I've received a lot of holiday happy mail and it has made me so cheerful :) Thank you to everyone that sent me cards the past while! Hope that you all have a wonderful New Year's Eve! Don't mind my mini novel lol I like to write a lot in response to what people send me in their cards.

I did an exchange that I had so much fun with! I joked with my parents about there being other people that love crafting just as much as I do. In the New Year, I'll be organizing another exchange to swap blank postcards, washi tape samples, and stickers. It was so cute getting to see all cute stuff that people sent! It also gave me some ideas of how I can improve my mail sending :)

Here is a link to photos of all of the mail that was mentioned in this post.

u/josephineismyhero Thank you for the lovely wreath card! I really like the foil border :) It made me super happy when I opened my mail to find shiny cards. Also I love that the poinsettia tape that you used to seal the envelope matched the stamp! I hope that you had a wonderful holiday season! Cheers to 2021!

u/fieldofcabins Thank you for the cute sock card! I love how the foil looked on the green background of the card :) I love being cozy this time of the year and ya can never go wrong with fuzzy socks! Also your washi tape and stickers were super cute! Thanks for including a little tree drawing - so adorable! I sent out a card in response to this one so hopefully it doesn't take too long to arrive. Hope that you had a great holiday season!

u/ReinaKelsey Thank you for the adorable foil wreath card with the bird :P By the way, your handwriting is super pretty! I'm happy that you enjoyed the card that I sent to you. This was such a fun exchange! I absolutely loved the added touch of photos of your pets. I haven't gotten photos developed in so long - I love the texture (I know I'm weird lol). Would you be okay if I turn the photos of your kitties and pupper into postcards? I think that a lot of animal lovers would be just as excited as I was to receive pet photos :) I loved all of the stickers that you picked out for me - so many kitties :D Best thing ever lol. That's super cool that you made your own eggnog! I love that stuff but haven't tried making it before. Maybe for next year I'll give that a go. I'm the same way with my pets - I enjoy taking breaks from schoolwork to go cuddle with them. Or when I play The Last of Us I take cat breaks to distract me from the creepy enemies. Smudge is such a pretty cat :) If you go on my profile, I posted a photo of her from today of her playing with some new shiny toys. She loves bringing balls and leaving them on my bed. Then she talks as if to declare her successful hunt lol what a weirdo. Happy that you enjoyed the wax seal :) I've been having so much fun doing that the last few weeks. Just wish that it didn't make it harder for the envelope to fit through the slot lol. Hope that you have a wonderful New Year!

u/DPClamavi Thank you for the beautiful multi-view card! Also I love the purple foil washi tape that you used! The leaves are super cute :) I definitely agree that this would be such a pretty place to visit! I love historical places and would love to visit more in the future. I used to live in Alberta and the architecture wasn't as cool as it is in Nova Scotia - AB has a newer design than NS. One of my favorite historical sites in NS is Citadel Hill in Halifax. It is shaped kinda like a star and was a vantage point to protect the harbor. At noon every day they fire a canon there which can be heard throughout the city. Hope that you have a wonderful New Year!

u/Rainey7778 Thank you for the beautiful foil snowflake card! I loved reading your cursive writing. Not many people do that now. I remember learning how to do it in grade 3 back in Alberta. I don't write like that to often but I find that some of my letters kinda turn cursive if I'm writing fast. It is such a pretty style. I'm also working on learning how to do calligraphy. I'm happy that you liked the card that I sent you :) Thank you for the well wishes! I'm excited to start my last semester of my undergrad next week. It is hard to believe that I'm finally graduating. It has been a long road! That is cool that you are doing a Masters degree right now. Sounds like you are getting close to finishing too :) I feel your pain about lack of sleep lol. December was filled with so many assignments - my last one was submitted on Dec 25th at 4am lol. One of those days I wrote 3900 words - I think that was a new personal record :P When the last one was submitted I kept feeling like I was supposed to do something still since I was so used to being busy at that point. Catching up on my sleep, watching tv, and playing video games has been refreshing. That's cute that you bake with your mom just like me :) It is one of my favorite holiday traditions. Those colored eggs sound interesting - I looked them up and saw that they are a Ukrainian tradition. I'm Ukrainian on my mom's side lol we mostly just eat perogies. I love learning about holidays from around the world. I hope that you had a wonderful holiday season. Best wishes with the rest of your studies in the New Year!

u/thewholebowl Thank you for the cute flower card! I really appreciate you picking out a botanical card for me :) I absolutely love plants since I'm studying them in school. I agree that it has definitely been a crazy year. I had my last in-person class back on March 16th. Now I'm supposed to graduate in the spring. Feels weird that I didn't get closure of experiencing my last class of my undergrad. Doing everything online has been strange since I'm used to doing Biology labs every semester. I've been really enjoying sending and receiving cards through here these past few months. It has made me feel more connected to the outside world. It has also been interesting learning how people are coping around the world and the new hobbies that people have started. I took a course on graphic novels this semester and it was the first time in years that I read one. My favorite one that we read was Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. I used to read the Bone series and Scott Pilgrim in junior high. I hope that you have a wonderful New Year!

u/luxsloth Wow! You put so much care into this! It made me super happy to receive your card and goodies :) Thank you for swapping with me! Your envelope was adorable and I love that you addressed it to me and Luna (she didn't climb the tree which I'm so thankful for since she is still a kitten lol). The penguin card was super cute and I loved how you included an envelope to hold the stickers and washi tape. I'm excited to use these on the cards that I send out! Everything that you picked out is my taste! I'll be adding some of this stuff to my laptop too. Lol the sad kitty one remined me of the Pity Party song by Melanie Martinez - such a catchy toon. The foil doggos were so cute too :P I'm happy that you are enjoying this group so far. I love it! It has been my escape these past few months. Getting happy mail is so much fun and sending it has been a nice change from just doing homework. That's cool that you found the bear card at flea market. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for cards. Since I first started sending cards on a site called Postcrossing back in 2014, I've noticed that Nova Scotia doesn't have as many places that sell postcards. When I do find them I stock up. Lol there's a local place that gets a kick out of me because I usually buy at least 100 at a time from them. Hope that you had a great holiday season on the West Coast! Cheers to 2021! And thank you again for swapping with me!

u/delightful_broth Thank you for the cute kitty card and goodies! I had so much fun doing this exchange! I've been doing good - thanks for asking :) I'm excited to set up some furniture today and then ring in the New Year with my family. It has been a relaxing season filled with lots of time playing video games and watching tv. Just what I needed after the busy semester with school. Doing four courses online was a lot busier than doing them in person lol. I am so happy that you picked out so many kitty things for me - they are the best. I adored the mini envelope that you used to hold the stickers! Did you make that yourself? It gave me the idea to look up a pattern so that I can do that to hold my goodies in the future. I have some colorful paper that would be perfect for that craft. Gift wrap would be cool to use for making it too. Your kitten sounds cute :) Luna is almost a year old now (Feb 6) - she's our youngest. Our other four cats are 12 years old so she keeps them on their toes :P I've been keeping my eyes out for cards and stationary at my local thrift stores too but haven't found much. I did find some cool stamps and a postcard book a few months ago that was styled like paintings. I used to love going to those stores to look for Polly Pockets - the ones that came in little hard cases. Loved those growing up :) Lol yeah I've ordered from Aliexpress before and sometimes it takes so long that I forget that I ordered something. Think my longest time was like six months. They have a good selection of stuff though! That's cute how you met your bf :P Hopefully in the New Year you guys can visit once travel restrictions ease up a bit. I love sending Canadian snacks when I do Secret Santa. It makes me realize how many snacks that I find normal that would be strange to others. Like ketchup or all dressed chips. So yummy! This time of the year I love getting cozy. I usually drink a ton of tea, light a candle, and watch some tv in bed. I recently got a weighted blanket and oh my is it awesome (feels kinda like a hug lol). It is the best when my cats come cuddle while I do this. It's a nice break between semesters (start the next one next week). Hope that you had a great holiday season. Thank you again for exchanging with me! :D

u/KK6321 Thank you for the lovely unicef card! I didn't know that they made cards :) It brought back memories of helping with fundraisers that my school had in elementary. The washi tape that you used was so pretty! The blue trees one is super wintery :P I'm happy that you liked the card that I sent :) It has been cute reading about how many people have a tradition of baking this time of the year. I'm gonna make some more stuff this week so that when I start school next week I have something to snack on in my online classes. Love that you used blueberries that you picked! I haven't picked those in so long. When I was a kid, there was a place that we lived that had a bunch of blueberry bushes in the back. I loved getting fresh ones. I planted some strawberries and raspberries in our yard this summer and it was wonderful eating them. Lol our chickens went after them sometimes because they like red things. They also ate a bunch of my tomatoes and hot peppers. Hope that you like the pizza dough recipe! Funny enough, that's what I had for dinner last night :) Thanks again for the card. I hope that you have a wonderful New Year!

u/pastelspace Thank you for the pretty sponge card! I agree that they are super cool :P I learned a bit about them in one of my biology courses and it was so interesting. I also love jellyfish and how they work to survive. It is crazy how complicated such small creatures can be. We had a few Man-of-war jellyfish here in Nova Scotia this summer - not very common here but sometimes they come up with the current from warmer places. That's awesome that you are so close to school and nature. My university is near Point Pleasant Park in Halifax. Hurricane Juan destroyed a bunch of trees there when I was a kid but it is till very pretty. The trees are slowly recovering :) I'm about 45mins from there. In the Spring, there are a bunch of peepers in the nearby stream. I love listening to them sing at night - sounds like there are thousands of them! We caught a toad in our yard last summer and a frog this year. I hope to see the colony of peepers one day - we only moved to this area last summer. Phasmophobia is a pretty cool game. I've been watching Let's Plays of it for a while. Since I'm on a break from school, I've been able to play games again. Been playing Cyberpunk 2077 and Death Stranding lately. Lol I've already sunk about 70hrs into Cyberpunk since it came out. It's a little glitchy on my PS4 but nothing too game breaking - plus it can be pretty funny sometimes. I once had a burning car ask me to get into it...it was actually a glitch lol the car wasn't supposed to be on fire. Animal Crossing is a lot of fun too :P I used to play it on the GameCube and my DS. Now I borrow my brother's Switch to play the new one. Have you played Stardew Valley? That game is a lot of fun too. It is like a cross between Zelda and Harvest Moon. Hope that you had a great holiday season full of lots of gaming! Best wishes to the New Year!