Incoming Pocket Letters

Happy Friday!

Grab a cuppa and join me for a photo heavy post chock full of inspiration by my pals at Pocket Letter Pals!

I'm back as promised with the incoming pocket letters I received in March. I do need to step back and catch up with 3 incoming pl's that I haven't shared here yet. My letters to them are already on my blog (I'll include the link) but I haven't had the chance to get their letters posted here so let's start with those first.

My group swap partner for the Smaller Pocket Letters - Black and White with one additional color at Pocket Letter Pals was Deb from Maine. I love that she used a piano keyboard as her inspiration and it creates a fantastic backdrop for the ephemera she used. I'm happy that she liked her pocket letter from me which you can see here and that we already have another swap in the works for next month. 

You can see the back of her pl below.

On the back she included some bling and charms in our color theme. I can't wait to use these Deb and I love my pl. Thanks so much!

The chalkboard tag attached was fab too!

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The next two are both steampunk themed pl's. This one was for a group swap at PLP's called Steampunk - Victorian Cool and it's from my pal, Virginie, in France. I love the handmade papers she created and all of the metallic touches which are quite spectacular in person. Unfortunately my camera and the lighting last night did not pick up those colors as well as I'd like but I do have some close ups for you. You can see the pl I send to her here. 

Maybe you can see it better than I thought but just in case here are a few close ups.

{don't know what happened to the top row, couldn't find it but I'll go back and add it}

I wanted you to see her handmade backgrounds and the texture she added with embossing folders. 

Also love the dimension she achieved with found objects like the pop tab.

Thanks Virginie, I love my pl, crafty goodies and this fabulous tag she made me!

This is so awesome and love the trim she placed under the dress. It's popped up on dimensional foam dots and it's amazing in person. Love it, thank you. :) 

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Around the time that the Steampunk - Victorian Cool swap was going on my pal, Sherri, from Michigan asked me if I'd like to swap pl's. I said yes and since I was working on a steampunk pl I suggested that theme and she agreed. (I believe I suggested it, maybe not, who knows lol). Anyway this is the pl she sent me and she not only decorated the front but the back as well. Front side is steampunk and the back side is Victorian, all I can say is that I love it Sherri and thank you for the wonderful goodies you sent me. We have already set up another swap for next month and I can't wait! You can see the pl I made for her here.

Front side

Back side

See what I mean, it's stunning! She tucked goodies into the pockets on both sides and they became part of the design. I was looking at it closer yesterday and she also included a beautiful pendant (bottom left corner) for me to wear as she also creates her own jewelry. I missed that the first time and now it's on a chain. :)

Let's have a few close ups

 This is the front side and with all of the photos I'm sharing (which were all edited) I'm stopping here but you can click on the photo of the back side to see it better. Mainly I wanted you to see how she integrated the craft supplies she shared with me into the design which is so cool. 

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Okay here is where it picks up from my blog post yesterday. This is a pocket letter from my pal, Katrin, in Germany. We swap on a personal basis and one of the themes we explored was fabric. I love fabric but sewing not so much, frankly I stink at it. I've tried but it's just not my thing however it is Katrin's as you can see. The artistry on this pocket letter is amazing and I'm in total awe of her sewing skills. :) If you saw my post yesterday you know I defaulted and made her a mixed media pl (which fortunately she loves, whew). 

   I wish my lighting would have been better when I photographed this. It is so vibrant and colorful in person and there's so much detail. Maybe these close ups will help with viewing. 

I love the owl and noticed him first then I looked down and there was a little white rabbit. My nickname at Pocket Letter Pal's is White Rabbit so how neat is that. 

Looks like she did some fabric piecing which blows my mind. When I sit down to a sewing machine bad things happen lol. I could never do this and so admire those who can sew.

I don't know if she was aware that I love hot air balloons but this pocket just makes me happy. I love the animal prints on this pl and they are all just precious. I'll cherish this forever Katrin, thank you!

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The next pl I received was from Aretha and we were group swap partners for the I Love Horses swap at Pocket Letter Pals. As I mentioned yesterday she is an actual horse trainer so I was thrilled to receive a pl from her. 

I love the silhouettes and the quotes she used.

Thanks Aretha!

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Before I share this incoming pl I have to say that I am a huge coffee lover. I drink it every morning and it is a daily ritual for me. I get down right irritable if my coffee time is interrupted and schedule my day around it. Now some say it's good for you and some say it's not, frankly I don't care. Coffee is how I choose to start my day and my dad drank coffee all day every day up until the last 2 years of his 85+ years so there you go. ;) It amazes me that since joining PLP's last September that I had never swapped a coffee pocket letter until my FB and PLP, Aparna, asked to swap one. We swap on a personal basis and I immediately said yes. I also found it refreshing when she shared that she doesn't like tea (sending a packet of tea is one of the happy's originally suggested by founder Janette Lane at PLP) and that she prefers coffee. Hallelujah! We are kindred spirits united by coffee and pocket letters lol.

I love the quote on the middle row pocket. 

So funny and so true. :)

She sent me some of the die cuts she used and I can't wait to make another coffee themed pl with them. I love my pl and goodies Aparna, thank you!

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Next up is the first of two Easter pl's I received from pals at PLP's. I enjoy swapping with these ladies and we'll start with my pal from Florida, Mary. I believe this is our 4th swap already and we immediately planned another for late May. It is bright and cheery and downright adorable!

This would brighten any one's day. I love looking at it and now I'm going to show you what she attached to the spine.

This sweet bunny with an Easter basket is a key chain. I clipped it to a bag / extra large purse by a mixed media artist that I found last year at Donna Downey's Studio. I had to have it and now I have another white rabbit joining the party in my craft room. Thank you Mary for this sweet pl and the fun goodies to play with and enjoy. :)

{Speaking of DD Studios, I'll be back there in early June for Tracy Verdugo's art class and I can't wait. I literally snatched up the last seat, how lucky am I!}  

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My pal, Nori, lives in Massachusetts and this is our second swap. I love getting happy mail from her and I'm so glad we were partnered for a Valentine swap earlier this year. I would have hated to miss out on meeting her at PLP's. There are a lot of folks who have joined since it began in March 2015 so it's impossible to meet everybody but quite often you find a wonderful pal in a group swap. Nori is one of these people!

I love the colors of Easter and they come alive on her pl. If you look closely you can see she also added a SPRING tag to the spine which I plan to use as a bookmark. The fun zig zag ribbon will go in my stash and I'll store this pl in my Spring binder. Which brings up a question I was asked recently about how I store my pl's. First though I want to thank Nori for my pl and the goodies she sent me to play with, thank you!

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As for storage I use large 3-ring binders to store my pl's in and place them vertically (so everything does not fall out) on a shelf. I remove all the fun stuff from the spine and place the note / letter they send in one of the top pockets showing the sender's name for quick reference. Since I joined last September my system is Halloween / Fall pl's in one binder then Christmas / Winter - Valentine's Day / Smaller Pocket Letters (3-pocket) - Easter / Spring - Summer / 4th of July then back to fall again. With the holiday themed pl's I tend to leave the goodies in the back pockets so I can use them next year on other pl's. There are some that go in my craft stash immediately since I am on a Christmas design team and regularly create with that holiday theme. As for the non holiday pl's I remove the goodies and place them in my crafty stash to use on other pl's plus projects I am creating for myself. I love getting stamps from other countries and several of my pals overseas regularly place them in my pl's. I have a set of 3 from Katrin with a white rabbit on one that I adore! 

Well, that is what works for me and I hope that answers the storage question. I can't tell you how much fun it is to flip through those binders and feel the love my pals put into making them for me. If you're still here thanks for hanging in there with this long post. 

Take care everyone and have a wonderful weekend, wherever you are.

I'll be my husband's sidekick as a helper in building our new deck so please say a prayer for me. 

I'm gonna need it, he's an engineer and I'm a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of gal. Sometimes I wonder how we ever got together and managed to stay married 30 years (next month) lol.

Lisa xx