50

Merry Christmas guys!
My christmas gift to all of you is a very awkward video of me. I decided to do a video blog instead so here it is...

so after watching this video I have realized:

1. I cant make eye contact

2. I sound so different from what i thought I sounded like lol

49

It is almost Christmas! OMG.

I have accumulated way more christmas cards than I actually need but I really need to sit down and start sending some. I have SO MANY different kinds! Hopefully by this weekend everything will get done.

I have one week left of school and I am currently beyond stressed out with final projects. Friday I have to make my way to my partners house again for another photo shoot. This one will involve his friend's band, marijuana and tacky wigs. I haven't decided if I am looking forward to it or not. I just get nervous driving on my own.

Anyways, my mail has been taking a beating recently. All my letters come torn and I even received HALF of an envelope yesterday. It was seriously just a sheet of paper with my address and the sender's address! I am so disappointed  that the 2 oz of stickers that were suppose to be in the envelope are probably scattered somewhere between her post office and mine. I am double disapointed that postage cost is going up again :(
Time to restock on forever stamps.

I need a job really bad. They opened a Hobby Lobby nearby and that place is AMAZING! The closest one before was in San Diego and I had never been but omg. my mom and I fell in love once we walked it....and they're hiring!
For the time being though, since I cant seem to find work and my financial aid is done until next year, my mom and I have started selling on Ebay. So far we have made $500 in one month! It is such easy money but spending a whole day listing things gets really boring.

48

It is officially my birthday week! PARTY TIME.
Tim and I celebrate our birthday's this week. He will be 24 and I will be 22. Crazy!

I had the most awkwardest experience ever today. I have a "film noir" graphic design project and I have to work with a partner so I had to go to his house and take pictures. It was my first time driving by myself alone and going somewhere I had never been to before. Thankfully I didn't get lost but I was so nervous when I got there.  It was so awkward standing in his living room in a dress and holding an AK47 while we took pictures...the fact that he is a very good looking person did not help. I was probably a good few shades of red.

Besides that, I have made a killing on ebay. This week alone, I made $200! and cleaned out my closet. I still have so much to post though.

I am behind on my snail mail though. I tried catching up but I ran out of stamps and I am very poor right now.

I went to a festival they hold every year in a senior citizen community, it's like their own little town..so cute!, and they had so much stuff! lots of old postcards and stamp collections and so much mail related stuff but I had to hold back from buying. I really wish I had a steady income.

I'll end this post with an awkward photo..(I really should have worn some heels)

47

Happy Halloween Weekend Everyone!

I love love LOVE halloween and I am a bit bummed out I'll be missing out on Monday but it's ok.

Tim and I will have 3 years together on Halloween so to celebrate us and my admissions to RCC, I decided to give my "culinary" skills a try..

I made him a red velvet pumpkin shape cake with recess pieces. I had some left over so i made some ghost shape cupcakes for my family and I.

I hope he likes it!

46

It is officially October!

October means Halloween! which means really awesome swapbot swaps!

So I did (almost) all my Halloween shopping tonight at the Dollar Store. I swear, I could spend hours and almost all my money there...

 I really love Halloween, ok? I need to pick up more candy but I’ll wait until they come on sale. Going to start making my Halloween cards and working on a whimsey jar swap.

October also means Tim’s and I’s 3 year anniversary ON HALLOWEEN! Too bad it’ll be on a Monday and we both have evening classes. Later today, since its already 2am, we are going to the L.A Zoo, that is if everything goes as planned in the morning and everyone is on time. I have to go observe Mandrills for 2 hours for my antro lab class.

So as far as freebies and couponing goes, I haven't posted much of them on this blog since I want to keep it more of a penpal/swapbot kinda snail mail blog instead of a coupon savings blog. However, I have received a lot of stuff this past week...

I’ve received something everyday this week. It’s been nice

- Cotton Work textile samples and measuring tape + coupon

-2 Free Suave products. About a month ago I took a survey/quiz thing on the Suave website and won 2 Suave styling products so today I redeemed my coupons and got hairspray and dry shampoo.

-Cerra affirmation cards.  I dont know if I posted this one already but I received it a while ago. Each affirmation card has a different scent. I haven’t opened them…anyone want one? 

-Yogi Tea samples + $1.00 off any two Yogi teas coupon

-John Frieda shampoo, conditioner & hair serum samples

-Splenda Essential samples + $1.00 off coupon

-“The Caffeine Made Me Do It” bumper sticker

-2012 Barack Obama bumper sticker

-Icy Hot Naturals sample +$1.00 off coupon

I'll continue posting my received free samples and deals on my Tumblr

45

I finally got my drivers license..CELEBRATION! It only took me 6 years but I finally did it.  It was hardly a "driving test" because i literally just had to go around the block. No parking or even changing lanes, it was way too easy.

Anyways, now that I have that out of the way. I need to concentrate on how to pay for insurance and gas and since it's more than impossible to find a job right now, I think I am going to start selling my artwork. Maybe I'll start painting today..but first, time to organize my mail. I am about to break into my 4th storage box...

The 3 photo albums are filled with postcards,

I have also started a new shop on etsy. I'll be selling recycled envelopes, paper goods and upcycled items. It'll also be the shop where I would sell my artwork eventually.

Manitas De Gato

I have been in such a good mood lately. It's finally fall! a.k.a BEST TIME OF THE YEAR! October and November are my favorite months. I can't wait for Halloween! It doesnt matter that I will have to miss the actual night due to school,I am still partaking in the awesome Halloween craft activities and stuff. Also, Halloween marks Tim and I's 3 year anniversary. Crazy.

So since it's a new season, why not start a new project? My very good friend Britty has started "Love Yourself October". It's a creative way to appreciate and love yourself more because as she mentions in her blog, everyone is pretty awesome! I think this is a great way to welcome the change of weather and the holidays :)

44

It's September!
There is so much to look forward to this month, starting with the Los Angeles County Fair this weekend...which is conveniently 5 minutes away from my house. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up some freebies.

Some of the latest mail freebies:

-U by Kotex pad and tampons +  $1.00 off coupon

-Classic Pectin sample

-Lactaid Fast Act dietary supplements (4 capsules) + $1.00 off coupon

-Ebony Mag which brought a booklet of coupons inside!

-Peta stickers. This one was two separate freebies. One was a booklet with the I am not a nugget stickers and the others came in a packet of information about peta stuff…I just wanted the stickers.

August Mail 

Sent:

Postcards: 17

Letters: 17

Packages: 4

Total:  38

Received:

Postcards: 11

Letters: 9

Packages: 9

Total:  29

43

Summer is over (even if the weather says otherwise) and I am back to school. Since I already graduated, I am just taking fun classes to kill time before I get my other stuff in order.

I am taking Screen Printing which I have been wanting to take since I started college! I bought my screen today and made my first print (which I'll post tomorrow because I am too tired). It's going to be so much fun. We will be printing on textiles too! I am also taking Graphic Design which I have always been somewhat interested in so I am dabbling my feet in it and see if I like it. I enjoyed Digital Imaging in high school so we'll see. And lastly, I am taking Anthropology Lab which is one of the last classes I need to be able to transfer but it's only once a week so that's not so bad.

I spent this past weekend catching up on mail, family reunion and being lazy. Too lazy to even go to the post office so my stack of outgoing mail is pretty big. I love when my bag is filled with mail. I love dropping it all in the mail box and then peaking in at it and seeing it all in the drop basket....all colorful and cute. I bet the post office people are used to it now.lol

42

Today's blog is all about savings and free stuff!

Lets start with the free stuff:

-Fiber Choice Weight Management sample and $2.00 off coupon for any FiberChoice  product

-Harley Davidson sticker

-Tokidoki stickers! I had to send a self addressed envelope to receive them so technically they were $.88 but still! They arrived within a week, probably because they’re in LA.

I found all these freebies through http://www.freestufftimes.com/

Now to the savings...

CVS Purchase:

Moisturizing Body Wash -regular price $2.27

Chapstick - $0.80 (clearance item)

Sally Hanson Nail Polish - $0.80 (clearance item)

Subtotal: 3.87 

-$3.00 (I had another free moisturizing body wash coupon found at http://www.facebook.com/MinuteClinic and it rang up to -$3.00 instead of -$2.27 so I wasnt complaining ;) )

So Grand total was: $.87 + $.7 tax = $.94

and on top of all that I received a $4.00 off coupon of $20 or more purchase!

Next..

Walmart Purchase:

Johnson & Johnson First Aid  - $0.97 x 2 

Carefree pantie liners - $0.94 x 2

Benadryl Itch Relief Stick - $2.28 x 3

Oral-B Floss - $0.93

Sub Total - $11.59

-$.50 off x 2 for the CareFree liners

-$2.00 off x 3 for the Benadryl

-$1.50 off for the First Aid Kit

-$0.75 off the Oral-B Floss

Grand Total of $2.34 +$.90 tax = $3.24

41

Spent the entire weekend up in Big Bear camping with the family and Tim. Camping is fun but I really missed my bed and I was anxious to get back home to check the mail!

Baking while camping..(and my brother setting up his telescope for the meteor shower)

Big Bear Lake

So today I have spent the day relaxing and doing the snail mail thing. Guess where I got this inspiration from? lol. I can't stop laughing at it!

In other news, the samples are coming in!

-Eucerin sample of face lotion and body lotion with 2 coupons ($1.00 off any 1 Eucerin product and $3.00 off on any 2 Eucerin products) 

-Carefree pantie liner sample with a $.50 off coupon on any carefree product

40

I went to Big Lots the other day and came across a whole craft aisle and everything was so cheap! I really don't like going to Big Lots but this time I found so much great stuff that I had to resist spending the money I don't have at the moment. However I couldn't pass up a huge button grab bag! My mother and I have become obsessed with buttons and we love sitting in the dinning room table and sorting buttons. We could do it all day long!
All these buttons just for $2.00! I will definitely be going back for more soon!

I also bought a booklet of 72 sheets of 6.5" x 4.5" cardstock which is perfect for making postcards! I already made one the other day (instead of studying for my math final)

So as I mentioned before, I am starting to do the whole coupon thing and my latest find was for a free moisturizing body wash from CVS. I came across the coupon on facebook, the offer has now expired. My first $0.00 purchase was exciting!

39

I participated in a mail art kit swap on swap-bot and this is what i received,


I was so surprised about how big the package was. I wasn't expecting so much stuff, especially real postage stamps! This one was by far one of the best swaps yet. I didn't take pictures of what I sent but in my package I included lots of ephemera, stamps and ink pad, di-cuts, envelopes, old postage stamps, colored pencils, deco tape, scissors and other random stuff and it was all in a big make-up/travel bag.

Free stuff I have received lately:
Nail foil stickers

I forgot what website it was from but I got the link from http://www.freestufftimes.com which included a coupon code for free purchase and free shipping. I probably won't ever wear them but they were free. 

I have been doing a lot of coupon shopping with my mother and she finds the best deals ever at CVS. On one of her most recent purchases she bought all this:

Total break-down:

Purchase #1

Nivea Lip Sticks:

$4.45 and $3.39 but they were 2 for $5.00 dollars + $3.00 off coupon!

total of $2.00

Purchase #2

Nivea Lip Sticks:

$4.45 and $3.39 but they were 2 for $5.00 dollars + $3.00 off coupon!

sub total of $2.00

Gillete Fusion Razor:

$12.99 but they were on sale for $9.99 + $4.00 off coupon

sub total of $5.99

so that's $7.99 - $6.00 CVS Reward Dollars 

total: $1.99

Everything in that picture came down to $3.99! (not including tax)

38

Picked up a few postcards a few weekends ago in San Luis Obispo. I should have bought more but they're up for trade if anyone would like one.


So I came across a blog on tumblr a few weeks ago about couponing and getting free things. This lady documents all her amazing deals. On her blog she share this website: http://www.freestufftimes.com/
which is one of her many gateways to free things. Who doesn't love free stuff?! I know I do! So I have been signing up for free samples (and my grandmother because she loves getting mail too). Since it's only been a couple of weeks since I started I havent received anything besides a free sample of Vanilla Extract from http://www.pure-vanilla.com/, which I'll probably use for my soap making once I start. I am expecting the free stuff to start flowing in in about a month.

37

The amount of mail that has been coming in and going out recently has inspired me to update my blog!

July was spent catching up on my mail, getting organized and finding new pen pals. I think I will create a log to keep track of how much mail I receive and send out.

Outgoing mail: August 1st


A closer look to a postcard I made for a member in IUOMA. I really love doing collages!


Now on to some of the goodies I have received recently..

Dollar tree swap from swap-bot. I love the whole color theme of everything, so soft  and relaxing and yay for glue sticks! I go through glue sticks soo fast!


What the mail man left for me today. My family jokes around that I need to invest in a larger mail box.


Christmas in July swap! I was so excited to unwrap the gifts. But i do have to admit it was a little strange opening Christmas presents while it's 100 degrees outside

The package included christmas cards, food markers, sounds of nature cd, a christmas bag with tissue paper and a home made apron!


a close up of the "Feliz Navidad" apron she sent. I can't wait to start baking!



I will leave you all with a shot of my super messy work station. I wish I had a whole entire room dedicated to my snail mail adventures!

36

Freshly developed fisheye photos:

Calico Ghost Town on the way to Vegas, taken New Years Eve.

Griffith Observatory

Los Angeles view from the Hollywood Bowl Observation point (I pretended to be a tourist for a day)

Dusk at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery...I go there a lot.

More photos could be found on my flick:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/apeachylife/

Slowly getting back on track with my snail mail adventures. I want more penpals!

35

I am officially a college graduate!

Now that school is over I have so much time on my hands...time to catch up with this blog! After taking a semester of JUST art classes, I have become very inspired to create some mail art, especially some collage mail art. I created this one in class for a project they had us do (the art department was interviewing a new professor and we were her "practice" class..she made us do collages!)

I have received some very interesting pieces these last few months. Such as, 

Is there any good snail mail coupon communities out there? My mother recently become obsessed with coupons thanks to the TLC show "Extreme Couponing" and she has me searching for coupons EVERYWHERE. I've already joined a few groups and swaps on swap-bot. Would anyone be interested in trading?

34

Time to catch up..again.

I have under estimated my ability to properly keep up with this blog but a month ago I received a postcard from a reader and I was so excited that people actually look at this. I have been meaning to update since then but it took a month to actually do so.

Thank you Monica! I will be replying to it shortly :)


Snail mail has taken a back seat for a while as I concentrate on school and my Etsy shops. However, it has not stopped me from thrift shopping...
I gave in and paid $2.50 for this alphabet and number stamp set. It came new in the box and only 3 of the letters have been used. It was missing the ink pad but thats okay.

A little wood mail box to hold my incoming letters :) 

Also, I am offering my readers a 20% off discount on an entire order when you shop at A Peachy Life, just use coupon code: APL20 when checking out!

33

So it has been a while since I've updating. I decided to take Speech 1A and yoga for the short winter session and it seriously took everything in me to finish. But I am done with the dreaded public communication class and 6 speeches later, I am sooo happy it is over. I think I was lucky enough to take the class with an amazing professor that really brought the class together and made us all feel really comfortable.

Since my time was consumed in organizing speeches and learning yoga poses, I didnt have much time for mail but I couldnt pass up a few Valentine's swaps. These are a few of the Valentine's Day cards I made for a few swaps...








Whimsey Jar I sent,


Whimsey Jar received.



I haven't worked on my journal since I received it. I actually forgot all about it until now so hopefully I can do some pages soon. I have a week off until school starts again and there is so much I want to do but unfortunately I have got a cold. I have started volunteering at the Humane Society but I am not as excited as I was in the beginning...it's just so depressing working there.

Some things I want to accomplish in the near future:
- Make soap!
- work on Wreck This Journal
- Make a crochet blanket. My mom made about 3 or 4 when she was my age and she has passed them down to me so I think it would be nice if I made one for my future children. She was really happy when I told her I wanted to make one.