First Postcard

 My little bundle of joy is now 8 years old. He likes stationaries, writing letters and postcards. He has a pen friend - He write to him regularly. He likes postcards too and is interested in participating on postcrossing.com. Hoping that after pandemic when international postal services are resumed he can experience the joy of sending and receiving postcards.

Here is the first postcard he received from a relative in New Zealand. You can see he is excited!!!

A Little New Addition...!!!

Introducing Our Little 

Bundle of Joy

"We prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted us 

what we asked of him. So now we give him to the LORD. 

For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD."

- 1 Samuel 1:27-28 (Bible)

Snail Mail Kit Swap: Follow Up

I hosted the Snail Mail Kit Swap on swapbot.com early this month. I wasn't sure if this swap would work or people would actually be interested in such a swap. And since this was going to be a bit pricey I was not confident at all. But surprisingly the swap had an overwhelming response. We had 54 swappers who joined in this project and thanks to all of you wonderful people the swap even made it to the top 10. And that was even more exciting!!! I am sure we all had fun putting the package together for our partners.

Well I received my swap from my partner Karen, today. And I love what she put together for me - it is so beautiful and so colourful and has many wonderful things that I like and would surely use.

Well I'll shut up and let the pictures do the talking. Thank you Karen for this wonderful and thoughtful package. I love it all. 

 Isn't this a beautiful and colourful envie??

 She packed it so well!!!

 This is the most beautiful and lovable box ever - thanks Karen.

 Covered with used envelopes - with addresses, stamps and  what not...!!! LOVE IT :*

 inside the box.

 Love all the cards, lettersets, envelopes, greeting cards, labels and the address book that says London was a hit!! It's one of my favorite city.

 Love this tiny little stamp you sent - will be using it soon and I love Papermate pens.

And I love cute and colourful owls too!!

Thank you, Karen - love the package!!!!

Busiest Outlet

Enjoyed 4 days of Hari Raya Holidays with family. It was a time when everybody was home - felt like a mini vacation. And due to this mini vacation that we Malaysians enjoy every year - I was not able to send my cards and swaps on time. I had to hang on to it for almost 4 days.

Taman Connaught, Cheras

Today I went to the near by post office to send all the accumulated mails. And my beloved husband volunteered to send it for me - so I waited in the car. This is the second time I have been to this particular branch this month and it felt as one of the busiest outlet.

As much as I know we do not need to get a queue number to buy stamps - but when my hubby went to get the stamp the lady at the counter asked him to do so! My hubby replied, "do I have to take the number to buy the stamps?", she didn't reply and totally ignored him. Well, it took him about 40 - 45 mins to buy the stamps. PHEW!!!

Such hard work to send mails. May be that's why people prefer to email??

Follow Up - Back to School Swap

Please check out the details of this swap here: Back to School Swap

Well, I had two versions of this swap. One was public but not many people signed up - Guess due to heavy postage. And I had another private swap with a fellow Malaysian from Sabah, with the same theme.

 

 This is what I sent to my Swap Partner - I had 2 of these with different colour. (I lost those images few days back and was only able to recover this one)


 And this is what I received from my Sabah friend. She is so colour coordinated. Love it ;) Thank you so much for sending these goodies.

Note: I'll upload the picture of the public swap as soon as I receive it ;)

Letter Writing and Me

For the last few years I haven't received any festive or celebration cards, while I have been writing Christmas cards regularly to all my extended families for almost 3 consecutive years (except for the year 2010 - as I was busy preparing for my wedding).

I have been reading online and reading some books too - and I am being suggested that I should drop these people off my list who do not care to reply the letters or do not have the courtesy to send a simple greeting card.

Most of my extended family tells me its better to call then to write long letters. But I don't receive any calls either. How can people so busy? Many times I wonder if I am going wrong somewhere or is it that people just don't care? I feel neglected! It feels as if I am doing all that I can to keep the "flames" on,  while the opposite is true for them.

My grandma always says that family is always family and I have learned from her not to give up on our loved ones. So my latest project is to write to them and send greetings and mail them all that I can and give myself a time frame of 2-3 years before I drop them off the list. I pray that this relationship of sending and receiving mails can be restored. Its not just a tradition or a culture or a ritual but a way to say that, I care, I miss you,  I am thinking of you and Just because...

Many times I have realized that my friends and family who call me get lost within few minutes of conversation. They do not know what to say or ask beyond those typical questions like, "how are you? how is your husband? how are studies? you doing good?". I might sound frustrated but this is the truth. The calls are not intentional, just a formality so that they can say, "oh, we do call her from time to time".

I am not saying that I am perfect with maintaining this tradition or that I am so good with sending cards and so on...  I agree its not easy to write letters - it requires time, and thinking and an intention. You pour out your heart to someone when you write - either email or traditional mail. And that's why it required effort, and that's why letters are treasured and people require a response.

Sigh... me and my frustration.

The "S" for September Swap

 Hellooo Swappers!!!

Since its not too far for September, I thought of hosting this swap called "S for September". For this swap we will put together articles/items that begin with the letter "S", such as - sailor, salt, ship, sheep, salt, sweater, snail, stapler, snow, spa etc.. (you get the idea).

You will have 10 days to put 10 things together.

Be CREATIVE and think outside the box. Also include a letter or note explaining - why you included what you included. Fun isn't it? 

Please comment below if you have any questions or if things are not made clear. I am open for suggestions.

NOTE: NEWBIES are welcomed with well filled profiles (I'll check the profiles) NO FLAKERS please, I WONT angel this.

Tip: Please make sure you put some love and be thoughtful (checkout your partner's profile for likes and dislikes) in making this package - it should be something that you would be happy and excited to receive. Be CREATIVE!!!

This is an INTERNATIONAL SWAP.

CLICK HERE to join the SWAP (Last date: 14th August 2012)

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Here are few ideas to get you started: 

Sun, seed, shape, shoe, shop, sink, snail, snake, snow, soda can, star, string, summer, swing, sack, sail, soap, song  on CD, spoon, scarecrow, street, sidewalk, station, scene, snow, spring = Postcards, squirrel,  soup, spiders, sponge, stamps, scarf, stickers, etc...