InCoWriMo 2017 in Review
Disclaimer: This post includes a couple of links to Amazon. I am not affiliated with the products. However, my blog is affiliated with Amazon. If you visit Amazon from my blog and make a purchase, I do earn a small credit.
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
7 comments:
What a great idea this was Renee and you did a great job keeping up with it all and made some fabulous handmade cards! Have a lovely weekend! Christine x
Lots of art being sent around the country in these swaps. I often wonder if they have helped the Post Office be in better financial shape. You don't hear much about them being in the red anymore. Love the art you created.
xx, Carol
A wonderful, wonderful showing of terrific cards and letters. What a great goal.
Renee you should feel very proud of your 28 days of mailing! I am so grateful you and I swapped. I shall cherish my amazing "postcard" from you. Your recap is very interesting and that alone takes a lot of time and work. Great Month of Mail...<3
You were very successful last month. And I'm sure not only you enjoyed the month of writing but also the persons who received your mail. Maybe I will participate next year, it looks like a lot of fun. And you gave me somer nice ideas showing all the paper postcards and the textile ones. I hope that I won't forget it next year.
It was sure fun to follow along with your fun things you posted and received. I don't blame you for enjoying it.
Looks like you had a fun month and mailed out some fun things - I know I love my postcard that came as a complete surprise. We all should send more mail and brighten someone's day.
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