I missed my blog's 5th anniversary!

OOPS - how did this one slip by me? This blog turned 5 years old on December 16, 2013. I do not have a fancy graphic, or anything else fancy to say, except that I just noticed it and felt I should acknowledge it!

Time is a strange thing. In some ways I feel like I've been doing this blog for ages, but mostly I can't believe it's been 5 years.

To celebrate, I'll share a random selection of a few of my favorite posts over the years:

Why not use a return address?

2011: a year in mail

Dialing for stamps

Last mail art of 2012

Mail art thank-you

The amazing cat pouch letter

Envaccordion!

Curb your dog

I am also nearing my 1000th post, and if I can get off my duff and post more than twice a month, I should achieve that in 2014.

4 years of Missive Maven

This little blog of mine is four years old today. I can't believe it. In some ways it seems so much longer, and in other ways I think, FOUR YEARS??!?

I know in the past year I haven't posted as much as in previous years, and right now it's my busiest of busy seasons, but I still so enjoy the wonderful mail blogging community. So on my fourth blogoversary, I say a big thank you to all of you, wonderful blog readers!

May you continue to send and receive magnificent mail, and thanks for sharing your stories and reading mine.

Missive Maven is 3 years old today

Happy Blogoversary to me! I can't believe it's been 3 years. It seems like much longer, and much shorter than that, all at once.

I want to thank all my wonderful readers for joining me on this epistolary-blogging journey. You are all an inspiration, and a heck of a lot of fun, too.

I never thought I'd end up blogging this long, or this intensely, or that the whole Missive Maven endeavor would turn out to be such a large and fulfilling portion of my life.

This is my busy season at work, and I know the posts fall way down during November, December, January and February. So I wish I had some big bombastic way to celebrate this anniversary, but as it is, I'm just happy I've managed a blog post on the day. I hope to do some more catch-up posts at the end of the month, but in the meantime, I'm trying to prioritize my little free time towards putting pen and ink to paper.



And for now... let's both go write a letter!

Missive Maven stamps, in honor of my 2-year blogoversary

To celebrate my Blogoversary (Missive Maven is 2 years old today!), I present my new Missive Maven stamps. I designed and ordered these photo stamps through Zazzle.com and I'm pretty pleased with how they've turned out. Some of them have already traveled out on letters. The first-class letter rate and postcard rate are represented. They are made from my own photos.

You can take a closer look at the image on Flickr.

I am playing around with the idea of a Zazzle store. I have in fact already started one, but I'm not quite ready to share the link.

Would anyone else be interested in buying stamps like this? Should I sell them on Zazzle or is that too opportunistic? Do be honest. Your reader feedback is invaluable to me.

Almost blogoversary!

It just dawned on me (thanks to my own Blogoversary counter) that this little blog is almost two years old. We'll celebrate that birthday on December 16. That's going to be a very busy day for me -- and it's a very busy week -- so I don't know if I'll think ahead to post it. If I were really organized, I'd schedule the post ahead of time and put a fancy picture with it; and I have a good idea for that, hmmmm.... but things have been so nuts lately that I'd better just put it out there while I'm thinking of it.

I can't believe how many incredible letters I've exchanged with blog readers and pen pals over the past two years. I can't believe how much MORE there seems to be about letter-writing on the internet now... I felt like I was one of the only letter-writing blogs two years ago, and now there are masses of them. (Of course the fabulous Letter Writers Alliance long predates my internet presence.) Hooray for letters! Hooray for connecting on the internet in order to walk away from the computer and put pen to paper!

Happy Birthday to this blog!

No fancy photos, no cake with candles - but today my labor of love, this here Missive Maven blog, is one year old.

It's been a great year. I can't even say how much all the blog reader letters have meant to me, and how many of you have become cherished pen pals.

When I started this blog a year ago, I had no idea how popular it would be, or how many people I would inspire to write more letters. It's been a fabulous journey... and it's not over yet!

Don't mean to make a big to-do, but I'm a little verklempt over this milestone. (If the rest of my life weren't so busy right now, I maybe would make a big to-do.)

Go write a letter!

Love,
The Missive Maven
Now 1 year old