The Wonderful Rule of (Mailbox) Multiplication

Have you ever heard of the rule of multiplication?  It is something like... the probability that events A and B both occur is equal to the probability that event A occurs times the probability that event B occurs, given that A has occurred.

I'm not completely sure what that means but I'm positive that if I send mail (event A) the probability that I will receive mail (event B) is very great! In fact since I started my mail more magic postal project, I've had so much happy mail! I've even had some spontaneous mail from folks that have just heard about my love of all things postal! Just today I received a hand written note and a fascinating article about receiving mail on the trail during a bicycle adventure. This note and story made my day!! Thank you so much, postal pal! 

I encourage you all to continue your quest to mail more love. We really can stamp out despair one letter, postcard, note, card and package at a time! 

Send more mail, people. It's mathematically proven to be magical!

XOXO

Mrs Murphy

The Power of Postcards

February is coming to a close and I am about 10 pieces of mail behind on my postal challenge...my goal is to send 365 pieces of mail. Whew! That' a lot! But fear not, my postal pals. I will reach my goal!! So today I am playing a little catch up with postcards...short, sweet and a magical way to send some massive mail (like 10 pieces).

 I used to think of postcards as only something I would send from my trips. I love picking out pretty, touristy postcards and sending them to my friends back home. But what about non-geographic postcards?? There are some really great postcards out there!  Funny, cute, artistic you name it!! This one would be perfect to send to either of the Murphy Brothers...

Some people have awesome postcard collections from which to send lovely mail. I, however do not. (I'm totally going to start one!) I solved this dilemma by making my own lovely cards. What's better than sending a postcard? Sending your own mailart creations. Yay! Creativity! And it's frugal, too. I used some card stock I had on hand and decorated the cards with a little washi tape, rubber stamps and some old postage stamps from my stamp collection. 

It was a fun way to make some cute and quick postcards!! Any mail that you make and send is wonderful...even if it's "just" a postcard!! Send some to your friends today! It's magic!

XOXO

Mrs. Murphy

Write On!

January 2017 has come to a close and I'm "write" on track in my postal challenge! I'm happy to report I wrote my 31st letter on the 31st of the month!!

I'm hoping to carry this success into the next month and throughout the rest of 2017! Thankfully I discovered a wonderful source of inspiration and community. Did you know February is International Correspondence Writing Month or #InCoWriMo for short!?! The participants of InCoWriMo pledge to hand write and send a letter (card, note, etc) everyday during the month of February.  Check out their website to join in on the fun!! incowrimo.org

So keep up your correspondence, my fellow mail magicians!! Write on!!

XOXO

Mrs. Murphy

新年快乐 Xīnnián kuàilè or Happy New Year !

 As I am ever on the look out for reasons to send snailmail, I thought I would do a little research into one of the most internationally celebrated holidays there is!  Chinese New Year!!  January 28 is the first day of the lunar year in 2017 or the beginning of the Chinese New Year! The global festivities are a celebration of color, light and sound! The merriment includes bell ringing, lanterns, firecrackers and dragon dances. Chinese families gather together for a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, and clean their houses to sweep away bad fortune on New Year's Day. Traditionally, children are given red envelopes stuffed with 'lucky money' and positive wishes on New Year's Day. 2017 is the year of the rooster!

Cock-a-doodle-doo! You had me at red envelopes!! I created a little info-graphic of Chinese New Year fun facts and sent it to one of my pen pals. It was great fun to research the Chinese New Year celebrations and stories and pass this along via post. I hope my recipient will enjoy my little doodles. Who knows? Maybe it will bring some good luck!

In my experience, a hand written letter is always something to crow about! (Year of the Rooster! Remember? Ha!)

Send some Chinese New Year's post, people!  It's lucky and magical!

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy

Postal Challenge Progress

The Mail More Magic Postal Project is progressing nicely! I've written several more letters and a few cards!! Yay!! I just completed numbers 17, 18 and 19 in my snailmail challenge!!

It is sometimes hard for me to pick the next recipient of my mailbox magic. I have a pen pal return pile that, of course, is my number one go-to. Carrying on a conversation via post is such a wonderful experience.

But what if you're new to snailmail and don't have any regular pen pals, yet? Or if you, like me, like to spread the joy of snailmail to non-postal people in the hopes of encouraging them to carry on the letter writing tradition! I just love sharing the magic of mail with as many of my friends and family as possible.

One technique I'm using this year is to send mail to my holiday card senders. These are the lovely folks who took the time to send the Murphy family a Christmas or New Year's card this season. I don't get as many Christmas cards as I used to, but there are a few old fashioned souls out there who still send them every year and I appreciate it!! I grabbed my Christmas card basket and started replying to all those lovely folks. Hopefully they'll feel the magic, too!!

I recently read a story where one of the characters was called "a lady of letters".  What a wonderful description! I would love to be forever known as a lady of letters, one whose correspondence is prolific, interesting, humorous, enjoyed by her readers and most of all...magic!!

XOXO

Mrs. Murphy

2017 More Magic Snail Mail Postal Challenge!

Hello, fellow snailmail enthusiasts!! Welcome to 2017! I'm excited to start a new postal challenge in 2017.  One of my postal goals is to send more mail in 2017 than I did in 2016 (and document it better...I'm admittedly horrible at that). My lofty goal is to post 365 pieces of mailbox magic!

The Murphy family took a family vacation to the amazing state of Arizona to start the new year. It was a perfect opportunity to send some lovely postcards. I posted 12 little pieces of touristy magic from the Grand Canyon State! Winning!

Join me in a postal challenge for 2017!  It's a fun and simple way to brighten someone's day and spread a little joy and love in 2017! #MoreMagicMail

Make 2017 your best postal year yet!! Send more mail, people!  It's magic!!

XOXO
Mrs. Murphy

A Notable November Postal Challenge

Hello! My postal pals! It has been a long time since I last updated the old blog. Alas, life has once again gotten the best of me and interrupted my blogging flow. But as a wise man once said, "That's alright. That's ok. It doesn't matter anyway!" Or maybe that was a group of cheerleaders? Oh well,  I'm also partial to, "Pick yourself up. Dust yourself off and start all over again!!"

After this long hiatus I'm fired up to start snailmailing again so I thought I'd kick off November with a postal challenge! Introducing "A Notable November Postal Challenge!" My goal is to send a piece of mail every regular mail day!! I'm thinking a great thing to incorporate into this challenge is letters of gratitude...perfect for the American Thanksgiving month!

Won't you join me in this postal challenge? Let's make November notable!! It will be magic!!

Go postal, everybody!!

XOXO
Mrs. Murphy