Week 48: 52 Letters in a Year

Hello, December! Minnesota is finally feeling like winter with 10 degrees today, but where is that snow? While I wait for it to arrive, I'll write some letters. I'm still catching up to week 49, but I'm determined to finish. Who is up for the challenge next year?

Week 48:
I didn't know where to start for this week's letter, as I have seven replies to write. My friend is coming home soon- problem solved. I wrote her a letter and sent it to her home so she'll have a little surprise upon her arrival home. I kept it simple with notebook paper and a spirograph design on the envelope. I also included a St. Andrew Christmas Novena prayer card. 

Two strips of green paper with a Spirograph
design for the address- a simple way to decorate

A beautiful picture!

Do you imagine winter as a time with or without snow? When was the last time you wrote a letter?

-Miss K

A Handful of Letters and Replies: 52 Letters in a Year

The year is speeding by with September and October now behind us. The weather has finally turned cold and brought the snow. I may have to make some winter-themed stationary. :) It's crazy to say, but there are only FIVE weeks left of the year! I've slowly gotten a few more replies, including one from Washington, D.C. 

Week 40:
My first letter to the eastern area (Washington D.C.) was sent out in October. A friend of mine moved out there in September and of course, I had to write her a letter. I used paper from my box of premade stationery, as I wanted to get it sent out the same day I wrote it and didn't have much time. 

The letter that has traveled the longest distance

Week 43:
I was surprised with two letters- one from Washington, D.C. and another from my great aunt, who always writes back very quickly. 

Washington, DC!

My great aunt's handmade card

Week 44:
A couple weeks ago, my pen pal sent me a wonderful letter and an envelope filled with lots of goodies!

Those bunny stamps add so much to this theme

The matching letter with some extra paper

A holy card, a couple BEAUTIFUL vinyl stickers,
and some old stamps

Week 46:
I received another letter from a friend, who I haven't heard from since May. A nice surprise after a long day of class! 

Bright colored envelopes are my favorite!

Week 47:

I missed a few weeks of writing, but I'm slowly catching up. I sent a reply to my pen pal's letter with some goodies. This was the first letter that I've added extra ounce stamps. To decorate the letter, I used some paper that my pen pal sent me by gluing it in the corners. I also added some washi tape for an extra decoration. 

It's always fun to look back at all the stamps- this one 
is patriotic themed

A simple collaged envelope

Another cursive letter with the goodies!

Our Lady of Lourdes bookmark

A couple Western postcards, a coloring page, and 
stickers for the goodies

Have you written any letters this year? What destination has your farthest letter reached?

-Miss K

Catching Up to Week 39: 52 Letters in a Year

I've made another appearance, finally! Summer seemed to fly by and now I'm already into my sixth week of real college, which is crazy. I'm still on track to have 52 letters sent out into the world, but I have missed some weeks. As the weeks go by, I have gotten less replies but it is still fun to send out my own letters. :) Recently, I got a reply from one of my teachers! 

I've only written one letter this moth, but I'm currently at 41 letters. Here's the pictures I have from weeks 29, 31, 34, and 39 (which is this week). 

Week 29:
Another friend of mine turned 18 in July, which means another birthday card! We were on a family vacation though, and I didn't want to bring all of my craft supplies along (because that would be a LOT). I used a premade card from my stationery set and added a birthday message to it. 

A butterfly card turned into a birthday card. 

A matching envelope to add to the butterfly theme

Week 31:
My last letter a pen pal was in August, when I created a fun summery birthday letter and card. I also sent her a Rosary bracelet in her favorite colors. Thanks to my pen pal, I have been using graph paper to practice my cursive handwriting. It works great to keep the lines straight. I used scrap paper for the edges and a "Happy Birthday" stamp. For the card, I used cardstock and designer paper, along with Tombow Brush Pens. 

Birthday letter!

Another handmaid birthday card with scraps

Mail tag: -favorite birthday celebration, 
-what superpower would you choose and why, 
-consistent routine or adventure and changes

The Rosary bracelet 

Week 34:
In August, I surprised my 9th grade English teacher with a letter. I kept it simple with notebook paper and added a wavy design around the border. I also designed a matching envelope.  

The waves bordered the entire paper.

A simple flower with more waves and dots.

Week 39:
Yesterday, I wrote to my great aunt, who has been a joy to write to. She always responds very quickly and has beautiful handwriting! I got the pleasure of visiting her this summer after not seeing her in four years, so it was time to send her another update. I used some flowered stationery paper and an envelope made by Esteban. 

I've been saving this envelope because it is
just too cute to send!

Have you ever made mail art envelopes? What is your favorite birthday celebration?

-Miss K

I'm a Little Behind: Weeks 20 through 27

Hello, friends! These days I've been busy working, but thanks to my graduation party, I have a lot of thank yous to write and they reminded me the fun of writing letters. :) I've missed blogging about it, so here I am! 

Week 20:
In my last post, I mentioned my reply to my pen pal in Missouri, but I couldn't show pictures since she hadn't received it yet. So, here are the pictures now! I kept the theme simple because I wanted more room to write the letter. I attached a small piece of a torn brown paper bag with watermelon cut outs on top of the blue paper. Then, I used a flowered washi tape to finish it off. 

Another cursive letter and mail tag
(-what is one historical
event you wish you had witnessed, -three things
you're grateful for today, -do you have a skill
that you'd like to learn)

A few goodies to add to the Spring theme: 
St. Therese of Lisiuex stickers, flowered stamp
prints, and some scrapbook paper

Week 21:
For week 21, I surprised another teacher- this time my middle school music teacher! I haven't talked to her since 8th grade so it was very fun to write. I wanted to get it done before the school year ended, so I put more time into the writing rather than the decorations. 

The musical envelope!

The simple heading for the letter

The letter!

Weeks 22-25:
Between these four weeks, I only wrote one letter, unfortunately. Between starting my new job and preparing for my graduation party, time got away from me. However, I got three replies throughout these weeks! 

Week 26:
Last week, I wrote a thank you letter to my two Cross Country and Track coaches. They've been coaching me and were on the sidelines of all my races since I was in 7th grade. They deserve a huge thank you so what better way than to write them a thank you letter! Procrastination hit me (I wrote the letter 15 minutes before the award ceremony) so I had to use a store bought thank you card.

Week 27:
This week, I started writing my thank you notes to my graduation party guests. I also wrote to my pen pal for her 18th birthday and to two friends. 

Another unique birthday card!

My gift to her was a Rosary bracelet custom made
with her favorite colors. 

The envelope for the letter and some pictures, made
with my own Spirograph design. 

I hope you enjoyed these pictures. I've also created a page titled "52 Letters in a Year Challenge". It has a few statistics that are interesting to look at, including average reply and farthest distance. 

Do you prefer to write in cursive or print? Are you enjoying your summer?

-Miss K

A Graduation Gift!

Well, well, well... time passes by too quickly. I graduated high school  one month ago and found myself a full-time job at a daycare. I haven't stopped writing letters, but I did miss a few weeks. I'm still on track to 52 letters though, thanks to my excitement at the beginning of the year. Last month, I also created my first hand-lettered gift for my friend's graduation. It's a simple, but thoughtful way to share some handmaid love! 

There are so many great quotes for graduation, but I chose one from Saint Francis de Sales for my project/gift:

"The same everlasting Father who cares for  today will care for you tomorrow and every day. Either he will shield you from suffering or give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings."

I used a set of Tombow Dual Brush Pens for this particular project. I used the thinner blue pen for most of the words, while switching it up with the brush side for the purple and red. It's not perfect with alignment, but I really love how it turned out! 

Do you use calligraphy? Have you created any hand lettering projects?

-Miss K

Weeks 16 to 20: 52 Letters in a Year

Hello, my readers! It's been a while since my last "52 Letters in a Year" post so I'm back with weeks sixteen through twenty. I've still been writing one letter every week, but I did miss three weeks during finals studying and testing. I also haven't taken pictures of every letter so I'll only be showing what I can. :)

Week 16:
I didn't get any letters written during Week 16, but my 5th grade teacher replied. :) It was so great to finally get a reply from one of my teachers. I wrote to her back in January and although it took her a few months, she did write back!  

The wonderful reply ☺

Week 17:
I wrote one letter during Week 17 to a friend who lives in the same town. We've exchanged a few letters during my 52 letter challenge even though we live just 3 miles away. You can write to someone no matter how far or close the distance is you. I also got a reply from my pen pal in Missouri. Along with the letter, she included some lovely goodies. 

The envelope's back had some washi tape and a 
brightly stamped bird. 

This is one of my favorite theme's from this
pen pal! The green flowers with the music is
great.  

Inside the music envelope, there was a large piece
of the music paper, a playlist card with similar 
blank cards, washi tape samples, stickers, flowered
paper, and a couple holy cards

Week 18-19:
I didn't get any letters written during weeks 18 or 19, but I did get one reply from a friend. That brings the total replies up to 17. 

Week 20:
Last week, I wrote back to my pen pal. I actually started the letter at the beginning of May and didn't finish until last week. I can't post too many pictures because my pen pal hasn't received it yet so I'll save those for next week. For now, here's a sneak peak:

A piece of a brown paper bag for the base, with
green paper for the address. Spring themed 
washi tape for the border. 

Has your May been too busy to write, or has it been relaxing? 

-Miss K

Week 15: 52 Letters in a Year (An Easter Package)

I've been busy writing lots of letters and mailed out letter number 27 on Saturday. A couple weeks ago, I wrote my first all cursive letter. I usually print, but I've been trying to write in cursive more often, so I decided a letter to my pen pal would be the perfect occasion to use cursive. I also included a few goodies in this package to make it Easter themed. 

Week 15:
I used graph paper for this letter because not only does it look nice, but it helps with the spacing of each word and letter. I'm not very good at writing straight unless there are lines, so graph paper is a great option to keep things straight. 

The letter and some mail tag questions (and yes, I did write
this letter in March, but it took me a month to send it)

A pouch made by my sister with mail fabric

A St. Rose of Lima holy card, Easter at Ephesus music
CD, and a bracelet with different Saint images

A Classical music playlist for Spring!

This package was a lot of fun to put together and only required a small bubbled envelope to send. My pen pal loved it and I've already gotten a reply back, but that will be shared in the next post. :)

Have you been busy writing any letters? What is your favorite type of music or songs for Spring?   

-Miss K

Week 13 and 14: 52 Letters in a Year (Another Birthday!)

I am a couple weeks behind in sharing my recent mail, but I'm going to start with week thirteen. This week features two more unique birthday cards made by me. I don't think I've ever sent this many birthday cards in a row. My great aunt's birthday was a few weeks ago and a friend's birthday was last week. I also got a few more replies, bringing the number of replies up to Fourteen!

Week 13:
A few weeks ago, I sent my great aunt a birthday card. Since I was sending out a birthday card almost every week, I decided to find out her birthday, and it just happened to be March 25. I quickly made another birthday card for her. My little sister also colored her a coloring page. 

I used calligraphy on this card too.

A birthday envelope: "Sending birthday wishes to"

My sister's birthday coloring page

Week 14:
My friend who lives out in Wyoming turned 18 last week, so I made sure to send her a birthday card and a letter. I followed the same technique as above, only I used a different color card stock.  

I like the look of the slanted words on this one!

I drew some balloons on the front of the envelope
and wrote "Happy Birthday" on the back.

More Replies:
It has been so much fun to see the replies arrive in the mailbox! I enjoy all of the different cards and envelopes, including the pink one (below) from a friend. My great aunt has been the quickest one to respond each time and makes her own card every time (also seen below). 

Have you sent any mail this year? Have you written anything lately?  

-Miss K

Weeks 10, 11, & 12: 52 Letters in a Year

I've managed to let the last two weeks slip by without posting my letters. I've been busy writing, though, with 22 letters sent out into the snail mail world. I also received a few replies so I'll share those at the end. My letters for the last weeks include one to an aunt, one to a friend, one to a pen pal, and a birthday card. Later this week, I'll be sharing another birthday card for my great aunt's birthday. March seems to be the month for birthdays!

Week 10:
Two weeks ago, I wrote to my aunt who lives in Washington. It was fun writing to her because I've only met her twice and it has been a while since I saw her. I kept it simple by using a piece of blue copy paper and adding a flower in the top corner. I colored a flower from an adult coloring book and glued it to a piece of scrapbook paper. Those adult coloring books work great for adding to letters! 

The corner decoration

A spring themed envelope to match

Week 11, Letter 1:
This week I sent another birthday card to a friend. I like making each birthday card unique, so this one was a little different than the last one. I also used a spring themed envelope since her birthday was the day before Spring. 

I used a "Happy birthday" stamp and some
washi tape to decorate

Isn't this a pretty envelope?

Week 11, Letter 2:

At the end of last week, I decided I wanted to write another letter. I used a piece of pink copy paper and added washi tape to the edges. To make it Spring themed, I added some blue scrapbook paper to the corners. Then, I added a sunflower sticker and an owl stamp to finish it.  

Homemade stationery paper is the best!

A butterfly envelope made by Esteban

Week 12:

The theme of all these letters is Spring! I've only used graph paper for math so I experimented with it for this letter. I really like how it looks so I may write more on graph paper. Some leftover scrapbook paper, flowered washi tape, and a bird sticker finished up the theme on this one! 

The graph paper letter

A simple envelope made using a Spirograph

The Replies:

I have four replies to share from the last few weeks. It really is exciting when a reply lands in the mailbox! Enjoy the pictures: 

A big thank you to Michelle Houts, the creator
of this challenge, for sending me a reply!

Another card from a friend

The second reply from my great aunt

My pen pal's letter with a mail tag, stickers, 
pressed flowers, and a postcard

Which letter/card and envelope was your favorite? Has spring weather arrived in your state? 

-Miss K