Golly!

^ My hair is not black, I have no idea why it looks black.

Well folks, today ranked pretty highly in the good mail day stakes; nine items in one day. Thank you so much if you've sent me a letter recently (or ever). It is truly wonderful and rewarding to be a part of this blogging-mailing community. C ran out to get the mail this morning and Mr Postman said "So what's with all the colourful stuff?", to which C went on to quickly explain my mail obsession to him. I really got too many things today to share all in one blog, so I might post them over a couple of days (assuming that I don't get another 9 tomorrow). The mail haul coincided wonderfully with my getting a Pro Flickr account. I've been desperate for one for years, but never really had the change to spare, so after getting paid for a gig last week I thought that regardless of the fact that I'll spend the majority of it on food and bills, I'd lash out and get a yearly account. I certainly recommend it. You're welcome to visit it - I'll be updating it more frequently now with various things, some of which I won't post on the blog;


^ Two packages, two postcards and five letters.

❶ The first item came from a blogger that I really like named Elissa who writes with great humour at Cerebral Excrement. I am especially fond of her haikus. Looking over the contents of this package was exciting. I'm probably going to go crazy with the photos as I want to include every little detail!;

^ Cute huh? I love the Anne Taintor cards (who she spotted that I liked from my Amazon wishlist). The package included several types of gorgeous Japanese stationery as well as some 'vintage' sheets from her own collection (Minnie Mouse, Barbie) and two sheets of Small Object stickers. AND, the whole package smelled awesome! I find scented mail quite fascinating. My cat was sitting on the table next to me as I opened the package and the smell seemed to calm her down :P An overwhelmingly wonderful package.

❷ The second great package comes from a wonderful correspondent, Garci. She made the envelope from a record cover. They make very sturdy envelopes! ♡ Cinderella;
^ As you can see, it was actually opened by Australian quarantine under suspicion that it may have contained something heinous. It didn't, but they did include these handy pamphlets;



The paper she used to write the letter on made me laugh out loud. So good :D A placemat from 'Dirty Dick's Crab House'. She also gave a funny recount of visiting the place;

^ The contents of Garci's package; lots of wonderful Valentines themed items and a little package of red ephemera.

❸

^ A beauteous letter from Belen in a pretty handmade scrapbook paper envelope. I had to include the little chocolate she included with her 'Review of a chocolate bar eaten recently in 50 words or less'. I ate if before breakfast :P Very tasty. Can't wait to reply :) I already have an envelope made up.

Eh, to heck with it, I'm going to post all of the mail I received today *cackles as she steals all of your bandwidth* Ehehe...

❹

^ A delightful unexpected package from Jennie (aka one half of Good Mail Day). It included a great little pouch of ephemera she gleaned from her collection (it was my day for ephemera), a little letter and a zine about my favourite kind of art, mail art.

❺ I also received three different items from Lauren;

^ Postcards, stickers, teeny tiny envelopes and iTunes card and some paper in a wonderful handmade calendar envelope.

❻+❼

^ They're both wonderful in their own ways and I agree with the hooked arm man.

❽ And something from a Finnish friend, Sirpa - another of her wonderful envelopes;


Last but not least was a lovely little Valentine from Aaron, whose just started up a great blog about food and mail;


Besides taking about two hours to open and read all of this lovely mail and taking a hundred photos of it, I also purchased a rather nice Olympus De Luxe typewriter on Ebay today. Some of the typewriters on there are in perfect condition and sell for $5 - $20 making them pretty irresistible. The one I bid on didn't offer postage, so I am catching the train to Sydney (3 hours away - two trains and a bus!) and navigating my way to Concord to pick it up! I'll report back with it's loveliness. I assume a new ribbon for it will be in order and they seem to be in abundance on Ebay for a couple of coins. I am sorry if I overwhelmed you with pictures of mail. It was overwhelming to receive them!