Pen Pals and A Journal Swap

I have loved writing snail mail since I was a kid. And it is a passion that never died for me.

Over the last few years I got involved on online pen pal groups. I have been really lucky to make a few true friends. I have taken part in swaps and exchanges, but have been burned on several occasions.A friend of mine, originally from the USA but currently living in The Netherlands, had the same experience. So we decided that since we are friends and trust each other, we would do our own swap!

The both of us LOVE the fall. I suggested an October themed journal. We both spent the month of October working on our projects for each other. The beginning of November we both sent off our swap and crossed our fingers that they would each arrive safe and sound.

Last Friday she got hers in the mail, and yesterday I got mine! 🙂

My October themed journal. 🙂

I was thrilled when I got home and seen the big package on my table. I opened it right away.

The both of us put in a lot of work and effort and made ‘fat’ journals.

I loved reading everything and looking at the photos. The both of us put a lot of work into it. She wrote about some of her memories, Thanksgiving recipes, Halloween ideas and fun crafts. I loved reading about the local legends from her home town and also reading about her trip to Romania. (I am super jealous she got to see Dracula’s castle! But also so happy for her!)

I love how she put the pages together. On some she drew, wrote out poems, memories, and more. It gave me ideas how I could do another journal down the road.

We are talking about doing another one next year, maybe a Halloween one since it is something we love and something I could get creative with. I am already thinking of local ghost stories to tell her.

One thing I love about pen palling, is learning about other people’s traditions and stories. I am thrilled we did this and I look forward to doing them again down the road. 🙂

r r, we sent off the mini scarp

Incoming: Geek Mail!

One thing I love about penpalling, is making some great connections with people. I especially love creating new geeky friendships, like the one I have with Shannon! 🙂

Awhile back, we decided to do a mail swap. Since we have been writing to each other for awhile, I knew quickly that she’s good people, and I could trust her. And since she trusted me, we knew we wouldn’t get burned.

We are both big geeks and went with a fandom themed swap, and set the limit at $25. Which was hard since I wanted to buy her ALL THE THINGS.

This is most of what I sent Shannon for her swap. 🙂 (Not in pic is a Doctor Who themed bracelet).

She loved what I sent, and today I received her swap! Which made me squeeeeeee! I am very pumped and love all that she sent! 🙂

The first thing I opened were these lil beauties.

Superman stickers and an Avengers projector pen!

And like the kid that I am, it didn’t take long for me to put on a light show.

Avengers! I have a feeling I won’t get much writing done when using this pen! 😛

I pretty much mini freaked when I opened the next bit.

I have loved Superman since I was itty bitty.

It’s a bit hard to tell in this pic, but those are Batman and Superman earrings. (Which might just end up being the earrings I wear next year for our big fat geek wedding!!! 😀 ) Also, Superman deco tape, which will be put to use this weekend when I sit to write some letters.

Game of Thrones goodies.

And the spoiling continues. I am in love with these bookmarks and necklace from GoT. I am thinking Khal Drogo needs to go in my next book.

Thor keychain and Lord of The Rings inspired earrings.

Thor’s hammer is about to go onto my key chain, next to my mini Jon Snow. And I giggled when I opened these earrings. I have been eyeing them up for awhile!! 😛

I am beyond happy with my swap and thrilled she loved hers as well. I also got a lovely letter as well, which I plan to reply to on the weekend. (As well as a couple of other letters I need to get to! Don’t worry peeps, I didn’t for get you! ^_^ )

After a very long day and a couple of more ahead of me, coming home to this package on my table was a great pick me up. 🙂 Thank you again, Shannon!!!!! xoxoxo

Mail Call From Across The Globe

Imagine my surprise when I dropped into my post office this afternoon to find this waiting for me.

A massive package from Australia and a fab letter from Quebec.

I have been pen pals with my girl Jess for….longer than I can remember.

And whenever we are able, we send each other Christmas and birthday gifts. Sometimes, like this year, we are late with our exchange. But nothing like getting a nice surprise in June!

This right here means the world to me. These words say it all. My best friend is on the other side of the world but that doesn’t matter to us. (Sucks sometimes though!)

Even though we live far apart, we have a fantastic friendship. It is amazing how close you can become with someone when distance is a factor.

We have gotten to know each other very well. And she knows all my loves and obsessions, including my massive and unnatural love for Halloween. 😉

Halloween cupcake tray, candles, and a wooden sign.

I also received a fab letter from a Canadian pal of mine. 🙂 I love the mail art and as a bonus she sent me geeky business cards for my collection!

Letter and business cards.

I love getting mail and this was more then I ever expected! Very grateful for the friendships I have. 🙂

The awesomeness that is IGGPPC | Midget Bites

A few times now I have mentioned IGGPPC (International Geek Girl (or guy!) Penpal Club). One of my fellow Iggles and friends wrote this post, and I thought I would share. She explains it perfectly.

The awesomeness that is IGGPPC | Midget Bites.

Spiderman and Snailmail!

I am a lucky gal. With almost a month of no incoming mail, I have received a letter today and yesterday.

The cute pink and peach decorated letter I got yesterday, from Rosa in Denmark.

I was very happy to read Rosa’s lovely letter. It was decorated with washi tape, which I LOVE. I have a lot of rolls of it, but I know some people who have waaaaay more.

This morning I was stoked when I opened my mailbox. Not only did I have something that wasn’t a bill, but POW!

Spiderman!

I got the most geeky letter of my life this morning! 😀 From Shannon who happens to live in the same province as myself.

My letter and goodies.

How can you have a bad day when Spiderman is saying hi?!

I am thrilled with both letters. Both were a great read from two great ladies. I am looking forward to replying to them in the very near future! 🙂

New Book Series by JR Ward and my Happy Mail

So firstly, because I am freaking the hell out at this news, I have to mention the newest on J.R.Ward.

My book review I posted the other day was one book in the Blackdagger Brotherhood series, which I am in love with.

The one thing with the books growing, the story becoming more complex, is that you see ledd of the ‘originals.’ The vamps that made you fall in love with them.

You still see them of coarse. One thing I loved about ‘Lover Unleashed’ was that I got to see the POV of Vishous, who is one of the originals.

Anyway, seems like JR Ward misses them too. the good ol’ days. The fun times with lines such as “If you’re going to bloody up the human, please take him outside.” And things like cherry stems, Grey Goose, and the boys causing shenanigans.

She’s announced a new series, which the brothers are back in the forefront, and the first book comes out this December. I can hardly contain myself. Mr. C is shaking his head at me. I love him but he just doesn’t get it.

Here is the link to the WARDen’s Goodreads post, explaining it all.

Goodreads | J.R. Ward’s Blog – The Black Dagger Legacy Series – February 10, 2015 09:21.

In other news, I was super stoked to get a letter today from Rosa in Denmark! (I hope my letter reaches you soon, if it already hasn’t!) It’s been a slow mail month (incoming wise) since I owe so many people a letter. So I was very happy to find the pretty letter in my mail box! 🙂 I just making a post from my phone app this morning, but in good old classic Blackberry fashion, my app isn’t working.

Anyway, I am going to go back to squeeeeeing over this latest news and attempt to write a letter 😉

10 Problems Only Pen Pals Have

 

I was on Facebook this morning when I discovered this post that one of my friends shared. I thought fellow snail mailers would find this cute. I personally relate to numbers two and four the most!!

I hope everyone is having a happy Saturday so far. Aside from cleaning (boring!), I finished my first book of the year. Kinda of sad seeing as how the month is almost over, however I feel like I am getting back on track with things now that the month from hell is just about finished.

 

10 Problems Only Pen Pals Have.

My Snailmail Challenge and How to get Some Happy Mail of Your Own

So last week I talked about my resolutions for the new year, and one of them was in regards to snail mail. I love opening my mail box and finding something that isn’t a bill or junk mail.

I decided that February will be my month to have my Snail Mail Challenge, in which I will write a piece of mail every single day. Letter writing might be a dying art but it’s not dead yet!

It will also allow me to get caught up (and stay caught up) on my personal letter pile. Sometimes I’ll write a short letter, sometimes it might be just a card and a note.

I wanted to get my followers involved. Do you write letters? If so, care to join me in my happy mail quest? If not, would you like to get something in the mail that isn’t a bill? Here’s how!

I created an email just for my blog. If you’d like to possibly find something extra in your mailbox next month, let me know! Email me (thegeekybooklady@hotmail.com) your address and a couple of things about yourself! I doubt I will get overloaded, but if I do I might not be able to get to everyone BUT I will do my best to do so! Unless I get a thousand messages, I plan to answer everyone. 🙂

I’ll be posting about it each week in February on “Snailmail Monday’s”. If you write letters and plan to do this with me, let me know! I’m curious who is going to help me breath some life into this dying art. 🙂

New Year, New Resolutions

It is that time of year when people are getting ready to make new plans and goals for themselves. Loose weight. Save money. Go to the gym. Blah, blah, blah.

Last year I didn’t make any, since I seem to fail at any and all I make. One year I gave up pop. What was I doing three weeks later? Sipping on a Pepsi and thinking “Oh shit, didn’t I give this up?”

This year I decided to make some that I consider fun. It is more to help me get some things accomplished, rather then improve myself/my life. (I try to do that anyway during the year.)

So here is a list of my 2015 Resolutions!

1- Read. I’m setting myself a goal on Goodreads to read 30 books this year. I do hope to read more then that, but that’s a realistic number for me. Between life getting in the way, and migraines, I can’t read a book or more a week ALL year. I posted a book challenge not too long ago, and I plan to use it as a guide and see how many I can scratch off.

2- Write. I’m going to finish my NaNo novel I wrote this year and polish it off. With any luck, I’ll submit it somewhere as well. I also want to keep going here, and start a new project or two at the very least.

3- Snail mail! I’m hoping in February or March to have a snail mail challenge, in which I will write a piece of mail every day. It might be a card or full blown letter. I’ll be posting about it here before hand. Maybe someone will want to join me, or even get a piece of mail themselves 🙂 (You know it is way better then getting a bill!)

4- Create My Bucket List. I recently found a journal I had when I was fifteen. I wrote about forty things I wanted to do by the time I was thirty. I actually managed to do some. However my efforts to end world hunger have yet to work. I decided I’m going to write up a new list, and make plans to start scratching it off. Some things will be easier to accomplish, and others will be in the “far fetched” category. Hey, it never hurts to dream! (And at fifteen I didn’t think I’d get to actually “Meet ten celebrities.” Thanks to conventions, I have doubled my original goal 😉 )

5- Get Creative. This year, for whatever reason, I lost touch with my creative side. I love photography, Smashbooking, and other little art projects. Not only is it fun, but it is also a form of therapy. And it also helps boost my writing. Sometimes when I’m zoning out and working on a project, I have a new story idea or a problem I’ve been having solves itself. So instead of buying craft supplies and letting them collect dust, I’m going to put them to good use.

It’s a small list but that’s ok! I might end up adding more. Are you making any resolutions this year? If so, what are they? I would love to hear about them! (And I’m betting my own list will grow! 😉 ) I wish you all a very happy new year and I hope 2015 treats you amazingly well!!! xo

Happy Mail!

Ever have one of those days that starts off so good that you just know it’s going to be a good day? That’s the kind of day I had. Totally makes up for last Friday, when anything and everything went to total crap right from the start.

I’ve mentioned before how much I love pen palling. I also LOVE Halloween. So today my mailbox had a bit of spooky fun 😉 I got a super cute handmade card from a good friend of mine who lives in The Netherlands. I’m crafty and I am jealous of her ability to make the cutest cards. We’ve been writing for just over a year now. I just love her letters. She is very sweet and chatty and I consider her a good friend.

Underneath her letter was a white card, which meant I had to go inside the post office to get a larger piece of mail. (I miss the days of an at home mailbox, but times are changing I guess. At least here, anyway.)  I was very stoked when the mail lady came out with a big brown envelope. It meant that an autograph arrived! And it was from the one and only Henry Cavill, my 2nd favorite Superman!!!