I received from @kittykill today … thanks Pam.
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I also received Happy Mail from @kittykill today!
Thanks again, Pam!
And please, everyone, sometimes it seems like the art of discussion has been lost as a result of social media. When someone expresses an opinion that is not exactly the same as yours, they are by no means being aggressive or negative, looking for a fight or causing stress. They are simply expressing an opinion. Please don’t overreact. We are all taking part in LC to share our creativity and to enjoy talking to each other. And we are taking part in the Happy Mail craftalong to send each other Happy Mail (and to receive Happy Mail ourselves). It is about spreading happiness and it is the total opposite of aggression and stress.
Don’t mistake an innocent discussion and exchange of opinions for a fight. Wouldn’t the world be an awfully boring place if we all had to agree with each other all of the time?
Don’t quit this most wonderful craftalong, just because I personally cannot imagine not taking a minute to thank someone for a wonderful gift (even when life gets in the way; I can assure you my life gets in my way a lot too). Expressing my personal opinion on this topic should be taken as what it is, one person’s opinion, not as an act of aggression.
(Stepping of my soap box, to put together some more Happy Mail.)
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I enjoy the “normal” banter. I feel like I am with family, not just friends. It is comforting to know we can all talk and then give each other virtual hugs and laugh once again…I love it.
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I am happy in this Craftalong as it is too, and I enjoy that there are no obligations. It just feels like it is exactly what I need at this time. Baby steps. I’d keep signing up for it too, even if from experience I’d say I’ll be missing the signup window from time to time. Yesterday I found the cards I meant to send for an easy start the other day, to match the theme – of July. Yes. That went well. Guess I’m still not all there yet on the organizing front… And then I did save myself some work and used a handful of those cards to print the girls’ birthday “party” invitations. So they made me happy, as well as a bunch of little girls. Back to planning some actual happy mail…
There’ll always be ‘TEA’ in September!
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You could still use them for Happy Mail for another month though.
They would be as welcome as they would have been in July, I imagine.
Good recycling though!
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Tea parties are always in season! 
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Thank you explaining a bit more Bea. I understand where you are coming from, but I have to admit your comments earlier didn’t sit quite well with me.
I really try my best to post when I receive something and I try and post photos as well. The thing is, I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder and minor depression. This summer has been very difficult for me learning to navigate another new wave of the pandemic and a fractured and distrustful America. So I cut myself some slack and stopped posting for a while.
I felt like I was being reprimanded or being told I wasn’t having fun correctly. I want to admit that in case anyone else was feeling that way.
I love your happy mail Bea! And your generosity with sending supplies and your lovely handmade items is wonderful and inspiring.
I’m happy to let it go and move forward! I’m sending out some postcards and started making some semi-spooky cards today. I figured I might as well get those out internationally for Halloween 
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Thank you, @bluebird, for a cheery postcard! I have pushed my “reset” button and am mailing out my postcards…y’all just pretend I am still on vacation and you are hearing from me two weeks ago… 
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Thank you for sharing your point of view 
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Thanks for explaining your point of view, Susie!
I can assure you I had no intention to reprimand anyone.
I am Dutch and you made me realize again that we have a different way of communicating, that sometimes comes across as not polite to people in other countries, while from our/my point of view it wás.
I apologize for accidentally hurting your and others’ feelings, while I had no intention whatsoever to do so.
I hope I will be allowed to express my opinions in the future, even if they differ from someone else’s opinion. I thought I did so respectfully, so I will carefully consider my wording next time.
One more thing: I also realize, communicating with Americans online, that thanking someone for a gift might be felt as an obligation, a chore, something that has to be done properly. Like, it always surprises me when Americans send thank you gifts for a gift they got. How does that ever stop? Does one have to send a thank you gift for that thank you gift too? And then the other again? In such a system I can understand that simply thanking someone might feel as a chore, an obligation. While in my part of the woods it’s two simple words (or more) you say when you have received a gift. It’s part of receiving a gift and does not feel as an obligation or as ‘more work’. It’s like greeting your co-workers in the morning when you come into work, or saying hi to an acquaintance you meet in the street. I believe we bumped into a small difference in culture here.
Again: I had no intention to reprimand or hurt anyone.
I am just surprised that thanking someone for a gift doesn’t feel natural for everyone, despite everything going on in our lives (and believe me, I get me fair share of that too).
So, back to the Happy part of Happy Mail, my creative friends!
And I wish everyone a wonderful day!
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I have lots left, about 40 I think, so they are bound to pop up here too. There were 100 when I originally got them some 15-20 years ago so I’ve been using them from time to time.
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I received a postcard from @bluebird yesterday! Thanks! It was wonderful!
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Tone over the internet (not to mention language/regional differences!) is always hard. 
An in person “thank you” is definitely not a problem-- here it’s just the logistics inherent in co-ordinating realtime vs computer in however many steps that takes and then (if you’re having trouble with that) feeling like the whole thread has turned into thank yous from other people instead of talking about making & sending things… given how appallingly many people in the world are presently dealing with trauma and/or grief from the pandemic on top of any normal-sized disasters, I’m not sure “common courtesy” is something to take as guaranteed. It’s super awesome if you’ve got the energy for it! But I’m not holding anyone to normal standards of functioning right now.
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You bring in a very valid point…not only are there cultural differences, there are differences in age as well. I was brought up to formally acknowledge a gift with a thank you card. But, now, with the internet, a FB message or text message seems appropriate, and I can check packages were received through the mail system. We are all learning here and I don’t think anyone intended to hurt anyone’s feelings or cause any negativity. We just have to remember that it is difficult to read emotion and get cues from facial and body language as well.
I think we are all pretty much good now, so on to Happy thoughts, Happy mail, and Happy days!
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I mailed out happy mail today!
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GRRR! The post office lost a postcard sent to me. I check informed delivery and there was a postcard but it didn’t make it to me. I reported it to the post office that it was lost.
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I usually get them the day after it shows up for some reason…postcards and junk mail on postcards…hope it shows up! I got @bluebird’s postcard two days after it showed up in Informed Delivery…maybe yours will, too!
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peeks my nose in
I fully admit I haven’t kept up with reading the thread. Sorry all, it’s just beyond me at the moment.
BUT! I had a bout of creativity the other night and made up a batch of happy mail. Huzzah! So there’s a dozen or so already en route.
I also picked up a scrapbook to put my pretty mail into. This isn’t everything, but here’s a look at it.
So I’m still around! I’m just more quietly in the background. I love seeing the happy mail in my box and I hope to get around to getting some more out soon as well. Hope everyone is well.
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I’ve had similar things happen where I see something on the informed delivery but it doesn’t arrive until a day or two later.
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You are so welcome!!
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