My father was in the Air Force and I spent several years in Germany. Being in the military, I grew accustomed to my friends coming and going. It was tough having to make new friends year after year, but there was a silver lining- pen pals.

I still have a shoebox of letters from people who’ve lived all over the world. Some of them I keep in touch with to this very day and others I keep up with on Facebook. I love seeing the pictures of family and reading the funny posts, but nothing beats good old-fashioned snail mail.

How exciting is it to open the mailbox and see an envelope with a handwritten address instead of just the junk mail and bills? (I know, I know. I should be totally paperless, but there are a few things I haven’t gotten around to yet. They’re on my list.) I don’t write long letters anymore, but I send handmade cards every chance I get!

How cute is this little bunny? I saw this stamp at the Heirloom Rubber Stamp Show (more about that here) and couldn’t resist. It’s made by a company called Endless Creations and I look forward to their booth every year. They have such a huge variety of stamps in tons of sizes for every occasion. And the samples- the ideas are off the charts!

Whenever possible, I like to add dimension to my cards and layouts. Sometimes it’s in the form of enamel dots or puffy stickers, but one of my favorite ways is with foam dots. I double stamped the rabbit, fussy cut the feet and flower, and then added them with Stamping’ Up Dimensionals.

I made my own patterned paper strip by stamping a row of grass and flowers. This stamp set is an old one from Stamping’ Up and I’m not sure I’ve every used it. It’s meant to look hand drawn and not have perfect crisp lines and I’m not sure if I love it. But it fit the bill and so on it went. For the coloring, I went with my reliable Sharpies. Someday, I’d love to get into coloring with Copics. They really add that something special to cards, but I haven’t made the investment yet.

Another adorable stamp set I picked up from Endless Creations was this Snail Mail. For someone who sends cards, it doesn’t get much better than that.

There are those days when I think of a birthday at the last minute or send a “thinking of you” card on my way out the door, but most times I like to decorate my envelopes as well. It only adds a couple of minutes and makes getting mail that much more special.

How about you? Do you send snail mail or do you just like to receive it?