holiday wishes in the postbox

This Christmas season my postbox was filled with many holiday wishes from friends, family & pen pals, scrawled onto beautiful cards and sent via snail mail.Many of my pen pals surprised me; I did not expect a little bonus mail just because it was the holidays. Thank you to (clockwise from top left) Carol Whitley, Jessica Mack, Chantal Vincent, Rhya Tamasauskas, Jeannine Saylor (x2) and Dana Davis for the holiday cheer! Above are Christmas cards from John’s brother’s family and John’s aunt. We also received a few Christmas letters from some family as well. John’s co-worker, the One of a Kind Show and my Massage Therapist sent some festive greetings our way as well. And finally a few cards from beloved friends who live further away than I like. I was happy to have them think of John & I during these colder, lonely months. What a win.

feathered friends now chirp indoors

This Christmas, John gifted me the Audubon Society’s chirping bird clock! Each hour has it’s own unique North American bird call, and it also has a light sensor so that the little birdies don’t sing through the late hours of the night while you’re asleep. It has been placed at the top of my studio wall where my bear skeleton clock used to hang (which now happily ticks in the kitchen). I’ve really enjoyed hearing little reminders of nature every hour as I work away in the studio. A few of my favorite calls so far: Song Sparrow, Purple Martin & Yellow Warbler. 

the postal aviary

When I have finished writing a letter or after I seal up an etsy sale, the pretty packages get set down in a special section of my bookshelf until I head off to the downtown post office. It makes me think of Harry Potter and how all of the post in the wizarding world is sent via owls. Ironically, the area where I set my letters is somewhat of an aviary, with plenty of little collected bird sculptures sitting amongst a porcelain penholder detailing an empty birdcage. The postal aviary was especially full yesterday, as I’ve finally spent a good chunk of my time lately dedicated to mail art making. Postal boxes worldwide ought to start getting excited…