 30°C, so that's great!

Alles Liebe,
Caddi

Dear Alex - Philippines

A letter sent to my dear friend Alex in the Philippines today.

I used an envelope of a giveaway I won a while back (thanks again! I already used all the writing paper and now only have one envelope left of the three), which I love because of the airmail border. Isn't anything airmail just fantastic? The priority label I used is from Austria.

The letter I wrote plus the letter and Christmas card I got from her. I just love her handwriting!

Arent't the stamps from the Philippines great? I think I already mentioned a few times that I just love stamps with animals and especially underwater creatures on them - and these are SO pretty! (And I'm SO looking forward to snorkeling in Australia!)

What kind of images do you like on stamps?

Alles Liebe,

Caddi

A Productive Weekend! - Also: Stats of the Month - June 2013

 Well, mailwise at least... :)

 I sent one postcard to an old family friend who will have surgery in a week,

 another postcard to my goddaughter (I had already sent her mother a letter on Thursday - of course I don't have a picture of that one...)

 A letter to Michelle in Idadho,

 Oh, here are the stamps I used so far :) I really really like the one with the elk and the lighthouse one is great as always.

 A postcard to a friend, I haven't heard from her in a bit so I basically said hi and asked her to call me.

 A letter to Yana in Utah

 and a letter to a penpal here in Germany,

and lastly, a letter to Yanill in Florida - I will send that one out on Tuesday, as soon as partners are assigned in a swap-bot swap.

How have you been this weekend? Have you been productive?

Oh, and also, it's the end of June! So here are my stats of this month! :)

I finally received more mail again! I had 22 incoming letters, 3 incoming postcards and 2 incoming packages - yay! I haven't been to my PO-Box since Thursday, so I might even have gotten more :)

I sent out 24 letters and 9 postcards (counting the ones I finished this weekend) as well as 3 packages.

I spent a total of 26,33 € on postage, so on average 0,73 € per mailed item.

How much mail did you receive and send this month?

Oh, and one last thing: I bet you have already read elsewhere about this whole bloglovin' thing? Good, then I don't have to write this down here...

All the best for you!
Caddi

Strange travel times for letters from the UK...

Hello dears,

yay, I keep getting letters this week! I've had another two letters yesterday and then again two more today! Such a happy mailbox, it's great!

The letters of yesterday came from the USA, from Yana - we already had exchanged some packages and now she sent me a little letter, so lovely! I will reply soon!

The next letter was a lovely long letter (on beautiful paper by the way!) from a penpal here in Germany. I loved hearing from her again! The stamp is lovely, it's one of the stamps for heavier letters so I don't get to see them often, but I really like it.

Today I got two letters from the UK, one is from Jennifer and one from Anna. Both were lovely, but I noticed something unusual...

... they both arrived on the same day, but one has travelled at least ten days longer than the other one! The one on top, with the handwriting of the date, is the one Jennifer sent me. Four to five days is a normal time span for letters from the UK to Germany. The letter from Anna, however, was cancelled on May 20 and also only arrived today! It clearly had an airmail sticker though... Well, at least it hasn't gone missing!

I also have outgoing mail to show you! I wrote a bit on the train today and am still working on a letter to a penpal here in Germany, so there will be more mail going out the next days...

This is a letter heading out to Tári in France, with a few airmail-labels from Germany.

Next, I finished a letter to Almanté in Lithuania, which will go out tomorrow.

And I'm also sending out mail to Penny in Brasil! Oh, and I love the sweets you can see here, but after having to many of them they make you feel sick :( (Guess who already had loads and somehow still can't stop?)

Being busy with mail again feels great!

Alles Liebe,
Caddi

Monday's Mail

Hello dears!

I can't believe this either, but this finally is a mail-post ;-) I haven't photographed all of the mail that passed through my hands theses weeks, but I'll show you some recent outgoings... This will be a bit picture heavy :)

A letter heading out for the intro letter swap on swap-bot organized by the Postal Society.

These were a letter to Laura and some postcards - one to Italy and another one to the USA.

A postcard to my father - yes, I always send him boat-postcards somehow :)

A letter to a German penpal on stationery I had for years and Diddl sheets.

Two postcards for my godmothers - how I wish I'd be at that place by the lighthouse now!

These are a small package to Yana, a letter to Jennifer, another one to my mother for mother's day (both written on stationery designed by Fab) and a postcard to my goddaughter.

A letter for Maria in Russia, a new penpal. I hope it gets there well!

A letter heading out for a postage stamps swap on swap-bot and another letter on stationery designed by Fab going out to Lucas in the USA.

Letters going out to LR and Michelle in the USA.

A letter heading out to Jess in Australia, stamps for a tag on P.S.

And, lastly, two packages I sent out already a few weeks ago - one to my goddaughter and her mother.

I had to seal it like this :) There's a book included and the postal workers have to be able to open it.

 
And another one to my mother, who had her birthday :)

The stamp is one of my favourites ever!

That's all for now!
I had only very little incoming mail the past weeks - only three letters and one postcard so far this month! My mailbox is quite sad. I'm leaving for a trip to Berlin tomorrow and will be gone until the end of the week, so I hope I'll have some mail waiting for me when I get back :) Did you have good mail days this month?

Alles Liebe,
Caddi

Getting ready to leave...

So tomorrow our journey begins. We have packed clothes, a flashlight, sun cream and bathing suits. We know where we'll stay the first nights and roughly where we want to go. We found a new apartment and will sign the lease tomorrow. We're ready to go!

During the last days I managed to write a bit of mail and am currently still writing more. I sent out two packages, two postcards, six letters and will send another four letters and two postcards tomorrow - maybe even more if I manage to write fast :)

Here is some of the mail I sent out during these days:

A letter going out to Laura. 

A letter travelling to a penpal here in Germany. I love the stamp here as well as the Janosch-stamp I used on Lauras letter.

More mail on its way - two postcards travelling in Germany, a letter to the USA, one to the UK and another one for the Philippines

So... what is left to do? I'm already quite excited, let me tell you that :) Do you have any traditions, what do you do before you leave for a trip? Personally, I learnt from my mother to clean everything and leave it nice and tidy, so that you don't come back into a mess.

I hope you're having a great month so far, enjoy the rest of it as well! Oh, and may I ask you a favor? If you were going to send me something, can you hold it until April? I'd rather have it in your hands than in my PO Box - you never know, you know?

All the best!
Caddi

Monday's Mail

How have you been doing? I hope everything is great.

Let me show you the mail of the last days....

Firstly, I sent a reply to LR, with an envelope made out of super cute owl paper. It's actually wrapping paper. (Confession time: I have too many wrapping paper rolls... There are even a few which I haven't even opened yet. I'm such a hoarder when it comes to paper. Are you the same? The thing is, only two designs are for Christmas - which is when I wrap more gifts than any of the other months. Would you be confused if you'd get sunflowers under the Christmas tree?)

A postcard-reply to a postcard I got from Lisa via sendsomething.

And here's the accumulated outgoing of today - plus a package to my brother, which is not pictured here. The letter in the back is for Dil in Sri Lanka and the one on the far left is for my host-mother in the USA. It has been ages since I've been there (8 years actually), but we are still in contact, so I thought I'd send her a card to let her know how life has been for me. The cards (and envelopes) are extremely pretty! There even is a picture of a butterfly on the inside of the flap, so I had a hard time sealing the envelope - thinking she might not see that.

I also received some mail today! A cute Valentine's card from Laura, the text says "Love at it's height.". Ain't that sweet?

Also, another envelope from Sendsomething! This time from Erin. The envelope looks great, the paper is gorgeous!

The envelope was filled with a short letter and lots of paper goodies! I'll send something back in the next weeks :)

How was your weekend?

Alles Liebe,
Caddi