100 happy days :: day 67

a cute, clever and very unexpected postcard waiting in my mailbox. definitely happy.

perfect gifts

the best gifts are the surprises you don't know you're going to get. they're the ones that a friend sees and just says, "i know this is so julie, i have to send it to her." i'd rather have that kind of gift than a birthday present any day.

well, today was my day on that sort of gift - there were two surprise envelopes in the mailbox today. one covered in quite a lot of south african foliage stamps and the other with the royal mail.

one contained the elusive mermaid from series 9 of the lego minifigures. i had bought most of the ones available in town but she had proved too shy for me. but molly found her and sent her my way, as a little surprise.

funny how she had to take a trip to south africa and back to end up here with me, 20km from where she originated.

the second package contained bits and pieces of paper ephemera - stamps, small cards and two fabulous old postcards addressed to someone named sabine. perfect! there was a little stash of veronica's beautiful cards and a bookmark i put to immediate use.

but best of all were veronica's experiments in printing with some old 1950s linocut blocks. (read more about them here, where you can see she's moved on to making her own linocuts.) i jumped up and down, saying yes, please send one to me a few weeks ago on her blog. but i didn't expect to get 4 of them! each more charming than the other.

this one, printed on an old dictionary page is my hands-down favorite.

but i like this one too. there's something wonderful and about the brown ink. i just adore them!

and this little row of gnomes - they immediately found a place on the cupboard in the entryway, so everyone can see them when they come in.

here's the back of one of those postcards. sent to bob and sabine in 1978 from somewhere in france, i think. there is another one from california. both mention the weather, so i guess not much has changed.

it's wonderful how a little surprise in the mailbox from friends can totally make your day and probably even your week. and by you i mean me. thank you again, molly and veronica!

i take it all back

freehand cut feathers made of maps of south africa by peter slingsby

my mail woman with the unnaturally red hair came knocking on the door today. bearing not one but TWO packages. one a total surprise from the fabulous molly (of arbness fame) of heaven cape town and of bloggy fame in the form of oh for the love of blog and the more recent (and less sweary-y) c is for cape town.  she made feathers from one of her father's maps. for me! feathers, maps, cape town - it couldn't get any better than that. which reminds me that i have some stuff to make for some people via some facebook promise to make stuff for people.

the second package contained the beautiful stitched and felted stones i was lucky enough to snatch up last week from the fabulous lisa of lil fish studios. her work is gorgeous and unique and always beautifully packaged. me, i suck at packaging, but i do enjoy when things are nicely packaged.  i almost hated to open it up, but i couldn't wait to see my beautiful stones. they're just exquisite and this photo doesn't even come CLOSE to doing them justice.

so a big thank you to both of you for completely turning around my grumpy, ranty day.  suffice it to say, it was precisely what i needed on this day which had otherwise started on the wrong side of the bed. thank you!!

an ode to snail mail

in the past week or so, i've gotten two wonderful things in the mail (not counting stuff i ordered myself on etsy, which while great, is not the same) and i've just got to share them with you.

i participated in se'lah's wonderful gift of jewels card exchange. and right in the middle of blog camp, i got this lovely handmade card from beth of be yourself, everyone else is taken. it's now in a place of honor on my inspiration wall in the blue room. together with my new lego magnets.

and then today, a lovely surprise arrived. rxbambi, who attended blog camp - reno, sent me some of her brand new moo cards (we know how i feel about those), a beautiful card made by her sister barb (who must exist because she blogs) and two stones from lake tahoe! how sweet is that?

a big thank you to both beth and bambi for the snail mail goodness (and to se'lah for coming up with the gift of jewels card exchange in the first place). email and the virtual world are great, but there's something really special about holding a hand-written card in your hand.

now, if only i'd read spud's fabulous post about low-light photography and the wobbles before i took these pictures. sigh. but i do hate flash.