More mail!

Dear Shayne,

I have recently read a couple of books that have inspired me to send more mail. One is a novel called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It's a sweet little book set just after the second World War and it's told entirely through correspondence. Very voyeuristic -- like reading someone else's letters. (Thanks, Mom, for recommending it -- soo good!)

The other is Good Mail Day by the PodPost gals. It's an inspirational book about mail art -- making it, sending it, the history, etc. They also write about documenting the mail that you send and receive. Keeping records helps me stay on top of things, so I jumped right on that and decided to make a "Correspondence Register." (Ooh! Fancy!)

Even though I never use them, I have a habit of buying blank journals, so I already had one on hand for creating my register. I stenciled "To" on the front:


I flipped it over and stenciled "From" on the back. This could probably use additional embellishment, but it conveys the message for now:


On the To side, I record all outgoing mail. Flip it over to the From side, and I record incoming mail. Eventually, the two will meet in the middle and I'll need a new book!

I've used the following headings for my columns for outgoing mail: Date, Recipient, Content, and Stationery. For the incoming: Date, Sender, Contents, and Reply Sent? That last column is perfect for keeping me on track to send replies.

Here is a photo from Good Mail Day showing some great examples of correspondence records (including a very cool one you can buy from the Letter Writers Alliance):

(Click on that to see the details.)

So far this year, I have sent eight pieces of mail, which is pretty darned good, since it's only the 15th. That's one piece every other day. Go, me! Here's my outgoing register:


Now I know you'll be wondering where your mail is, so I'll put something in the mail to you as soon as I finish writing this post!

love,
kelly