I've got mail!

I love receiving mail ♥ 

When I'm expecting something to arrive with the post, it makes me so excited to get out of bed in the morning to go and check! There's nothing I love more than finding a pile of mail waiting for me in the living room, which my mum kindly arranges according to who it's addressed to. I've always enjoyed surprises so receiving snailmail is so fun for me! I've been writing to penpals for almost ten years now & love writing letters on pretty paper and using adorable envelopes and stickers :) It's even more delightful when letters I receive have gifts in them or I'm sent packages from my penpals on special occassions. 

As well as writing snailmail, another hobby of mine is postcrossing (swapping postcards with people all over the world) so I usually get a bunch of postcards every week, too. Online shopping has become another love of mine, especially whilst I was at uni as my campus was in the middle of the countryside so it was easier to order online than to travel to and from the city every time I needed something other than food. So here's what I received through my letterbox over the last two weeks...

I kept seeing this book by Zoella (Zoe Sugg) all over instagram. It's not a genre I'm usually into (my favourite books are fantasy) but I thought I'd give it a read because I managed to get it on Amazon for only £3.85 VS the £7.99 retail price. The overall appearance of the book looks lovely; I especially like the pale blue colour of the cover. 

I also bought two books that I've wanted for ages now! I really enjoy 'art journals', such as 'Wreck this Journal', and love how anyone, even if you're not the best at drawing or painting, can still enjoy art with these books. The book is filled with fun ideas and gives creative instructions on each page. I purchased my own copy in June 2014 after spotting people sharing their Wreck this Journal artwork on tumblr & instagram, so I decided to join in :) 

Through following the Wreck this Journal posts, I was introduced to the 'Anti Journal' by David Sinden & Nikalas Catlow, which is similar to the Wreck this Journal and a product I recommend for anyone who enjoys being creative. On the authors instagram page dedicated to Anti Journal, I spotted that they had created another book so I couldn't wait to get my hands on one. 'Don't eat this book' is available on Amazon for £5.24. It looks a lot more aimed at children so would be a great christmas present idea, but I know I'll enjoy filling it in myself! The other book I purchased is by David Sinden & another author, Victoria Kay. It's a mini-version of one of those adult colouring books that are really popular right now. Since I liked David's other books and I, too, have an adult colouring book, I was interested in trying the 'The Little Book of Calm Colouring' (& considering my love of Amazon, I also purchased this there at £3.85).

Postcrossing is a great hobby for anyone who enjoys receiving postcards as much as I do. I have always loved postcards and remember sending them home to myself when I went on holiday as a child and asking my friends to send me postcards from their holidays. Before I was 15 and went on a school trip with my history class, I'd never been abroad and other than Wales, Yorkshire and  Lincolnshire, I'd  never travelled much around the UK either so receiving postcards was exciting. I loved seeing what other towns and cities looked like and hearing about what my friends had done whilst visiting. 

Around 4 years ago, I started swapping postcards using an official website called 'Postcrossing', where you are randomly provided with an address, along with the users profile, to send a postcard to. Some users list the type of postcards they like, which is handy and it's interesting to read a little about the people you're going to write to. For every postcard you send, your address will be randomly sent to another user so you will receive a postcard in return. Not knowing where in the world you'd be sent a postcard from made it more interesting; I received mail from so many different countries! You could also view galleries on the website and message users to organise direct swaps with them, which was fun. I don't use postcrossing anymore and I do all my postcard swapping through instagram, which is full of fellow postcrossers!

Here are some of the lovely stamps used on my incoming postcards: 

 I hope you all enjoyed reading  

♥  

Does anyone like postcrossing or snailmailing? 

Do you own a Wreck this Journal or Anti Journal?