Category: Happy Mail

Hello and happy Monday, zine friends!

I hope the start to your week has been good and has you feeling ready to take on the rest of the week. To be honest, mine hasn’t been all the spectacular, but Wanderer’s birthday is tomorrow, and there’s a lot to look forward to for celebrating his day.

And, of course, the day is bright when my post box is full of zines and goodies!

Lady Orchidia got in contact a recently to talk zines and about sending her zine The Fragments Zine all the way here to the land of Oz. I know the postage to Australia can be rough and really appreciate how much bigger that can make the decision to send a zine for review.

But I do so love a perzine, so I think we’re already off to a great start. I also love when zines sent to me for review arrive with a note. ^_^

Thank you very much to Lady Orchida for Fragments 5 – and the feedback on Don’t Call Me Cupcake 5!

Fishspit mail! I always know when it’s happy mail from Fishspit because his envelope collages are always spectacular. I mean, look at this:

That’s just the front of it. I love it.

Fishspit always sends interesting bits and bobs along as well, and I’m looking forward to reading the selection of zines he’s sent along.

Big hugs and big thanks, Fishspit!

Slowquest pack! I know I talk about a lot of things I adore, but I do especially adore the acts of generosity and trade that happen in the zine community. Bodie really went above and beyond in trading this cool padded envelope of awesomeness.

Even the address label is cool!

Piiiins! Awesome pins! This dungeon pin and…

…this wizard pin (both for sale in his shop, by the way) are happily pinned in with the rest of my pin collection. So cool!

Lillian Cuda! I’m not 100% sure on this, but I’m fairly sure this is the first Lillian Cuda zine I have now. Firsts! This lovely was sent my way from a friend who had a looksee at my zine wishlist.

Thank you to my friend, Carol, and to Lillian for the little extras!

That’s it for me today, zine friends. As always, there’s plenty to do but not enough time to do it. I may be back tomorrow, though I’m not sure with what at this point. Haha. Feel free to make suggestions.

I will definitely be back Wednesday because I’ll have a podcast to share with you…

Until then!

Hello, zine friends! Happy Monday. 🙂

We’re really in it now, good ol 2018. We’ve already navigated a few ups and downs with turning resolutions into realities. Figuring out where the best 30 minutes is for writing and perhaps solidifying plans for future projects. (Future zines? 🙂 )

I am feeling anxious (as usual) but excited about things. Having a planner to keep me organised certainly helps on both counts. But you know what helps my anxieties and worries?

Happy Mail!

Oh, segues.

Postcards! Allysha Webber has been so generous in ‘inviting me along’ on her adventures in the US by sending me postcards. It’s fun seeing the world through postcards and doubly fun reading Allysha’s thoughts on where she is.

If you can’t travel, find friends who do. ^_^ Haha.

Many thanks to Allysha.

PS. If anyone has suggestions for how to store postcards in a way where I can see both front and back, let me know. I wish there were trading card-like pages but for postcards instead.

That’s me for today, friends. There is a lot happening in the background for big things to come soon – I promise!

Yeah, that post title is a bit of a hot mess, but here we are and there we go! Hahaha.

I am in a brilliant mood, zine friends. I love New Year’s. I feel like it’s the one enjoyable major holiday that hasn’t been messed with past not-great stuff. Less expectation, more hope and fun. In general, of course. New Year’s can be less than amazing and downright scary, too, so big hugs and lots of encouragement from me if you’re feeling that way.

I also love that 2018 is starting on a Monday (I know – shock horror). I like starting things on Mondays, I get an extra energy boost in starting the work week, and, of course…

Happy Mail!

Thanks to Sensitive Adult Daily (https://www.sensitiveadultdaily.com), I have some awesome zine happy mail to start the year off with!

“Sensitive Adult Daily is a community of sensitive adults who, through creative work, document the struggle of living with lots of feelings.” I first came across Sensitive Adult Daily at Festival of the Photocopier 2016. I reviewed it and have been interested ever since.

They were kind enough to send the whole lot over, and I’m so happy to get started reading them. Thank you so much to Sensitive Adult Daily.

That’s me for today, zine friends. I know today would have been ideal for ‘2018 Plans’ and such, but how could I pass up a Happy Mail Monday – especially when it happens to be the very first day of the year?

Big hugs and zine on!

Hello, zine friends!

Whether you are celebrating or not celebrating, I hope the start to your week was wonderful and filled with good things. I spent my day brainstorming and then watching 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. Not too shabby.

I didn’t think that any mail would come through in the days leading up to Christmas, but lo and behold! Magnificent happy mail, my friends. Wonderful, lovely, complete surprise happy mail. I love it.

Okay, I tell a smidge of a lie in that this package of zine bliss was expected, but I didn’t know it was going to be zines! Oh, the zine love. This pack of zines from Mel at Swap-Bot were – you guessed it – part of a swap. I do profess my love for zines on my profile there, and it was so lovely to see these in the mail. Thank you so much to Mel for being such a great swapping partner.

Another surprise! I didn’t know what to make of this lovely parcel in my postbox, and it turned out to be one of the top combos out there – zines and washi tape! Love it! This pile of happiness came from Debbie Ann who will be leaving our sunny shores and thought I might like some goodies. That I certainly do, Debbie. Thank you so much for your generosity, and best wishes for your adventures outside Australia.

That’s me for today. It’s a toasty one here in the Bridge of Murray, and I’m trying to stay cool in my little office space.

I truly wish you all the best in this, a season of silliness but also often of sadness. I understand what it’s like for this time of year to be confusing and complicated. Know that you’re not alone.

Until next time…

Hello, zine friends, and welcome to the start of the week. I hope your week is off to a smooth start and that the silly season isn’t wearing on your nerves.

The Great Mail Slowdown at this time of year hasn’t actually been too bad – knock on wood – and I have some gorgeous goodies from my post box to share with you today.

The very first up is some zine goodness from sunny Queensland. Keira (ala Small Potatoes) was kind enough to take a peek at my wishlist and grant a couple of my wishes. Seriously, the generosity of people never ceases to warm my heart.

Just to make a special point, let’s zoom in on that card, shall we?

OMGSOCUTEASDFKJWIOsalkdjf… Ahem. Cuteness meltdown. I laughed so hard when I saw this card that Wanderer actually came into my office to see what was happening. Then I showed him the card, and he laughed, too. It is hard to make him genuinely laugh out loud, so thank you, thank you, thank you, Keira. This card is staying on the desk.

My first Christmas card! Emma of Puddleside Musings makes the prettiest cards, and it’s always a pleasure to see something from her arrive in the post box. I adore the watercolour look of the blue paper. Sneaky pressies are always a joy, too…

A new, delicious smelling tea to try and washi tape. What a lovely holiday surprise. Thank you so much, Emma!

Talk about surprise mail! Last week, I heard from someone I hadn’t heard from in ages, and this week a postcard from Dystatic comes in the mail! Fantastic. I haven’t heard from Dystatic in ages.

The photo doesn’t really do the postcard justice, as it’s handmade (as is Dystatic’s way) and is in layers. I’m so curious about how she made it. Fun, fun. Thank you so much to Dystatic for saying hello!

Surprise zines are some of the best kind of surprises, yes? Amber sent the first issue of Fully Sick, Chronically Sad as well as a mindfulness mini-zine! There’s even a sticker, which is the same sticker used to close the envelope.

I love zine surprises, and by first blush sneaky peeks, they’re both zines that I am going to enjoy. Thank you so much Amber, for the surprise happy mail.

PS. I was just looking around – as I do – and found out that Amber is the creator of Murder, She Zined(!) which launched just recently! Check it out.

This one has a little story, so settle in for a smidge. My friend Bodie (ala Slowquest) was doing a Twitch stream and mentioned Adelaide zinester George Rex because I’m now in South Australia. Well, I looked at George’s instagram and saw the note about George closing their store for a month or so.

Seeing as I missed out on George’s Kickstarter earlier in the year, I decided to get in while I could and grabbed a couple zines. I am excited about all of it, but I especially love ADL -> MEL because Rebecca Sheedy made one too that I reviewed earlier this year!

So much goodness. So many extra. So much happy. Hahaha. Love it.

Even the envelope is super cute. ^_^

I need return address labels that are that cute in my life. Love, love, love.

Thank you to George Rex for sending out everything so quickly. I really adore every bit of it.

That’s it for me today, friends. I hope you loved checking out what came through my post box this week and the glorious link-laden thing that is this post.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for a quick run down of what I have planned for the blog over the holidays and then on Wednesday for a bit of a surprise…

Until then.

Happy maaaaaaail! Yeah, zine friends, it’s happy mail time. Can you feel the mail love radiating from someone in South Australia general direction? That’s me, because happiness is a post box full o’ goodies.

Small Potatoes 2! I reviewed Small Potatoes 1 not long back and was so happy to see the next one in my post box. I’m so excited. I get to see (and read!) a new zine series grow and change as it’s happening. For someone who is often late to the party, this is a very happy thing for me.

Thank you so much to Keira, who writes Small Potatoes.

Ooo, Etsy order time. Can you tell I’m still flirting with learning more about witchcraft? I have no idea what to expect with this one, but I’m looking forward to finding out. Check out Haus of Tarot if you’re interested.

Technically this is a guess because there wasn’t a note or anything inside, but I do believe this is my Freedom APA zine pack. Woo! An APA is a topic for another post, but I joined in the Freedom APA to see what it was like, and this is my first mailing. It’s fun to have a mysterious envelope full of zines just show up in your post box.

For anyone wondering, yes, I still hope to put together an APA. 🙂

Snail mail from Billy – and typed on a typewriter! (I so want a typewriter in my life. <3 ) I'm not the best penpal in the world in regards to response times, but I do still enjoy a letter in the mail. He also included a zine as well – and zines make everything better.

Except soup, I suppose.

Billy has a new project called Snail Mail Adventures in which you pick the genre, and he will send you a story. If you want to know more, click on the link.

It’s fun to hear from someone I haven’t heard from in a long time (or what feels like a long time), so it was lovely to see a mini-zine and letter from Anna Gecko who also had an interstate move to deal with.

Thank you so much for getting back in touch.

That’s me for today (I think). There’s a lot running at the moment, so stay tuned for some important stuff, some fun stuff… All kinds of stuff!

Until then…

Hello, and happy Monday, zine friends!

This especially chipper hello comes to you courtesy of the proper internet connection I finally have in my home. No more living by expensive mobile data for me! Phew. Happy, happy day.

And an especially happy day thanks to wonderful mail!

Hats off to Sober Bob big time. It is no small feat, and yet she keeps on rocking week in and week out. I absolutely love it and am thrilled to be on the $50 Minimum mailing list.

Yes, I really do love ‘slice of life’ zines. Little (or sometimes big) free zines that give us another chance to connect – as friends, strangers… Whatever it happens to be. <3

This out of the blue postcard came all the way from Las Vegas! Allysha Webber was so kind to think of me during their travels here and there. A little surprise to make the start of the week that much brighter. 🙂

Woo! This arrived so quickly. I’m very impressed (and not so sad faced about postage costs – haha). I have had this on my wishlist since I first saw Alex Wrekk post about it on their Instagram. You see, witchcraft is one of a few things I want to learn more about, and this zine popped up as a perfect place to start. The financial stars aligned, and here we are. I’m very excited to start reading it.

Thank you for the lovely mail, making my little bubble in the world a little brighter. Thank you to everyone who reads and shares in my love for happy mail.

That’s me for today. I’m not really sure what’s up next. I’m a little exhausted after ZineWriMo and have a lot of catching up to do now with the proper internet connection.

Helloooooooooo zine friends! It is Happy Mail Monday on Wednesday because sometimes life feels awful, and we get caught up in that feeling and all the ‘stuff’ and forget about what we love. But then sometimes we remember, we smile, and we get back to the being of being.

That was a really long intro, but it’s been a hell of a week, and it’s barely halfway over, so there we are. And here we go with that snail maily goodness.

It boggles my mind that there is so much talent in this one person! Hollie’s art style cheers me up when I am feeling blue, and oh, the glorious happy mail! Hollie even sent along a beautiful blue bracelet. I love it so much! Also, I do believe this is a copy of Hollie’s very first A5 sized zine. I’m looking forward to checking it out.

Due to my delay in posting, I received a double dose of Sober Bob awesomeness. Woo! I am so into Bob’s free zine $50 minimum. It’s one of those zines I’ll keep with me until the moment I’m able to sit down and read it. The one before last came with a bogan (Australian red neck – sort of) scavenger hunt that I nearly started playing today before I realised I left the list as home. (SIGH)

Sober Bob also teams up with Wolfram to make awesome stickers – and they sent me some! Love it!

These zines get a big fist bump to the sky in celebration of their arrival. They’re a trade from Izalixe Straightheart all the way over in Canada. There were address hiccups and returns to sender, but we finally made the trade! Woohoo! I’m so looking forward to reading these.

Last but not least, we have some mystery mail from New York state that, frankly, I’m surprised made it through customs. The zine is the package in it’s a zine with the sides shut by small adhesive strips, and inside there is a small… single frame of a film strip? (I know. I’m regretting not taking a pic when I had the light.) It’s in a small metal frame, so… colour me impressed that customs don’t even appear to have opened it.

Anyway, there’s no note or anything that I’ve been able to find yet, so I’m not sure who it’s from, if they want a review or… But thanks for the cool zine plus extra cool film thingy. 🙂

That is the gorgeous mail for the week (and a couple days). I am so grateful to have such amazing envies of goodness in my life – especially during the times when my life feels a bit awful. Thank you to everyone who takes the time and the postage to send some sunshine my way. My best wishes to you all!

That’s me for today. Until next time…

Hello and happy (mail) Monday to everyone. It’s my favourite day of the week where I get to share the beautiful bits and bobs that brightened my days by landing in my post box and thank those who were so generous to mail things to me.

Zine trades! This pack of zine-y goodness comes from Nina in Belgium who has quickly become a regular zine trade partner. ^_^ A little pleasure of mine is being able to get the entire series when I find a zine I like, and I’m slowly trading my way to having all issues of Same Heartbeats.

Definitely check out her blog – Echo Publishing – because she’s just finished her latest zine Same Heartbeats 12 as a part of ZineWrimo. (And she has so many other zines to check out, too!)

Thank you for trading with me, Nina!

How cute is the little bunny?! So adorable.

This set of three wasn’t a trade and thus was a lovely surprise from Rae in sunny Queensland in Australia. I’m so excited to connect with more Australian zinemakers. (Especially ones who like cute stickers. 😉 ) Rae also happens to be a part of the Hanging Affair zine exhibition, so if you’re in/around Brisbane on December 1st, check it out!

Thank you, Rae!

I am slowly working my way through my ‘once I’ve moved’ wishlist, and I am very excited to cross off ‘Trade with Pen Fight Distro‘. It started as ‘order from’ but when I realised that my order would cost just as much as shipping over some zines for a trade, I figured a trade could be just as fun.

Pen Fight agreed!

They even threw in this badge that I really love!

Thank you so much to Pen Fight Distro for trading with me and for everyone who has made my little world bubble a happier space with the mail they send.

I’ll be back in a tic with ZineWriMo Day 20.

It’s Happy Mail Monday, and oh what a happy Monday it is! So much fun mail. 🙂

Pins, glorious pins from Sober Bob! We made a trade, but Bob had to wait for the pins to come in. Obviously, they’ve arrived! I’m so excited. I’ve had eyes for the ‘prepared for nothing’ pin since I first saw it.

Yay for trades, and yay (and thank you) for Sober Bob!

Issues 3 and 4 of Lost Projects Zine came as a complete surprise – and came with a sticker and pin!

If you’re not familiar, Lost Projects zine is:

This zine is about those lost things, that snarl at you across time and space… the ones that you don’t or won’t let go… those that skew memories and alter self-image and friendliness sharing…

I love the whole concept of this zine, and I am absolutely thrilled they thought to send me copies of their zine. I’m eager to dig in – and to submit work to future issues!

Thank you, Lost Projects!

Latibule Art got in contact with me after reading Don’t Call Me Cupcake 1. We ended up sorting out a big ol’ zine trade (lifeblood of the zine community!), and Latibule included some extras as well!

Check out those art skills! Colour me envious. 🙂

Check out that pin! And what a lovely message on it, too.

Thank you, Latibule Art (not sure it’s okay to share the legal name, so playing it safe)!

This is a zine from across the big oceans blue from @Cavedweller71. It seems to be a very personal zine, so I’m playing it safe and keeping most of it covered. I apologise if that riles anybody. I want to share all my mail no matter what, so there we go.

Anyway, thank you to Andrew (aka cavedweller) for sending your zine and such a lovely note to go along with it. 🙂

What a wonderful week for me and my post box. I am always stunned and grateful for the generosity of everyone who sends me zines and other goodies. ^_^

That’s me for the moment. I’ll be back soon with ZineWriMo day 13.