A Guide to Letter Writing

By Petar Milošević (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Here in the UK, we are currently in the first national letter writing week (14-18 September). It has been launched by Royal Mail (our post office), with the aim of encouraging people to rediscover the joy of sending and receiving letters.

As an avid letter writer myself I was excited to see RM launch this campaign. I have loved writing letters since I can remember. Not to mention that I am like a kid at Christmas when the mail drops on our mat each morning.

I know not everyone is as convinced of the benefits of letter writing as I am so I thought I would share this link to a Buzz Feed article: 19 Reasons We Should All Start Writing Letters Again.

Even when people are convinced that sending and receiving letters is worthy of their time, they often have doubts that it's within their ability to do it. I thought I would tackle some of the most common reasons that stop people writing letters in this blog post. By the end I hope to have given you the confidence to get started.

Who can I write to?

The first thing you need to decide is whether you want to write to someone you already know or to a pen pal.

A great way to celebrate NLWW is yo send a card or letter to a friend or family member. Can you imagine the lovely surprise of receiving a handwritten letter in amongst the usual bills and junk mail? You could tell them why you're thankful they are in your life or share a happy memory you have with them. Of course, you can have a catch up and tell them about what is going on in your life at the moment.

Remember the point of a letter is that it's personal. Each person has different style. Too often people are put off from letter writing because they believe they can't write well enough.

How can I find a pen pal?

If you decide that you would like to find a pen pal then you'll be glad to hear that there are lots of ways to do this. One of the easiest ways is through Facebook groups. There are lots and lots so you can find a pen pal in or outside your country. Another easy way is to search #penpalswanted on Instagram.

What can I write about?

• Introduce yourself with some simple facts- your name, age, job, partner, children, pets, etc.
• Talk about some of the little (or big) things that have brought you joy recently- a good cup of coffee, a funny advert, a nice sunset. Think outside the box.
• Write about how you like to spend your free time. You could tell them about your hobbies, how you spend lazy Sundays, and anything else you enjoy doing.
• If you have an international pen pal, you could tell them about the country you live in and its culture. Even within the countries that make up the UK there are lots of interesting and distinct differences,

There you have it, my advice for novice letter writers. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments box or on social media. 

Will you be sending a letter this week?

Love Katie x

P.s. I'm looking for someone in Japan to write to. Please get in touch if you'd like to be pen pals.

You can also find me on,,,

Instagram: @princessgluestick

YouTube

Using my Color Crush planner as a faith journal (part two)

In my last blog post I talked about how I came to the decision of using a planner as my faith journal. I shared a little bit of how I use my dark pink Color Crush, but I thought a video would be a better way of sharing in more detail how exactly I am using the inserts.


I'd love to hear what you think, leave me a comment on the video or below.

Love Katie x

Using my Color Crush planner as a faith journal (part one)

I love that Instagram is a place where creative people from all over the world meet to share ideas, their work and a selfie or two. I realise that it sounds very cheesy but I do learn and grow from the people I follow, people I would otherwise probably never meet and interact with.

At the beginning of the year through the IG grapevine I found out about three projects which jumped off the page at me.

These are:

1. DocumentedFaith
 2. TakeMe Deeper – His Kingdom Come
3.  Logo365- His Kingdom Come

Being my usual self I wanted to do all them, but I knew that this was an unrealistic goal. The more that I looked at the content provided (all free of charge!), the more obvious the answer became – combine all three.

At around the same time, the beautiful new Colour Crush planners came out. A CC seemed like the perfect fit for such a project since all the inserts are already geared towards the creative mind.

Since this is a yearlong project, how I have used the binder and inserts has changed, and continues to develop and evolve, as does my journey of faith and my relationship with God.

This project is the answer to something I have been seeking for so long – a way to combine my love of creativity and connecting with God.

The pages of this journal are not works of art worthy of a gallery wall. They are simple and perhaps even childlike (I’m not sure you are still supposed to use stickers at the age of 24), but they provide a way for me to record what I am learning about, thinking about, and praying about. And, Jesus did say that we should come to him like children- I’m sure He was thinking of stickers and glittery pens.

In all seriousness though, I find it hard to imagine that God would have a problem with me doing something which has turned my quiet times/devotionals from feeling like a chore to my favourite part of the day. It is already very encouraging for me to look back and see all that God has done this year.

Are you participating in any annual projects this year? How do you track what God is doing in your life?

Love Katie x

P.s. You can follow me on Instagram here.

Valentine Care Package

I know a lot of people feel cynical about Valentine's day, but I like to use it as an opportunity to show my loved ones (not just my husband) how much I care about them. Every January I begin making cards and gifts to give my family and friends. Since my sister moved to Belgium last autumn, I decided to put together a whole love Valentine themed package for her. I thought I would share with you how easy and affordable it is to do something like this.

Top tip: If you're sending a package within Europe there are very few restrictions you need to worry about and you don't need to fill in a customs form.

What I included

Belgium is the home of great chocolate so I didn't especially want to send any, but when I saw this adorable mini box of chocolates I know my sister loves, I had to include it.

I had a little look for fun printables on Pinterest and found some Harry Potter themed Valentines, both my sister and I are big fans so I knew she'd like those.

Otherwise I generally looked around for red/pink/love themed things to send. There are a lot more items I would have liked to include but I've been on bed rest a lot recently so shopping hasn't been easy.

Thanks to making an early start on my projects I was still able to include some handmade items. I made my sister a card, and used a die cutting machine to make a little decoration and some fun photo props.

My husband modelling the photo props

Top tip: The most important thing about creating a care package is early preparation. If your package is being sent abroad then you need to think how long it will take to arrive. See the Post Office website by clicking here.

Decoration

I bought some heart sequins and intended to use pretty tissue paper inside, but I forgot all about it- brain fog! I did use some cute washi tape and a printable label to decorate the outside of the package though, Everyone loves to receive mail, even better when it's all pretty!

Other ideas

You could also send...
a bath bomb - jewellery - cute stationery (stickers, notebooks, etc) - a DVD-  hot drink sachets - gift vouchers - a mixed CD - magazines
Pinterest has lots of great ideas and inspiration for care packages. You can find a board I've put together below.

Follow Katie's board Care package ideas on Pinterest.


Of course a loved one doesn't need to have moved country in order for you to send them something nice. You could put together something similar in a hamper and give it in person, or send a nice surprise in the post. I think anyone would be happy to receive a Valentine surprise in the mail.


I'm hoping to post at least once a month this year- fingers crossed my body will allow this. If there is something you would like me to write a post on, feel free to let me know in the comments. Don't forget to sign up for email notifications so you don't miss a post.

Love Katie x

Have you ever received a care package? What would you include if you were sending one? It would be great for you to share any ideas you have in the comments below.

Travelling journal

I love to do swaps. I love to send my creations out into the world, and in turn receive things that can teach me, inspire me, and help me to "meet" new people.

When I found out about the website Swap-Bot, I jumped at the chance to be a part of regular swaps, choosing what I wanted to join in with, and what I wanted to pass on.

Recently, I put together a travelling journal for a UK swap in the group 'UK Happy Mail'. I have sent out several travelling journals, although none have come back to me yet, I have received e-mails every now and then about where they are and what they've been up to.

It's most exciting (in my humble opinion) when I receive a journal from my partner. I get to learn about other people, and am often very inspired by what I see and read.

Creating a journal is very easy, as you will see from my very short photo slideshow below.




In case you're still stuck for ideas, I thought I would share some ideas with you.

Ideas/prompts:

1. A whole page devoted to one colour- pink, orange, blue, red, purple, green, etc 
2. Your favourite quotes
3. Create a collage using some old magazines
4. Draw/paint/write about what you can see right now
5. What or who are you thankful for today
6. Your favourite animal
7. Using a crayon or pencil, take rubbings from your surrounding area
8. Finger painting
9. Zentangle
10. Your favourite childhood memory
11. 50 (or even 100) things you love
12. A page devoted to the current, or your favourite, season
13. Write a letter to your teenage self
14. A short diary entry of your day
15. Take a clipping of your local newspaper

Get creative with how you fill the pages of your journal. There are no rules. Any medium goes. 

If you've got a good eye, you might have spotted that I filled a whole page with washi, and even cracked out my old Spirograph set from my childhood.

It's freeing to be able to put something down on paper, without re-arranging everything a gazillion times before I deciding it's good enough. These pages are candid- no perfection allowed.

Please feel free to comment about your experiences with travelling journals, or any more ideas you'd like to share.

Love Katie x

P.s. Welcome to my first post on this blog! I hope you'll consider subscribing so you don't miss any of the fun. Say hello to me on social media too, click on the links below or in the sidebar to the left

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