Package Pals Project 2012: The Big Reveal!

At the end of May I signed up for the Package Pals Project hosted by the lovely Shannah at Write Before Your Eyes. The project entailed being given the name and address of a complete stranger and sending them a package of pretty things!

My send-to partner was Beth in the USA. I stalked her blog for a couple weeks before sending her package. As a result of said stalking I discovered that Beth is an avid snail mailer who likes handmade items, playing golf, and dabbles in the culinary arts.

In the end I decided to send Beth items relating to those particular interests. I handmade a pocket envelope and filled it with blank greeting cards, stickers, postcards, post-it notes, handmade envelopes and letter seals, a stamp issue pack from Australia Post (I went with the Farming Australia theme as I live in a farming district), a recipe book, some ephemera, and a selection of herbal (caffiene-free) tea.

In return I should receive a package of pretty things from a complete stranger, however at the time of writing this post it had not arrived. In fact, I've been waiting on numerous parcels to arrive this week that have not, so I've been left feeling a little deflated, not to mention completely disappointed with the postal service. I am sure the items are on their way, but a weekend seems like such a long time to have to wait for the next postal delivery...

Creativity...

Last week I actually found the time to sit down and do some paper crafts, for the first time in a long time. In fact, I think the last time I did any sort of craft was prior to Christmas, when I put together some scrapbooking pages as gifts (although, I wasnt all that impressed with how they turned out. My creative vision simply didnt transcribe to the pages very well).

I have been eagerly reading blogs like Gathering Dust, Jennifer McGuire Ink, and Paper Cakes (amongst others), whose creativity inspired me to make an effort and find some of my own. Although, I must admit that their stuff is so much nicer than mine - I am so out of practice!

Last Friday it was my "little" (= not-so-little) brother's thirteenth birthday, and since boys arent really all that impressed by cards, I decided to make a gift envelope to shove some money into instead.

The envelope measured around 3"x 2", and was decorated with a picture of a "soccer boy" (since my brother is obsessed with this sport), ribbon, and a brad.

Inside I placed a little tag, attached to some cotton, temptingly left hanging out the side of the envelope. Around the tag I then wrapped some money, so that when the envelope was opened and the tag pulled out, the money would come out with it, like so:

I've no idea what my brother thought of it, but I was most pleased with my little creation!

I have also signed up for a greeting card swap over at Swap-Bot, so on the weekend I made those as well.

I used scrapbooking paper and card, die-cuts, paper flowers, brads, and cut the woman out of an an old 1920s poster advertising stockings. I really hope my partner will like them!