Happy New Year!

Hey! Quick post here with my 2013 Resolutions! I'll have the long-time promised mail/envies/photos of  the Feather Falls hike in a few days.

So, I made a zine for my resolutions this year (totally addicted to zine-making... in fact I started a new swap to satisfy my craving! Deadline is Jan 2 to join!!). Here's the full zine, and below is my list!

Read counter-clockwise from the top right!

♥ Make a Dress

♥ Have an Art Show

♥ Shop used/local/handmade Whenever Possible

♥ Read the Bible

♥ Read 13 Books

♥ Run Three 5K Races

♥ Lose Three Inches

♥ Adopt a Pet

♥ Join Big Brother, Big Sister

♥ Learn to Cook five Thai or Indian Dishes

♥ Make 100 Etsy Sales

♥ Visit Five "New" Local Attractions

♥ Collect the Rest of David Bowie's Albums

Last year I made a list of 20 things I would like to try for the New Year... I accomplished three things, haha. I learned to drive a stick shift, I made lots more art, and I went wine-tasting for my 21st birthday. All good things and it was still a good year, but I hope to check all of my resolutions off this year!

Tonight we're watching the Twilight Zone marathon and probably playing some games with a few friends before the midnight Times Square shindig. Should be a fun New Year's Eve!

Did you make any resolutions?

-- Ciara Kay

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Photos next week of our Feather Falls hike, a super secret project (maybe!), some envelopes, and more mail!

New Year's Penpal Swap & Outgoing Mail

Woo, two posts in a row!

Fun Thing: I'm hosting a penpal swap over at Swap-Bot! The theme is goals for the New Year... if you like to set goals and New Year's Resolutions, and would like a new penpal who will help motivate & encourage you to accomplish those goals, go sign up!

Tomorrow is the deadline to sign up and there are quite a few already on the list. It should be fun! I've been thinking a lot about my goals for the last few weeks... I even made a zine of them, which I'll be sending along to my swap partner and sharing here on New Year's Day! Hopefully I'll spend as much time accomplishing my goals as I've spent planning my goals...

Good news! I got a job interview! It's next Thursday... I'm nervous. I haven't had to interview for a job in like three years. I'm a bit rusty. Anyway, the sooner I get a job, the sooner I can get Scoutaroo Paper Co. officially off the ground! I can't wait!!

Some housekeeping: I now have a Flickr and a Twitter and a Facebook for Scoutaroo... So, pick your poison.

Outgoing Mail

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As promised, some outgoing mail from December 11! As you can see, washi tape & experiments with lettering are my current choice in trends...

Old Beer carrier turned postcard to Derrick of I Still Write.

To a faithful penpal! That woman writes SO much... I don't know how she keeps up!

To a friend from home.

To a shut-in from our church who I like to send holiday cards to.

To another friend from home!

An intro letter to a new penpal (hopefully!)

Up Next: Some upcycled envies and another stationery preview!

-- Ciara Kay

How I Spent My Holiday

Time to get things rolling here! First thing on my to-do list: get a day job and an apartment where I can set up shop... until that happens, I'll be sharing updates and doodles on a (semi) regular basis.

I will start with Christmas! After being on the road for almost three months, all those songs about being home for the holidays really started to ring true... We got home a week ago today and it's been so nice to see our family and friends back in Paradise, CA! My mom let me set up a little table for all my crafts (one of the first things I did upon arrival was dig up my craft supplies) and got straight to writing a bunch of letters and sending out a few copies of our Christmas Zine (definitely a new tradition!)

Inside: drawings of us, a map of where we traveled, and a note to friends & family!

I also received a few nice Christmas cards, but my camera is giving me grief so no pictures of those. =( Many thanks to The Snail Mailer, Brittany Ukulele, D in San Francisco, and of course family (you know who you are). I love Christmas letters & cards.

On Saturday we went down to the Bay Area to visit Jamie's family, and on Sunday I made some peanut butter balls and pie crust. I baked my first pie (pumpkin!) on Christmas Eve, which was enjoyed by all for Christmas dinner! I rescued a few peanut butter balls from being devoured and made a little gift bag for the postman:

Since funds were tight this year we got creative with our gift-giving. I made a few cards for our parents and siblings and then we made these cute little jars filled with the pure maple syrup that we got while we were in New Hampshire! They turned out super cute if I do say so myself... And the syrup is amazing too of course. I'll be making oatmeal pancakes this week!

Make Your Own!

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You'll need: food-safe jars, stickers, twine, Avery Kraft labels, a tag-shaped paper punch, a paper bag, and something sweet! 

Fill your jar before decorating! 

For the labels: Draw/design a sample label and scan or import into the appropriate Avery template and print! Punch out the gift tags from an old paper bag.

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Most of our time has been spent playing games, watching movies, baking, cooking, eating, and enjoying each other's company. Best way to spend a family holiday, I think. Tonight we are going to watch Ratatouille and enjoy some wine and hors d'oeuvres and have a dinner show! Definitely looking forward to that.

Up Next: I'll share some of my outgoing mail and a few other little projects I'm working on!

What memories did you make this Christmas?

-- Ciara Kay

Hello There!

So, I am too impatient to wait until AFTER the holidays and closer to my Launch Day to start blogging... I cannot resist, I am a show off. Also I was afraid that David Bowie with a pistol would scare people off (you have not seen the last of that guy).

I've been working away on stationary & card designs! My goal for Launch Day: Have three letterset designs and a Valentine's Day design available for purchase! I'm over halfway there, just one letterset to go! Still a lot to do besides designing the actual products, but that bit is pretty crucial. ;) I'm thinking I may take pre-orders (because I'm impatient like that, see above) on all four until I can actually get them printed mid-January... I dunno, that might be a terrible idea. Thoughts on Pre-orders?

So without further ado, here are two preview paintings of some upcoming letterset designs which will be made available in January!

"Catscratch"

"Cafe Coffee Day"

I will continue to share designs as I make them and some random doodles & drawings just for kicks. I'll be posting the Valentine's Day previews after the holidays; I'm especially excited about those, so I'll save them for later. ;) You can also expect some incoming & outgoing mail art once I'm home again and can respond to letters in a more timely fashion! I've been sending letters & postcards like crazy this last week in anticipation of having a "permanent" residence again!

Again, please check out the awesome blogs on the right while I get things rolling! =)

♥ Ciara Kay

Watch This Space!

Hello Hello!

I'll have pretty paper & mail to share after the holidays! :) In the meantime, check out the blog roll on the right for some mail & craft blogs I enjoy. If you would like to peruse some of my past artwork, or send me a letter, you can find me on deviantART.com or sendsomething.net!

Also, David Bowie.

You are welcome. 

Love, Ciara.