Go for the Gold…and the Mailbox!!!

 

Summer is great. You’ve got vacations, ice cream, parades, watermelon and swimming!! But every four years it’s even more fun…2024 is an Olympic year!! Woo Hoo! 

Inspired by this historic sporting competition I looked through my postage for some Olympic themed postage stamps. There are some really great vintage Olympic stamps! 

I always encourage non-postal people to look at the stamps on any mail they receive. For anyone with any interest in art, history, culture, geography, sports, science, beauty, life - really…there’s something for you to discover on a postage stamp!!! The Olympics is no exception. 

I wrote my Olympic themed letter to a friend with a family I thought might be interested in the Olympic Games. I described some past Murphy Olympic activities and challenged them to follow the Paris Olympics this summer. Perhaps they can learn something about the countries the athletes come from or study the flags of all the nations and make some paper copies to fly around the house. It’s always fun to follow the medal count! They can even create their own backyard Olympic Games that the whole family can participate in! Don’t forget the medals! 

And of course, if they do any of these awesome Olympic activities they must write back to Mrs. Murphy and tell me all about it!! 

Go Postal, People!! (And Go for the Gold!! 🏅)

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy 

My Olympic Snailmail 🏅 🐌 📬 

From Grandmother’s House the Mail Goes!

 

Greetings, fellow snailmail enthusiasts!! 😁 I do apologize for the long delay but I am excited to announce that I am now a GRANNY!!! 🥳👵🏻 Anyway, I have been focusing on Baby Murphette these past months and haven’t really done much in the way of snailmail. I did however, send her the first of (hopefully) many letters I will write over the course of my lifetime! My own dear grandmother was my very first penpal. Her frequent cards and letters were what started my lifelong love of all things postal. ❤️ 📬 🐌

As I was contemplating this new identity of grandmother, I was reminded of a grandparent themed postage stamp I have. A 1969 $0.06 postage stamp featuring a Grandma Moses painting. Grandma Moses is such an interesting Grandmother!! I learned from the Smithsonian that Anna Mary Robertson Moses (Grandma Moses) grew up on a farm in upstate New York. She worked as a hired girl starting at the age of 12. Her tasks included helping neighbors and relatives with cleaning, cooking, and sewing. At the age of 92 she wrote about her love of drawing and painting, “My father would get me and my brothers white paper by the sheet. He liked to see us draw pictures. It was a penny a sheet and lasted longer than candy!” She used berry and grape juices to brighten her images. Alas, the difficulty of farm life allowed her little time to pursue her art. 

She married when she was 27 and moved to a farm in Virginia. She and her husband, Thomas Moses, had 10 children but only five survived beyond infancy. Life was pretty tough for the Moses family.  Mrs. Moses supplemented the family income by making potato chips and churning butter. They later moved back to New York and farmed near Eagle Bridge. 

Grandma Moses did not start painting until she was 77 years old and looking for something to do “to keep busy and out of mischief” after her husband died. She painted nostalgic scenes of American life and sold them at country fairs alongside her prize-winning pickles. In 1939 a collector saw her paintings in the window of the local pharmacy and bought them all. Soon after, Hallmark purchased the rights to reproduce her paintings on greeting cards and the name Grandma Moses became known across the country. She died at 101, after painting more than 1500 images. In November 2006, her 1943 work Sugaring Off became her highest-selling work at $1.2 million!! 

I am inspired by Grandma Moses to pursue my interests and passions well into advanced years! It’s never too late to start something new. Snailmail is a great hobby to pursue. Not only does it give you an opportunity to be creative, it connects you with others and hopefully brings them joy, too! 

Won’t you join me in sending some post today? I recommend sending something to your grandchild! 🥰 (Tell them all about your hobbies!) 

Go postal, people!! In a good way!! 

XOXO, 

Mrs. Murphy 

Ask And You Shall Receive

I usually am a fancier of flowery prose and lovely, wordy sentiments. 

Sometimes the straightforward, direct approach is effective. Case in point, a recent letter in Mrs. Murphy’s Mailbox from a new penpal, Winter. 🥰

Your wish is my command, dear friend. 

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy 

The Sparrow Post

I first discovered Tasha Tudor when the MurphyBros were young and we would make weekly trips to the library. I loved her charming illustrations and stories...especially the corgis! 

Tasha preferred the lifestyle of the 19th century to the 20th and lived a simple country life on her farm in Vermont.  She was interested in many things and over the course of her lifetime, she mastered such timeless arts as gardening, spinning, weaving, sewing, knitting, quilting, baking and animal husbandry. She made dolls and marionettes and performed many a puppet show! She enjoyed celebrating holidays and birthdays and elevated everyday occasions by hosting celebrations for the people (especially children) in her life, including many memorable tea parties and dances! 

I particularly fell in love with one of her creations, the Sparrow Post. The Sparrow Post was a beloved tradition started by Tasha for her children. Every year, especially for Christmas and Valentine’s Day, Tasha and her children would craft miniature letters, envelopes and post-boxes. The children would hang their mail boxes on their bedroom doors and every morning they would wake eagerly to check to see if any mail had arrived during the night. Sometimes they would use the Sparrow Post to send correspondence back and forth to each other, and sometimes the letters would be for (or from) their dolls. 

Tasha Tudor wrote about the Sparrow Post in the book, All for Love, 

“The Postmaster is Augustus Sparrow. He has served through three generations and is still none the worse for wear. Mr. Sparrow is a cut wool toy sparrow, made by hand, like many of our favorite characters. He sports a red vest and spectacles. He is very efficient and has coped successfully with many problems during his lifetime, such as lost mail, delayed deliveries, strikes, migration tangles and other trying situations.”

The young MurphyBros and I made our own version of the Sparrow Post out of a shoebox. We hand crafted miniature letters and would mostly correspond with the teddy bears that lived in the MurphyBros room. There were a LOT of them! 🐻 I even remember making a catalog of items the bears could order! (I have a special appreciation of miniature things.) The boys loved sending and receiving mail via the Sparrow Post and so did I! 🥰 

The MurphyBros have long since left the nest so I haven’t used the Sparrow Postal Service in a while, but I thought it would be fun to send a letter to some of my young pen pals and include a miniature letter for their dolls or teddy bears! 🥰 

Snailmail is magical however it arrives, but even more so if it’s miniature and delivered by a sparrow! 😉🤩📬 

Go postal, people! 

XOXO, 

Mrs. Murphy 

I've Bean Sending Kale Mail...

Summer has finally arrived in my neck of the woods and, boy, am I excited!  I love the sunshine, warm temperatures and of course, visiting farmers markets! A recent trip to the farmers market and the USPS farmers market postage stamp series inspired me to compose some fun new snail mail.

 I created a farmers market scavenger hunt for one of my young pen pals.  Here is a sample of my questions:

• How many different types of berries are available for sale?
• How much does one of your favorite vegetables cost?
• How many different colors of fruits and vegetables can you find?
• Can you find someone selling fresh herbs? What kind are they selling? What do they smell like?
• Is there a farmer here that is selling fresh eggs? How much does a dozen eggs cost?

I'm hoping that this will be a fun activity my pen friend can complete with her family this summer!

Remember to look for inspiration for your snail mail everywhere!  Romaine calm and send farmers market mail!  It's magical...and sometimes punny.

Go postal, everybody!
XOXO Mrs. Murphy

Frog and Toad Love Mail!!

One of my all time favorite books is "Frog and Toad are Friends" by Arnold Lobel. I remember reading this great book when I was a child and laughing with my mom at the silly antics of Toad. I also remember reading it to my own sons.  The Murphy Bros. laughed just as much as I did! My favorite part of the story, of course, is the bit about mail!!  I especially like Frog and Toad's postman!! (This book was first published in 1970. This is definitely the original  "snail mail"! He's so cute!!)

In honor of such a wonderful book I decided to make a Frog and Toad snail mail package for one of my young pen pals! I included a copy of the book, a frog themed letter, a plush frog (or is it a toad?) and some candy!!  I got word that she loved it! Yay!!

Frog and Toad Mailbox Magic!!

Go postal, people! 

XOXO Mrs. Murphy

Inspiration From Peter Rabbit

I was encouraged and inspired recently by Miss Beatrix Potter and her lovely characters, especially Peter Rabbit. The artwork is beautiful and I'm always striving to improve my watercolor skills. Yet, the real inspiration came from the story behind her stories. I learned from the biography of her life that Peter Rabbit started out as a letter to a child of a friend. She simply stated, "I don't have much to write to you about so I will tell you a story. It's a story about four rabbits, Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter." That letter went on to be the seed for the most sold children's book of all time! 

Miss Potter has inspired me to get even more creative with my letters. I plan to include more sketches (I love illustrated letters!! There's nothing better!!) and maybe a little story or two!! A tale about the squirrels that live in my yard and torment poor Lexi the Wonder-Dog, might prove interesting for my pen pal! 

Let's go postal and send more Beatrix-style letters!❤️

XOXO Mrs. Murphy

Letter Writing is Child's Play!

Sending mail to children is one of my favorite snail mail activities!  When it comes to creating mail for kids, you don't have to write a logical, hum-drum daily event filled letter.  I admit I'm sometimes self conscious about my "extra" creative letters for other adults. (Should I send this? Will they think I'm super weird?!)  Do you want to write a letter about chickens? (I did!)  Go right ahead!  A child will receive such a letter with giggles and delight!

(The Chicken Letter for my 6 year old pen pal, Violet!)

I try to include a lot of drawings and sketches.  Kids appreciate any art that you include and will think you are an artist extraordinaire!  Remember, perfectionism is a KILLER!  If it's silly or looks goofy that's okay!  Your recipient will laugh all the harder!  Sending a letter in honor of or even from the family pet is another fun idea.  

(A dog inspired letter to a young pen pal in honor of my dog, Lexi!)

Get colorful!  Use fun pens and add decorative tapes and stickers!  Include poems, jokes, magazine photos or coloring sheets.  Another technique I use to inspire return mail is asking questions!  I might include my "TOP 5 Favorite Things About Me" and ask for my recipient to tell me their own TOP 5. 

Don't forget to incorporate the envelope.  Opening the mailbox and finding a beautiful and fun envelope only heightens the happiness! 

(Doodles and vintage "dog" postage adorn the envelope!)

Writing to your own children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews is the place to start!  Any letters from you will most likely be saved and treasured for a lifetime!  Children of friends (or friends of your children) are also wonderful letter writing relationships to cultivate.  There is nothing quite like a fun letter filled with encouraging words!  Who wouldn't want some Mailbox Magic of their own? 

Get out there and write an awesome letter to a young friend or family member!! I'm pretty sure you will receive a reply! Yay! 

~XOXO Mrs. Murphy