From Rachael with thanks

A while ago I hosted an MMSA swap where participants were invited to make hand made envelopes.

Lots of lovely envelopes were turned in for the swap. You can click to see part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6 and part 7.

As the host it is a lot of fun to sift through the packages that arrive - often the sender includes something extra for the host (like this envelope I sent to Eva). You can see the stunning envelope Rachael sent in here.

Less fun is when a swapper doesn't receive their expected package. The envelopes were mailed out in early November 2017, and by November 21 Rachael still hadn't received hers.

Fortunately the swappers had very generously sent me extra envelopes, plus of course I have my own stash, so I sent a replacement set off to Rachael which she received December 6th.

And of course after I sent a replacement set of envelopes, the original packet arrived, with 4c postage due on December 26th. I am always very careful to go to the post office and weigh the packets to make sure they have the correct postage, so this surprised me. At least it made it about 6 weeks after it was sent!

So Rachael was extremely nice and sent me a few things inside this great envelope. Not sure why the stamp didn't fare so well.

 

Amongst other things (that may or may not show up on the blog at some point), Rachael included some very nice vintage stamps inside this mini-envelope.

So thank you for the thank you goodies, Rachael!

Stunning holly wreath

This stunning envelope arrived from Rachael. She isn't on my exchange list, so I'll have to send something to her this week.

At first I thought the design was printed as it is so perfectly done, but it is in fact all created by hand.

And on the back, when she realized it was upside down, she wrote this:

The good thing about envelopes is that there is no upside down on the front :) Thanks for the extra smile.

Ghoulies and ghosties...

A stunning envelope from Rachael, part of Jean's October envelope exchange.

The front...

The back...

The flap...

The inside...

MMSA envelope from Rachael

Beautiful calligraphy and stamp selection from Rachael

May exchange - envelopes in

Fun envelopes in: from Jean (part of big mail Monday) - love the simplicity of the stamps and writing.

This absolute beauty from Kathy (also part of Big Mail Monday).

Elegant circles and fascinating stamps from Rachael, with a great card inside.

Clever day at the races envelope from Tina

With only the tiny clue of the 'from' zip code, this colorful one is from Amy. Thanks for the seeds!

and a bonus one from Hester, with a fun banana-related story and nice liner.

January envelope exchanges in from Jean and Rachael

Beautiful calligraphy and vintage stamps from Jean. The Illinois stamp is particularly nice.

Really clever rubber stamping from Rachael.

The scariest day of the year...

Yes, even scarier than Halloween, it's the day after Thanksgiving in the US, a day when the whole country takes on characteristics of a zombie apocalypse.

So in honor of the day, here's a scary Halloween bonus envelope that went out to Rachael.

October exchange envelopes - the Halloween edition

A wicked envelope in from Rachael (thanks for the bonus!)

Pile o' pumpkins from Chuck

Two envelopes in one from Heather.

You're just my type

I've been saving this one since February.... thanks, Rachael!

February exchange envelopes received

This lovely hand made envelope from Amy has wonderful vintage postage and got amazing cancels at the post office. Unfortunately, one of the postal machines must have thought the same thing, as there is a little bit nibbled away.

I love the way Carol C extended my surname onto the back. Clever!

Rehj played around with the computer to get a quilled effect on the letters to match the quilled heart stamp.

A classic  beauty from Lynne S.

I am saving the fifth envelope for later in the year - thanks, Rachael!

December envelope exchange part 2

I had a few more envelopes made from brown paper grocery bags to go with Forever Love stamps, so I opted to send 10 out for the December exchange.

These are numbered 636, 637, 638, 639 and 651 to Florence, Carroll, Smash, Rachael and Karen.