Swap-bot Quick Cat Postcard #4

Just when I think that all I ever get in Swap-Bot postcard swaps is junk, I get this AMAZING postcard in a little cat postcard swap.

Made my day.

Yay fangs!

Postcrossing is down

Tragedy! I cannot feed my Postcrossing addiction!

I noticed it was down sometime last night. I'm surprised it's still down this morning. I even got an email from someone who received one of my postcards but can't register it yet.

I am all nervous with apprehension. Hope it's back up soon! Is anyone else as twitchy about this as I am?

Edit: HOORAY, as of 9:30pm it's back up!

Whew. I can breathe again.

Soda on my writing desk, AGAIN

Soda is on my writing desk a lot lately. She knows she will get an occasional pet there, and it seems my writing lamp is a low-grade heat lamp. She's so cute, and I'm so over-indulgent, that I take a lot of pictures of her there. And then share them incessantly with you.



But part of my motivation is that I really love photos of other people's writing spaces, especially when they're in action, and not just recently cleaned-up and pretty (although those are nice, too). I only got a dedicated writing desk late last summer, so it's still sort of new to me, and I really, really love it. At first I thought I would dislike the white lattice (a permanent fixture in our house) around it, but actually I love it. The cats can poke their faces through and say hi (there are stairs and a platform behind it, so the cats are eye-level with me if they meow through the lattice), and now I've discovered that it's a great place from which to hang things! I have a few cute little pen pal gifts hanging there, as well as an Edward Gorey calendar. There's more now than when this photo was taken a number of weeks ago, but as I glance up at my writing desk now, I realize that everything up there is something someone else has sent to me. Cool - I had a theme and I didn't even know it!

Soda says hi. If I wrote you a letter or postcard recently, she probably helped.

Stamps from Qatar

A friend and colleague spent a good chunk of the past year in Doha, Qatar. Of course, I asked her for her address so we could exchange letters. It was fun to see her get excited about snail mail again, and I confess I knew this was probably one of my only chances to get mail from Qatar! (There are only 37 Postcrossing users in Qatar, for example.)

I had to scan some of the stamps on one of her most stamp-ful letters, because I thought they were so interesting and different. I don't get many stamps with Arabic on them.

Here is a factor I never considered: I had to send my friend mail through her husband's workplace, because Qatar does not do mail delivery to residences, only to businesses. Can you imagine? No wonder there aren't very many Postcrossers! I found myself wondering, what does one do if one is unemployed, or retired? Can one get mail there?

Inkognito cat postcard exchange

I am a huge fan of Inkognito postcards and cards. The artwork is always interesting. So I'm especially tickled when I get one in the mail! I got this fine example, called "Comics Lesson," from Stephanie in Arizona...



...and she added such fantastic artwork! She drew two of my favorite themes: cats and mailboxes.



To keep the theme going, I sent her an Inkognito cat postcard in return. This one is called "Katz & Maus."



I don't have her drawing skills, but I did include a glitter cat sticker on my response. (I think I recall correctly that the glitter did indeed arrive intact.)

My new(ish) return address stamp

In my recent post about my new mail organizer, I foreshadowed this post by noting I had another new year's gift to myself to blog about. So here we go: my new return address stamp!



I got it online from Paperwink, and they were just delightful in the whole process. This particular design is called antique. I've oft admired their handiwork, sometimes on the envelopes of pen pals, and I'm really glad I pulled the trigger and got this one.

In the photo above, you can see how nice and thick the spongy backing/mounting is. It's really springy, and I love the feel of it when I use it. The handle fits both the stamp and my hand nicely, and it seems to be very well-made.



For reasons I can't quite explain, I've always been superstitious about getting a return address stamp -- thinking I'll just move as soon as I get one -- and it's a little ironic, because right after this arrived, we went through a 2-month period thinking we were in fact likely to move to another state. But we're not. We're staying here for a while, so I'm glad I got it. I purposely didn't put my name on it, just my address. These photos aren't the best, and it CAN give a better impression than this - the envelope here is textured - but I sort of like it when it fades out, too.



I got one of the smaller designs so it could be stamped even on large postcards. I use this puppy almost daily, and it almost always gives a lovely impression.

I ♥ my new mail organizer

I got myself a couple of mail-related New Year's gifts. (I'll post about the other one soon, never you fear.) My husband saw this in a magazine and convinced me that I would love it, and he was absolutely right!



I got mine on Amazon; it is the "Gramata WA8235 House Your Mail-Wooden Organizer" in Walnut stain.



I took these photos back in January and my slots are a little more full now, but this is how I keep my mail piles in check. Oversize stuff has to go on the top, but all the little slots mean something in my system. It really is a big help in staying organized.



I was skeptical about the size of the slots at first, but most of my mail fits nicely in there. It's attractive and practical; I enjoy looking at and using it. It can be wall-mounted, but I have a nice space near my writing desk where it fits nicely on a counter. It is a few steps away from my writing desk, so it is easy to access, but doesn't take any space away from my actual writing surface.

I am wildly enthusiastic about this organizer. It is solid wood, and well-made. I recommend it highly to any mail enthusiast. I decided to leave my slots unlabeled, but you can see the little brass holders for labels (label paper included) where you can denote each slot's purpose or contents. I still have a couple of empty slots, but I know their perfect use will come to me soon.

Lovely letter-writing quote

...I've been passionate about letter writing and receiving. Some women buy a new shade of lipstick when they need their spirits lifted; I write a letter. For me, once in the mood, it is never a question of finding time -- there is always time to write, just as there is always time to enjoy life. I wonder, how can we not find time to sweeten our lives? I know that my own life would become impoverished if I were somehow forced to cease my letter writing.

-Alexandra Stoddard, "Gift of a Letter"

I need to reference this for inspiration and a reminder. I am coming out of a period of time when I really WAS so busy that I couldn't find the time, or so it seemed... but now I have breathing room again, and I'm hitting the letters.

I also think I buy new stationery when I need my spirits lifted...