One week, 5 posts

It's now been a week since decided to come back to my blog. It wasn't one of those large scale resolutions, but just the thought that I missed it. I had no real goals about it besides just wanting to write again and I was surprised how easy it was. Somehow I managed to write five posts, including this one, without really having to think too much about it.

I was worried about being able to find things to write about, but that wasn't hard. It was more of a challenge to find the time. That will be an ongoing struggle, but I think that if I keep this up, I won't waste time thinking about what to write, and just do it when I get a moment.

Due to my pedantic nature I am really tempted to make more specific plans and schedules. I feel an urgent need to set goals and a detailed road map...

Have I ever mentioned how I'm a natural project manager? Like, to the point that I like statistics and Excel sheets? I really like to break large concepts into smaller pieces and then make a plan to achieve it all?

Maybe one day I will get there with my blogging, but right this moment it feels too constrictive of what I want to do. I just want to write about silly things and some not-so-silly ones. I'll want to write every day or once a month, depending on how I feel. It's a new way for me, so again, I'll just leave it at that.

Less self-censored writing and a little more silliness.

The biggest obstacle right now is actually photos. I need to get into taking more photos and figure out a new routine for editing them. So far the photos on my posts have not had much to do with the text. I'll take that on as the next issue to tackle!

Losing my writing groove

I miss writing. There was a time when I wrote this blog almost every day. I rarely had posts waiting to be published for more than a few days, more often than not I wrote and published them the same day. Yet I kept having things to write about.

I miss that unplanned, almost careless blogging. Since then I got into my own head and didn't want to publish anything that wasn't complete. The photos had to be perfectly edited and the text absolutely fine-tuned. I started second guessing my choice of topics and my content. I got to the point that I even stopped sharing my mail-related projects! That was the one topic I felt I could always write about.

I still have a number of photos and a few fully written snailmail posts that never saw the light of day. After rereading them one too many times I thought they were the same thing over and over again. And, to be honest, they were. I've written quite a few letters in the last few months, but instead of trying to come up with something new for the decorations or some clever gimmics, I just did something that I thought the recipient might like.

That has always been the priority for me, but I really like sharing some of the outgoing mail. I like photos of stationery and I like to contribute to the steady stream, especially on Instagram. I feel like maybe if we collectively share enough photos of our correspondence, more people will get into sending old school mail.

But I will not let the desire to come up with new ideas become an obstacle in sharing what I make. It will always first be for the recipient and only then for sharing.

Another writing related thought I've had recently, is that the less I wanted to share about myself, the harder it became to write anything at all. I've always been extremely private, so it takes me a long time to share anything even with people I know personally. I can't let that stop me from writing my blog.

There's so many things I would like to talk about and share with you, so I am learning to share a little more openly. More on that another time!

What do you like to read about bloggers?

What now?

Mid February is an odd time to write about new years resolutions. Especially when I've only vaguely started figuring out what they might be.

Maybe they should be called something else?

The term itself has a temporary vibe to them. Sort of half-assed if you will. The kind where you're determined to lose weight but start secretly eating cinnamon rolls half way through January. Or sneak a smoke when out with your buddies, because it's just once and Saturday nights don't really count anyway.

"Making Changes in ones life" sounds too serious. Saying that "things need to change" imply that you're extremely unhappy or have just made some grave life decision. Don't get me even started about "decisions". Just writing things like this sounds a whole lot more serious that it really needs to be.

I'm making improvements. Things are good, but need a little tweaking.

There's not a whole lot of big things in the works, just many little ones. I spent new years eve moving furniture. It took three days into 2015 to get them where they needed to be. For now at least. I've been tossing things. There are a whole lot of things.

I've talked about it before, I like to keep stuff. I am a DIYer, so everything is raw material. Everything could be something else. I know, however, that when I have too many potential projects, nothing gets done. So, I've been going through my possessions.

I love fashion but hate shopping for clothes. So I have a lot of clothing that is almost what I wanted. Over the years I have fixed my habit of buying a lot of things for cheap and have started buying better quality. Unfortunately even if the quality is great, if the piece of clothing doesn't serve it's purpose, it's basically a waste of space.

I dream of a wardrobe where everything fits and a home where everything has it's place. I miss the ease of writing I enjoyed a few years ago with this blog. I over-think and under-perform on daily basis. I've talked about all this before, yet I'm still working on it.

I don't quite know where all of this is heading, but I'm quite interested to see. I'm really tempted to make promises about this blog. Things I'll write about and how often and what my goals are. Instead, let's just see if I can get the enjoyment back without setting too many deadlines and goals and milestones I have to reach.

That'll do for now. 

Mailless Monday - Fourth week of 2015

We got a new computer. It's all snazzy and awesome, but nothing is yet set up the way I like. So, no photos. I sent some mail, but it was nothing earth-shatteringly amazing.

I've been working on a lot of new things, yet nothing is finished, nor in a state ready to share.

There's ideas.

And plans.

And started projects.

I'm excited and just a tad apprehensive.

We'll see where the plans take me! More interesting things soon!

How are you?

3 years - Is that even a toddler anymore?

I got this nagging feeling at the back of my head that today is somehow important. I don't think it's anyone's birthday (ok, anyone I know. I assume a lot of people have birthdays today. Happy birthday!) and I didn't have any kinds of deadlines approaching...

I'm glad I checked! As of today, I've been blogging for 3 years! Holy crap. That's a long while. I mean, I did take a few breaks, but still... So many things have happened...

The blog name changed. I stopped using a nickname and started blogging with my own name and face too. (I should probably change that photo soon. It's been the same one for a while now. I've moved to a new city. I began and stopped working. I got tattoos (3 of them). I was happy and I was sad... So many things! I mean, I have (sort of) had (tried) to be a (somewhat) responsible adult. Because, you know, a kid.

I challenge you to think over the last three years! What has happened? Please share some of your experiences, I'd love to hear about them!

I feel like we should celebrate somehow... Any ideas?

Mail Monday

What I weekend that was... It was 50% awesomeness, 50% crazy-stress. Go figure.

My Saturday was the awesome part. I met friends, whom I haven't seen in way too long, for brunch and we got to catch up over some huevos rancheros and grilled cheese sandwiches. 

We then proceeded to walk around the Riverside neighborhood where I randomly walked into a shop selling secondhand furniture. Turns out I walked in Debbie's Vintage Vibes. The furniture in the front threw me off for a moment, but you can only imagine how excited I was then I realized that the back of the shop has a room full of vintage clothes (and jewelry and accessories and shoes...). And good ones too! And, I think the best part was Debbie herself. She's so awesome and knows what she's talking about. I kinda didn't want to leave. I'll go back with more time, it's time to thin out the closet again, so I want my vintage pieces to have a good home.

Sunday, on the other hand, ended up being quite stressful. There wasn't any particular one thing that stressed me out, but it was a concentration of so many things. Some longer term plans of ours changed quite drastically, so all of a sudden all schedules are completely off. I have to now finish a lot of projects in a few weeks instead of a few months. I have to give up on some plans. No need to dwell on the negative though, so let's just start a new week with some mail.

Outgoing

Let's start with the collage one. It's a larger size than my regular ones, so I had to get creative. I didn't have a envelope that large, so I gift wrapped it. There's also a lot more space to decorate, so I ended up making a black and white collage out of paper I had at hand. I find this is how most of my collages come to life. They are a combination of things I have just been working with in the right color scheme.

Then we have a more simple one. A autumn-toned envelope. I actually used the stickers on this mail first and then started using them on the previous one. Hence, spelling out a lot of random things until the letters ran out.  Please note the color-coordinated candy at the bottom!

This one's going to Mary who, as it happens, just mentioned she's getting a cold. I'm glad I just sent this package out, since it's actually tea. The bag of tea is behind the envelope and all of this is in a cellophane bag. Now, let's just hope it gets there really, really soon. I'd like to think I had great foresight in sending this!

Incoming

Ooh, a fun aqua one for me! How nice is that monogram sticker on the corner there? And you gotta love the Korean stickers! Well, not to mention the actual letter inside. Thank you Susanne!

So, question of the day: if you get into a stressful moment in your life, how do you handle it? Any nifty tricks?

(Apparently writing a blog post seems to help...)

Monday Mail

Somehow I feel like every time I get a few minutes to write this blog, it's always Monday. And I can't, obviously, not do a Monday mail post, so here we go again.

Before we get into the mail part though, let me tell you that I have a bunch of ideas I want to write about! Like tons. And a whole load of tutorials too. I just haven't figured out how to fit writing into my new routine. I'm also more inspired than I have been in a long time about my shop and new products, so that's taking up a bunch of time as well.

Now, this isn't really one of those so-sorry-I-haven't-blogged-shame-on-me - kind of posts. I am learning still and I acknowledge that. This is more of a hey-got-any-ideas-how-to-orgnize-my-time-better - kind of posts. Or perhaps just helping me to try sorting all this out. I guess it's just time to really look into everything I do in a day and figure out where to carve out more time for things I like doing. Organize and prioritize. How very September-ish, no?

All in all, it's been a great week, the weekend was fantastical. We took an imprompu vacation, which helped start the let's get organized mindset again. More on that and many more topics, once I figure out how to make time for it!

In the mean time, here's some mail:

Outgoing

Let's start with a black and white one. I think it started with the envelope and took off from there. I looked for black and white stamps, tape and decorations.

Like so often, you can see a peek of what's inside this letter on my Instagram. Follow me on Instagram to get more up to date photos and peeks on the insides of my letters and a bunch of other stuff: like the Batmobile, punny alpacas, crafting and so. much. food.

I feel like the next one is so colorful to counterbalance the previous one. The envelope is made out of a book page using the envelope templates (a tutorial on how to make one yourself is HERE, in case you haven't seen it yet).

How was your weekend? Do you have any good time-management tips for me?

One year

In the last year I wrote 9 blog posts.

I did a whole lot of other things in that time, but blogging certainly wasn't one of them.

I started a full time job which, despite being a tad skeptical at first, I ended up loving. I got promoted and got to work on an incredible project. After a few months of long days and weekends spent in the office, I was offered a more permanent position and I was on a path to another promotion. I've never loved a job more than that one.

Then, I had to quit that job.


We moved to Toronto.

Amidst all that I wasn't feeling well. In fact, I was sick for exactly 39 weeks. Then, I traded that (wildly inaccurately named "morning") sickness to a little bit less sleep, but a whole lot more awesomeness as my son was born March 27th. So yeah, I'm working on being all adult-y and stuff, being a parent and all.

In the last months this blog has been at the back of my mind. Not forgotten, just... brewing. I've been wanting to write, but at first, I wasn't feeling well or just didn't have the time. Then, I felt it had been so long that I didn't quite know how to start.


Now, in the last month and a bit, I've started to "do the blogging thing" again. I might not have written anything, but as I make more things, start and finish more projects and see new sights, I've started to think how to share them here, with you. After finishing a piece of mail, I take a photo with a nice background. While working on a new project, I take step by step photos. When I go exploring new neighborhoods, I take photos and mental notes about interesting things about that place I'd like to write about.

A little while ago I finally decided to take a peek at the inner workings of this site. I figured I'd quickly glance through if there's any activity or the unlikely chance that there might be a comment left somewhere... To my utter disbelief, not only was there activity, but there is, in fact, quite a bit of it. My DIY posts are still getting a lot of love online. There are new links back to my site.


Hell, a few times I have searched my own blog to find a particular recipe, so I guess it's safe to assume a few others might come by as well... I didn't expect quite so many of you though.

So, without any promises or internal pressures:

Hi guys! How have you been?