Atiliay noun, a play off the French word “atelier”; a workshop/studio, esp of an artist or designer; my creative space
Notes plural noun, a brief record of facts, topics, thoughts written down as an aid to memory; a short informal letter
 

Happy National Letter Writing Month! 
When I was in kindergarten, a family friend we called grandma would send me and my brother cards in the mail for birthdays and different holidays. She had beautiful cursive writing! I remember her addressing the cards to “Miss” Olivia Lin and it felt so fancy lol. This might be when my love for snail mail began.
 
In middle school, I read books from the Pen Pal series (did you read it too??) and signed up for a pen pal through their program. Her name was Jamie, she lived in the Midwest, loved dancing (ballet), being in musicals, and horses! We only wrote a few times but I still remember the photos she sent and that she dotted her i's with hearts. (I found her YEARS later on Facebook!)
 
There was a big break from mail until 9 years ago, when I “met” my now pen pal Andrea on Instagram. We've been writing ever since and it's the main way we have gotten to know each other! (It all came full circle when we got to meet in person in Canada and it was like we were old friends, not weird at all :)) Through Andrea, I started signing up for mail swaps and rediscovered my love for snail mail!

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There's something special about writing a letter or sending a card through mail--maybe it's the act of putting pen to paper, of creating with words or the slower way of connecting, the patience involved or that something right in front of you can somehow travel hundreds of miles into someone else's hands. It's also a chance to reconnect with old friends and make new ones.
 
And there's definitely something special about seeing a hand addressed envelope mixed in with junk mail and bills when you open your mailbox!
 
In honor of National Letter Writing Month, I wanted to share some snail mail ideas with you (includes some kid friendly ones as well)! I hope it inspires you to send a letter, card, or postcard, or two :)

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Snail Mail Ideas To Try
  1. Make your own abstract notecards and envelopes (this is my favorite way to use extra paint!) or reverse coloring postcards to send out.
  2. Decorate the envelope Use washi tape (here are 3 methods to try), add stickers, bust out your lettering / calligraphy / cursive skills, draw or doodle, create a collage on it, use rubber stamps, etc. Here's some more inspo from my Pinterest board, Envelopes & Addresses.
  3. Try Postcrossing and send / receive postcards from around the world!
  4. Here are 30 snail mail ideas to try and here are 30 more (who to send mail to, what to write, etc.)
  5. Address the envelope c/o followed by your recipient's pet's name. Claire did this and I was absolutely delighted to see “c/o Valentine”! lol
  6. Kid friendly ideas (that are also fun for adults!):
    • Send a Dear Future Self letter to fill in and send back to you. Send it back to them when they graduate high school or college (there's a time commitment for this one but it's so worth it, trust!)
    • Have your recipient Fill In The Blanks and send back to you 
    • Send a coloring page, game, mad libs, or other activity 
    • Draw half of a drawing and have your recipient fill in the other half and send it back. This idea comes from Brooklyn! (See photo below!)
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I hope some of these ideas resonate with you and one last thing I want to share: I'll be hosting a free Zoom workshop where we'll be experimenting with mark making and creating postcards to send out into the world! Stay tuned, more details to follow in the coming week--I am very excited about this!
 
Happy April and snail mailing!
Take good care and talk to you soon,

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PS: USPS has the cutest stamps! From Betty White to marine life to leaves to star clusters, they have a huge variety in their catalog!
 
PPS: April's Creative Spark Challenge prompts and ideas will be sent out this Saturday, 4/5!

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