Advent Calendar Monday

Advent Calendar Monday is here!

I thought I'd start out with a cool collection from Etsy (it also gives people enough time to do a little searching themselves and order in time for December 1st).

Thank you to Karen at ArtfulTea for letting me post
 this unique advent calendar for the tea lover in your life.
 Seriously two of my favourite things - tea and advent calendars!
In love!

  

Thank you to Shawna at Tricyclecrafts for letting me post
her cool Magnetic Advent Calendar! Love it when you can
reuse year to year - and doesn't it look cute!

Thank you to Gregory at SlippinSouthern for letting me post this
fantastic advent tree! You can choose what you add to this
advent calendar base - photos, treats, ornaments.
Your options are endless!

Thank you to Liz from Dandeave for letting me post her
printable advent calendar boxes - they are beautiful! 

Thank you to Anissa from thymbldesigns for letting me post her beautiful
Matryoshka Advent Calendar! She ships from Europe
(so time is a bit tighter on these). Precious!

Just sharing a little handmade/homemade love this fine Advent Calendar Monday! 

And again, if you have never purchased anything from Etsy before -

 you can use this link to get $5.00 off by using this link.

It's a gorgeous day here in the Pacific Northwest!

Enjoy your Monday wherever you are!

Crunching Leaves and Change

     We've been out crunching leaves on our walks this week - a clear sign of change (and an incredibly satisfying sound). When we aren't walking we are driving around and looking at all the decorated houses - my daughter is loving this! She says, "Mom when you see a decorated house yell out 'Haunted House!'' So she is definitely in the spirit of things! And it may just be a pumpkin patch kind of day today and then a date day with her Daddy to the movies. They've both grown to really love this tradition (Cloudy with a chance...)

     Halloween may be next week but the deadline for European surface delivery is now. So we've been wrapping presents even though it is not even November yet. So excited about getting to the post office today to send my packages on their way (feeling a little bit festive). Speaking of cool packages...we received a really cool box of goodies the other day and they included this really awesome Cozyband for Piper (and one for me too!) from my friend Kristy. Kristy has decided to give it a go at selling them too - check out her Etsy page! She can do different sizes and colours too. Lots of fun.

Staying Warm!

     And speaking of Etsy...if you have never purchased anything from there before you can use this link to get $5.00 off your first purchase - which is very cool! My Christmas shopping (for others and myself) wouldn't be complete without shopping there and I've picked up some great stationery and stickers throughout the years as well. I also have a shop on Etsy -  Paperroute - up and running since 2008.  I'm just updating my photos and adding some new things too. It's been awhile since I've shared my store info and thought it was time for a little self promo.

Cool things to send in the mail (in case you need some new ideas)...

I just picked up a variety pack of hot chocolate with Coffee Crisp, After Eight and Rolo flavours - not sure if Coffee Crisp will make it out the door - but what cool hot chocolate flavours to send out to friends!

Recent family, pet, baby, trip photos to friends and family!

A great article you just read - funny, inspirational or educational! Hand picked by you for someone - how thoughtful!

Puzzle pieces - a few at a time!

Jokes, riddles, comics (from the newspaper, Internet, hand drawn - lol)!

Monster drawings (we've been getting a lot of these lately and they are pretty cool so we might be sending some out soon)!

Have a great Halloween this coming week everyone! We will be escorting a robot and FBI agent around (and then likely eating most of their candy - this parent thing is working out nicely).

553/1000 Packages and more! And just like that I'm over the halfway mark to my goal. It's been fun so far - thanks for all your encouragement, feedback and love.

Mailbox Monday

Loving this copper beauty!

Thank you to CopperDesign for letting me post this lovely mailbox. I love the copper patina look and how special is that little mailbox key! Since I don't need an actual mailbox maybe I'll just start putting them up on one of my walls as art (seriously) or as organizational tools (hmmm...might be on to something here)! 

In other news...have you started Christmas shopping yet? Have you thought about buying local and/or handmade? Think about it! Not only will you give unique gifts that people will love - you will also be supporting people who are doing what they love to support themselves and their families. Etsy is a great place to start but crafts fairs, local businesses, home parties...are places to consider too. I've already started at all of the above - yay!


Post Script (Wednesday): If you have never bought anything from Etsy before
 you can use this link and get $5.00 off

Valentine's Day...a few words.

On Friday, February 12th (the last school day before Feb.14th), in elementary schools across North America, students will be exchanging Valentine’s Day cards. The teacher usually sets up a system of envelopes hanging over the side of each desk or in arts and crafts they have actually created a mailbox or container for just this occasion. Some students will probably even be sent to school with pink cupcakes or heart cookies (lucky!).

Do you remember those days? When I was younger the Valentine’s Day cards came in thin paper envelopes and sometimes they were homemade and everyone got one. That was kind of the cool part-no one was left out on Valentine’s Day and we were too young for “real” boyfriends/girlfriends, so we celebrated with the people we spent the most time with (classmates) and our families. That shared celebration of Valentine’s Day kind of gets lost along the way as we get older (but it doesn’t have to).

Don’t get me wrong. Love letters and romance are great, and since the Middle Ages, sweethearts have exchanged valentines on February 14—a date commemorating the death of a Roman priest named Valentine who performed forbidden marriages. But I think I like the idea of Valentine’s Day so much because it combines caring/loving and my personal affection for mail. I recently read that only 54 percent of Valentine's Day cards are delivered through the mail—the rest are hand-delivered. There is something very special about hand delivered mail too.

I think all of you have a lot to offer the world and am confident you will do great things in your lives. I hope above all things you will let those people who are so important in your life know how much they matter to you (single, married, in a relationship, old, young – whoever). This year just might just be a great time for that! So whether you handmake or buy or relay in person say “Happy Valentine’s Day” to someone who maybe isn’t expecting it and perhaps, enjoy a little journey down memory lane. Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

♥

This year I handmade some of my Valentine's Day cards (I usually give them out to my Writing 12 students and give them an extra to pass on to someone else) and I bought some Cool Robot ones! from Kathryn Wright (local Etsy seller).  Check out her shop! Her Robot cards are good for Valentine's Day or any day to profess your robot love :) I also bought some of her You Rock cards.


On the way: local (Surrey x 5, Delta x 8), out of the Lower Mainland (1), out of province (Alberta x 1, Ontario x 2), USA (Iowa x 1), and International (Norway x 1) = 19
49/1000

Envelopes are exciting too!

I don't think envelopes get the credit they deserve. And quite frankly, letters without envelopes are just words in the wind or maybe, notes passed in class. Do kids still do this? Pass notes in class? I remember this fondly. But now it happens very rarely since the introduction of texting - notes are so passe and slow. Funny though I met with some friends from high school last month and one of the girls mentioned she has all of her notes from back then. The excitement it created was great - the other girls wanted to see them - nostalgia is such a temptress.

But really, think about all those old movies, or movies set in old times, (specifically war movies) - there is always someone who has a stack of tattered and worn envelopes wrapped in twine or occasionally ribbon that they have saved. The letters were simply too meaningful to part with.

So envelopes - they hold dearly our important words. They are also the first sign that something special has arrived! I went to the mailbox yesterday and found the most glorious green envelope. There were three other envelopes in there (two white, one brown) and it shined in stark contrast to their drabness. I bought a Valentine's Day card for my husband from a great little shop on Etsy called Lavish from Seattle, Washington. The seller sent it in the lovliest green envelope -what a treat! The card I bought is super cool too (Ryan don't look). She has some other really cool Valentine's Day cards in her shop (check it out). I have to compliment her on her writing on the envelope as well - so beautiful.

Of course I am already thinking about Valentine's Day (the holiday of love and cards, or is it love of cards?). The Lavish one is probably one of a couple cards I will give my husband - I can never quite pick out just one. There is a robot one coming soon :) But back to envelopes - they can say a lot. I love sending coloured ones - you can pick up bundles at your local chain card stores for a few dollars. I think after season they clear out what they have - I've picked up some great yellow, orange, pink, and red ones in the last year (usually bundles of 25). They really do make your mail POP!

A few other ideas to try: rubber stamps or even potato stamps, doodling, old school airmail envelopes (love these), fun postage stamps, custom address labels, and stickers.

If you have checked out my Etsy store, Paper Route, you know that I make envelopes too. I love to work with maps, sheet music, and used children's books. But anything that is bound for the recycling bin - magazine pages, dictionary pages, old posters, wrapping paper, and so on. It's easy to make a template - I'll write about this soon.

Mail is enroute to Kelowna (1), Ontario (1) and Norway (1).

20/1000