InCoWriMo 2017 in Review

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In a post on January 31st, I shared my plans to participate in InCoWriMo 2017 (INternational COrrespondence WRIting MOnth.)

The goal was to mail or deliver one hand-written letter, note or postcard every day in the month of February. Although I did not write every single day, I did manage to mail or hand deliver 28 items (postcards, letters, and a giant posterboard Valentine) by February 28th. 

Throughout the month, I shared photos of my outgoing mail on my Instagram account. (You may find it here.) Now that everything has been received, I thought I would share my first InCoWriMo experience. (It is a photo heavy post!)

Day 1: Crazy Quilted Valentine for the Crazy Quilting International Valentine Fabric Postcard Swap went to New York. (There are more pics on this blog post.)

Day 2: Embroidered "snail mail" fabric postcard mailed to my Mom in Oregon. (More information may be found here.)

Day 3: A letter with a hilarious package of gum went to a relative in South Carolina. The gum cost less than the shipping price, but it was worth the laugh. (I purchased the gum at a candy store in Lincoln City, OR. However, I did find it on Amazon (for a higher price) - if you are interested in reading the text on the back, you may find it here.)

Days 4: I mailed this funny card to a relative in South Carolina with a sense of humor that fit the card. (I'm not affiliated. It made me laugh!) 

Day 5: I mailed a letter in the top envelope to a friend in Oregon. (I made the envelope with a piece of scrapbook paper and a Kreate-a-Lope C6 Envelope Template.)

Day 6: A "thinking of you" card went to a dear family friend in an Oregon coastal town.

Days 7-9: InCoWriMo "snail mail" fabric postcards went to Kansas, Canada, and California. (I shared a tutorial of how these were made here.)

Day 10: A birthday card was mailed to a young man in Oregon. (One of my dearest friends had him on my birthday years ago. What an amazing birthday gift!)

Day 11: A birthday card was mailed to a relative in South Carolina.

(I was thrilled to find these Happy Birthday stamps in a drawer.)

Days 12 & 13: My friend is a photographer (Lori Norton Photography) and for Christmas, she gave my husband and I a set of gorgeous note cards featuring her work. I practiced some caligraphy (using actual ink and nibs) on notes to two dear friends. One went to Arizona and the other to Canada.

Day 14: I stole this idea from a college roommate the year my husband and I met. I wrote him a Valentine on posterboard and incorporated the names of candy bars into the text. He barely looked at it when I gave it to him. A couple of years ago, he commented it was probably the coolest Valentine he had ever received - and to think for over 20 years I thought he hadn't liked it! It appears I did manage to embarrass him that first Valentine's Day. Oops! So, I made him another posterboard candy Valentine this year. Over 20 years later, I think I embarrassed him again - lol! (Someone on Instagram asked if there was a Pulp Fiction reference here. Nope! I just worked the candy into the letter.)

Days 15 - 21: Postcards of Silver Falls State Park went to Oregon, Arizona, and The Netherlands. A postcard of the Boeing Factory in Everette, Washington went to The Netherlands. And a Dilbert card and a funny postcard both went to South Carolina.

Day 22: I mailed a thank you card to Veronica after receiving this amazing birthday card she drew for me. She is SO incredibly talented!

Day 23: A "thinking of you" card went to a coastal town in Oregon. 

Day 24: A funny postcard went to a relative in SC.

Day 25: A baby arrival card went to a friend in Oregon that just had her 2nd child.

Day 26: A thank you letter went to my mom in Oregon in another hand made envelope.

Day 27: A crazy quilted under-the-sea themed fabric postcard went to a blogging friend in California that offered to write me during InCoWriMo.

Day 28: I printed a copy of the under-the-sea themed fabric postcard onto a notecard, adding the text "InCoWriMo 2017", and mailed it to North Carolina.

Where my InCoWriMo outgoing mail went:
Arizona - 2
California - 2 
Kansas - 1 
New York - 1
North Carolina - 1 
Oregon - 11 
South Carolina - 6
Canada - 2
The Netherlands - 2

I received mail from:
Arizona
California
Kansas
Oregon
Pennsylvania
The Netherlands

2 of the items I received were through InCoWriMo. 1 was through a swap and the other 3 were surprises. 4 of these items were shared in this post. One was shared on Day 22, above. And I am awaiting permission to share the last postcard I received. It is a beautiful print of a painting made by a blogging friend.  (I still need to reply to that one!)

InCoWriMo was a very fun experience. I am not very good about keeping in touch through letters and phone calls, so it was a great opportunity to send some happy mail to people in my life. I look forward to participating again in 2018!

Thank you so much for stopping by and making it through such a looooonnnnnnnnggggggggg post!
-Renee