CraftSanity with Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood

It's been a couple days since I checked the P.O. Box and was very happy to get some more fabulous mail today. A talented woman named Billie Jean from Sparta, Mich. sent me a letter AND a fabric postcard. How great is that! Wow. And I got another wonderful letter from cousin David. He really wants me to find letters when I open that P.O. box. He even has is mom (my aunt) writing me, too. (Love it! Thank you!)

I got the mail this afternoon, but resisted the urge to tear into it until after the kids went to bed. I sat on the couch by the fireplace, cozy under a wool blanket I wove several years ago and slowly read each letter, savoring the stories each contained. When I feel better I will write more about the experience of receiving this wonderful mail. For now, I'll simply share that reading these letters warmed my heart. Seriously, there's nothing like reading words on a page written specifically for me. If I wasn't feeling so green around the gills right now, I would stay up all night and try to write everyone back in a single sitting. I'm feeling that inspired. But sadly, it's going to take me a little more time to respond. Tonight is one of those rare nights when I will make sleep my ultimate priority and get my resistance back up. I need to be well to keep up my hectic schedule. (See mom, I'm finally learning to respect the importance of sleep.)

But before turn in I want to show you this awesome card I received a few days ago from Heidi in Jamaica Plain, Mass. It was made by machine stitching layers of fabric onto a note card. I have tried this in the past, but not this successfully. Very nice, Heidi. Thank you.

Okay, if you're feeling inspired to get in on the contest, here's the info again:

WIN THE BOOK! Be sure to enter this week's contest to win one of two copies of Samara O'Shea's book. All you have to do is write a letter about what letter writing means to you and send it to my P.O. box (address below) postmarked no later than Feb. 29. (Check out episode 69 if you missed it.) I will call upon Samara's letter writing expertise to select the winners. Are you a letter writer? Did you ever receive, or send a letter that changed your life? Send me your story for a chance to win a book and have your letter scanned and published online. Please write: "For the Love of Letters" on the envelope so I know your writing to enter the contest. Please include your e-mail address so we can reach you quickly if we need to.

Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood
CraftSanity Podcast producer
P.O. Box 888192
Grand Rapids, MI 49588-8192

Last week, when I watched the kind gentleman at the post office show me how the P.O. box system works, I have to admit I was kind of hoping there would be a letter inside my box when he turned the key and swung the metal door open for me to peer inside for the very first time. Even though I had just rented the box minutes before and there was no possible way that anyone could have sent me a letter that quickly, I couldn't help but feel hopeful.

Maybe...

I know it's totally ridiculous. But I'm totally ridiculous when it comes to getting letters in the mail. I absolutely love it! LOVE IT!

Somehow, I forced myself to wait six days before checking for mail. I was absolutely dying to check before that, but I didn't want to jump the gun and look the next day and feel all foolish and deflated for checking it too soon and finding no mail.

So yesterday was the big day. I went to mail a package and check the box. I may have holding my breath when I turned the key. And there were two letters waiting for me. Awesome! If you played back the post office security footage, you would probably see my smile grow bigger than my face. I was that happy.

The very first letter was a wonderful surprise. It was from my cousin, David, who lives in Illinois. This was surprising because I had no idea he was reading my blog. So when I received a lovely letter from him, I was thrilled. This was particularly cool because we have not been in regular contact and basically only see each other at weddings and funerals. Opening his letter triggered memories of two great trips my family took to visit his childhood home in southern Illinois. I remember catching fireflies in his backyard and learning to ride a three-wheeler and shoot a BB gun. It's amazing how words on a piece of paper can trigger the mind to play back the tapes of one's childhood. So, David, if you're reading, know that you rock and will be getting a letter back from me. I wrote it today.

The second letter was from a talented stranger named Kristen from Ambler, PA. She sent me "Snail Mail: A Happy Little Book" which, you guessed it, I LOVE. She made this little book out of recycled pages of a Paper Source catalog (which now I feel compelled to get), writing a sentence or two about herself on each page. So clever!

By paging through the book composed on scrap paper, I learned that Kristen has a degree in English education, but now works as a photographer. (She's good. Check out her work.) She's determined to learn to crochet "something respectable" by her 27th birthday and perhaps a little apprehensive about turning 30. (Don't worry, the 30s rock more than the 20s for loads of reasons.) She has been listening to CraftSanity since episode 12 and appears amused by the way I say my A's. On the last page she glued a cute, olive green envelope to the last page and stuck an orange handwritten business card in there. So of course I checked out her blog.

She also sent a decorative paper "doo-dad" (pictured above) with a handmade fabric flower stitched to it. I think that's pretty great too and will likely use it to embellish the pages of a book Abby and I are planning to make together.

Had I known I could get mail this interesting, I would have rented a box years ago.

Today I received two more lovely letters. One from Fanie in Montreal and another from Melissa in Sacramento. So I have some letter writing to do this weekend. How fun!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

P.S. Here's the address for those interested in snail mail correspondence.

Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood
CraftSanity Podcast producer
P.O. Box 888192
Grand Rapids, MI 49588-8192

I recently interviewed Samara O'Shea, author of "For the Love of Letters: A 21st-Century Guide to Letter Writing" for a story I wrote for my newspaper about the seemingly lost art of putting pen to paper. (The story will appear in Monday's edition of The Grand Rapids Press, so check back here Monday for a link to the story. I will also be posting my chat with O'Shea as an upcoming podcast, so stay tuned for that. )

Some of you may be wondering what letter writing has to do with crafting. Well, I believe there's a pretty clear overlap in the sense that when we make things with our hands we are, in a way, documenting our lives, each stitch a testament to how that time in the studio or craft room, subway or sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office was spent.

Just like rereading a stack of old letters, when we look at the handcrafted items we've made we can often remember what what going on in our lives at the time we created them. Handcrafted items are a lot like letters that way. They can serve as tangible evidence of our creative past and, if we take the time to review them, a possible road map for our future.

I had several pen pals when I was a kid and LOVED the thrill of finding a letter addressed to me waiting in the creaky mailbox that used to hang off the front of my childhood home right below the house number. I could never seem to find the letter opener fast enough to read the latest installment of the dramatic, teenage adventures my pen pals would chronicle for me on pretty stationary. And then I would write back with my own. Regrettably, I've since lost contact with these former pals and gotten out of the habit of writing long letters on fancy paper.

So, Samara's book inspired me to go ahead and do something I've been wanting to do for some time. I got a P.O. Box at my local U.S. Post Office and hope to find some interesting mail in it soon. Those looking to send samples of their work or Press kits to be considered for upcoming podcasts are invited to write me. But what I'm really hoping for are some letters from the interesting people who listen to the podcast and read this blog. I'd love to get a letter from you, dear reader, telling me a little bit about your life and what you make. And I'd love to be able to publish some of those letters here on my blog. Have a crafty question or story to tell? Send your letter to:

Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood
CraftSanity Podcast producer
P.O. Box 888192
Grand Rapids, MI 49588-8192

I'm a craft podcaster, not a rock star, so I do not expect to be overwhelmed with mail. This means that I should be able to write back to all those who take the time to send me personal letters. Every week I reveal a little more of myself in my conversations with the movers and shakers of the crafty world. Now, I'd like to give you a chance to tell me your story.

For those of you itching to get cool mail, too, I have good news. I have BIG plans for a fabric postcard swap and separate pen pal exchange. Check back here for more details on those opportunities in the coming weeks.

xo,

Jennifer