And the Winner is...

My mum drew the winning name last night -- Winnie's Girl.  Congratulations!  Thanks for participating, everyone.  I think I'll do it again sometime.

Time for a GIVEAWAY

I'm kicking off my first ever giveaway!  There's no specific theme to it, although everything is for letter-writers and perhaps crafty people.  They are just some neat things that I would like to win myself, so I think you'll like them:

 

Two sets of stickers:  On the left is a sticker set designed for pen-pals or letter writers and on the right are postage stamp-inspired stickers by Mary Englebreit.

   

On the left, a set of four, original postcards by Australian artist Lauren Carney (dizzylittledotty on etsy).  In the middle are sparkly, glitter, letter stickers by Martha Stewart.  On the right are postage stamp-inspired Valentine stickers by Martha Stewart.

 

This is a "shag" retro-inspired stationery set.

 

 

On the left is a "Dear John," another retro-inspired stationery set, and on the right is an origami paper packet.

 

Finally, a four-pack of Martha Stewart glitter glue. 

 

To enter:

 

1) Leave a message/comment on this posting.

2) You do not have to be a follower of my blog to win but it would be great if you are.

3) If you are a follower, your name goes in twice!

4) I'm choosing a winner on Thursday evening, August 11, 2011.

 

Good luck!   

 

Mail and Stamps

Hello!  It's been awhile.  I've captured some handmade postcard swaps and outgoing and incoming mail to show you.

This postcard went to a gal that is a physician recruiter, hence the DOCTOR theme.  My favorite part is the game card that says $1400.  Remember the game, "Operation" where you would try to extract pieces from the body without getting buzzed?  I also used bandaids, a movie ticket and the picture of the doctor/patient is by Norman Rockwell.

 

The recipient of this postcard likes retro, and so do I.

I have a friend in Illinois who has FOUR kids, so it's always a flurry of activity at their house.  I honestly don't know how she ever finds time to write me, but she does, at least a couple of times a year.  She attached the letter to her daughter's artwork (her name is Gertrude or Gertie), and here is the funny stationery:

If you have children, please use their artwork to wrap presents or write a letter on the back of it -- it's so endearing!

Next I have some outgoing mail in black & white (note the President Obama signature)  and blue:

 

I received a surprise parcel from the U.K. from lovely Gemma, who sent me magazines about the Royal Couple!  That really made my day.  Check out the "Thomas the Train" stamps.  I remember when my niece was obsessed with those trains.  We all had to pick a favorite and mine was Mavis.  I also recall she left a bunch of them in a water bucket outside (she was cleaning them!) and they were ruined with paint peeling off.  I believe her father was watching her that day, ha ha.  

These next postage stamps are from my pal in Japan.  Have you noticed how colorful the Japanese stamps are?  I love the "Hello Kitty wearing a kimono" stamps.

 

These Japanese postage stamps are of Snoopy, underwater/ocean theme, and airplanes.  Love them!

What's Mailing Me

If you send good mail, you receive good mail!  Here is my incoming:

From Julie.  She always uses lots of vintage stamps and I loved the gold painted border and awesome sticker, "PAR ESCARGOT/VIA SNAIL MAIL."  She always sends me the best vintage postcards!


From Claudia in Italy, some Royal wedding coverage.  The back of the envelope is so clever -- she's drawn her "Zoo" animals in the bottom left, as members of the audience and as hats!
 
I exchanged postcards with Predrag from Serbia, who requested Arizona postcards.  He sent me some of his excellent original collaged postcards. 

Somehow I managed to get in on the Cadeaux par Correspondence mail art subscription series!  This is hosted by Jennie of Everyday Should be a Red Letter Day, who is also one of the authors of the Good Mail Day book.  I used to think Carolee, Jennie, and Donovan and Kathy of the Letter Writer's Alliance were all one person, one entity.  I believe I have everyone straight in my mind now... The Letter Writer's Alliance also does periodic limited edition subscription mailings but I'll be darned if I can ever get in on one before they are sold out.  So I was quite pleased to get in to the Cadeaux par Correspondence (presents or gifts of correspondence).  I just received the first very cool mailing today:

Pascaline in Paris recently she wrote me a lovely letter and included some awesome goodies:

Candies, tea, and check out her handwriting on the envelope!!  Small journal with Paris map for the cover and several groovy postcards.  I LOVE Twiggy!  Plus a package of ephermera, much of it with French writing.  I loved it all, ma belle.



Postcard Jim in England did not forget about me.  He created this great collaged postcard, including the visitor badge from his visit to Parliament.  No word if he had a moment with the Prime Minister.

Outgoing:


To Kazuko in Japan, some snacks crammed in a plastic canister that held juice packets.  I've never mailed anything in this vessel, but I'm sure it will work.  Can you see the Jelly Belly jelly beans packet?


Some envelopes for postcrossers:


Some postcards I created but have not sent out yet:

Bird theme

Bird theme

Sweets/Candy theme and Flower theme

Nice to meet you!

Kim from Peachy Cheek Art recently did a post inspired by another post in which you introduced yourself and got to know your fellow blog friends in the process.

 

Ernesto and me, in Northern Arizona (pine trees and snow!)

 

1. What is your real name, and what is your nickname?  My name is Garci (my Mum named me after my grandfather, Garris, which is English or Welsh origin) and my nicknames are "G" or "Guera," which is slang for fair haired, fair skinned in Spanish.  "Guera" is pronounced "Wedd-ah." Chandler is my city (Chandlerguera!)

2. What is your favorite movie of all time?  Oh my, I can't pick just one.  I love movies and have seen so many.  I'll list a few favorites:  Amelie, The Queen, Braveheart, James Bond movies, The Bourne Trilogy, Serendipity, The Italian Job (I can see a trend here...European themes).  I really like watching new movies and their originals like True Grit, and the Thomas Crown Affair.

3. What is your favorite food? Taco with a fresh tortilla

4. What was your favorite TV show growing up?  I grew up when the 1970's sitcoms were popular:  I Dream of Jeannie, Batman, Charlie's Angels, the Partridge Family, Bewitched.  I have great memories of watching the Miss America Beauty Pageant every year with Mum and Gran.  And, growing up in Colorado, the Denver Broncos game was on every Sunday and chili was in the crockpot.

5. Where is the furthest from home you have been?
Moorea in Polynesia (South Pacific) near Tahiti

6. Where would you like to travel to? Japan, Spain and Greece are three places I have not been to and are on my list.  I would return to Italy, England, Wales and New England in the autumn.

 

Image from Google

 

7. Favorite color?  Purple

8. Favorite store?  I'm a pretty big shopper so again, I can't just pick one!  I like antique stores and thrift stores, shops with lots of paper goods like postcards, stickers and stationery.  Big box stores:  Target and Michaels.  But I always try to spend my money in local shops or independent retailers, instead of the big corporations.  I find I am shopping more and more online.

9. Favorite beverage?  Hot tea with milk and sweetener (with hot water from my electric kettle!).  I like a nice glass of Chianti with Italian food and will occasionally have a vodka martini, straight up, with extra olives.

10. What's one thing you want to do in life before you pass on?  Take Ernesto to Europe.  Live on a small farm.

Keeping the U.S. Postal Service in business

I had a lot of free time this weekend to get caught up on some letters and do some Postcrossing.  Outbound:  15 postcards, 4 letters

Here's the pile: 

 

To Ann-Catrin in Finland.  Remember her last envelope had the weather report from the newspaper, so she could show me their frightfully cold winter weather?  Mine is a USA weather map from April, to show her my commute to work in North Carolina every week.  I forgot to tell her that the one-way trip is 2,177 miles. 

This Mother's Day theme went to Patty from Just Letter Rip:

The Route 66/Travel theme is heading to Claudia from NextLola's Zoo in Italy.  I used the brightest, most colorful stamps I had (note the new Latin singer stamps).  I am always running low on "airmail" stickers, so I made some of my own.

These two went to Postcrossers in Germany and Belarus.  One girl knows Spanish, and the other got a pink collage which I went with because of my return address sticker (the pink cupcake):

To a postcrosser in India:

"Ugly Betty" was a popular TV show a few years ago and I still love watching reruns.  Betty has braces, so when I made this postcard for my friend, I made sure I used glitter on the braces so they really stand out.

 
Last weekend I made some postcards.  French theme, blue theme and Italy theme.  The blue one is in the very first picture and is being mailed out already.

The angelic girl above with the blue background came off the label from gnocchi I cooked.  One man's trash is another man's art.
May your mailbox be happy this week.

Symmetry (groovy video)

Thanks, Felicity!