Project Snail Mail

My mother has sent birthday, get well, anniversary, Christmas, and just because cards to friends and family since I can remember.  I also love sending cards and letters and such.  I love the feeling you get when you open your mailbox and there is a special shaped envelope with your name on it.  This special shaped envelope is different than bills or junk mail (expect AT&T.  They have disguised their junk mail in Hallmark cards now).  You know that envelope is stuffed with a little note from somebody who cares and is thinking about you.

The "art" or "tradition" of SNAIL MAIL is dying and it makes me sad.  It is quite easy and free to write an email or to send an e-card... which is still nice and thoughtful (its better than nothing) but it still doesn't mean as much as a HAND WRITTEN card or note.  There is much more thought and personality put into a snail mail note.  I enjoy writing notes to the people I care about.  There are a couple of ways that I keep the tradition of snail mail alive.  I try my hardest to send my sisters and sister-in-laws a hand written note, card, or postcard every month.

This is my September Snail Mail (I blurred out all the names and addresses... I figure my friends and family would appreciate that)

NOW- I am not perfect at this... I took a break for about 6 months or so... which I TOTALLY regret!  Anyway- another way I keep the art alive is by the fun group I am a part of on Facebook.  It is simply called Project Snail Mail.  We are a small little community of people who have a passion and a belief in sending feel good mail through the tried and true US Postal Service.  Join us!  Make our group larger!  We love new people who are all part of the same cause!  


You may be wonder what the heck to write to somebody... well- here are some helps for you:


1.  Birthday Card
2.  Anniversary Card
3.  Postcard from your recent trip
4.  Sympathy Card (not to make light of sad things... but I sent my dad a sympathy card once because he sold one of his classic muscle cars... it was like losing a child)
5.  Good Luck Cards
6.  Just Because Cards
7.  Thank You cards (thank you for a meal, a great something they said in church, a service in the community)
8.  Valentines Day
9. Christmas
10.  Fan Letter


The list can go on and on and on!


Something else that I do to make my mail extra special is use fun postage.  I hate boring postage.  The postage stamp is the 2nd thing I look for on a piece of hand written mail (after I see who it is from).  I always get fun stamps.  I think the people at the post office get annoyed with me when I ask them for stamps and then I ask them to see ALL the stamps that they have.  I never get the boring Liberty Bell or American Flag stamps.... I always get fun to look at stamps.  So get fun stamps!  Oh- one time I got Star Wars stamps (like 4 years ago or so).  Well I had to send a bill payment off and I wasn't happy about sending this particular bill... so I put the Darth Vadar stamp on it... in my own little way telling them that they were evil!


Well- to sweeten this deal and to thank you for reading this post... I am going to do my FIRST BLOG CONTEST EVER!!!!  That's right!  I am going to give something away to somebody who is reading this blog!  One of my favorite companies EVER for awesome postcards and stationary is Cavallini and Co. Well, the winner of this contest will get a tin of Cavallini and Co. postcards and a book of Forever stamps (with a fun theme of course).  Here are the rules:


1.  You must leave me a comment on this blog telling me what you do to help the tradition
     of hand written cards going
2.  You must become a member of the group Project Snail Mail (click HERE for the link)
3.  If you send a piece of snail mail in the month of September, you will get an additional 
     entry in the contest.  Just tell me in your comment who you sent the mail to and why
     (if you send 10 cards you don't get 10 extra entries... just one.. okie dokie??)


Contest ends on September 30, 2011 at 8pm Pacific Standard Time


Send some snail mail today... and I hope you receive some in return!