Snail Mail Love: Vintage Stamp Postcards

As well as getting back into the rhythm of stitching and designing stuff, I've also been adding lots of lovely vintage bits and bobs to my shop!

I've been selling vintage things for a couple of years now and I absolutely love it. It's such a joy finding gorgeous and interesting items and then sending them off to their new homes - particularly when customers tell me their purchases are going to be a special gift, or are something they've been looking for for years. 

As the months go by, I'm working out what sells and what doesn't and also what I'm most enjoying selling. I blogged a while back about my new-found obsession with vintage tea towels (I love them so much I've set up an Instagram account devoted to them!), and obviously I'm drawn to all kinds of vintage crafty goodness... but one of the other things I'm really into is vintage stamp postcards.

These cards are known by collectors as "PHQ Cards" - PHQ standing for "Postal Headquarters" because they were originally issued by the Post Office here in the UK (more recently they've been issued by the Royal Mail). 

The Post Office (and later Royal Mail) have been publishing them since the early 1970s: a new set of postcards for each new set of stamps. 

 

I've loved postage stamps since I was a kid and I absolutely adore these postcards. 

They're great for anyone interested in stamps, of course, but they also make fab gifts for people born in the year they were issued, or anyone interested in the theme of the featured set. Pretty much whatever you're interested in Royal Mail have produced stamps connected to that theme!

 

I'm selling sets of totally unused postcards, so you can send a lovely bit of snail mail to your friends. The Christmas and winter-themed sets would make great Christmas cards. 

The cards would also look great framed, either individually if there's a particular stamp design you adore, or as a set. Super affordable vintage art!

Visit my shop to see the postcard sets I currently have available, and do give me a shout if there are any designs in particular that you're interested in as I have plenty more to photograph and list!

Send Happy Snail Mail With Vintage Stamps & DIY Envelopes!

One of my New Year's Resolutions for 2019 is to make time to send more snail mail to my friends and penpals. Maybe that's something you'd like to do more of, too? In this post you'll find two fun and easy ways of making the snail mail you send extra special...

Did you know you can use old-but-not-used Royal Mail postage stamps for sending your post here in the UK? I recently bought a big bundle of old mint stamps for my letters, and using them is proving to be an absolute joy!

I bought a big bundle of stamps, giving me lots of different designs and values to choose from when making up the correct postage value and saving me money, too (always a good thing when you send a lot of post - snail mail is wonderful but stamps are rather pricey these days!). I bought my stamps from here.

Sorting through the bundle when it arrived was a huge amount of nerdy fun. So many lovely old stamps! And so many possibilities for getting creative with my letters!

Even if you just selected any old stamps to make up the correct postage the result would be pretty cool: a handful of quirky old stamps (some with ha'penny values!) are always going to be more exciting than just a single modern one. But of course (OF COURSE) I've been playing with colour and themes when putting together the stamp selections for my mail.

Carefully selecting the stamps can be rather a time suck but totally worth it, I think! I described this as "a bit of a waste of time" to a friend recently but, as he immediately pointed out, actually it's not a waste of time at all: I've been enjoying it as a relaxing task while watching TV in the evenings, and the end results can be rather wonderful.

This week I've been playing with colour, matching stamps to a set of fabulous notecards I got for Christmas.

 

In case you're admiring the notecards (and why wouldn't you be?), they're the "Pen to Paper Notecards" set by Present & Correct for Chronicle Books. Mine were bought from Waterstones here in the UK, but those of you in the US can buy them direct from Chronicle Books.

Here's a closer look at the cards and the stamps I've used:

All that lovely colour makes me very happy indeed.

The second thing I've been doing recently to jazz up my post is making my own handmade envelopes. I've made some from coloured paper, but I've also been making lots from a book of maps and a gorgeous book of British wildflowers.

When you use book pages to make envelopes the end results are so pretty, and totally unique! Oh, and the books only cost me about a quid each at my local charity shop so they're a bargain, too.

If you've never made an envelope before, don't worry: they're so easy to make that you'll wonder why you never tried it before.

Just unfold an envelope that's the size you need (or download and print a free template from the internet - there are loads available), stick it to a bit of card and trace the shape onto the back of whatever nice paper you want to use. Then cut, fold and stick (with glue or double-sided tape) the envelope together and add a plain label for the address when you're ready to send it. Remember to position your template so the paper will be the right way up on the front of the envelope!

Cheap second hand books are perfect for making envelopes, though you may need to use different size envelope templates depending on the size of the pages. If you need to make envelopes of a specific size, simply take the template with you when you go browsing for books to use.

I also love making envelopes from leftover gift wrap and colourful magazine pages. Sometimes my stamps used to fall off my letters en route when I sent "magelopes" as a teen, but with modern postage stamps being like stickers it's much easier to use shiny paper for making your envelopes without worrying about the stamps going AWOL.

I won't be combining these two happy post ideas and using a selection of vintage stamps with my book envelopes - I think the effect would be a little visually cluttered and I'd hate to cover up those lovely flowers and maps! Instead I'll be keeping my eye out for some suitably lovely Special Stamps, or using some of the pictorial definitives, either of which are much prettier options than standard 1st/2nd class stamps, if you care about that sort of thing (which, as you've probably gathered by now, I totally do). 

Snail Mail Fun!

I did a trial run of my new Letters from Lupin snail mail club last month, sending out a postcard, a letter, and a handmade card to some lovely postal guinea pigs.

I bought some fab coloured paper for printing the letters (plain white paper would have been terribly off-brand)...

... and made envelopes from an old map book.

 

I love a nice handmade envelope, and the colours in the maps coordinate so well with the colours of the pastel printer paper. It was hugely satisfying making these and a real joy sending them all out!

September's postcard featured my favourite old photo of Weston-super-Mare (my new seaside hometown). I totally forgot to take a photo of the cards before I sent them out, so here are a couple of snaps shared by one of the recipients, the lovely Rachel of Eliston Button.

 

(Nice stamps are definitely a big part of the fun of Proper Post!) 

Then for the card, I went for an autumnal woodland theme with a leafy card, autumnal magazine pages for the envelopes and awesome owl stamps.

That gold card was a total pain to photograph but it's gorgeous in real life, such a fabulous warm gleam.

 

Click here to read more about Letters from Lupin and join the postal fun!

New: Letters from Lupin

This autumn I'm starting something new: a happy snail mail club I'm calling Letters from Lupin.

Social media and blogging can be great, and I'm loving sending out my regular(ish) email newsletters, but I think nothing quite beats a piece of proper post.

Something that makes you smile when you find it on your doormat (unlike the usual boring junk mail and stressful bills). Something to read over breakfast or when you get back from work, without getting sucked into mindless scrolling and FOMO and all those side-effects of social media. An actual piece of paper to hold in your hand then pin on your wall, or use as a bookmark, or stick in a real scrapbook.

So, I'm starting a fun snail mail club! For each month you sign up, you will receive:

ONE postcard, handwritten by me and featuring my seaside hometown or somewhere nice I've visited recently.

ONE letter, handwritten then photocopied, with lots of chatty updates about what I've been up to lately (kind of a cross between an old-fashioned letter and a zine!).

And ONE card, either made and/or designed by me or just a lovely card I wanted to share, with a handwritten note inside.

Your three bits of post will be spread out throughout the month, to the address you provide during the checkout process. If you want your post sent to a different name or address, just send me a message! If you sign up before October 5th, your happy post will be sent out in October.

You can buy one month or three months of happy post from my newly re-opened Big Cartel shop.

I'm really excited by the possibilities of this club, and I hope you guys will be too!

3 Creative Ideas for Decorating your Parcels

Sending a gift to a friend for their birthday or other special occasion? Why not decorate the parcel to make it extra special!

 

Today I'm sharing three crafty ideas for jazzing up plain parcels: decorating them with pens, paint and colourful scrap paper.

Decorated parcels are super fun to receive but it's important to make sure they reach their destination safely: use lots of clear parcel tape to secure your decorated parcels before popping them in the post. If you're sending your package via a courier service it's best to wrap your decorated parcel in another layer of brown paper or even in a parcel box to keep it safe and protected on its journey.

This post is sponsored by My Parcel Delivery, a courier comparison site that helps you find the best deals for sending your important parcels.

There are a whole range of courier services that deliver in Europe and internationally - two of the most popular are UPS who have lots of designated drop-off points (no waiting in long queues at the Post Office!) and Parcelforce who can collect your parcel from your very own home.

Follow these handy tips to package your parcels correctly!
 

1. Marker Pen Doodles.

Use permanent markers to add a burst of colour to a plain package!

Start by drawing a shape around your handwritten address or printed address label...

... then add more lines to build up a stripey pattern, with one line of each colour.

Keep adding lines until you're happy with your design. I repeated the same colours, adding them in the same order, but you could add colours at random to create different patterns.

Carry your design on around the sides of your parcel for a really vibrant effect.

2. Painted Polkadots.

Cover your parcel in pretty polkadots! Use craft paint or leftover paint from emulsion tester pots - I used a pale lilac purple which stands out really nicely against the brown of the package, but you could use any colour (or colours) you fancy.

Print the polkadots using the eraser end of a pencil, carefully dipping the eraser in the paint then using it to make a few dots on the paper until the paint runs out. Repeat to gradually cover the parcel in dots!

Tip: print some test dots on a piece of scrap paper first to get the hang of printing them, and have tissues or kitchen roll to hand for wiping excess paint off the eraser.

If you're painting directly onto the wrapped parcel, remember that you'll need to wait for the paint to dry before you can turn the parcel over and paint on more sides!

3. Colourful Collages. 

Use small bits of leftover gift wrap, scraps of coloured paper and magazine pages to make a colourful collage!

Choose a selection of decorative papers, and use a compass or circular objects in your house (like glasses or spice jars) to draw circles in various sizes. Cut out the circles and arrange them on your parcel to create a bright abstract design.

Stick the circles to the parcel with a glue stick, with the design "overflowing" onto the sides of the package.
 

Then add pictures you've cut out from magazines or printed from the internet (you'll find lots of free printables online designed for scrapbooking, card making and other crafty projects) and stick them to your parcel to complete your collage.

DISCLOSURE: This post is sponsored by My Parcel Delivery, a courier comparison site that helps you find the best deals around. 

Fancy some more crafty goodness? Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Shopping Guide: 10 Gorgeous Christmas Cards

I love Christmas and I love nice stationery and I adore sending proper old fashioned bits of snail mail... so it's probably no surprise that I love sending Christmas cards each year! I couldn't resist putting together a round-up of some of the festive and fabulous designs I've spotted recently.

Maybe you don't send many cards but have a few people in your address book you want to send a special note to? Perhaps you've bought a gift voucher and want a nice card to "wrap" it? Or maybe you're like me and have a long list of cards to write?

Whatever your Christmas card plans, I hope you'll find something to love in this list...

1. Christmas Jumpers card by Hanna Melin. Love or loathe the novelty Christmas jumper trend, they make for a very cute card. I would probably wear most of the jumper designs on this one!

 

2. Pack of 5 Christmas Tree cards by Bo Lundberg, available at Hus & Hem who stock the most gorgeous selection of Scandinavian Design.

3. Christmas Furry card by Blank Inside Design. You can also buy gift wrap to match this card, which is even more adorable and perfect for wrapping gifts for all the cat ladies in your life.

4.  Pack of 10 Holiday Foliage cards by Quill & Fox. Sadly the weak pound has put cards from US-based companies out of my budget this year (boo) but these are so very lovely I had to include them in the list anyway. Come on, pound, get your act together so I can start buying things priced in dollars again!

5. Penguin Dress-Up Paper Doll card by Clara & Macy. I would have been thrilled to receive a card like this when I was little. Paper dolls = so much fun. 

6. Pack of 8 Black Cat cards from the British Library. These cards are so delightfully spooky, I love them - though it was hard to choose just one design from the British Library's range of vintage cards.

7. Christmas Baubles card by Telegramme Paper Co. I bought a set of cards from Telegramme at The Renegade Craft Fair a couple of years ago and had a hard time parting with them! They sell gorgeous matching gift wrap, too.

8. Pack of 10 Huntley & Palmers Christmas Cakes cards, from the V&A. Growing up in Reading, I have a special place in my heart for local firm Huntley & Palmers. Luckily you don't need to be from Berkshire to enjoy a card decorated with festive cakes.

9. Merry Christmouse card by Stormy Knight, available from Soma Gallery in Bristol. I do love a Christmas pun, and that little mouse is such a cutie!

10.  Finally, a set of 6 woodland-themed cards by Stephanie Cole (3 deer cards and 3 fox cards in each pack). I bought some of these to send to friends last year and wished I'd bought more because they're so gorgeous - especially that deer, oh my goodness.

Which is your favourite? Do you prefer your Christmas cards classic or quirky or cute? Are you buying cards to send this year... or maybe you're going the DIY route? Let me know in the comments!