Hello! It's Me or The Beauty of the Introductory Letter

Allow me to introduce myself.  I am a letter lover, a dispatch devotee, a mail maniac, a postal proponent, an epistle enthusiast, snail mail supporter, and an alliteration admirer! Hello, I am Mrs. Murphy.

I recently wrote an introductory letter to a friend of my son's at college. (A girl!!) This particular (girl)friend encouraged the elder Murphy Brother to write his mail-loving mother a letter. I was so overjoyed at this, I simply had to write a letter to this wonderful person!!!  I first asked my son's permission to write the letter. (Always a good practice when writing to your children's friends.)
  
He reluctantly gave his permission stating, "OK, I guess. She doesn't even know you though. Wouldn't it be better to meet her first?"

To which I replied, "Oh no, writing a letter is perfect." (Obviously!)

For my introductory letter I chose to tell a little about myself...my career, my family life, some of my own college stories, my interests and especially how I got into snail mail. I included some little drawings to make my letter whimsical and fun (hopefully). Most importantly I asked some questions of my recipient and encouraged her to write back, which she did. Yay! She said I am her first pen pal ever. Double yay!

I also have received some mail exchange requests through this blog and I've really enjoyed getting to know people from all over the world through the post. It may seem weird at first, writing to someone you don't know, but it's a wonderful beginning of a friendship!

Not sure what to write? It's often fun to compare favorites...favorite book, favorite meal, favorite vacation spot, etc. Perhaps you could come up with a little questionnaire. Answer it yourself and then send it in your introductory letter to be answered by your new pen pal!

Letter writing is the perfect form of communication for all the shy people out there, so don't worry if that includes you. You can take your time and think of the perfect way to say, "Hello! It's me. Let's be pen pals."

So let's start writing to complete strangers, people. It's magic!

XOXO,
Mrs. Murphy

Thanks, Doc!

There are some amazing people out there! Wonderful people, strangers, really, who touch our lives during our most vulnerable moments. These fabulous folks are doctors, nurses and healthcare providers. 

Last fall the youngest Murphy Brother broke his elbow during a football game. It was a very sad time for all of us. Our son's senior season was lost and we weren't too sure if he would be able to play basketball, his favorite sport. 

Well, one of those amazing strangers came into our lives and gave our boy a new elbow and his senior year back!! The orthopedic surgeon that helped our son was just doing his job but to me and my family he's a real hero! Because of this doctor's work our son just completed an outstanding basketball season with a fabulous team. The highlight of the season was the game he dunked twice in one quarter with his surgically repaired elbow!! Woo hoo!!

I had to send this wonderful physician some thank you snailmail!! I hope he gets a sense of how grateful we are!!

I created some simple circle sports people for the front of the plain white card and inked in the word "Thanks". Easy, right? I wrote a heartfelt letter of thanks on the inside. Hopefully our boy's doctor will like this little bit of mailbox magic!!

Do you have some professional people in your life that really made a difference? A doctor, nurse, lawyer, realtor, plumber, hair stylist? Go ahead and send them a letter of appreciation.  Everyone loves a little mailbox magic thank you note! Even if they were "just doing their job."

Send some snailmail to your own amazing strangers! It's magic!!

Go postal, people!!

XOXO

Mrs. Murphy

The Very Hungry Mailbox

I was at the library recently and came across the Eric Carle book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This was one of my all time favorite books as a kid. I shared that love of all things Eric Carle with the Murphy Brothers as well.  We had many of Mr. Carle's wonderful books. We even tried our hand at making some of his style collage!! That cute (and hungry) caterpillar gave me an idea for some fun snail mail!

I have a couple young pen pals that love books. I wanted to buy this book for them, but was unsure if they already had the book.  It is a classic, after all.  I decided to simply use it as my inspiration.  I divided up my paper into 8 rectangles. In the first space I wrote a short note explaining the link to The Very Hungry Caterpillar and then proceeded to list the days of the week and wrote about what the very hungry Mrs. Murphy ate (and a few of my activities). 

I challenged my young pen pals to read the book and write me a similar response. Hopefully they will find it magical!

Send some mail, everybody. Those mailboxes are very hungry, too!

XOXO

Mrs. Murphy

Fresh Start!

Hey postal pals!  I know it's been a long time since I've updated the old blog. The Murphy family was going through some hard times this past fall and winter and I just didn't have the time or energy to put into my snail mail hobby. But fear not! It's a new year and it's time for a fresh start! I received a wonderful postcard from a blog reader that encouraged me to post again on the blog. Nothing like a bit of encouragement in the mailbox to brighten someone's day and spur them on to good deeds. (Like writing more letters) It's pure magic!

Unless you have a huge return pile you may be wondering where to start. I often feel that way. So for something a little different I thought I would use my phone contact list as a guide for Mailbox Magic in 2016. Nothing too complicated or difficult I plan on simply going through the contact list alphabetically and sending a spontaneous piece of snail mail. I hope it brings a bit of magic to my recipient's life and spurs them on to pay it forward!!

Has it been awhile since you worked on your Snail Mail hobby? That's ok. Let's start over together!! Turning over a new leaf, (and mailing it) is magical!! Go postal, people!!

XOXO
Mrs. Murphy

Of Mice and Mail

Every once in a while I go through my belongings and purge. It feels good to find new homes for loved items that are no longer being used! It's never wise to hold onto too many material possessions. A cluttered home leads to a cluttered mind (and believe me, my mind is already a little jumbled.) 

Anyway, as I was going through some old books that the Murphy Bros. and I read when they were wee lads, I remembered one of my young pen pals. She is at the perfect age for these books. By a strange coincidence, they all happened to be mouse related (Stuart Little, Ragweed, The Mouse and The Motorcycle, Geronimo Stilton) so I decided to create a little mouse mail to go with it. 

I scoured the internet for some interesting facts about mice. Did you know that baby mice are called "pinkies"? I mean, c'mon, isn't that the cutest thing? I made some funny sketches of "mice in action" and created a little handmade book for my pen friend to read along with the books I was giving to her.  

I packed it all up and took it to my post office! Yay!! Hopefully, this back to school box of books will bring a smile to my recipient's face!!

Do you have something that you're not using anymore? Know someone who might enjoy it? Why not send a surprise package in the mail today? It's magical!

Go postal, people!! 

XOXO Mrs. Murphy 

The Magic of Mail Art

"Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people." -Leo Burnett

Taking the time to "be creative" everyday is something I think is extremely important. Creating, and not just consuming, makes us more content, fulfilled, interesting individuals!  My postal hobby is a perfect outlet for these creative urges and it's a wonderful way to connect with another human being...hopefully sharing the joy of creativity with someone else!

I try, of course, to write interesting, engaging letters to all of my pen friends. I also have been know to liven these letters up with a little mail art. According to Wikipedia, "Mail art (also known as Postal art and Correspondence art is a populist artistic movement centered on sending small scale works through the postal service." There are all kinds of mail art projects and exhibits that one can be a part of.  It's really quite thrilling. Who knows? You may create some mail art, send it through the post and faster than you can lick an envelope, it's displayed at some museum somewhere! Neato! Creating and sending mail art is a great way to get over your fear of failure and break those bonds of perfectionism. You simply create something and send it through the mail. There's always a chance that your recipient could hate your mail art, but in my experience, even the really "weird" pieces of mail I've created are received in a most generous spirit. Pen pals are nice like that.

I recently created a small art journal. It's a simple collection of collage and quotes and doodles. Nothing amazing, just a fun way for me to express myself with color and images and text. Making it was very relaxing. I'm not sure yet if I will mail the whole journal to one recipient or send individual pages to my pen pals. That's the fun of mail art...you get to be creative!!

Join me in making some mail art! It truly is mailbox magic!

Go postal, people!

XOXO Mrs. Murphy

Fun with Photos

I recently picked up a book of decorative papers. I've been having fun making some cute snailmail. This particular book has some great vintage photos in it. I added some fun speech bubbles!!

 Yay! Snailmail!! Bringing smiles wherever it goes. 

Go Postal, Everyone!!

XOXO Mrs. Murphy