From the Scarlet Letterbox

My blog friend Natalie of The Smallest Forest, whose amazing art and creatings I’ve written about before wanted to start a new “thing” this year and came up with the idea of offering her readers, fans and all interested a letter subscription.

In her letter subscription you get one handwritten beautiful letter once a month, in the most amazingly illustrated and personalized envelope in your mail box. I don’t know if it’s because I “kind of know” Natalie Uhing (through reading her blog for many years, last year while she and her man was sailing to different countries away from their boat house home in Australia) that these letters feel so very personal, or if she is just a very skilled writer…

They feel like someone’s exotic adventures taken straight out of a very exciting novel, sent home to a gray, old, and rather boring aunt (me) to tell about life and anecdotes of travels abroad. Stories that often tie into a small, or bigger, lesson at the end. So yes, she is a skilled writer. She writes the kind of English sentences that I wish I could whip up for this blog… With flow, elegance and romance in all of the words. I understand it all at once, but I can never write like that. English is not my first language, and I am doomed to always write clumsily and in haste, to say my meaning and end with a sigh…

I for one is rooting that Natalie’s letters, or some of her many other stories, one day will get published in a beautiful book. I know she is a skilled writer, because from the start, I loved her stories and words, so it’s not because I’ve read her so long that I want more. They’re just great letters!

Anyway, that is what the subscription is all about. A real existing person that will be your pen pal without you having to compose a reply. Doesn’t that sound like a dream? A pen pal that writes you faithfully and wonderfully rich letters (on cream colored paper) without you having to reply even once.

I love getting letters, but I’m not very good (these days) at replying I think.

Well, I used to write tons of letters when I was young and in my 20s, to pen pals, friends that had moved away or lived over seas for a while, or when I myself lived abroad I wrote home to friends, family and grandparents. But these days, I find I write blog posts and hardly take the time to answer my e-mails, not even when I really want to write to my dear friends far away. I so want to keep the contact, but I often find myself procrastinating it. Maybe I should take up real letter writing, at least to do a few here and there?

But right now I really enjoy getting Natalie’s letters, illustrated with her beautiful watercolor drawings of real life things around her, and sometimes even with a little gift tucked inside. Like the tiny envelope filled with faux stamps, made from her own paintings.

I have always loved the idea of faux stamps, and have some ideas of my own of what I want to create, so of course I loved getting these stamps in the mail. I might keep them tucked into this envelope like a little treasures for a long time.

I hopes these photos makes you curious, and longing to know more about this particular subscription.

To get the last six months of the year of the letter subscription visit The Scarlet Letterbox and read more about it and sign up there.

When I first read about Natalie’s idea of a letter subscription, I thought it was a grand idea and wrote and e-mail to her to give some marketing advice and cheer her on. She wrote me back instantly and asked if I would be interested to receive her hand-written letters for a whole year and help her promote it in some small way. Like could I mention it on social media (which I’ve done on Pinterest, Twitter, in Instagram Stories each time I’ve gotten a new letter and opened it, and in a few Facebook groups I am part of).

Just look at all the cute Australian stamps and you’ll understand one reason I’m charmed by this idea. I love everything postal!

I wanted to write about this subscription here too, but also mention that my subscription to what she is calling The Scarlet Letterbox Subscription is free! Because while I adore it, I couldn’t afford it right now. It is not for struggling artists or people making art but with empty etsy shops… But: If you’ve got extra money left and love subscription services like monthly Scrapbook Boxes or stationary loots, then this might be another thing you will want to look into and gift yourself with (or a dear friend you want to write to, but don’t have the time to write), because if you do, you will not regret it one minute. Instead you’ll do a little happy dance once every month for a long time.