Sandbook Net PenPals and Swappers Magazine, Dec 2010, issue 2 by Sandbook Net

VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 2

DECEMBER ‘10

SANDBOOK PENPALS AND SWAPPERS

FEATURES : • Write Around the World • Samantha’s Thoughts • PenPalling & Letters • Simplicity Embellished • Craft And Art

THE MAGAZINE

The Holidays

Fashionista

Sinterklaas

2011 Inspirations

Paper Aging

AUTHORS

EDITORIAL

Rach Gee Write around the world FB etiquette Xmas in UK Letters to Santa Mandi Moore Conversation Starters PenPal Junkie www.pp-junkie.com

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Guest Authors:

DearSandbookers ,

A month has passed since our first issue hit the “market”. Over that time, we have received numerous emails, inquiries and reviews of our work so far. Thank you for the big interest and feedback! We really appreciate the support and the love that you have showed us. We hope that we can give you back just as much dedication, loyalty and support as you have given us.

Maja’s Art Unique Things Melanie Anzalone, How to make bags...

Finally, it’s time for me to leave you with the pages of our Holiday Special Magazine. Pour yourself a hot cup of chocolate and enjoy the over 100 pages that we have prepared for you. We shall see you again on January 11, 2011.

Until then,

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I would like to wish you a very joyful winter holiday with lots of happiness and laughter surrounding you and your loved ones. I also hope that Santa didn’t misplace any of the goodies that you truly deserve! On behalf of the Sandbook.Net Team, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a magical New 2011 Year.

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Kim FriendsWho Craft&Swap

Susanne Schulz Cards and more Le Loos PenPal Meetings

Teresa Wodehouse 2011 Inspirations

Fashionista

RaiaandtheSandbookNetTeam CONTACT US Make sure that you stay informed for the latest news Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sandbook Add us as a friend on Facebook http://facebook.com/sandbooknet And join our Facebook Group: http://on.fb.me/SBNgroup And join our Facebook Page: http://on.fb.me/SBNpage Read our blog at: sandbooknet.blogspot.com Visit us on our website: www.SandBook.Net

IN THIS ISSUE

Authors: Raia, Bulgaria Paper Aging Write a Soldier Simplicity Embellished

Gregory J. Lentz

‘Tis the Seasoon

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Funny thing that

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Samantha’s Thoughts

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Samantha Stroy

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56 Gift shopping 101 58 Friends who swap and craft 59 Relationship/Fun 60 Maja’s Art 61 Purses and other goodies 62 Cards by Susanne Schulz 64 Survey Results

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Miriam Gerst

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Sinterklaas

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Penpalling & letters

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Postcard Swaps

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The World Through

6 Write around the World 8 Letter Insider: Paper Aging 11 Letter insider: Conversation Starters 12 Write To a Soldier 14 Simplicity Embellished: Why I write letters? 18 FB etiquette 20 The world through postcards swaps 24 PenPal of the Month 27 PenPal Meetings 28 Travelling Notebooks 30 PenPal Junkie 32 Lost PenPal 34 PenPal and Swappers ADs 55 PenPalling Connections

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Why I write letters?

2 Editorial 3 Twitter 4 Contents

photo by Manuela Balocco

AUTHORS

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66 Cultural Events: ‘Tis the Season 70 Sinterklaas 76 World Traveller: North Pole 82 Christmas in UK 86 Samantha’s Thoughts 89 Recipes 90 2011 Inspirations 92 Facebook Discussions 94 How to survive the holidays 95 Birthday Twins Cover: GAYA DESIGNS Editor: Raia Alexieva Graphic Designer: Aspeia Alexieva / GAYA DESIGNS IT administration: Jason Dimitrov Photography: Manuela Balocco Production Coordinator: Raia Alexieva Junior Associate: Milen Mangarudov Team Authors: : Miriam Gerst / Gregory J.Lentz / Samantha Stroy/ Raia Alexieva / Bea from PenPalling and Letters / Cole from Simplicity Embellished / Rae from Glass Completely Empty Productions. Information is correct at press time.

96 Fashionista 98 Contest 100 Photo Share 101 Subscribe 102 Next Issue 5

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http://on.fb.me/WriteAroundTheWorld

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rae@glasscompletelyempty.co.uk

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Contact: Glass Completely Empty Productions:

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around the globe. They are my closest and dearest friends, no matter how many miles are between us, people who share the ups and downs of their lives as I share mine. Together we’ve been there through thick and thin and I couldn’t imagine life

word, one frame at a time? If you are, then it’s time to take the first step and send me an email. Write your email as if you’re writing an introductory letter. Tell me about you, your loves and interests, your favourite films and music, where you live and what makes it special. Go on, impress me! Once we have 100 suitable applicants, then we shall begin... If you run a store which sells pen-palling accessories (stationery, labels etc) or run a website which specialises in any aspect of pen-palling, then please get in touch as I would like to include you as well! [Please note: Interview questions will be sent to you in due course so please do not panic! Also, in order to take part in this project, you will have to sign a consent/release form. These will be emailed to you at the start of the project. If you are under 16, you will need to get a parent/guardian to sign it as well. Thank you!]

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I kept in touch with friends through letters, telling them tiny tales about wherever I was living at the time. As they drifted away, I found myself craving the contact, craving letters that come through the post and landed on my doorstep amid the bills and free newspapers. I found my very first penpal on an internet bulletin board and we’ve been friends ever since. That was over ten years ago now and, as much as I enjoy writing stories, I also adore talking about life, the universe and everything in it to my penpals

Please do not fret if you are not a part of Facebook; if you have any questions please feel free to send me an email. The project is split into three sections, each of which will be revealed as we go along. This is as much about us having fun as it is about creating a wonderful and enchanting film. For section 1 you need to be willing to give either a video or audio interview. Please, do not panic! You are in safe hands and we will show you how to get the best from whatever you have, be it a video camera, webcam or cassette recorder. However, in order to take part in sections 2 and 3, you have to be willing to take part in section 1. If you’re nervous about speaking on film we will be accepting some typed responses, which we will record someone reading. But we would very much prefer video and audio interviews! Are you ready to change the world one letter, one

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Hello! Hi! Bonjour! ¡Hola! Guten Tag! Before I start, I’d like to invite you to make yourselves a drink. Tea? Coffee? Make yourselves comfortable and at home. I’d hate for you to be uncomfortable. As the Rolling Stones once sang, please allow me to introduce myself. Well, my name’s Rachael and I’m an author, documentary film-maker and events manager from England. In between creating worlds and filming existing ones, I am a penpal and have been since the 1990’s. Having moved a lot as a child,

without them. Earlier this year, I decided I wanted to share my love of pen-palling with a world which lives in the electronic age, a world where everything is instantaneous and always at hand. A world where lives and stories are as quick to appear and disappear as night and day. A world where we pick and choose what we want and it’s always to hand. A world that is a throw away society. I run a production company with the main aim to change the world for the better and I want to create a film and art project that allowed the outside world a peek into ours. A world that relies on postal systems that can take days and weeks, a world where each written word is treasured and carefully replied to, a world where friendship books, decos, slams and label bags fly from hand to hand in carefully packed envelopes. And it’s a world I’m inviting you to share. Would you like to get involved? Then, please, read on! HOW CAN YOU HELP? Firstly, if you are part of Facebook, search for “Glass Completely Empty” and look for the pink glass. This is the current home of my production company and has sections to answer your questions.

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WRITE AROUND THE WORLD

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LETTER INSIDER: PAPER AGING

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Step 3: The aging itself Soak the foil and paper into vinegar/cold tea or coffee. Remember, that the areas, soaked with the liquid, will be “stained” and appear “aged”. It’s time to choose if you want to age the whole sheet or simply draw/smudge on certain parts of it. You can alternate the amount of coffee that you use on the paper to get really nice and unique patterns. Once you do this process for a couple of times, you will get the hang of it. For beginners, I advise you to start with the whole sheet of paper. Just let it soak in the liquid that you have chosen for a coloring agent. Make sure that the liquid gets to both sides of the sheet (the effect will be ruined if the back is not aged). An additional tip: rub your finger nail on the edges of the paper – they will easily tear apart (wear apart) and give the sheet a really nice and “authentic” aged look. When the paper is nicely “soaked” into the liquid, gently remove the excess

Step 4: Drying the sheet Lift the cookie sheet (foil) and put it in the preheated oven. “Bake” until dry (the time for “baking” depends on the temperature of the oven. I wouldn’t suggest you to raise more than 200C). When the edges begin to curl upwards, it’s done! Turn off the oven and then let it to cool. If the sheet curled too much, don’t be alarmed. You can “straighten” it up when it cools down by placing it between two heavy books. If you have time, you can try to let the sheet dry between two or more paper towels. Again use weights to prevent curling. Another method that you can try is to put something heavy on the edges of the sheet and let the sheet dry at room temperature. It will take some time, but you will get a really interesting pattern in the mid section of the sheet as it tries to wrap. If you are impatient, you can help it dry quicker with a blowdryer.

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Step 2: Take a cookie sheet foil Put the paper onto the cookie sheet (foil).

liquid with a paper towel. If the sheet is too wet, when you lift it up it might tear. The prepared sheets are ready to be “baked”.

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200 C – the usual tempreture

that is required for baking most of the cakes that I can cook.

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to achieve the brown, I love to be creative and brittle and worn effect craft some really unique that old sheets of papers letters. When it comes and books have. to my correspondence, I haven’t been able to do What will you need: Tea / coffee/ vinegar that over the last couple Oven + Electricity of years. When the Large baking pan Paper-sheet / letter idea of our magazine came to light, I decided How to Age a paper sheet (letter): that I will show the Before we start with the aging process, readers everything that I will suggest you to write or print the message first. Then the “ink” to age, I had in mind and have too. But if you are looking for the effect done over the years to “a letter written on a very old paper”, then you can age the paper first and make my letters really then write the letter on it. Be careful creative. The first issue though, as the paper will not only age, but will become brittle as well. had the idea about the No matter what you choose, I suggest nice and neat FB’s that I you try the process on a “sample”, before applying it to actual letters or love swapping. Today, I other projects that you have in mind. would like to show how It will allow you to get familiar with the process. to age paper or a letter. Step 1: Preheat oven In the end you will be I usually set the oven quite experienced how somewhere between 150 to By Raia Alexieva

Step 5: Be creative 9

LETTER INSIDER: CONVO STARTERS

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1. If your house was on fire, what three items (other than people or pets) would you save and why? 2. If you were on a deserted island for one week and could take only one thing with you, what would you take and why? Anything that uses electricity is not allowed! 3. If you won the lottery, what would you do with your winnings? 4. If someone gave you $5,000 to spend on yourself, what would you buy? 5. If you could go back in time and change one thing that has happened in your life, what would it be? Why? 6. Do you believe in ghosts? If so, have you ever seen one? 7. Do you believe in aliens? Why or why not? 8. What is the one thing that bothers you the most about other people? 9. What was the happiest day of your life? 11 10. Describe what you see outside the closest window and tell me what you would rather see?

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A lot of people ask for long-letter pals in their pen pal ads. Many people wonder how they can make their letters longer and more interesting. A great way to do this is by asking questions. Not the every-day questions many pals ask in their first few letters, such as “What is your favorite song” or “What is your favorite color”, but something that will take more than a few words to answer. Questions that really make your pal think and that get them very interested in answering or hearing your answer are wonderful. Many of my pen pals and I make it a habit to always include a few of these types of questions in each of our letters. These questions can be a bit difficult to think of, but they are well worth the time! Some great questions can be found by searching for “Journal Prompts” online. Other great questions to ask are “Would you rather…” type questions and those can be found online as well. To get you started, here are 10 questions you can ask your pals, or maybe these will give you inspiration to think of your own!

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By Mandi Moore, USA

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What to be aware of? Note the ink that you use. Some may run out or smudge (not a pretty picture!), others tend to look too “fresh” even after the aging treatment. Finally, there is yet another batch of inks that fade too much when undergoing the treatment process.

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How to achieve “dusty” look on the sheet? Rupture the used tea bag and spread the tea over the areas where you want to have flecks of tea left on the paper. You can use coffee grounds, too. Even try to use cacao – it works great! If you use cotton balls to dry the sheet from the excessive

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Wear and Tear Techniques: Besides wearing down the ages What are the tea of the paper, you can do it on technique tips? couple of more places on the Dark black tea works best (soak paper itself. If you are feeling more packages into the water artistic enough, you can create to achieve a stronger solution). holes inside the paper so that Leave to soak for a while. The it appears “eaten off” by moths. teabags will have enough time Moreover, you may burn the to release the tea into the water edges of the paper if you haven’t and saturate it. already worn them down (note: Adult supervision is required!!!). How to draw with the aging patterns? How to achieve a nice Take one of the tea bags out of shine? the pot and run it in the shape Take an egg-white and apply it that you want to draw. It will over the sheet. make the paper even darker whenever it passes. You can How to enhance the lightly rub the tea bag over the authentic appearance? paper, too. Use a sealing wax on the letter.

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How Do I darken the patterns on the sheet? Just go through the whole process again.

tea/coffee, you will notice that it leaves “cotton hairs” on the surface of the sheet.

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Experiment with the process.

Write to a soldier

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Ponticelli is a female soldier, who needs pen friends and all the support that we can give her.

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Brian, Terry is in his mid 40s. He is married and loves his family. He enjoys riding motorcycles.

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Bailey, Kara is a 28 year old female (sister to Arne and Jennifer) who likes trucks and dogs. She is a teacher, when she is not soldiering.

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great, turned out to be a quite difficult task. “Why?”, you may ask. The first and major reason is that when you actually ask (search in) Google for a soldier pen pal, you will end up with too many websites that can simply overwhelm you with information what to do and what not to do when you are penpaling with a soldier. Many

application form to fill out in order to find a soldier pen pal. That was the situation that I encountered years ago when I was inspired to write to a soldier. Few weeks ago, I was contacted by Jennifer Biggs, a sister of one of the soldiers, who got deployed before he had the chance to sign up for pen pals. She was asking me to help her brother find some pen pals. I immediately agreed to

Bailey, Arne is a 31 year old soldier, who is a single father to a 7 year old girl. He likes target shooting and the military of course.

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the support that we, as a PenPalling Community, can give to them is that much more important. You can show your support through letters or cards and even small gifts that you can send through the mail to them. Writing to a soldier is a noble and nice thing to do. I have been interested in figuring out how to start pen-paling with a soldier. However, as I then realized, that idea, despite being so

with emails, we will be running them in next issue of our magazine.

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They put their own lives on hold! They risk their lives every day and night! They are out there defending us even when we don’t realize that! They are brave, resourceful and highly trained. They are soldiers, who are far away from their friends and family. The life in distant lands can be confusing, boring and even lonely. That is why any mail that the soldiers receive

is treasured. Mail helps them get through the rough times. It serves as a window through time and space, a view of something familiar and dear, that special something that they are all fighting for. However, many brave men and women out there do not receive any mail. Sadly, but it’s a fact. It might be because their family and friends not into penpalling, or of course, they might not have a big family to begin with. That is why,

pen pal with a soldier or even participate in their various events and campaigns. You can also check www.anysoldier. com or visit www. soldiersangel.org – they present interesting topics and articles about the etiquette of being a soldier pen pal. I do hope that soldiers (or relatives of the brave men and women) will contact us so we can keep on updating the section with interesting and inspiring information about finding military pen pals. Since we are not at liberty to publish any snail mail addresses of the soldiers, I will leave you with some information about the featured soldiers in this article and if you are interested in showing your support for them, contact Jennifer Biggs on Facebook and she will hand out the addresses. By the time this article is released, she will probably have a lot more people who would love to hear from you, so get on Facebook and contact Jennifer directly. We can run emails addresses for any soldiers that could use any support, so if we get any soldier ads

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by SandbookNet

help her. After all, we are a Pen Pal Community, right? So after I got a little bit of information about his likes and life, I posted it in my status on Facebook. I was thrilled to see how many people commented on the status and wanted to support him and other soldiers. I was so happy that we could help, so I immediately contacted Jennifer and told her the idea about this article. Since she was on board with it, I decided to research penpalling with a soldier more closely, 10 years after my first attempt to do so. And yes! I was really nicely surprised by the fact that there are a lot of websites and articles out there on the Internet that will bring you up-to-date information about how to get started. To be honest with you, I have never known such websites existed! Here are some particularly good ones that you can check before you start penpalling with a soldier. So go to www.adoptaplatoon. org which is a good site where you can fill out an application to adopt a soldier or

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of them will be filled with people wanting to support the troops and not being able to since the websites are new and there is no database. And only few will offer you an

If you have a friend or relative who is in the Army and could use the support and pen pals, just make sure you write to us at magazine@ sandbook.net. You can also submit photos or articles that you have written in support to the troops. Once again we want to thank Jennifer Biggs for the inspiration for this article. 13

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I’m very fortunate that my life stays pretty busy and writing letters forces me to carve in real downtime. Time where my only task at hand is to write out a thoughtful response. Sometimes, I am actually ‘challenged’ by the letters I receive. Conversations can turn somewhat heated when the topic turns to politics or religion and I relish the chance to draft a succinct, straightforward response that summarizes my viewpoints. Letter writing, at least when you get past the first few introductory letters with a correspondent, is something that can (and should!) offer up a challenge of some kind.

you are writing a letter by hand, and when you are trying to really say something meaningful, you absolutely have to think ahead before you touch pen to paper. Each word should be selected with care and thoughts should be succinct, yet powerful. Letter writing requires me to reflect on new things I’ve never been exposed to. That’s why in many of my letters I ask people to describe in great detail places they’ve been (and I haven’t) or things they do (and I don’t.) I, in many ways, live through the letters my correspondents write to me. I learn about new places and things through the eyes of another person, a person that I know only through their handwriting.

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I Feel Challenged

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There are two kind of people in my world; those who write letters and those who do not. Those of you who are letter-writing enthusiasts; you are probably nodding your heads in agreement. The stationery above (editor’s note: read “here”) is some recent cat stationery I found in the basement. I smeared out what I wrote because, like I’ve said before, letters are secrets! And if I told you, I wouldn’t be a very good secret-keeper, now would I? Here’s why I write letters, and some of these reasons may match up with your own personal reasons too:

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Simplicity Embellished is a prominent letter-writing blog curated by Cole Imperi. Featuring articles on letter writing, home & garden, cooking & recipes and health, Simplicity Embellished is an online haven for those who appreciate epistolary delights.

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WHY I WRITE LETTERS - SIMPLICITY EMBELLISHED

It Requires Me To Fully It Forces Me To Reflect And Understand My Stances On Consider Things As I mentioned above, I’m sometimes‘challenged’ by my correspondents to back up a belief that I have. It’s actually such a welcome thing; how often in life does anyone really care why you believe what you believe? Not so often. When

Backing up what you believe sometimes results in major realizations. And sometimes, admitting that to a pen pal is a lot easier than admitting it to yourself.

Website: http://www.simplicityembellished.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SimplicityEmbellished

I Can Put My Treasured Pens, Inks And Papers To Use

I Have Many People With Whom I Can Share Secrets And Deep Thoughts Instead Of Just One Or Two

What about you? Why do you write letters? Or, why do you want to write letters if you aren’t already? And if you aren’t, send me a letter! (visit www. simplicityembellished.com and leave your comment).

Writing out post-it notes and tapping in calendar info into my iPhone is purely utilitarian. But writing a letter by hand is like dressing for your wedding day. You carefully select your stationery (should I use my As adults, you naturally become more http://simplicityembellished.com

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As I mentioned above, I’m sometimes ‘challenged’ by my correspondents to back up a belief that I have. It’s actually such a welcome thing; how often in life does anyone really care why you believe what you believe? Not so often. When you are writing a letter by hand, and when you are trying to really say something meaningful, you absolutely have to think ahead before you touch pen to paper. Each word should be selected with care and thoughts should be succinct, yet powerful. Letter writing requires me to reflect on new things I’ve never been exposed to. That’s why in many of my letters I ask people to describe in great detail

just needed to slow down. Nowadays, I have to slow my hand down in order to come out with soft, flowing strokes and swashes. I’ve started working on different styles of handwriting; uncial, Spencerian…. the list goes on. One of the biggest rewards of spending time on your penmanship is the comments you receive; people notice fairly decent handwriting nowadays because it’s something that’s not really appreciated anymore!

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It Forces Me To Reflect And Consider

nets.’You have a net you cast out that contains all the friends you know ‘in real life;’ co-workers, neighbors, friends from college, family, etc. You might have a‘blogger net’if you blog and regularly communicate with people online. I feel like I have one of the rarest nets of all, a ‘letter writing net.’ So few people have one of those, and I feel as though I’ve got a great‘catch.’;)

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My First Flex Nib Writing Letters By Candlelight Baby Envelope Template Comparison A Vintage Seal Kuretake Tegami Refillable Letter Pen Fountain Pen Review | Sailor Desk Pen Sailor HighAce Neo Beginner Fountain Pen Rossi’s Medioevalis Paper and Envelopes Moleskine in Red Ink Review | J. Herbin’s Ambre De Birmanie LAMY Al-Star Purple Review Diamine Ink Monaco Red Review Moleskine Volant Notebooks Tools of the Trade | The Elements of Style LAMY Safari in Magenta

Sometimes, I write my letters in a local tea house. Other times, I am sitting on the living room floor using the coffee table late at night. Wherever I am though, I am relaxed. Plus, no matter how many letters or postcards I get, there’s always a piercing thrill when you open up your mailbox and find a letter inside. I don’t think any of my other hobbies have the ‘highs and lows’ that letter writing brings.

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Read Recent Reviews on the Blog:

I Feel Challenged

I’m very fortunate that my life stays pretty busy and writing letters forces me to carve in real downtime. Time where my only task at hand is to write out a thoughtful response. Sometimes, I am actually ‘challenged’ by the letters I receive. Conversations can turn somewhat heated when the topic turns to politics or religion and I relish thechancetodrafta succinct, straightforward response that summarizes my viewpoints. Letter writing, at least when you get past the first few introductory letters with a correspondent, is something that can (and should!) offer up a challenge of some kind.

It Requires Me To Fully Understand My Stances On Things Backing up what you believe My Circle Of Friends sometimes results in major Is Not Just Wider, But I Get To Work On My realizations. And sometimes, admitting that to a pen pal is a lot Like I Have A Whole Handwriting easier than admitting it to yourself. I was always a ‘B’ student in Extra Road That elementary school in handwriting, Others Don’t and I never understood why I could Enjoy It I feel like everyone has different‘friend never score an ‘A’. I realize now that I

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My Husband’s Personal Stationery Free Download: Holiday Tag or Enclosure A New Wax Seal and Sealing Wax On Friendship A Letter Full of Treasure How To Get Kids To Write Letters A Welcome Back Gift To You Etegami From A Correspondent Why You Sometimes Never Hear Back.... Letters From Pen Pals | Where I Keep Them How to write a letter to your pen pal A Guide To Modern-Day Pen Pals

selective with people in your ‘inner circle.’ For most people, that inner circle is maybe only your spouse. For a letter-writer, it often includes their dearest correspondents. There’s an unwritten code among avid letter writers; you keep the secrets you are told and you protect them. Writing out deep, sometimes maybe even dark thoughts can be so therapeutic for many writers. But to share that with someone you will likely never meet; and that will not truly not judge you; even more so.

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Read more Writing Posts on the Blog:

monogrammed? Or my Crane? Or my Moleskine paper?), and then select an ink and a pen. Do I want to use my Lamy? Am I feeling like using an extra fine nib or a medium? Should I use my favorite ink (Diamine Damson!) or an ink to complement the season? For non-fountain pen enthusiasts, you still select a pen for the task at hand and it’s really no different. Oh, but the icing on the cake? The recipient will appreciate it!

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places they’ve been (and I haven’t) or things they do (and I don’t.) I, in many ways, live through the letters my correspondents write to me. I learn about new places and things through the eyes of another person, a person that I know only through their handwriting.

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Read More blog entries at www.SimplicityEmbellished.com The best life-style Blog there is!

FRIENDSHIP BOOKS’ ETIQUETTE by Rach Gee

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You never know, you may get lucky and find someone who can send it home for you! Which leads us onto... ICR If you can return to someone, then please say so. The world will love you for it! Recycling is good! Or is it? Would you want an FB that was made from a box that once held your new TV? No, and neither does whoever you’re making the FB for. Even if it’s a label you’ve taken from a label bag and you have no other connections to that person; make something a little nicer before you send it on its way. Because no one wants to receive an FB that looks as though it’s had no thought put in it. The owner may like who you are and may be thinking about writing to you but may be turned off by whatever you have made for them. Remember, first impressions count! And if you have to use scrap card, scrap paper, old condom wrappers (seriously, I’ve seen one with an old condom wrapper as a cover!), etc then jazz it up with coloured paper, stickers or deco tapes. You can make nice FB’s from recycled junk; it just takes a little thought and effort!

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for friendship! Time to go home! It’s the last page and there’s enough room for your label. Great! Time for it to go home! Or not... The world is struggling and people don’t have a lot of money. That’s perfectly understandable. But is it really going to break the bank to send an FB home? Please, I’m begging you here, if you’re the last signer, send it home. Don’t keep sending it from one person to another until you find someone to send it home. It’s not fair on the people who can’t sign because of lack of space, it’s not fair on those paying postage to pass on a full FB and it’s certainly not fair on the owner. If you can’t afford to send it home, then see if there’s an ICR closer to you who can. If you’re not sure if the person still lives at that address, then take a look online. Yahoo may be out of vogue in favour of Facebook, but there are several groups on there who do nothing except help to get FB’s back to their owners. Return To Sender http://groups. yahoo.com/group/ postage. With business in a label but there’s a ReturnToSender/ cards and flyers you can whole world out there The FB Graveyard leave them in all manner that may be looking for h t t p : / / g r o u p s . of places. Just imagine your talent. Go on, show y a h o o. c o m / g r o u p / getting an email saying them and let’s keep FB’s TheFbGraveyard/

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printing out flyers or business cards? Write a simple “Please pass on” on it and you’re set to go! If you’re looking for more

that they’d found it in the local library and would love to purchase something from you! Yes, it’s easy to stick

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with adverts. Just adverts and barely any addresses. There are plenty of other ways for you to advertise your wares. There’s good

professional business cards, try Vistaprint (www.vistaprint.com). Business cards are free and you just pay for the

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old ebay. There are also plenty of pen-palling websites who offer free selling and trading adverts. Or, how about

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taken up by adverts for something you may or may not want? I’ve lost count of the amount of FB’s that have been filled

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Friendship Books – little paper books decorated with an array of addresses, interests and stickers – have been a little talked about phenomenon for several decades now. People around the world all eagerly sign their names, add their loves and hates and send them on their way, hopefully on a journey back to their owner. However, it’s a world where very few of these little books ever seem to make it back to the people for which they are intended. We live in a world that is in desperate need of brightening up so how about we do something to get these books home?! How about we have a little bit of good, old fashioned etiquette?! Clear addresses This is one thing I’ve noticed time and again with FB’s is that it is hard to understand the address. Either it’s written in black sparkly pen onto black paper or the handwriting is completely illegible. Beside my computer there are several full FB’s waiting to go home. Unfortunately, I am not a cryptographer and deciphering the handwriting is beyond me. I hold my hands

up and admit that my handwriting is hard to read which is why, when I make FB’s, I always type the address of the owner. If that is not possible, all capital letters work just as well. It may look like you’re shouting but at least it’ll find its way home! The same goes for the country name. Some are easy to work out. For example, most people would know that New York is in the USA or that London is in England. But how about the smaller towns and villages, ones that don’t appear on the map in your atlas? Make it a little easier for these books to get home and please add the country name! If you come across an FB that doesn’t have a country name, try Googling the town name or putting it through Wikipedia. Chances are it will list the country in the first paragraph. FB ebay We all love shopping and we all love getting a good deal on something but FB’s, are they really the place for your adverts for labels, stationery and websites? I know this one is going to make me unpopular but it’s true! Is it pleasant to receive a full FB and for two of the four pages to be

World through postcard swaps

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by G. J. Lentz, gj.lentz76@gmail.com

This past year I have been immersed into the wonderful world of swapping postcards! Most peoplehavesentorreceived a few postcards in their time while on vacation, but until I joined a swapping group on Facebook I had never realized just how big this sub-culture is, and what a joy it can be. I’ve never been

much for traditional penpals, or “collecting”, but with postcard swapping I have come to be a Cartophile, and regularly correspond with some wonderful new friends from all over the world. Unlike pen-pal letters, we postcard swappers don’t have much room to convey all we may, but you’d be surprised as to just how

much you can actually fit on those cards if you take the time and choose your words carefully. Starting Your Collection is pretty easy. You could always start by placing a Postcard Swap Ad here with Sandbook! I started when I was invited to check into a friend’s Facebook page, I love postcards :), where a

good number of dedicated swappers exchange cards based on their interests and geography. This is called direct swaps. I have found, and now use a site called Postcrossings, whereby you can request a few random swaps, and when your cards are received and registered to the site, a random card will e mailed to you, via the

system. It is pretty interesting and exciting to receive somethingrandomandoutof the blue, but I still prefer direct swaps myself. People swap for many reasons, and have various preferences; I not only

like the cards for their artistry or cultural relevance, but I too relish the opportunity to correspond with others from allovertheworld.Ihaveagreat interest in travel and cultures, so postcard swapping and

corresponding with folks in that manner is a great way for me to discover the world and others’lives! Finding postcards to offer is no problem! Most places where you live will have postcards

available at convenient store, like a pharmacy shop, gift and card shop, sometimes grocery stores and even gas stations have them. Motels and hotels often have them handy. You could check your local tourist 21

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correspond to more regularly. You should think about how much you are willing to spend and are a capable of keeping up with as you see best! Postcard swapping and correspondences are a great way to view the world you may never actually visit, and to share and learn about world cultures and others’

lives! I have recently been sending some special cards to a dear correspondent in Portugal, who is an English teacher.Shelikestocollectand correspond, but too she uses them in her classes to teach English and teach culture. This past October I had sent her several larger-than-standard Halloween themed cards I made by purchasing greeting cards, as I have explained prior. The backsides had extra room for writing, so I took a lot of care to write cleanly and precisely to explain as much as I could about various Halloween topics as known here in the States. It has been a fantastic experience, and I look forward to so much more! 23

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may want to think about a postal box, rather than using your home address. Keeping Your Collection Organized and Protected is important if you wish to maintain your collection from wear and tear, or for easy sharing with your friends and family. I use Facebook for just about everything, so I take pictures of all the cards I want to send and those I receive, and I keep them in photo albums on Facebook to share with everyone. At home I use a nice wooden box to keep my collection in, and easily

take it out to show guests. They stay protected from dust and my clumsy cat who always sticks its nose where he shouldn’t! You could create a display book with a photo album or scrapbook, or even using a sketchpad. You can purchase various sized plastic covers designed for postcards, I use these as well. You should keep in mind too, postcards are subject to handling and sorting equipment, as well as the elements. Your sent/received postcards may not always arrive pristine. This is most often not the fault of the sender. For me, that is part of the allure of receiving cards from all over the world! Most important of all with postcard swapping and corresponding via postcards is to make it fun and not allow it to become a burden! Choose your swapping friends and correspondents as they are of interest to you, and of those you come to know and trust. I only spend about $5USD every few months on buying cards or materials for making cards, and I have devised a list of swappers, locally and internationally, that I send to aboutonceamonth.Thereare specialoccasionsorswapsand good friends I may send and

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a friend in Holland, and I have traded Hot Air Balloon postcards with a few people, as my hometown has a fantastic hot air balloon festival every year. Otherwise I like just about anything from anyone, and from anywhere! It is typical to discuss your preferences and desires for trade, as with all bartering the value is different for everyone. Be courteous but be fair. Beware, too, because there are people out there who can offer to trade, but don’t hold up their end of the swap. It is unfortunate, but it happens. I commonly trade one card, and if it goes well, I

may trade again. Sometimes peopleevenstartaskingabout stamps, magnets, currency, and even books! I think it is good postcard swapping etiquette to simply ask and mention first, if someone has an interest in other kinds of swaps. Keep in mind to you are giving your home address to strangers...I have no worries, but not everyone is me. You

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picturesthatyoucantakewith a digital camera, something I myself have been looking into, to combine my artsy and photography interest with thatofmypostcardswapping. You don’t want to use pictures you did not take, like from a magazine or off the Internet, as you would be risking copyright infringement. Were it that you drew your own cards, or used your own photographs, you can purchase laminating sheets to protect the front face of your cards. Sending in country is a single .44 cent stamp, overseas anywhere has been but a .98 cent airmail stamp. You can

Capitol cards, postcards from their State/Country capitols. Others like any number of themes: landscape, animals, flowers, multi-scene cards, lighthouses, these are but a few, as just about anything can be found and desired of postcard collecting. Myself, if I come across something I like of an area I ask for them. I have recently been collecting Dutch windmill cards from

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looking to get out of swapping: do you want to collect certain themes, or even the financials of it, as it does cost to purchase and mail out. Here in the States, and I imagine prices are comparable elsewhere, a typical postcard costs .25 cents of a $1USD, and up to a $1USD for specialty cards likes that you may find at the zoo or museum. On holidays I like to buy a box or two of cheap holiday cards (not postcards, real greeting cards), I cut off the front card so that it looks to be and becomes a postcard! It is an inexpensive way to have a nice set of “homemade” postcards.Thebackisblank,so I draw a line down the middle to emulate that of a postcard,

check with your post office about costs and acquiring a booklet of stamps to take home with you. So it really doesn’t cost too much, as long asyoudon’tgooverboardand wipe out your child’s college fund, or your retirement plan in your new found obsession! Truly, limit yourself to what you are comfortable with financially and as a commitment to others. Postcard Swapping Preferences vary from person to person. I didn’t really, andstilldon’t, have any real preferences in regards to my swapping. I like my cards to be written, as I like to correspond with my swapping folks, and stamped/ sent through the mail as they were meant. Most people like this, but some like their cards mailed in an envelope and not even written on. Generally as a one time swap I may accommodate someone with this, but I don’t regularly trade that way, because it just isn’t that fun for me. Some people are looking for specific types of cards, like map cards that have a map of the region. Some people try to collect map cards from all 50 States, or countries in a region like Europe. Some people like

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them! You would want to check with your local postal service about your postal laws, but postal cards are a pretty basic and easy form of mail with little in the way of regulations. As long it is of a relatively common size, stock of card, with space for the postage and on the bottom of the backside for postal center use, there shouldn’t be much of a problem. You can do an Internet search for DIY (editor’s note: The abbreviation “DIY” stands for “Do it yourself”) postcards to learn more and get some ideas. I have experimented a little bit myself and have yet to have any problems. For Halloween (as a DIY example) I bought these novelty bottle-label stickers you would use on

having room on the left for my writing and return address, and on the right for the recipient’s information. I leave the top right area blank for postage and postal office use, as well as a small horizontal area across the bottom for postal authority use, just as a real postcard has. There are various computer programs for making your own cards via

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beer, wine, soda-pop bottles for a Halloween themed party. Instead of drinking merlot you would be drinking Ghoul Brew or Witches Potion! Instead, I stuck them to card stock, to make my own postcards, though of course the art work was not original. You should probably put some thought into what you are

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information center if you have one, a travel agency, a truck-stop, a zoo, museum... it really depends on the area. Living in an average city or metropolitan area makes it all a lot easier, rather than if you lived out on the farm! You could always order cards online as well, or even make

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Q: Are you searching for more penpals? If so - write a short message to the people who are reading this interview. A: No, I am not looking Q: Do you prefer for new penpals because typed or hand it takes me enough time written letters? and energy to reply to A: I prefer hand written the current ones anyway. ones with nice hand Q: How many penpals But I am always ready to writing, but I know I do you have? don´t exactly have the A: At the moment I have meet new people from nicest one myself so I a snail mail penpal from Helsinki or close to it am not that picky about USA, UK, Austria, Finland, because I live here. it. Luckily all my penpals The Netherlands and and 25

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Q: Give some tips/idea how to make a letter more interesting? A: You can write jokes, talk about really funny things to make the letter more fun. Also telling how you feel about this and that is good too instead of just writing what happened when and how.

two Finnish e-mail ones. It is enough for me right now.

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have a nice handwriting.

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well some are still on my Facebook pals, but not communicating much anymore. About 7 years ago I got my first penpal from abroad, a Finnish girl called Rose or was it Rosa. After her I have had many pals from abroad.

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And one day.... You are a Winner!

Q: How long have you been penpalling? A: How long have you been penpalling? I got my first pen pal when I was about 10y.o. and it was a girl from USA. Everybody in my class got a Xmas package from USA and a letter from who it was from, but we only swapped about 3 letters and then it stopped. Then it took some years and I got back into penpalling and I got many Estonian penpals when I was about 13y.o. but life changed and by now I have lost contact with them all,

A: Well, I haven’t stopped looking for new penpals so hi to you all who are reading this :) ...AND are interested to have a Finnish penpal! I’m 26, live in Kauhava (a town in western Finland) and I’m currently having a year off from school. Hobbies: reading (I’m very curious person), writing, genealogy research, photographing, listening to music and movies. So, if you are interested.... (editor’s note: you can find Johanna on Facebook: Johanna Tarrimaa and message her there).

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Anne Lanto from Finland - Our PenPal of the month November 2010 Winner and nominator! Anne Says: Well me and Johanna met last August (I think) in www. interpals.net penpalling site. I had just moved to Finland and I was looking for Finnish pals and so I found her and decided to message her. After we messages there we started e-mailing and are still e-mail pals, well I think of her as one of my dearest and best pals. I decided to nominate her to show her how much I care about her and how great of a pal she is to me. we have a fun and great friendship. we write really long and chatty e-mails about everything and I really mean everything. We call each other as V.I.P. (Very Important Pal) and she really is very important to me.

know people and maybe the letter...For example: have life long friends...at “What would do if you win a lottery?”, “Do you least that’s my goal :) cry in the movies?” Q: Do you prefer typed or...” What’s your shoe size?”. I love reading or hand written funny letters because life letters? A: Well, I enjoy reading without laughter would hand written ones but be way too dull. type ones are okay too. Especially if you have Q: How many penpals do you have? email-pals :) A: I currently have about 20 penpals but some of Q: Give some tips/idea them are e-pals. how to make a letter more interesting? A: Well, I use random Q: Are you searching questions :) I think they for more penpals? make it more fun and If so - write a short interesting when you message to the people add a couple of random who are reading this questions at the end of interview.

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““Hello Sandbook, I would love to nominate my best (pen)pal Johanna as a PenPal of the month. We met online threw some pen pal site last summer and started talking over e-mails. The e-mails got longer and longer and more personal by letter Because we just have such a good connection. It is very easy to tell her my deepest darkest secrets, problems, fears and of course happiness and joy. She is never rude and has never been judgmental. She is very good in giving advice and making me feel better with great jokes. We both live in Finland at the moment, but we have never met, though I am sure it will happen one day really soon and then it will be the greatest day for both of us because it will be full of joy and laughter - just like our e-mails and MSN chats are. I can really honestly say that I see her as not only my e-mail pen pal, but also as a very dear and close pal. I hope we stay close pals for ever and ever and I am sure she feels the same.” Anne Lanto

Q: How long have you been penpalling? A: Hmmm, how long I’ve been penpalling...Well, I started it when I was a kid, maybe 10 or 11. Then I stopped because my penpals didn’t write to me anymore :/ That wasn’t very nice, so I decided to take a break from penpalling. I started it again in fall 2009 because I got this feeling that something good might come out of it and I was right! :) I think as an adult you take penpalling more seriously. It’s so much more than letter writing. It’s about getting to

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It all starts with filling out an application that’s available on our website and your nomination is done in no time.

Johanna Tarrimaa from Finland - Our PenPal of the month November 2010 Winner! Hmmm, I could tell you a little bit about my experience in penpalling and especially about my friendship with Anne :) We met on Interpals website which is the website where you can find penpals all over the world. I think it was Anne who send the first message (don’t know for sure, my memory isn’t so good anymore, haha!). I was still getting used to the site and the people but Anne seemed so nice so I decided to write to her. It was weird how easy it was to talk to her. It was instant friendship, I think. We write REALLY long letters to each other and message back and forth on Facebook. (Gosh! Maybe we are online way too much, haha!) Anne is also a person, who has been there for me during rough time as I have been there for her. She always make me laugh and she’s definitely a V.I.P. aka Very Important Penpal :D I hope we will be friends for a lifetime - Thanks, Anne!!

Our PenPals of the Month November 2010

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PENPAL OF THE MONTH CONTEST

PENPAL MEETINGS

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the same age as me and liked many of the same things. Her name is Kris and we have been pen-palling ever since we were eleven years old. We met twice, once when we were 20 and once when we were 27. Both times were really fun and the conversation just flowed so easily. I still pen pal often, but she no longer has an interest in snail mail. But, we do talk several times a year on the phone and of course exchange birthday cards and letters. Ironically we

have children the same age. I am soooo glad that I answered that little ad in the paper and that I started my adventure in pen-palling. Getting a letter in the mail is like getting a long distance hug from a friend. I just love it, and will spend hours browsing stickers, confetti, stationary and pens to use for my pen pal hobby. It will be a sad, sad day when I am too old to write to pen pals...hopefully that will never happen. Or I can dictate to one of my grandkids... 27

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I started pen-palling when I was eleven years old. I was in the 5th grade and after we finished our little reading booklets, the teacher would allow us to read a special newspaper for kids. I finished mine early one day and I was reading this newspaper for kids and I saw an advertisement for pen pals that were birthday twins with you. Someone born on the exact same day and exact same year

as you. I decided to send in my 3 bucks and take a risk and see if I could get a birthday twin. Well, later that winter we moved away to a town about 30 minutes from where we lived before, and I forgot completely about the birthday twin thing. But, one day we received a letter that had been forwarded to us, and it was from my birthday twin! I was so excited. She was a girl living in Iowa, which is several states away from Indiana, where I live, but she was of course

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by Le Loos Find author on Facebook!

TravelLing Notebooks

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Send it to the next person, who has signed to join the game Once all the people have signed, the notebook will be returned to us and we’d make photos and upload them in our Travelling Notebook Section. We’d have them in picture formats and also available in pdf format so you can look through the whole notebook once it is complete.

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Take a photo of your entry and send it to us at fun(at)sandbook.net so that we can keep track where the notebook is.

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Additional notes for the real TravelLing notebooks: Every participant will have 10 days to do the entry. This will allow us to estimate the time of arrival of the notebook to each participant. We are going to release two notebooks to cut down on postage fees – one in US and one in Europe. We are also going to send out notebooks that are smaller than A5 size to further reduce postage costs. As we are reducing the size of the notebooks, you will be allowed to decorate more than 2 pages if you would like to.

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TravelLing Notebooks Whether you have heard about them or not, you can participate in the project that Sandbook Net is organizing. The idea behind the Travelling Notebook is that you will receive a notebook in the post from someone (either the Sandbook.Net team or another player in the game) and you will have to: Decorate two pages You can either tell us something about your culture, country, customs or even your lifestyle, share inspirational thoughts or anything at all that you find worth sharing. You can use whatever your heart desires to decorate the pages - clippings, deco tape, ribbons, postcards, photos, glitter, etc.

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To sign up for the “real” Travelling Notebook - you have to fill out the application form at our website www.sandbook.net. By selecting from the drop down menu that you want to receive more information about the “real travelling notebook”, you will be entered in our database as a request to participate in the real traveling notebook. When a 10-15 people group is established, we will email you the details for the route and the expected time of arrival of the Travelling Notebook at your mailbox.

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Virtual Travelling Notebook (Travelling Sheets) We realize that the project of the “Real” Travelling Notebook is very ambitious and that it might face certain difficulties in terms of getting lost in the mail or someone breaking off the chain of the Travelling Notebook. Moreover, progressively the decorated Travelling Notebook will get heavier and it might present unexpected postal fees/costs for the people later on in the list. That is why we decided to come up with an alternative, called the Virtual Travelling Notebook. For this project you will need to decorate any number of A5 sized sheets of paper (that is 6 x 9 inches). Again you can present your country, lifestyle, customs, or any message you want to pass along and send them to our Sandbook Net’s postal address. As soon as we receive the decorated sheets, we will make photos of them and then tag them with your name and country (and email if you choose so). Then we will upload them on our website so anyone can view them. Finally, when we receive a larger number of entries (sheets), we will be making “virtual notebooks” (by combining the sheets that we have received) and making them into pdf files that you will be able to download. To participate in any of the traveling projects you will need to state your interest by filling out the application form available on our website! 28

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course your penpals. Shipping & Delivery Unlike other e-shops, we are upfront about the shipping expenses that are calculated upon checking out and before payment. The shipping costs are calculated upon weight and are shown at the end of the order, so there are no surprises after you have paid! The order is sent via Second Class Mail as we want to keep the shipping costs to a minimal – nobody wants a shipping bill that’s actually half

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really diverse from Pen Pal Supplies to cute little gifts that you can send with a letter. You can choose from stickers to beauty items, bags to wallets, deco tapes to bookmarks. We even have a special Christmas Section with many postcards, Christmas cards (some of the Christmas postcards are designed by Wendy de Boer) and other Christmas items and souvenirs. The website offers quite a big variety of ideas for presents for you and your family, your friends and of

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even m o r e creative and start a whole PenPal Junkie line of stationery (lettersets, envelopes, paper, notebooks, etc) and of course other items that a pen pal might need – so there wouldn’t be the runaround the e-shops to get all of your supplies! The Goodies Since I love everything that’s cute, you will find out that all the products on my website are indeed nice and neat cutiepies. The products are

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imagine m y frustration about the whole situation. I simply couldn’t settle and stand such injustice! Naturally, I decided to take things in my own hands! I invested money in buying some lettersets and postcards, set up the site and begun selling them. For my surprise, the website became an instant success, so I restocked the supplies and even added a bigger diversity of the products with the small “profit” that I had made. I am trying to keep the site very diverse and hopefully in the future, I will be

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letter papers and envelopes or as a matter of fact even whole sets of stationery here, in the Netherlands. I have been penpalling for a long time and I simply love writing on cute stationery. Moreover, I am an active postcrossing member and I need cute postcards for the swaps there. That’s my addiction all right – I love everything that’s cute. So you can

2010, you will receive a Free Surprise Goodie in your package! It will be your Xmas present from my shop, but from now on, I am sure that you are going to love it. In the end, a letter is more personal than an email. Why not make it a cheerful and amazing one with supplies that wouldn’t break the bank? Everyone loves to get cute mail. Follow me on Twitter (PenPal Junkie) and check out my blog, so you are the first to know when the great giveaways are... Spoiler alert: There is going to be a cute giveaway coming at you real soon – all the details are going to be announced in the January issue (issue 3) of our favorite SandBook The Magazine. Yes, you will be up for a treat even after the holidays!! So watch out!

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Hello from the Netherlands! My name is Jasmina and I would like to present my e-shop PenPal Junkie. I will take you on a personal “tour” and tell you all about the website, its functions and some goodies that are going to come your way. Sounds like a lot of fun, doesn’t it? That’s because it is! The idea of the website came to be as I discovered that there are not many cute

of the value of the goodies, right? Orders are usually dispatched within 24hours of receiving an order, but please keep in mind that it might take up to 28 days for the package to arrive at its destination (it depends on the holidays days off that are in that period, your country, and of course the needed processing time in the post offices - those are factors that can’t be controlled by us). Payment Payment for your order is made through PayPal and/or Bank wire transfer if you are from outside the Netherlands. The checking out procedure is easy and secure. Free Surprise Goodie Since it’s a truly magical month (December) you will be up for a treat! With every order that you make in December

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www.pp-junkie.com

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LOST PENPAL Have you lost a penpal? Yes?! Then this is the section for you. Place your story about your Lost penpal and we will try to help you reconnect!

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Tammy Albertson Dupont, USA (via Facebook) I have been looking fofr a friend of mine who I lost contact with along time ago and I really miss her. Her name is Kim Bear and she lived in Texas. I would love to get back in touch with her. Her maiden name was Heiliman. Jules Muni (via Facebook) My penpal of 15 years Jacqueline Mcinnus who last known lived in Kingston, Jamaica.I hope that I will be able to get back in touch with her. 33

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Marlene Miller, Ohio, USA marlene159@zoominternet.net Hello, my name is Marlene Miller, 55 and I am in Ohio in United States, have a favor to ask, am looking for friend I wrote to about 8 yr s or so ago, we lost touch, when she divorced. Her name was Jennie Smith. She lived in Australia, has son and daughter ,grown now, We wrote and taped letters on regular bases. We were doing email then lost my computer( blewup) and lost contact as well as her addy as never had it when she moved. Anyone able to help, please email me at marlene159@zoominternet.net and put in message about her,thanks for any help you can give.

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Have you lost a penpal?

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photo by Manuela Balocco

Tina Jacobs (Nieman) ,USA tina70mercer@yahoo.com I had a pen pal from Greece who I wrote up to 5 years ago and we just lost touch. Her name is Helene Anastasopoulou. I have wrote her old address a few times and no response. I have searched her on the internet and still no success. She is 39 and lived in Patras as her last address I had. I’m hoping we can reconnect.

Beverly Kuttler Rampero, USA (via Facebook) I’m trying to find a good friend of mine. Her name is Aimee Plunkett. We have been writing for about 17 years. She use to live in Tracy, California but then moved away to another state and I lost her new address. I havent heard from her since.

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Nanda S. Gaikwad (born 24-02-1973) 26-A-Sarnath Anushaktinagar IND-Bombay (now Mumbai) 400094 India (address valid until 1993) Additional information: her father worked at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Bombay (Mumbai).

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Maria Nieves (or Maria Neus) Estébanez Gutiérrez (born 29-03-1974) Carrer Briquets 1, entlo primero E-Barcelona 08033 Spain (address valid until 1991)

Samia Oumohand, France samgunsjovirow@yahoo.com Hi all! I’m looking for my former penpal Jerry Lynn Daniels. She was a huge fan of French supermodel Laetitia Casta and is from the USA (from Tennessee, if I’m not wrong). If you know her, please let me know at: samgunsjovirow@yahoo.com

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Sonia Hardoin (born 08-08-1973) 461 Rue de la Trapinière F-50000 Saint-Lô France (address valid until 1993)

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Theda, Germany info.tiehsvd@forum-artium.net

Katharina Nöhring (was: Melter), Germany KathaNoehring@aol.com Actually I am looking for a couple of former pals: Nike van Heeswijk from the Netherlands, Josephine (Joyce) Camilleri from Malta (Gozo island), Vivienne Hunter from England, Zenildo Rosa Jr. from Brasil. We lost contact a LONG time ago, and I would love to get back in touch. Does anyone know about them? Any help is appreciated!

PenPal & Swappers Ads How to place an ad in the magazine? Go to www.sandbook.net and click the Magazine section. Then simply select â&#x20AC;&#x153;Place an Adâ&#x20AC;? and you will have to fill out the form that loads on your computer screen. Ads placed on pages/groups/ walls on Facebook will not be printed. Please note that the ads on our website are ads for the website itself. Unless you fill out the form under Magazine --> Place an Ad, you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see your ad here. Who can post an Ad? Anyone can post an ad in search for swappers or penpals. Our Ad Policy: 1) We are not a dating site/community - write appropriate ads to have them published. 2) No inmates - we have kid members in our community! 3) No money requests - such ad will result in your permanent ban from our community. 4) Snail mail addresses - we are not going to publish any snail mail addresses for security reasons. So you are going to be in charge of sending your home addresses to future penpals. We will publish your email address. 5) Religious, racial or discriminative materials would not be tolerated. 6) Any form of abusive or rude language is forbidden and will result in your ban from our community. What is the policy on Commersial Ads? Commercial Ads are paid ads for products or service that is not classified as a penpal or a swapper ad or an add from a small business that provides supplies for correspondence (stationary, address labels). Such ads are going to be negotiated with the respective companies. For more information email magazine@sandbook. net SandBook.Net Team

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Norma Trevino, USA normababy.trevino1@ gmail.com Hi I am Norma Trevino from Wheeling WV. I am 43 married and mom to 3 spoiled cats and god mom to a little month and a half little boy. I enjoy reading, crafts, music, movies, thrift stores, animals, volunteer work, making labels and stationery, the outdoors, cooking, baking, the holidays, being creative, friendship, my family and just tons more. I am looking for sincere pen pals and swappers of stationery and stickers. Email me at: normababy. t re v i n o 1 @ gm a i l. co m Tracey, Scotland t r ac e _ wat t 1 @ hotmail.com Hi Im looking for people who enjoy writing long letters and enjoy writing regular. My name is Tracey and I am 26 from Aberdeen, Scotland. I am willing to write to people from all over theworld. Lisa Oaks, Utah USA yin_stressed_out@ yahoo.com My name is Lisa Oaks. I live in Utah USA. I would love female pals from all

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markets, pinkness, polkadots, festivals,concerts, and loads more. I answer most.

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Michele Hardin /33/ USA, milyha2010@ yahoo.com I am a SAHM of a 13 year old. I am happily married to John and we have been together for 9 years.

black), and I like: learning languages, rock music, K-pop, Asian drama, movies, dark literature. I like writing stories and would love to become a novelist someday! If I peak your interests, feel free to contact me!

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Berit, 18, Germany berit-ziermann@web. de Hello, My name is Berit (18y.o.girl from Germany). I still go to school to get my ABI, which is the German qualification to go to university. I speak German, English and some Spanish (I am still learning). My hobbies are meeting my friends, writing mails/letters, judo, singing and lots of other funny things :) I would like to get to know some nice pen pals that don’t stop writing after the 2nd or 3rd letter/email. I would prefer writing emails first to get to know each other and later we can write letters ;) You should be around my age and also like to write much. I would prefer to get to know somone from a Spanish speaking country to try to improve my Spanish, but everyone is welcome! So, come one and write to me! :-)

horseaddict@ btinternet.com Hi, my name is Hazel and I am looking for new penpals all around the world. I am 29, my hobbies include horses, dogs, card making, scrap booking, music, movies, TV, journalling and writing letRenate Palmer, ters. I would love to swap 21years old, England fb’s etc, but have not recan.i.tell.you.a.stor@ ally done swaps before. h o t m a i l . c o m Write soon! I am interested in photography, swapping, ani- A n gg r a e n i mals - guinea pigs/dogs, Wulandari, Indonesia psychology, travel, char- x_sam_cool_keren@ ity and volunteering, yahoo.com cooking and exercise, I Hi. I’m Wulan, 19.y.o. I Jamara Jones, uSa have lived on my own love nature photography, J a mp a r a j u l i e t @ since I turned 17 and drawing, and gardening. gmail.com have been to college to Now, I’m in university. Hi everyone! My name study to be a counsellor, Age, gender, religion, etc is Jamara, or Mara for I am now volunteering doesn’t matter for me, so short, and I am 19. I’d before looking for a job. let’s be penpals. love to have penpals I’m not very girly but far from all over the world! from a tom boy, I love Donna Walk, 33, I’m fairly easy to get the countries Finland, USA along with, and I’m also Iceland, Estonia, Russia DonnaGWalk@aol.com realistic (life isn’t a box and France. I walk dogs I’m looking for fun long of bliss). For a pessimist, for the elderly. letter pals who love to I’m pretty optimistic! :D swap sparkly and cute Anyways, I’m 19 and one Kara Lauzon, 34 decos. I’m a 33 year old of 8 siblings. I like people years old, Canada female who loves spendof all backgrounds and k l l a u z o n 7 6 @ ing time with my boysexual orientations. I yahoo.ca friend, my family, my job want a penpal I can write My name is kara Lauzon. I at the daycare, photograto, opposed to e-mail. live in St. Catharines, On- phy, scrapbooking, halOf course we’d start off tario, Canada. My email loween, bats, owls, hair with e-mail, but then ikllauzon76@yahoo.ca. dye, hello kitty, badtz it’d be snail mail! Hmm, I am 34 yrs old and I am maru, japan, kawaii, gliitmy interests are: writing, looking for pals around ter, stars, the 80’s, all 80’s reading, poetry, drawing, my age who are willing cartoons, horror movies, lolita and gothic fashion, to write. plastik/pvc, cherries, bahair dye (my hair’s bies, facebook, domo currently blue and Hazel, 29, England kun, cpk, vintage, flea I have many hobbies, including reading, writing, photography, the paranormal, gardening, collecting things, tattoos, computers, and many more. I want to make friends that will continue to write and will write about anything,their day, their family, their hobbies, etc. I promise that I will continue to write to you. I also like to swap things with my letters such as FBs, stickers, stationary, recipes, comics, whatever you want. Feel free to ask me anything.

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Janis, 43, England, janis1966@live.co.uk My name is Janis and I am 43. I am looking for penpals from all over the world. My hobbies include collecting postcards, fridge magnets and cross stitch. I would also like to swap with

people and swap postcards, pretty paper pens stickers and anything else that will fit in an envelope.

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Charity Ortiz, USA suchabigdreamer@ yahoo.com Hello all! I’m 35, from Southern California, USA and going to be a firsttime single mommy in early March. I’d love to hear from new moms or moms-to-be (esp. single moms), ages 25 and up, in the U.S.A. only who write long letters regularly, want long-term friendship, are friendly, positive, open, honest, who like to swap nice Mom FB’s (will gladly take your excess), stickers, and other fun things that fit into an envelope, who I have at least a few things in common with & don’t mind typed letters. I have MANY interests such as reading, writing, animals, movies, music, Sanrio, GOD, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, the entertainment industry, psychology, anything Disney, learning to cook and bake, scented candles & tarts, and more. Please send me an email or message me on Facebook and tell me a little about yourself if interested. Hope to hear from you soon! Facebook Page: http://on.fb.me/ CharityMarie

Sandra Lundberg, Sweden, dont.trust. anyone@live.se I’m 21 year old girl from Sweden and I am looking for pen pals from all over the world. But especially from England, Germany, Japan and New Zealand. Around 17-25 years old. My interests: Obviously writing and reading but also movies, other languages, history, paranormal and so much more that I can’t come up with now. I love The Vampire Diaries. I’ve seen the serie and I’ve started to read the books. I’m on book 3 right know and on season 2. MOVIES I LIKE The Twilight saga, Paranormal activity, Remember me, American Pie, Pirates of the caribbean (all 3), The fast and the furious movies and so on. TV SHOWS I LIKE Vampire Diaries, Viva la Bam, Jackass, True Blood, Simpsons, SouthPark, Lost, Haunted houses, Miami ink.... Write me a mail if you’re interested in writing to me. Only snailmail after the e-mail.

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Tatjana, Germany tatj a n a _ 2 0 3 t p @ hotmail.com My name is Tatjana, I’m 27 years old and I live in the middle of Germany. I’m looking for female snail mail penpals around my age. I like reading, music, of course writing letters and I am interested in learning about different countries and cultures. You can write me in English, German or French. My email-address is tatjana_203tp@hotmail.com. I’m looking forward to your message,

so that we can exchange our postal addresses and start writing letters.

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Anna Oldani, Italy anna.annuccia@ gmail.com Hello everyone! I’m Anna, 29 y/o from Italy... I’m searching new friends near my age all over the world... I love snailmail...I love foreign languages and foreign cultures... I like to share cultures but also to talk about daily life.. I think it’s the best way to know each other and becoming friends and in the same time learning how people can live at the other side of the world... I also swap postcards and FBs with my letters. I collect postcards that are my great love and I love postcrossing, too. Please contact me by e-mail: anna.annuccia@gmail.com or on facebook Anna Oldani.

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PenPal and Swappers Ads

PenPal & Swappers Ads

Dave Stewart UK s t e wa r t. c l a n @ ya h o o. co. u k Facebook ID: Stewart Clan My names Dave, I’m 46, married and from the UK. I’m looking for male snail mail penpals, that aren’t going to disappear after

Heather Carrabis /27/ MA, USA heather.carrabis@ gmail.com Hello, my name is Heather Carrabis. I’m 27 from Worcester, MA (USA). I enjoy reading, writing, watching TV & movies,

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Suleiman, Kenya Mwatajiris@yahoo. com sandy martin, UK My hobbies are (sweemsandy90@live.co.uk ing, reading novel,footba I am looking for high ll,basketball,beachwalk) quality fb and deco swappers worldwide. if inter- Colleen, 45, USA, ested email me. no men! pob905@yahoo.com or time waisters please! Hi everyone!! My name is Colleen. I am 45 and from Lesley Griffin, USA the USA. Love reading,

the first couple of letters. I should mention I have to type my correspondence, due to arthritis ~ I hope this wouldn’t be a problem :o) Some of my interests include football, miliataria, rugby, travel and loads more :o) If you feel you’d like to embark on a life long friendship, Maria Stewart, UK please feel free to drop s t e w a r t . c l a n @ me an email and/or send y a h o o . c o . u k me a message and add FacebookID:Stewart Clan me as a friend on FaceMy names Maria, I’m 46, book :o) married and from the UK. I’m looking for female Kassy Davis, 25, USA snail mail penpals, that kassy_davis@yahoo.com aren’t going to disappear Wanted: Penpals and after the first couple of Stamp Collectors. letters. I should mention My name is Kassy Davis. I have to type my corre- Just turned 25. Single. spondence, due to arthri- Look me up on Facebook. tis ~ I hope this wouldn’t You’ll know me when be a problem :o) you see my weird toes. I Some of my interests started collecting stamps include animals, arts & a few months ago, just crafts, reading, travel started making FB’s, I and loads more :o)If you trade stickers and travel feel you’d like to embark brochures for stamps. on a life long friendship, Looking for penpals and please feel free to drop stamps collectors from me an email and/or send all over the world. You me a message and add may contact me through me as a friend on Face- Facebook or email me at: book :o) kassy_davis@yahoo.com

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Carol McNatt SwtBtrCup@aol.com Collect postcards, windchimes, magnets and stickers. Prefer pals near my age. Love the paranorma, history, reading, penpals, crafts. SwtBtrCup@aol.com also SwtBtrCup on Facebook. Swap postcards, FBs, etc. No inmates.

60s and 70s music, crafts, journals, mysteries, cooking, old movies, hiking, stationary, anything celtic, fairies, pixes, writing, penpalling, swapping fb’s/stickers/stationary. Male/Female welcome from all over the world. Email:

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Rose Valencia, USA r o s e v 4 4 8 @ gm a i l . com My interests, love to play on line game, I am a artist, love to write to my penpals love going on my space/facebook,love to chat,i have a lot of interests. Hobbies love walking, bakeing, love the beach like alot lol

l jg r i ff 3 4 @ gm a i l . c o m I AM LESLEY I WAS BORN IN BUGBROOKE I WAS A NURSE AND MARRIED TO SAMUEL I ENJOY WRITTING LETTERS AND CHATTING ON FACEBOOK AND HAVE MET SOME GOOD AND WONDERFUL FRIENDS ON HERE. I ALSO ENJOY PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK AS YOU WILL SEE BY MY PROFILE my hobbies are writing and computer works driving and i am married -53 years of age I am looking for some new penpals i have got some i have written to for years and i have been penpalling long before the facebook and the internet were ever heard of i was 12 at the time and i remember sitting in my bedroom writing letters on what would be at the time the old typewritter well would love to get some new penpals love lesley and thanks for all you are doing.

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Lissa, 21, England k awa i i1989@ hotmail.co.uk I am 21 and female living in Brighton, England. I am looking for penpals who will stay in touch via email. I would also like penpals from Japan as I am learning Japanese

kerrybear7@ yahoo.com Kerry Ellis-Ouimette, 34, USA I am married to Jason since October 29th 2005 Loves~ NKOTB~Jon & Twilights ~”Jasper” aka Jackson Rathbone Loves~ reading, writing, pen pal letters, stories, poems, internet, scrapbooking, card making, bookmark making, I love to play MPRPG~Runescape Collects~ stickers, stationery, postcards, fairies, butterflies, dragonflies, dopey, tweety bird , ty bean babies, wind chimes. I also collect celebrity autographs!! Swaps~ f.b.‘s, f.s.‘s, postcards, stickers, stationery. Favorite Authors~ R.L. Stine, Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell, Stephenie Meyer, Kim Harrison, V.C. Andrews to name a few. I also run a facebook group for twilight fans into pen palling called “TwiPals”. Looking for pen pals in~ Europe, South America, Asia, & Hawaii. Will not respond to anyone from Africa.

Cathy W, 24, USA Cathydolphinlvr@ gmail.com Facebook www.facebook.com/cathydolphinlvr I’m 24 going on 25 in april, Im looking for New penpals, No men, sorry guys, in a committed relationship.

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Leann, 30 PenPallingFool@ aol.com Hello my name is Leann Francis and I am 30 and a married mom of 2 boys. I currently work part to full time hours and am a full time college student and would like others to talk to. I also make and sell items such as stationary address labels and more. If interested in writing to me or even in items I sell or swap please email me for my address at _Penpeallingfool@aol.com I make n sell address labels stationary and more.. WANT new Pals: I have a new pen pal news letter contact me for more info...

and would like to make friends with some Japanese women. I am not interested in penpalling with men.

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Sally, 59, Canada j o d y s p a l @ xplornet.com My search is for specific pals. I am looking for women aged mid 60’s to mid 70’s. If you were born on June 22, 1941, I would love to hear from you. I am a counted cross stitch addict. I always have two books on the go and my favorite authors are Archer Mayor and Jodi Picoulet.I have been a school bus driver for 32 years, but after this school year I am being forced to retire because of my age. I am involved with the school as an in school mentor with Big Brothers and Big Sisters. I am a divorced Mother to three brilliant children, all in their 40’s, and I have 4 awesome grandchildren. If I interest you, then drop me a line. My e-mail address is jodyspal@xplornet.com Thank you all for reading this

Alison, 43, UK malin@malin. karoo.co.uk I am Alison, mum to 4 from Hull UK. Hobbies: writing letters travelling music reading TV computer family, UK and abroad, from 26 upwords.

My new pen pal website: http://penpalsforeverandalways.wetpaint.com/?utm_ source=Wetpaint&utm_ medium=Email&utm_ term=Alerts&utm_ campaign=Social) Join my groups: http://groups.yahoo. com/group/FunSwapsN-Palz_ http://groups.yahoo. com/group/TaggerGurlsAlwaysList_ be sure you mention that you saw it on my email when joining hugs Leann My myspace: http://myspace.com/angelbabyann23 http://public.fotki.com/ angelbabyann23_ For sale items: http://public.fotki.com/ t a g g e r g u r l / fo r - s a l e items/_ My google account: _http://www.google. com/profiles/OneNOnlyLeeLee_ My Tagged: _http://www.tagged. com/sweet_n_sassy_ babe_

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Heidi Weand, USA hjweand1970@ yahoo.com Find me on facebook.

Naoko Oishi, Japan daichki@yahoo.com Hobbies and interests: Music, movies, dogs, FB swapping, foreign languages, Spain and South Korea. New Pen Pals Wanted, especially from Europe and English-speaking countries. Write real soon!

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over the world between ages of 18 and 30. I am into: paranormal, haunting, hiking, camping, writing, crafts. I am married with 3 boys and a boy due February 13, 2011.

PenPal & Swappers Ads

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I really enjoy travelling, I’ve been to India, Japan, Egypt, Russia and almost every country in Europe. I’ve been working at liSandra, 48, braries, cafés and with S c o t l a n d mentally dysfunction/ s cot l a n d f o r m e @ disorder. I like making y a h o o . c o . u k dresses on my sewing Hello. scotlandforme@ machine too :) I’m lookyahoo.co.uk I’m in Scot- ing for pen pals in USA, land, 48 years old and Canada and Europe. I’m like all sorts of things happy to receive letters from reading to travel- from all the world, so ling when I can. I’d love don’t hesitate to write. If to hear from some fe- you’re an interesting permale email or snailmail son I’ll answer! friends from all over the world - particularly Ice- Galina from Russia land, India, Poland and g a l p i k a - 2 0 0 7 @ Nepal. rambler.ru I’m searching for friends Anna, 26, Sweden around the world. My v e ge ta r i a n n a83@ hobbies are collecting hotmail.com. postcards stamps and Hi! My name is Anna and little souvenirs like nice I’m from a city named greeting from friends. I Malmö in Sweden. I’m enjoy writing letters and 26 years old and I’m still doing swapping. I’m instudying. My interests terested in traditions are: theatre, travelling, very much and I like travreading book, writing elling. I could write you letters, sing and sew. As a lot of interesting inforfor my education, I’ve mation about Russian been studying a long lifestyle and will be waitwhile know and also ing for your ideas about been working. For 3 great post-crossing. Best years when I was around wishes Galina 19 years old I started to study theatre and it has Lisa Porche, 40, USA been my favorite thing p i n k s t i t c h i n g s @ for a long time and it y a h o o . c o m . still is, but I haven’t got Hi, my name is Lisa. I enough time for it now. am 40yrs. old & a SAHM At the moment I’m writ- of 3 kids (‘90,’92,’99). I ing my thesis in library have been married for and information science. 11 1/2 yrs. I enjoy swap-

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decorating my apartment. I’ll tell you more if we become friends, hope to hear from you.

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Karina, 31, Canada karinafioremarcil@ hotmail.com My name is Karina, i am from Canada. IM 31 years old married with 3 kids from 9 years to 2 months. I would like to have penpal from all over the world. I like cooking, photography, penpalling, horse riding, dolphing,

ing time with my family (they are my world), paper crafts, and writing to my penpals. I’m looking for female friends only, (no offence), someone who would like to swap recipes with me would be great :) but it’s not a requirement. I’m really looking forward to making some new friends, nothing beats the feeljeanie schade, 31, ing of opening you mail usa, jeanieschade@ box to find a letter from y a h o o . c o m a friend ♥ Hobbies: music, sports, movies, concerts, scrap- Tionna Mosley, 27, booking, penpalling, in- USA, mzangelkiss@ ternet, computers, swap- y a h o o . c o m ping, tv, traveling, tattoos, Hello everyone, I’m Tionoutdoors, tanning, and na. I’m looking for penlots more. Swaps: fbs, pals between the ages crams, slams, stationary, of 25-55.I am not marstickers, postcards, stick- ried, no kids yet.(not exer bags, and label bags. pecting) I want to write Collects: frogs, candles someone who has things and beanie babies Pen- in common with me. My pals: ages 20-40 usa and hobbies are writing letcanada only, no prison- ters, sending small gifts, ers swapping, reading urban fiction, video games (the Amanda Ogutu, sims2,and xbox), bowlAustralia, 37 ing, movies (Disney and cuties@y7mail.com any others), collecting I’m a happily married DVDS, making address Christian Mama with 4 labels on my home PC, precious children aged texting, facebook, cook18mths, 32mths, 14yrs ing, shopping, dancing, and 18yrs. My inter- and anything fun. I am ests include baking and open minded and sincooking, creating pixel cere. I prefer to hand graphics, reading, mu- write my letters but sic (anything other than sometimes I type too. I heavy metal, and I’m love nature, animals, art, not into 50 cent, 2pac, poetry, candles, body loetc.), gardening, spend- tions, purses/bags, and

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Heidi, 41, Australia heidima@optusnet. com.au Heidi Maier 14 Westcombe Place Rooty Hill NSW 2766 AUSTRALIA Have been palling for over 15 years now. I am 41 years of age. Hobbies include travelling, writing to pals, swapping FBS and Slams, collecting souvinor spoons, reading, listening to music, watching TV and Movies and lots more. Would love more pals from any state

Sandy, Age 35 sandyxrs@talktalk. net Looking for penpals to snail mail and swap with, I enjoy gardening, Writing and Getting letters. I enjoy card making and Book mark making I am into crafts. I am disabled as I am half Blind. But I write with pen except for the bad days when I used computer. I am willing to write first letter. My email address is sandyxrs@talktalk.net

watching tv and dvd’s, traveling, hanging out with friends and so much more. I love to collect : unicorns, fairies, angels, teddy bears, webkinz, pens, bookmarks, postcards, mangets, keychains and whatever else I find interesting. Feel free to ask me anything. :)

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Sara, 31, Italy s a r i u x @ l i b e r o. i t My name is Sara, I’ m 31, married, no children. I’ve 3 cats and 1 dog. I’m from Italy and I speak English, french, spanish and a little bit of german. I’d like new pen pals from all over the world near my age!

Estela Edo, Spain jj r o d a @ t e r r a . e s I swap labelbags and FBs. I am always searching for new swappers. I collect viewcards (postcards). You can contact me on my facebook (search for my name or email there) as well as via email.

twilight and many more. Joy wreede, 38, USA, If you are interested drop j oy ly n n w r e e d e @ me some line in my email aol.com karinafioremarcil@hot- I am a 38 yr old mom/wife mail.com of over 20 years. i have a great husband, 3 kids Viv, 38, USA and 3 dogs. i am fully viv_rush@yahoo.com disabled and bed ridden Hello. My name is Viv and and on oxygen most of I’m a 38 year old lady liv- the time. i am not one to ing near Florida, USA. want sympathy just epals My email address is: viv_ to help pass the time. i rush@yahoo.com I love love to read, listening music, travel, art, fashion, to country music, being writing, movies, garden- online, alot of tv shows in ing, cooking, magazines, the evening, and much animals, and more. I swap more. I collect several postcards, regular and things which include: nice and neat friendship angels, bookmarks, books, and occassion- candles, dolphins, teddy ally stamps, stationery or bears, white tigers and stickers. I’m seeking sin- wolves. I am not one cere ladies to write to in to talk about politics or postal mail who are also religion. I would prefer looking for friendship. female epals only who I am a loyal friend and are possibly married honest swapper. I hope or has kids so we have to hear from you. :) something in common. I am really laid back and Stefania / 30 / Italy / rather easy to get along stebovio@tin.it with as most say. Feel My hobbies are penpall- free to ask me anything ing, reading, listening to which you would like I music, collecting (post- am rather open about my cards, fridge-magnets, health and many other coins, banknotes, stamps, issues. phonecards.), travelling, taking photos. I love sta- Amy, 41y.o., USA, tionery, stickers, gelpens, s t e f a n i k . a m y @ decotapes, etc. and I like comcast.net swapping with my pals. My name is Amy Stefanik I’m looking for some sin- and I am 41 years old. my cere regular snail mail hobbies include : walkpals or swappers just ing, pen palling, reading, around my age, no men scrapbooking, shopping, or prisoners. surfing the net, listening to music, writing poetry,

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Maddy Ray, UK m a d dya n d j ay 57 @ hotmail.com My hobbies and intrest are writting letters . cooking ,swapping fbs and recipes . listing to music. email maddyandjay57@ hotmail.com

in the USA, Japan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Scotland and Moscow. Will answer all who write. Prefer snail mail.

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walking and many more. I enjoy swapping, FB’s, slams, deco’s, label bags etc. E-mail is heather. carrabis@gmail.com Hope to hear from you.

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Karen MacDonald, 41, Canada, shoprgal@live.ca Hi everyone! My name is Karen and I am from Canada. I have been penpalling for many years and enjoy it very much. I am 41 years old and live on my own with my son who is 15. I am looking for somewhat long letter pals who have similar interests to mine. Some of mine include: reading, fishing, gardening, bird watching, animals, the outdoors, going shopping, crafting, (rubber stamping, scrapbooking, latch hook, plastic canvas, stamped cross stitch) to name some. I have some collections. They include

postcards, rubber stamps, decorative hole punches, magazines, books, bookmarks, jewelry, and country decorating items. I am only looking to write to people in Canada and the U.S.A. due to high postage rates. Also ladies between the ages of 30 to 50. If I sound like someone you would enjoy writing...please drop me a line and start a friendship. Hope to hear from some of you soon. Sunny Chauncey, 25, Florida, USA HisTechnoAngel@yahoo. com Hello. I’m a Pisces. I’m married! I’m in my area’s orchestra, playing clarinet. I also played tenor sax. I crochet. I am learning knitting and how to spin (fiber into yarn). I got into ATCs (artist trading cards) and I ADORE making (and receiving!) them :). I am doing my first altered/chunky book. I love animals and have owned many over the course of my life. I have a little boy, who is currently 3 and SO much fun. I love everything to do with Ireland. I love history. I love horror and comedy movies. I watch quite a bit of TV... too many shows I follow to name, but here’s a few: The Big Bang Theory, Mad Men, Family Guy, Futurama, White Collar,

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Mirjan Dekker, 31 (32 on november, 3 rd) The Netherlands mirs78@gmail.com Hello long-letter pals! I am a 31 years old Dutch woman looking for a few new female (snailmail) penpals around my age (from 20-35 years old) from all over the world.

Jessica L. Helms, 23, Idaho, USA, helmzie21@gmail. com Hi everyone! I am looking for pals from everywhere! I love writing and have been doing it for many years, and one to always write back. I want a pal who is looking for a long term pal. I love postcards, so if you are interested in postcards. I have been trying to get one from every country! I have many, but I am very interested in the adventure I find ahead with getting as many cards as possible. I also enjoy movies. I have many so always looking for a movie fanatic to discuss movies. Reading. I pretty much just read Nicholas Sparks. I collect coins, and bank notes, so if you are one of those I would love to help that way as well. I am getting so many countries, and I guess by writing brought the love of collecting cards and currency to my attention. I do swap

friendship books. I don’t like tons at a time but enough to swap. I am a pen pal that works hard to stay in touch, and looking for people who have the same interest. I am open minded! I am just looking for fun, and learn about countries and other part of the world! I am also looking for scouting patches from all over. Scouting Patches from the Boy Scouts of American and similar groups from all over the world. I willing to swap anything of your interest. If you can help out I would really appreciate! Ciao!

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Laura, 24, UK My name is laura lou, im 24, from the uk and my email addy is loobylou_2007@hotmail.co.uk. I love writing, drawing, reading, listening to music, penpalling, Harry Potter and many more.

my age from all over the world that likes cute stationery and willing to write on a regular basis, please write me an e-mail with a long introduction of yourself! Dutchies are welcome as well :-) Can’t wait to find some new sincere penpals and start writing! Hugs Mir

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Josh, 30, USA, jcowan1023@ gmail.com Hello, my name is Josh Cowan. I am 30 years old and I have a good since of humor. I like snail mail better then email because you can send little gifts with your letters. I am looking for male or female Penpals age 18- 41 who can make me laugh or smile. My hobbies include making my own greeting cards. jcowan1023@gmail.com

I love to write on cute stationery as it’s great to receive cute and fat mail:-) And because I have loads of cute stationery lying here that I think I will use this collection for many years from now on. I am looking for someone who will try to write on a regular basis (around once a month for example) and your letters have to contain at least 5-6 (both sides) A5 pages and up. They have to be written from the heart! I have been into penpalling for a very long time now and it is really fun to do. I might be a bit picky but I have met different kinds of pals in the penpalling world. I have got such nice friends now even there’s a distance between us. I also love to exchange cute stuff like stationery or stickers and it would be great if you loved it too! But that is not a must as long your letters are long and personal. Besides penpalling, I also like travelling, going out, reading books, making cards, shopping, cute stationery, watching TV, doing fun stuff with my dear friends, listening to some great music and much more. I love my cats! I am a real cat woman, I always talk to them, hehe;) I see them as my kids. If you are a female around

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countries, customs, lives...friends! Friends have been for me like the air I breath ... and all I want from them is respect!

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post-punk bands, Emilie Autumn etc. If you have nothing on them, you can send me stationery instead. I am also willing to sell them, especially on Hanson as I have realKathy Moss, 59, USA ly a lot on them, includgk athymoss@at t. ing cds, real photos and net tapes. Ok, I hope some I am 59 and I live in USA. people are interested My hobbies are of course and that we can do some the computer; reading nice swaps. :) listing to music; doing search a words, penpal- Elena, Romania, ing scrapbooking and TV. 31, tilli_trotter@ I have a pet called Lou. hotmail.com ...a friend ... half of your Magalie (france), 26, heart, The half who is m i o u z i c _a d d i c t @ laughing with you, who hotmail.fr is taking you in its arms I have tons of celeb/ when you cry, who supband stuff such as post- ports you when have ers, magazine articles problems, who is fightand even cds for some ing with you when you’re that I want to get rid of. wrong or you’re about to I have stuff on Boyzone, make a mistake. The half a lot on Britney Spears, who is crying with you tons of stuff on Hanson when you are in trouble (more than 100 posters, ,who sais huray when cds, video tapes, real you are successful. The pictures and tons other, half who is doing anyas I used to be a huge thing it can for you to fan of them) also on 30 see the right path in life. Seconds to Mars, Spice The half that although is Girls, Madonna and a lot in another body, is beatof others... If you are in- ing in the same rhythm terested, send me a mes- with your heart! This is a sage and I will tell you if friend to me! I have stuff on your fave More about me ... I love celebrity/bands. writing letters , I am doI would like to have in ing this for more than exchange stuff on Nine 17 years now , and even Inch Nails, on some ten- if i found over the years nis players (especially many types of people, I on Richard Gasquet), still believe in humans, Killing Joke and other and still want to know

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Lisa Overduin, 40, Canada, lisaoverduin@ hotmail.com 5PrickedFinger5.etsy. com I am looking for swappers from all over the world. I mostly swap celebrity clippings. I have A-Z files on many of your favourite stars. My magazine collection goes as far back as 1983. Here is a list of things I collect: 1- Stickers 2- Stationery and Greeting Cards 3- Madonna 4- Gerard Butler 5- Matt Passmore (actor from the tv show “The Glades”) 6- Buttons 7- Seed beads 8- Cross-stitch patterns, magazines, books 9- “The Outsiders” (movie from 1983 starring C.Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon and Ralph Macchio) 10-Jigsaw puzzles (100300 pieces) 11-Pink

12-Carey Mulligan 13-Ginnifer Goodwin 14-Halle Berry Please send me an E-mail with your list and we can start swapping!

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ping Friendship Books, Label bags, postcards (from my home state & city), ATCs & sticker bags. I started swapping about 2 yrs. ago but stopped last year & then started up again about 4 months ago. NSW, NPW, A/M, USA Only, NO inmates/ No Men.

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PenPal & Swappers Ads

Noelle, 30, SPain sanz_noelia@ hotmail.com My name is Noelle, I’m thirty years old. I’m Spanish and I want Practise with you. I can write in English for my practice and after translate to Spanish for you. I’d like to meet people

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from around the world and all cultures and customs. They tell me their experiences, and I mine it. I love reading, cross stitch, music, hanging out with friends and if not, stay home with my boyfriend watching a good movie. I also love to spend time learning English and share with the world through my blog. If you want to know, write me. I hope read you soon. You can practice the exchange of English / Spanish with me at: My blog: http://noelia-aprendiendoingles.blogspot. com/ Windows Live Group: http://blogaprendiendoingles.groups.live. com/ Page Facebook: http://www.facebook. com/AprendENGLISH Twitter: h t t p : / / t w i t t e r. c o m / aprendENGLISH Donna Lueken, 49, Canada, donna.lueken@ yahoo.ca MY NAME IS DONNA, I AM 49 YEARS OLD. I WORK AT THE HOSPITAL AS an ENVIROMENTAL SERVICE WORKER, I BEEN THERE FOR 5 YEARS NOW. I HAVE ONE DAUGHTER SHE IS 29 YEARS OLD. I ALSO HAVE

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Danny, 25, India dany_kallery@ yahoo.co.in Hi, I am Dany from India. Male 25yrs, searching for some Long time Penpals from all over the world. I don’t have any preference for your language, country, color, or age. If you interested then please give me an email. I am working as Linux Engineer at the

Emails, will be a great remembrance for us till the end of life. I am not a Penpal Collector or I don’t need many people but I only need that person who is having the same thinking or opinions of mine in Penpalling, like Longtime and Sincere Friendships. Anybody who loves to know about India or anything related to India can mail me. I will help you by giving my best. I don’t expect anything like money, marriage or any relationships so I can offer sincere longtime friendship from my side. If you found anything common in me or if you think that I will become a good friend of yours then don’t hesitate to mail me. Please add “Penpals” as Subject to your mail. I can easily find all my Personal (important) mails from SPAMS or Advertisements.

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J a i m i e / 2 5 / USA / pya r i1985@ gma i l. com Hello! My name is Jaimie, Lisa, USA I am a girl, and I live in i mm o r m i n o @ at t. Florida, USA. I am looking net for some International I am a married mother snail mail pen-pals. It to a 5 yr old daughter. I does not matter where like penpaling, reading you are from. I am books, being on the looking for someone internet. It will take me around my age. I also like awhile to write back to to swap post cards and you but I will write you. currency (bank notes I am really busy with my and coins). My hobbies daughter and work. I love besides pen-paling Elizabeth Thomas, camping, scrapbooking, include: photography, 31, Trinidad And Harry Potter, Twilight shopping, music, movies, Tobago, lizzyt55@ collecting postcards and the beach, traveling, and yahoo.com keychains. hanging out with friends. Extroverted introvert I am currently a student. who is addicted to

Paula, 37, England, pinklioness@ googlemail.com I’m Paula Milburn, 37 years old. I live with my husband in the North East of England. I like collecting postcards and thimbles. Can write in English, German or French, read lots of other languages. I’m learning Afrikaans at the moment. If you’d like to be penpals email me first on pinklioness@ googlemail.com for more information!

same time student of Computer Applications, living with parents and Sister in one of the most beautiful place in India called Kerala. in map, Southern end of India covered with Arabian Sea. Kerala is one of the famous Tourist places in India Called God’s own Country because of its natural Beauty. Hobbies: Most of my free times I will watch TV or Movies. I really love Animals and I have a Dog, Cat and some birds. I like to read IT related Subjects because it’s a part of my life and profession. Other topics are History, Travelogues, Historical Incidents or about Legends. I like to watch sports in TV, especially Cricket and Soccer. I would like to be a Wildlife or nature Photographer. I love photography very much. I like to hear about other countries, culture, nature, festivals or celebrations, people and life. I would love to meet people from other countries. That will help me to learn lots of things about them or that country. Penpal Requests: Looking for only longtime friendship. I prefer Snail Mails because it gives us a real feeling of that friendship and also it would be more sincere than

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Heidi Karin Søvik 33, Norway o-rensoe@online. no I’m looking for sincere female penpals worldwide from 30 years old and up to 100, who can write often and regularly. I am happily married, no kids, but we have two small dogs. I love our dogs, scrapbooking, a little gardening, camping in our caravan, Facebook, internet etc. I also love collecting and swapping postcards, stationary, stickers and also lot of other things. New female regular swappers worldwide are also welcome, but no men, i can also send stamps back, just ask about any kind of swapping. My nickname on swapbot is hkso and I use the same nick name for postcrossing. Email pals and Facebook pals are also welcome.

cheesy romance novels and country music, with a witty sense of humour and a tad bit sassy. I am looking for like-minded penpals. All are welcomed whether snail or email pals. Trades FB’s, recipes, romance novels in e-books format, music in mp3 format, stickers, poems, short stories and coins.

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I’m going to school to become a cultural anthropologist. I also work in manufacturing. If you would like to be my pen-pal, then send me an email. Hope to hear from you soon!

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Chiaki, Japan 28, c_crystals@yahoo. co.jp Hello! I’m Chiaki, a 28year-old female from Japan. I’m looking for female snail pal from all over the world to talk about many things through letters! I like travelling, playing with cats, laughing, sleeping... I also like exchanging postcards, so please tell me if you want to talk over the cards! It would be nice if you are learning Japanese, having interests in Japan! But it’s OK if you don’t know about Japan well, you’ll know about it talking with me!!! I’m waiting for your message!

Crystal, 33, Canada smokeyslove@ sympatico.ca Calling all snail mail penpals. Hello there. I’m a 33 year old female from Brockville Ontario Canada. I’m looking for some long letter pals who enjoy writing. I have 2 children and a bunch of pets. I love animals, travelling, swimming, soap operas, country music, going for walks, spending time with my family and just having fun. I’m hoping to meet some chatty pals who always have something to write about. I don’t mind signing Fbs but please no slams. Look forward to hearing from you soon. Hugs

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Amber Hayes /19/ USA amber1991_13@ yahoo.com Hey there!! I am Amber (also know as) Kiva. I am 19 years old and I would like to make friends with anyone!!! I like boys, shopping, TV. , track, basketball, reading, computer , friends and family. I live in the USA and I can speak English but I am learning Japanese. But I will talk to anyone because I love to make new friends and learn about new things . If you want to talk to me just say hi or something. I like to SWAP so if you are

into that I can swap too!! I also like to write poems, stories, and things.

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Psych, Burn Notice, Modern Family, The Office, and many more lol. I play games on my Playstation 3 and on the computer. I love playing games -it is just a fun thing to do. I am a book fanatic. I like Anne Rice, Phillipa Gregory, Laurell K Hamilton, Angie Sage, Rick Riordan, and Sherrilyn Kenyon.... to name a few. I am obsessed with Superman. I collect anything and everything on Superman! I love old movies. Gene Kelly, Tony Curtis, and Cary Grant would have been all over my walls. I love vintage- vintage ads, pictures, postcards, books, etc. Email me at: HisTechnoAngel@yahoo. com

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PenPal & Swappers Ads

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gertrude lillian g e r t r u d e ggg @ gmail.com, South Leo Probyns, 28, Africa Sierra Leone Hi im looking for female l e o p r o b y n s @ friends around the world a c c o u n ta n t. c o m my name is Gertrude i live I’m Leo Probyns, 28. I in South africa searching came from a small family for friends between age of two. I am a friendly guy 32 to 40. Write soon! who believes that true and real friendship has Rocio /29/ Argentina got a modest role to play david.shaw.intense. in our personal lives. Re- world@gmail.com ally, I must let you know I’m Rocio, female. My that my interests are bur- hobbies are: cine, read, ied deep down in snail music, origami 3d, paint mailing, friendship, fam- shop pro, pepals. I love ily, traveling, camping, to collect dvds, postcards swimming, watching soc- and bookmarks. Also

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Debra Tatnell, 46, UK now_what@ btinternet.com Hobbies writing and receiving long letters, reading, collecting items, animals, cats, spending time with family and friends, old buildings, countryside, seaside, etc. I live in England near the sea with my husband and two cats. I love writing to people. Females only.

cer and basketball, movies, reading and cooking. But on the contrary, I hate lies and delays as they are both procrastinating, and as such, could not in any way help build up a good friendship. I also hate people who pose or pretend to be whom they’re not. I simply like simple people. Personally, I think true friends are the embodiment of our souls that gives us security, warmth & comfort when we seem to be scared, lonely, jilted and even Battered! That we can say what we think, write what we know, but can’t do without real friends (even though we might have some, but most seems to fade away.

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I have cyclothymia... which is a mild type of bipolar. I would like penpals and postcard swappers. I also swap stickers and friendship books. I like movies, writing,photography, animals, walking, hiking, geocashing, facebook, crafts,nature, postcard, stickers, crafting supplies, day trips, traveling, friends, etc.

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Marci, 56, USA, dresdendoll54@ yahoo.com My name is Marci Skinner. I am 56 years old with the mind of a 30 something. I live in Iowa, USA...the Midwest. My email address is dresdendoll54@ yahoo.com . I am Mom to a 22 y.o son...stepmom to three adult children...and fur Mom to 2 cats and a Siberian Husky. I love animals, real and ficticious...I love dragons as well as tigers and polar bears--buffalo and most wildlife. I love to read. My greatest problem is that I never want to get rid of a good

Lisa Sabo, 26, Canada, lisa_sabo_2005@ hotmail.com I am a mommy of a 6 yr old little girl, living on the island of Newfoundand. I am a big animal lover, especially pet rats and dogs. I currently have 11 pet rats and am an advocate for them. I promote them as the great pets they are, educate on proper care and dispel the myths. I also do rescue and foster rats in need.It is my passion. I am bisexual, vegetarian and very open minded. I have 7 tattoos & 7 piercings. I have many interests, but will save them for snail mail. I am looking for open minded and sincere penpals who won’t stop writing after 1-2 letters and who are up for discussing everything and anything...preferably with similar interests as me, but will give anyone a chance. At this point I am only looking for pals Alison Hepworth, in the USA and Canada UK malin@malin. due to postage. Hope to karoo.co.uk Mum to 4 from hull uk. hear from great people Hobbies are palling trav- soon! elling music tv computer Hall, family, collecting post- Christine Hampton, cards, reading, going out 45, Hampshire for meal, drinks and cine- New ma. I am looking for snail c a b h a l l @ mail pals uk and abroad h o t m a i l . c o m I am a unemployed, from 26. divorced empty nester. book. I am a frequent visitor at our local library so that I have to return the books. I love to write. I still practice the art of snail mailing and I love to create my own stationary and small cards using rubber stamps. I journal on a regular basis...have never gotten into blogging though...I prefer paper. Poetry has always been a love of mine and occasionally I will write for others but usually it is just a part of my journal. I believe that the world lacks color and joy without friends to share life with...My husband and my son are my best friends but I have room for friends that want to maintain long-term relationships and are willing to listen to my ups and downs without judgment. Looking forward to meeting a lot of terrific people through this venture.

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I’m totally crazy for cats, manga,anime, Asia, drawing, decoupage, dancing, painting on stones. I swap fbs (of any kind), labelbags, slams, bags, postcards, stationery & sugar packets. I’m also a address labels maker. I collect full sugar packets from all over the world, postcards and stationery (letter sets, letter paper, memopads, notepads, loose sheets).I like reading books! My fave writers are Nicholas Sparks and Sophie Kinsella!I ‘ve started to read their books in English and German :-S I’m also a volounterr in a colony of stray cats in Cagliari. :)=^_^=

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ing letters and exchanging postcards. I listen to Aurelija, Lithuania, all kind of music from a d a m a n t i n e . g d @ techno to death metal gmail.com to classical to hip hop. It I am 15y.o and quite just need a good rhythm friendly but shy. I’d like to or good lyrics. I’m openhave a friend who I could minded and wanna learn talk about anything with. about the world and the I’m interested in music, humans living in it. I am books, writing/receiving hoping to have, or had, a postcards and letters, penpal in every country science (though I’m not of the world! Take Care good at it if we’re speak- everybody! ing about school :P), psychological movies, Wilson Kisanga middle ages, paranor- kisanga9@gmail. mal stuff, dreams, LOTS com, 30, Zambia OF RANDOM STUFF. I’m I am Wilson, aged 30 this girl who’s interested from Zambia(Southern in everything. XD I play Africa). I am looking for basketball, volleyball and female penpals(E-pals) of table tennis, I write sto- any age from anywhere ries. I want a friend and across the globe. I like I don’t really care where reading, writing, listening you are from. Also I think to music and swimming. I’m quite good at Eng- Anybody interested can lish, but it still fails some- contact me via email. times, so I’m sorry for the mistakes! Valentina Pireddu (aka Tinetta) Italy Marion Norrgård, - b.d. 03.03.86, age 22years, Finland, 24 turn on25!!! silvermarion@ tinettadesign@ hotmail.com tiscali.it I’m born and raised in I love swapping and penthe forests of Finland. My palling, especially with mother tongue is Swed- people that comes from ish but I can also speak outside Italy! I love forFinnish, English and Ger- eign languages and culman. I enjoy dancing, tures, in fact this is my 1st acting, singing, reading year at university, foreign (mythology, religions, languages (English and fantasy, folklore, psychol- German!!!), so I’d like to ogy, true stories, horror), have more friends from writing, clubbing, na- UK/Ireland and Germany, ture, animals. Love writ- to improve my language

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Tracey Lewis, 44, Indiana USA alwaysmessinup2001@ yahoo.com My hobbies and interests are snail mail scrapbooking and journaling as well as making handmade crafts. I’ve been penpaling since I was 12 and for the past 19 years it was also a way for me to tell of how I dealt with the abduction of my son who I only knew the first 6 months of his life. Through my journey and writings we have now found each other and he will also become one whom I will write to because he’s 14 hours from me. We haven’t met face to face yet but we are working at when we both can. Not only can penpaling bring us close to others we don’t know in person, it helps to let others know that we are all friends/family and may have what another may be needing. It led me to my son and even though it took 19 years it was also the prayers and help of pals who kept me

from giving up.

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ONE GRANDDAUGHTER SHE IS 7 YEARS OLD AND IS IN GRADE 2. SOME OF MY INTERESTS ARE WRITING LETTERS, COOKING, WALKING, WATCHING TV,LISTENING TO MUSIC. MY HOBBIES ARE DOING CRAFTS .

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PenPal & Swappers Ads

Thornton Kimes/ 50/ USA (about to be 51 in january 2011) redbeardedguy@ yahoo.com I am stuck in the welfare system, am an anti-poverty activist with poormagazine dot.org. I am a book-a-holic, science

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Adriana Clara/ 27/ Brazil / adriana. clara@gmail.com Sunny greetings from northeastern Brazil! I’m Adriana, 27 y.o. Looking for new pals and swapers. I love mail art, bookmarks, postcards, phonecards, tea, stationary, stickers, cats and dogs, books, cooking, sewing and many more. Write me!

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Malisa Karn /35/ USA malisa.karn@ gm a i l . c o m I am a home health aide.I am going to school to get my Associate Degree in Medical Billing and Coding. My hobbies are pen palling,chatting online, reading, camping and bowling.

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Nancy Lawson, 61, USA, crapbookmom07@ hotmail.com Hi I am a grandmother of 5 and have 3 adult children, happily married ( no men to respond Please) I am not working right now. Do also have 3 step-children. Like to do scrapbook, crafts of all kinds, enjoy pen-pals . Have done genealogy, like to read, listen to music, also garden a bit. Love animals and nature. Enjoy watching movies and some T.V. I collect postcards, salt

FBs and Sheets to pass on. In return I would cute stationary, Hello Kitty Items and DecoTapes. A big „Thank You“ in advance. Please e-mail me first: VroeScraps@googlemail. com

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Cherry, 33, UK S i lv e r c at ba b i e s @ aol.com I am a married mum to 6 Children, I love Soap Operas, Witting letters by hand, Swapping stuff including Fb’s and Label Bags. I am looking for Snailmail Penpals from UK only, Females over 18yrs old please. Write to me if interested.

and pepper shakers, and Write soon! teddy bears. Also have a collection of frogs,some v e r o n i c a that go outside. Would mattlin, 42, USA love to write women veronica.mattlin@ of all ages all over the gmail.com I am a 42 year old female world. looking for pen pals Samantha Stroy 26 from all over the world. California, USA I enjoy writting long xoxoxowithlove@ letters, collecting on my favorite celebrites, yahoo.com I’m looking for long letter cross stitching, cats/ pals, who won’t stop animals, collecting stuff writing after one letter. on: cats, crosses, winnie Someone easy to talkk the pooh, beanie babies, to and share our daily scapbooking, stickers, lives with. I love writing, stationary,etc. I also drawing, vampire novels, enjoy swapping/trading texting, etc. I’m a marries from all over the world. stay at home mom of send me your complete three. I am open-minded want/collection lists and and I love a good I’ll send you mine. Would co nve r s a t i o n . LO V E S : perfer long letters and long term friendship Starbucks and tea. I swap anything and worldwide! No men EVERYTHING that fits please, only females as I’m in an evelope. I swap happily married. looking books, stationary, FBs, foward to hearing from Slams, stickers, etc. I you soon... am always looking for clippings of celeberties, Veronika, Germany words, quotes, etc. Hope V r o e S c r a p s @ to meet some great googlemail.com friends that will last for a I am Veronika from Germany, I´m looking lifetime. for new PenPals from all Wendy Joyner, over the world esp. from 35, United states Sweden and Germany. c h a k l i u k @ gm a i l . I take any excess of n&n/ com HQ FBs only and Slams. Interests: cats, 80’s music, I´m in need of n&n/HQ foreign movies, city of FBs, Slams and all kind of Paris, weird and unique bags! art, stickers, stationary, Please no tatty and fairy tales, folk tales, sloppy FBs and sheets. I anything supernatural. also have a lot of normal

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penpals from all over the world. I just started to penpal couple of weeks ago. No males please as I am married. I like to swap postcards, stickers, and friendship books. I am going to make one of my own to soon. I enjoy reading, bike riding, going to the lake etc.:)

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me a email at es032309@ and mother of 2 children. Virginia.USA.com My hobbies are: writing letters, swap FB’s, playing Moses Olinga the clarinet, music, /32/ Uganda animals, collecting mosecho1@yahoo.com everything from the Hi there my name is animal giraffe, making Moses Olinga, 32 yrs of jewellery’s. And much age, thanks for stopping more. by. I am interested in I’m working with mantally finding and keeping handicapt people. If you real Pen pals / friends. I would like to know me enjoy bringing a smile better feel free to sent to peoples faces, even in me a e-mail aevaneck@ this place, life can be such hotmail.com. a rat race. I love to learn and explore and to teach. Samia Oumohand, I’m a practical man and 32, France enjoy fixing things and samgunsjovirow@yahoo. making improvements com. myself. I can openly & I’m a 32 y.o French woman comfortably carry on an looking for penpals and intelligent conversation. swappers worldwide! I I reside in Kampala, like long-letter pals, am Uganda in the east Of very curious about other Africa (Pearl of Africa). way of life, open-minded I enjoy Basketball, and I’m into music, S w i m m i n g , S i n g i n g , movies, fashion, crafts, D a n c i n g , T r a v e l l i n g , travels. I swap Fbs, decos, C o o k i n g , C a m p i n g , slams and lyrics mainly. R e a d i n g , C o m p u t e r s , I’m also looking for movies etc. Email me: people to swap celebrity stuff with (send me your mosecho1@yahoo.com wish list and I’ll send mine back). If you’re interested, Alisa, 29, The feel free to email me at: Netherlands samgunsjovirow@yahoo. aevaneck@hotmail.com My name is Alisa and com. Iam looking for penpals all over the world. Let me Lisa, 37, USA introduce myself to you l i s a v a n t r e s s @ all. I am a 29 years old gmail.com women and I live in village Hello my name is Lisa Van Annerveenschekanaal, Tress, i am 37 years old that’s in The north of The from Holland Michigan. I have two children and Netherlands. I’m married with Richard married. I am seeking

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pals in Africian counties, prison mail either would love penpals in any countries especially Canada, Japan, Spain. Louise Mcevoy, I hope too hear from you 38, Scotland, Uk soon. duranduranfan1980@ hotmail.com Margo V. , 11-08-71 I would love epal or 39, United states snail pal very much. margosug@yahoo. My email address is com duranduranfan1980@ Hi everyone my name hotmail.com My hobbies is Margo I am 38 and are penpalling,i have looking for pen pals I penpalled for over 20 love snail mailing. I have odd years and still write 3 girls lots of interests. I too my very 1st penpal love shopping, Writing, who I havve know for making and collecting 7 years now she a very jewelry and much more dear friend too me.i love hope to hear from you. reading esp the twilight Margo In New York. novels I am a huge Disthedistance.com and twilight fan(GO TEAM blog.disthedistance.com EDWARD) lol. Music iam a big fans of the 80s esp Jennifer, 31, USA duran duran,i also am a e s 0 3 2 3 0 9 @ huge boyzone fan have V i r g i n i a . USA . co m seen them live about 8 Hello my name is times over the years and Jennifer, I will be 31 this have also met them few Nov 9th . I am happy times,take that,kings of married, and have four leon,alexander burke,lot children. I live in Virginia, of others i like any kind USA. I love to write and of music really,I also email. Facebook, cafe love travelling,cinema,s mom, I love true blood, hopping,collecting and twilight, soap operas. swapping stationary and I love mail that isn’t stickers.chatting on msn/ junk or bills lol. I love texting. I am engaged too postcards, I am willing to fantastic man who ive send some myself since know for nearly 2 years. I live real close to DC. were getting married We just recently moved next may(2011)really from Va beach, I love the exciting. I will reply too ocean and shells. If your any penpals worldwide. interested in emailing or Sorry no male pals or even snail mail pals send

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love to swap fbs. Always looking for pepals! I do speak/write in English and Spanish.

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Shirley Anderson,44, M a r t yA n d e r s o n @ windstream.net I am Shirley Anderson age 44 born 9]28]66 married to Marty w.a.12\5\87 my email address is MartyAnderson@windstream. net oh I am mom to two and I am looking for long letter or cassette tape pals.

Glenys Dunne / 37 / Australia m a v i k i h a @ southernphone. com.au I am interested in lots of crafts, writing letters, Anke, 25, Canada, reading, and improving pa r a g u aya _ 8 5 @ my education plus there is hotmail.com lots more to tell you about hi there, my name is Anke, in my letters. I am turning 25 this week and I live in Ontario-CanaCarol Johnston, 55, da. I’m born and raised in New Zealand Paraguay-South America m a i n l a n d l a dy55@ and moved to Canada a bit kinect.co.nz over 3 years ago together

with my handsome husband Jeff. I do really like it here even though its hard to connect to people and the Canadian culture - everything is still a bit new and sometimes I feel a bit lost :) I want to take this opportunity to meet new people around the world and also Canada. I’m raised bilingual (Spanish and German) and also (obviously) speak English. I do have a cute little dog I like to go for walks with, I LOVE the outdoors, meeting new people around the globus :) , chatting on the internet, go out with friends, cycling, swimming, reading, crafting, travelling and exercising. I also love to have visitors in my house and I also started surfing last year. Already had some people over and I really enjoyed it!! Feel free to write me wherever you live :) my email address is: paraguaya_85@hotmail. com Christine Hall, 45, New Hampshire, USA, cabhall@hotmail. com Single, mom of one adult son, in between employment, enjoys w r i t i n g, p o s t c ro s s i n g, swapping, animals, facebook, music, movies, thrift shopping,photography, blogging, children, walk-

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Ayshash, 25, Kenya, s w e e t. l i t t l e 5 5 @ Snjezana Makas, yahoo.com 26, Bosnia and My name is Ayshah and Herzegovina am from Kenya. Am 25 snjezana_makas@ years year old young yahoo.com married lady with no kids I love penpalling, pho- at the moment but in futography, scrapbook- ture yes to the man of my ing, cooking,travelling, life. My hobbies include couch-surfing, camping, chatting (So if you betrying new things.... al- lieve you can chat all thro ways looking for new am here), I love making penpals from around the and meeting new friends world. reason because I will be learning and exchangAlex Hügel / 39/ ing so much with them ivy marie abrogena Germany from culture, language /31/ saudi arabia/ sandbook@arcor. and many other things, h e a r t b e a t i v y @

Vanessa Wong, 34, USA, Sweet_Charit y25@ yahoo.com My name is Vanessa and I have been doing this hobby off and on since I was 5 years old. Pen palling runs in my family as my paternal Grandma and Grandpa met through this hobby. My Grandma was pen pals with my Grandpa’s sister and somehow they met and the rest is history. I currently have over 30+ pen pals and am always looking for more LONG LETTER PEN PALS. My hobbies/ interests are: writing letters,80’s music, dancing, thrift stores/ garage sales, refunding/ couponing, sweepstakes/ contests, shopping, cake decorating, making Cake Pops, being creative, cooking (and eating), and so much more.

I love reading, listening to music, card making, some scrapbooking, making journals and journal writing, getting back into letter writing, like writing about topical things kind of like the prompts used in journal writing rather than the every day stuff as my life seems to be the same old same old. I am a type 1 Diabetic, I do volunteer work for Red Cross and I also do respite care work for the elderly.I have a partner Murray and his 19 year old son who live with me. I live in the central South Island of New Zealand down the road from earthquake country(Christchurch). Look forward to meeting and writing to some new friends please. http://carolsstampingblog.blogspot.com/ http://www.spiritsparkplugs.com (editor’s note: to access the links remove the dashes that our program makes when the address is too long)

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Jamie, 30, USA k i t t yg l i t t e r p i x @ yahoo.com Hey I’m Jamie, 30 yrs old & I live in MO. I am a photographer and would luv to hear from other artistic pals. I am obsessed with Hello Kitty too. I enjoy snail mail with Overseas pals only, but will exchange emails with people from the States. Any questions feel free to ask me. I also luv writing, music, reading, music and movies. contact me via: email, kittyglitterpix@ yahoo.com or @ kittyglitter98(TWITTER) I cant wait to here from you all♥

Gail Cleaver, 36, UK, gailcleaver@ hotmail.com My interests/hobbies are penpalling, creative writing, listening to music, watching sci-fi. I have two children, both girls, who special needs. I’m currently on a childcare course.

I have a pre-teen aged daughter and I am the Girl Scout Leader for her troop and Ienjoy doing that. I would love to hear from other mom’s who are Girl Scout Leaders as well so we can exchange some ideas. I prefer to write to women only who are somewhat close to my age and have similar hobbies. To contact me you can send an email to: Sweet_Charity25@yahoo. com.

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Kate Haven, 22, USA katiehaven87@aol. com I’m katie 22 loe to text, be on facebook and be a mom. My son loves to receive mail as well as me. He is 3 1/2. I love meeting new people and writing letters. If your interested write me!!

yahoo.com I am looking for new stamps and postcards swappers...

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traveling anywhere any place lol and sleeping lol and would really love to have new friends all over the world between the age of 23-35 year old.

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Mike Maloba, 26, Kenya mike_maloba@ yahoo.com Hi everyone! Am myk a man frm Kenya searching for serious penpals from all over the world. Someone who will prove to me that there’s friendship and honesty in the world. Someone who is sincere and honest and would make my faith in the future of humankind grow. I am a graduate engineer, am cool, very social, outgoing…I will tell you more if you show interest. My hobbies include making friends, going places, playing basketball, music, movies etc I don’t mind let-

de My name is Alex and i´m an almost 39 years old male from germany. My Email is: sandbook@ arcor.de I´m still looking for one or more penpals keep up and maybe improve my English and also get in contact with new people from all over the world. I´m married to my wife for 4 years now and we have little son and our little daughter should come on earth during the next two weeks. Because of the coming birth of my daughter i have to keep this ad short. I would be really happy to hear from you. Natürlich bin ich auch an Brieffreundschaften in deutsch interessiert.

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Sonali,19, Sri Lanka sonalisulakshini@ gmail.com My name is w.k.sonali 4m sri lanka.i m 19years old.still studing. My hobbies r chatting with friends,reading,playing games.etc. I am looking 4 a penpal 4m england. same age or elder one.

ters (snail mail) my address is on the address bar above BUT I prefer email: mike_maloba@ yahoo.com It would be great being your pal and being able to see a mix of serenity and hope! For me, friendship is something I consider sacred. It makes me have faith in some simple but fundamental human values, which, sometimes, for the lack of practice, we swipe under the carpets of our memories and of our hearts… For me, friendship is precious and that’s why I intend to keep it.. Always bear in mind that my affection and true friendship will be yours forever! With best regards and I hope to hear from you soon!

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fiction/fantasy is my first love in reading. I also write for poormagazine, write poetry, and am fascinated with haiku poetry. Some writers I like: Steven Erikson, Neal Asher, Peter F. Hamilton, Jacqueline Carey...

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PenPal & Swappers Ads

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Your name : sheri shrader Your age : 39 Your country : USA Ad : Hi my name is sheri and i am 39 yrs old,And i am Happily married and between us we have 7

Your age : 30 Your country : USA Ad : Hello, my name is Josh Cowan. I am 30 years old and I have a good since of humor. I Your name : Anita like snail mail better then s c h u t z e n g e l . email because you can anita33@gmail.com send little gifts with your Your age : 34 letters. I am looking for Your country : male or female Penpals Austria age 18- 41 who can make Ad : Hello my name is me laugh or smile. My Anita and im searching hobbies include making for nice female Penpals, my own greeting cards. Epals and Swapper from jcowan1023@gmail.com all over the world. My name is Anita, my Nick- Your name : Irene name “Angel” im mar- Your age : 23 ried and my sign is libra. Your country : I live with my husband in Italy Austria. My hobbies are: Ad : Hey Everyone my reading, writting letters name’s Irene 23 y o livand emails, skype, Face- ing in Milano, Italy. I love book, Internet, Photogra- penpalling and meetphy, playing saxophone, ing new friends around cooking, Music, Concerts, the world. I’m studying Formula 1, Soccer, Eso- veterinary medicine. I terism, Religion, Gothic, love animals. I’m vegMiddle Age, history and etarian. My interests are more. Im a very funny long distance running and helpful person. My (marathons and getting job is nurse for elderly statted with ultramaraand I work with Alzheim- thons) hiking and climber Patients. Hope to find ing mountains, penpallnice female pals being, collecting postcards tween 20 to ? years. Nice (I’m also looking for postto meet you send a email card penpals), surfing to schutzengel.anita33@ the internet, decoupage, gmail.com watching tv, traveling. I like writing to both male Your name : Josh and female but no dating Cowan please, I have on bf and I jcowan1023@gmail. find that enough! I hope I com can find many good and

children and 1 grandson,I love to write and meet new people.looking forward to meeting new people.

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Your name : Rory Latimer latimerj@

telkomsa.net Your age : 39 country : South Africa Ad : Hello Everyone I am a 39 year old Caucasian Male in Cape Town South Africa. I am hard of hearing but that doesnt get me down. I love to write snail mail letters. That is a hobby of mine now after 9 years. I do have some wonderful pen pals who have become great friends. Yes I am single however all I ask is for friendship, I will be single until the good Lord takes me home. I will be a faithful letter writer and if you would like me to give you some names of my penpals to message and ask for a reference that is fine. you can message them. I also enjoy reading, watching a good movie, Military History, camping and spending time with a good friend. I write back as soon as I can after your letter arrives. I look forward to hearing from you.

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Your name : Gregory Lentz Email: gj.lentz76@ gmail.com Your age : 34 Your country : USA Ad : Hello! I’d be interested in trying out some E-Pal

correspondences with folks from all over the world and all walks of life! I like to learn about other cultures, a little bit of a history buff, foodie, self taught artist and aspiring writer of many genres. I like to swap postcards, nothing in particular as long as they are stamped and written, as I relish the personal connections as much as the beauty of the cards. I enjoy all kinds of movies, tv shows I keep up with are: any Law & Order, CSI, Fringe, The Event, House, Lie To Me, Castle...I’m a huge Bon Jovi fan, I like to read Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and I’m hooked on George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones. Your name : Eliska Email : elda999@ seznam.cz Your age : 26 country : Czech Republic Ad : Hello everyone, my name is ELiska I am 26 years old, I am looking for penpals, as I like writting (and also receiving letters :-) ) so much. I am taking care of my little girl at home. I will be glad to find new penpals! See you!

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Tracy Bishop, 33, UK tracydawnbishop@ hotmail.co.uk I like writeing and recieveing letters reading watching tv and films cardmaking. I collect pocket dragons just the right shoe postcards china dolls and keyrings. I’m married with 2 daughters.

non-judgemental and am patient, plus I will usually give a person the benefit of the doubt. I am disabled with Bipolar Disorder, Depression and Degenerative Arthritis(back), as well as Arthritis in other joints, requiring me to use a walking cane. I have been on disability (SSDI), since the year 2000. My hobbies/interests include Pen Pals, Acting, Digital photography, the Internet, chatting on YIM/ AIM, trivia, crossword, acrostic and word puzzles, Traveling, documentaries and current events(news). I am also what you would call a railfan, as I love trains and train travel. I am also into Star Trek RPGs/ Simms, as I am a fan of Star Trek. I collect stickers, especially transparent ones, fridge magnets, postcards, keychains and coffee mugs. I also swap FBs Slams, SS’s, etc. I am looking for lon-term, long letter wrters, who will not stop after just a few letters.

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Laura Flad /31/ USA, earthen_ vessels24@yahoo. com Ad: Hi, my name is Laura, I am single, have no kids and from Louisiana, USA. I am looking for new pen pals as I have started writing again. I would like pals from all over especially Ireland, Scotland, Germany, England, and Japan. My interests include Bible studies, writing letters, making crafts, collecting stickers and stationery, Hello Kitty, Diddl, Lisa Frank, Sanrio, San-X, Anime, walking/ exercising, and lots more. My hobbies include making crafts from plastic canvas. You can view my blog at http://moondustdesigns.blogspot.com/ to see pics of my crafts and/ or to buy them or you can email for more info. Hope to hear from you soon!

email, kittyglitterpix@yaRita, 36, Lithuania, hoo.com or follow me on rita@fastlink.it @kittyglitter98(TWITTER) I’m Rita from Vilnius, I cant wait to here from Lithuania. I’m 36 y.o. mar- you all. ried woman of 3 children. I’m looking for snail name : Mandi Moore mail pals around my age m o o r e 8 7 @ ya h o o. worldwide especially in com Asia, South America, any Your age : 23 islands, Canada, New Your country : USA Zealand, Australia ect.. Ad : Seeing long letter My hobbies are penpall- pals worldwide, ladies ing, postcards/viewcards only. Hobbies: Reading, swapping, travelling, TV & movies, music, phophotography, dogs, the- tography, scrapbooking, atre, movies, TV, reading, playing computer games, basketball, music, draw- etc. I have one son, 17 ing... I love nature, the months old. Swaps: FBs, sea, animals, castles, sou- Mommy FBs, slams. venirs and much more. Please email me for adI’m interested in foreign dress! mandi.moore87@ countries, lifestyle, cul- yahoo.com ture, history also in psychology, parapsychol- name : Elizabeth ogy and all mysterious Rahuba things;) Your age : 56 Your country : USA Jamie, 30, USA, Ad : My name is Liz and I k i t t yg l i t t e r p i x @ am 56 years young(Aug. yahoo.com 15, 1954), originally from Hey I’m Jamie, 30 yrs old New Jersey, now living in & I live in MO. I am a pho- Chicago, Illinois. Before tographer and would luv moving here, I lived in to hear from other ar- Salt Lake City, Utah(4/86tistic pals. I am obsessed 2/87), then Houston, with Hello Kitty too. I en- Texas(3/87-7/99). I have joy snail mail with Over- one brother, aged 44, still seas pals only,but will living in New Jersey. I am exchange emails with divorced and never had people from the States. children/grandchildren. I Any questions feel free to consider myself a positive, ask me. I also luv writing, straightforward person, music, reading, music and with a good sense of movies. contact me via: humor. I am honest and

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ing, hiking, etc...

PenPal & Swappers Ads Your name : Martina Email : Martina_J_@gmx.at Your name : Tina Bryan Your age : 25 tinabryan23@yahoo.com country : Austria Your age : 36 Ad : Hello! I love it to find nice and long letters in Your country: usa, San Diego, my mailbox... you too? - Then we should become cailfornia penpals. My name is Martina and I am from Austria. Ad : hello all,my name is Tina looking for pen pals I am looking for penpals around my age from that will write to me more then once.my hobbies anywhere in the world (female penpals only!). My are making hats and scarfs and sell them. my hobbies/interests include: writing/reading letters intesterest,writing to pen pals,talking on the phone (of course), shopping, surfing the internet, traveling with pals and texting.e-mail if you want a pal (I LOVE it), reading, movies, PS3, Wii, Nintendo DS, tinabryan23@yahoo.com spending time with my boyfriend, going out and lots of other things... Interested? - Please contact Your name : Cécile me at Martina_J_@gmx.at I am looking forward to Email: ciloune@gmail.com hear from you! Your age : 27 Your country : France Your name : Jolene Ad : Hello everybody, I’m looking for new penpals Email : Whiterose232006@yahoo.com from all over the world, no matter where you Your age : 28 come from :) I can write in french, english, spanish Your country : USA or romanian so feel free to contact me in your Ad: Hello Everyone, I’m looking for new pals & own language if it’s one of above. I love writing swappers. I swap anything from FBs to Stickers. I’m and receiving long letters. I love swapping things not accepting any new penpals from overseas at (stamps, stickers, magnets, stationery), sending this time but I take any amount of pals & swappers. small gifts from time to time ... I’m a school teacher, I’m always taking new pals from Canada & USA. So mum to be (in january) and I’d love to know you, feel free to drop me a line & I’ll get back to as soon you who are reading this ad :) Just contact me by as I can. My email is: Whiterose232006@yahoo.com mail at : ciloune@gmail.com and I’ll send you my Thanks, Jolene snail mail address. Your name : Natalie Your name : lesley griffin Email: natkenfloppy@hotmail.com Your age : 53 Your age : 37 Your country : england Your country : Canada Ad: place your ad, include hobbies and interests Ad : Hi my name is Natalie and I’ve been paling for looking for penfriends any country and any age about 25 years (started when I was in grade 6) I like have been penpalling for 41 years and started at snail letters (I do still swap Fbs from time to time) the age of 12 my hobbies are computer and internet and emails so either way is perfect for me. I love and driving and eating out photography i live in hearing from new people. I am married and have england message me and i will write that is 100 per a 3.5 year old daughter who is the apple of my eye. cent i answer all letters am married for 30 years put Please email me at natkenfloppy@hotmail.com and images or photos on all letters write soon and we we will go from there. Hope to hear from you soon. can be come good and fond friends. Love, Lesley Please no prisoners.

PenPalling Connections:

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Yahoo Groups that you might want to join: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/strictlysnail http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crazy_pen_pals

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PenPal Directory and Newsletter Hi! I am Tracy. I sell stationery address and stickers. I also have a penpal Directory and a newsletter. Take a look at my links if interestered. My new thing is making a catalog of all my designs: http://tracyscreationsstationary.shutterfly.com/ http://addresslabels4sale.shutterfly.com/ For more information contact: Tracy Sanders, tracylynnsanders38@yahoo.com

My name is Maxine. I’m the owner of www.penpalmagazine.blogspot.com and www.friendshipbooks.blogspot. com As the names suggest, the former focuses its attention on penpal newsletters and magazines, and the later - on FB’s - what are they, how to make them, how to swap them, etc. Follow the blogs to learn all the cool stuff that I have prepared for you!

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Penpals ‘nd Swappers magazine Penpals `nd Swappers is a new magazine for people who like to write letters and swapping, also for people who are looking for new penpals and swappers. In this magazine there are PenpalAdds and SwapperAdds, all around writing letters and swapping and many many more. How can I order it? Just send an e-mail to penpalsandswappers@ googlemail.com with your name and e-mail address. You get your magazine by e-mail. How to get my PenpalAdd/SwapperAdd in the magazine? Please, send your PenpalAdd or SwapperAdd via e-mail to: penpalsandswappers@googlemail.com. Please do not forget your address or e-mail address.

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Pen Pal Book C/O Kimberly Garigin 3726 Green Pond Rd Gray Court, SC 29645 One issue is $12 black or $18 color. Subscription for 4 issues is $20 black or $25 color. Its like buying two and getting two FREE. Comes out Jan. Apr. Jul. & Oct. I take Cash, checks & Money orders in my name. It is non-profit!! Pen Pal ads to be put in is FREE starting with Jan 2011. Business ads r 5 cents per word/symbols & count your name & address. Add $2 more for Canada or $4 more for Over seas. I use quick print to see the darker print its $4 per issue or $16 for 4 issues. No Inmates!!! For more information contact: Kimberly at vandine69@yahoo.com

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long lasting friendships.

GIFT SHoPPINg 101

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For her: What’s easier than that? Shoes, clothes, makeup – we all love it! For me – a woman can never have enough perfumes! So why not buy her something that comes with a nice package?

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For him: Tie, shirt buttons, wallet or a nice belt – remember men are practical and such a gift will be treasured. Moreover, we all know that most men (no offense guys) need woman’s touch to get to become the successful men that we know that they could be. In such a way appearance does matter. So help him throw out the old wallet, torn belts, outdated ties or shirt buttons and substitute them with fancy ones this season!

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For a pen pal: Gifts for pen pals are tricky. They come with the condition: to be able to send it through post. That means that ideally the present should be a something small so it fits in an envelope. Moreover, the gift should not be fragile, and it must withstand the shipping “processing”. That sounds like a big riddle, doesn’t it? You can be totally puzzled and may consider mailing just a postcard for the holidays. Since I love exchanging goodies with my closest pen-friends, here are some small ideas for gifts for your penpals: make-up samples, cheap jewelry (you don’t want to send valuables through the postal service as packages sometimes get lost), flower seeds, or even candy! Yip, you heard me right! Candy! Last year I received this package that I initially thought it was a swap. But it turned out to be a candy gift package. Needless to say I have a sweet tooth and I immediately investigated the goodies. I love Belgium chocolate! Yum-yummy! One time I even received a gift - cooking recipes neatly packaged in a little case – how cute they were! If you are not sure what exactly your penpal will love for his/her present, why don’t you try sending a bunch of postcards, or stationary, or sticker sheets?! You can never have enough of those! Or send a small notebook, pen or cute ribbons. Why not even fridge magnets, bookmarks, postcards or key-chains? The list goes on. For more creative ideas please check www.ppjunkie.com or www.janetstore.com (I believe that you can even ask them to deliver it straight to your penpal’s addy so you don’t have to pay for postage twice (once in shipping and once in getting your package to your penpal). Whatever you do – don’t forget – the holidays are here and you should enjoy them. So don’t let the shopping spree get to you. There’s always the one next year!

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Every one of us has a method to shop around without breaking the bank. A method that is proven over the years and effective. Budgeting for the holidays is something that we all do on a subconscious level. But do we have to sacrifice the quality of the products because of it? I believe that you can pick a really amazing gift for your coworkers, friends or family – without overcharging credit cards. A gift doesn’t need to be expensive to bring a smile to someone’s face. You only have to think about few things first. There are a lot of fresh and creative ideas of what to pick for any member of your family. Here I will give you some really rational and effective gift-solutions that will save you the headaches of shopping tours and of course debt issues.

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For children: Children love games. But why don’t you try to buy them something off eBay or Amazon this year instead of going through the fancy stores nearby you? Yes, even second hand (used) PC games will bring out BIG smiles to your kids. In the end, the kids really don’t care about packages, but what’s inside. So why pay for something that will get ripped off in a matter of seconds? You can totally go ahead buy a sheet of gift paper and wrap the present yourself. The kids wouldn’t know the difference.

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who swap n craft

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How to contact us? Log onto www.SandBook.net and click on the Magazine Button. The menu will drop and you will see the form to contact our column. Using the site as a medium your privacy will be protected as the mailing system and the SandbookNet team will forward your messages to us.

Funny thing that happened… by Miriam Gerst I do not use to put an ad in pen pals site, in order to avoid all the spam and junk mails that are sent, sometimes .. you know.. all the marriage proposals , or offering me the millions of dollars a rich uncle or parent left. But once I felt I had no choice. There was this pen pals’ site that I wanted to look into, and contact members of that site, who seemed to be interesting. I did it for some time until one day when the admin of the site ‘ wrote that I cannot enter the site unless I have there my own profile so I published there an ad with my own profile. For a while I could enter that site and look for potential new pen pals and all was going well. One day, when I entered the site, and wanted to contact a new potential pen pal. They said I can’t, because I have no ad with my own profile and as a matter of fact I had. So I cancelled my ad, and thought of forgetting all about that pen pals site. The only one mail that I received as a respond to my ad, was from an ex-pen pal A person with whom I corresponded a year before and he stopped writing It was funny that this was the only one response and that he did not recognize me from the ad!

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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FriendSWhoSwapNcrafT http://garoups.yahoo.com/group/Mamaskitchenrecipes http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreecycleTimeWasters

Do you have a problem or need advise? Help is on the way. No problem is too big or small. You can discuss you husband/boyfriend/significant other, friend, mother, child, neighbor, or anyone else if they are a problem and you need guidance how to handle them. You can ask confidentially with confidence. Your privacy will be respected. Viv is a licensed psychologist and Davina can give a young perspective and opinion.

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e are a group of Women aged 25 yrs and upwards, who have a passion for handmade crafts. I am the owner - Kim. The group was started in 2004. I live in the UK, with my partner and 14yr old daughter. I like to make Occasion Cards and occasionally Scrapbook. But I’ve always loved crafting of any kind from a very young age. I learnt to Crochet at age 8 yrs old with my Aunt. My first attempt at knitting was at 6 yrs old with my mother. Also at 6 yrs old in my Primary School, where I learnt to do straight stitch and x-stitch. I am able to try any kind of crafting and I learn extremely fast. E.g Needlecraft, Soft furnishings, wax pictures. Sugarcraft etc. The group of ladies vary with different talents, I have a lady who makes her own jewellery, one who does fancy knitting, another who is very good at making cards and is learning to sew with a sewing machine, A Lady who does alot of digi scrapbooking and takes beautiful photographs, a lady who has made scrapbooking pictures by hand and a lady who does crochet. There is alot of us who enjoy trying different ventures, and get alot of support from each other when things go wrong. I run regular competitions and look for people who will be very active in the group. I dont look on my group as being members, i look on them as being a partnership and team work, but we are dwindling down so small these days, its barely worth staying open. I am looking for new members who would like to join us with their crafts and are good swappers, who send goods from their ountry. I’d like to thank Sandbook.net for letting me advertise in their group and their magazine.

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RELATIONSHIP

PURSES AND OTHER GOODIES

MAYA’S

art

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Greeting cards – with color paper I use once again different color of cards and different color of paper. I cut paper into narrow strips and I roll on to make flowers, snowflakes... Once again I cut it with patterned scissors and paste it on a greeting card.

I usually want 20 Euro, but it depends on the design, the size and everything. I also have much cheaper purses on stock. The other goodies are all under 10 Euro. The exact prices are listed on my blog. I also accept American Dollar, no problem. For more information’s, the link to my blog and any other questions feel free to send me an email: manzalone@hotmail.de Melanie Anzalone on Facebook: facebook.com/melanie. schwinghammer

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I cut it with this patterned scissors and paste it on a greeting card and add various additives and so the greeting card is made and ready.

I also have other ones and I can guarantee a good high quality of all my materials. I think a purse or a cute key-chain is always a nice present to surprise a friend with. Some of the stuff I make is also pretty easy to mail because it’s small and not heavy. That’s perfect for a small unique present for your pen pal. You can see all pictures on my blog. If you want something individual, tell me in time, because it takes a while to make it. For my purses

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afterwards I realized that something more may be tested to see how I’m able to creativity and not long ago my desire for creativity has grown into making jewelry and wall paintings. Despite the fact that for all these things is most important time (which we don’t have it a lot) is for me most important that all the work which I do, I do with my heart and I enjoy it as much as possible and a pleasure to me is if people appreciate my work, so at the initiative of some people I decided to show my work on Facebook. All products are unique; hand designed and each one is different in its nature and suitable for different occasions and gifts.

them and make my own stencils. To make my purses I start and cut the fabrics the way I need them and sew them together. Most of the time I decorate them before I sew them, but it depends on the design. I have several fabrics, buttons, patches and other materials at home so that I can also make your individual purse. All purses have a lining too. I usually like to use the same fabric for it and I think that looks the best. I like to use thick and stretchy fabrics but

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My name is Maja and by nature I’m a very quiet person. Since I was a little girl I loved drawing and so I poured those ideas on paper and I sew and create impossible, which has over the year become only a memory. As a teenager I discovered different kind of things and even a little bit I haven’t been interested in creative work and sewing has gone into oblivion. To keep myself busy with something I started to collect stamps, postcards, banknotes and coins and also between that I realized that writing letters is also kind of fun, so all this I retains till today. Years have brought this and other changes, but I was most marked this year 2010 with one gap – losing my grandfather, so this gap I wanted to fill it with something which would give me new hope. In an effort to create something which would brighten my days I started to think to create greeting cards and idea comes to sew them. Always comes a time when someone celebrate birthday or are here holidays like Christmas and New Year, so I can make someone a card and donate it. Time has shown me that this work is“written me on skin“and from each made card I got a new hope for my work. Soon

Hey Everyone! I’m Meli, 28 years old from Germany and I like to sew and do other crafts. It’s one of my biggest hobbies besides writing letters. I’m sewing since I can image and also sell my stuff since a few years now. I sew purses and other little goodies like kawaii key-chains, small bags... My purses are all unique and made with high quality materials. To decorate them I put on buttons, patches and more. I also sometimes paint individual stuff on

Wall paintings For this I use a different dimension of images - from small to large formats. On a wooden surface, we drive pins, because after all this paint my Greeting cards – nails with the color (different stitched cards color) and when it is dry I For making greeting cards begin relate silk thread and I’m using different color weave it between the pins. of cards, different color of Color is optional, sometimes common threads and various only one, sometimes more. shiny threads, and different Depending on the design, colors of pearls depends on finally a picture of what the what motive I want to make, addition of embellishments. because later when I have a Find Maja’s Art at Facebook: design sewn onto the cardboard, http://on.fb.me/majasart 61

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I guess all of you want to send your pallies something really special on occasions such as birthdays, Christmas, wedding, the birth of their child, etc. Well, so do I. But I always used to think that it was getting more and more difficult and expensive to find the perfect card to come with the present. Because, let’s face it, the present isn’t really what counts most, it’s the attention, the thought you gave your dear pallie. I’ve always loved being creative (as well as with my letters, envelopes as with FBs), mixing colours, various types of 62

paper, fabrics, photos, stickers, etc. So why not use that to create my own cards? That’s how I got started with the cards around 4 years ago. And ever since then, my pallies, friends and family members seem to really appreciate them. Maybe that is because every single card is hand-made (with love) and unique. In fact, in all this time I’ve never made two cards that are identical. Well, and now I’m sitting here writing this article for the PenPal magazine…because Raia saw the pics of some of my cards on my Facebook profile and

thought it would be a nice idea to share my experience on that field with you and maybe give those of you who’d like to try some tips and inspiration. If you’re still hesitating, just try it, you’ll see, it’s really fun. I just love shopping for creative new cardmaking-materials, there’s so much you can use to make unique and special cards. For example different kinds of cardboard or thick paper, glitter, feathers, stickers, fabrics, ornaments, pearls, etc. It’s totally up to your creativity and taste. I usually shop at different online shops

or in catalogues and it’s always like Christmas and birthday together when the packs with the ordered goodies arrive at my place! There’s no “rule” as to how to make the cards. That depends on the situation and on the person. But there definitely should be no rush when being creative, that would show on the final product! How do I proceed? Well, I switch on the radio or one of my favourite CDs, make sure I have a cup of tea next to me, and just a relaxed atmosphere. And of course I put out all the card-making

materials that I think would match the theme of the card(s) I’m about to make, trying to see what colours match, what kinds of paper/ fabric would look good with a certain ornament or sticker. As I already said, there are no rules to creativity, everything’s allowed. I usually don’t have a big stock of cards but prefer to make them when a birthday etc comes up. That way the card I make is really made for the person it’s destined to and will match their tastes in terms of favourite colours etc. So the persons receiving those cards

from me will feel they were made especially for them, taking into consideration their personality. With the time, some of my friends and colleagues from work found out about that “hidden talent” of mine and use to purchase their cards for all kinds of occasions from me. They usually tell me >> I need a card for ... (sister, daughter, parents, etc.) on … (birthday, wedding, childbirth…)<< and leave the creative part totally up to me. That’s a big challenge but I really enjoy it and it’s a great feeling to know

that people appreciate my work. My biggest project so far was the wedding invitations for my dear friend Teresa W. from Prague (T., I know you’ll be reading that. Let me use this occasion once again to let you know how honoured I was you trusted me with this really important part of your wedding preparations!). When she told me she was getting married and asked me if I’d be willing to make the invitation cards, I didn’t hesitate a minute! What a wonderful way to contribute to a dear friend’s big day!? I was

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by Susanne Schulz Find author on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/susi.schulz1980 given total freedom of creativity, but of course I checked with the happy couple on the most important points such as colours, materials I wanted to use and the choice of the picture to be put on the cards. It was a lot of work but for sure a great satisfaction to see the final product! And even more when weeks later I got all the positive feedback on the cards. Teresa as well as some other friends now keep telling me to put up a website and create my own business **lol**. Well, I guess this article might be a good start. 63

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“It is an awesome magazine. I believe it will be even more attractive with time and experience and people’s opinions” Miriam

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Congratulations, Erika! You are taking home the postcards. Waiting for your snail mail address so that we can send it over.

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“Congratulations on the great magazine! It is great! Well done!” Beatriz

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For our competition, we used The Random Integer Generator at www.random.org putting the number of all participants 1 to 90 and hitting the random button we came up with number 25 who is Erika (dynia.pals(at)gmail.com) from our list. To make things even more clear we shot a video so that you can see how the whole process was done.

“I think his whole group/project is really fascinating, I’m happy to be a subscriber and more! Asking for feedback is such a great idea to improve and maintain member investment!” Gregory

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“I just wanna tell you that I was really looking forward to that first issue of the magazine, and I wasn’t disappointed, on the contrary, I really enjoyed reading it, with a nice cup of tea right next to me ;) and I loved the article about Teresa and me as the penpals of the month! I was so touched by what Teresa wrote about me and our wonderful friendship! ;)’” Susi

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With the release of issue 1 of this magazine, SandBook. Net Team made a Survey in order to evaluate the level of satisfaction with our magazine and the areas that you think that we need to improve on. The survey could be posted anonymously or with a name/email. We received 90 complete surveys, each of which was numbered automatically in regards to the time and date that it was submitted. To sweeten the deal and stimulate people to give us feedback, we announced an award that we’d give away to one lucky participant. The 13 beautiful cards are going to be shipped in a matter of days to reach their new owner. And since I love give-away-s and rewards, I will tell you all about our winner and how we selected that person. I have always wondered how people randomly select someone to win their “competitions”. It always seemed a bit suspicious for me that I never win anything!

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Survey results

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“I like the magazine” Deborah Brand

“I loved the magazine! I think is fantastic the idea of talking about topics of interest for all of us who are into penpalling!! You’ve done a GREAT JOB!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!” Erika Millares

“I love the magazine as it is :) You have done a great job :)” Sandra Lundberg 65

CULTURAL EVENT: ‘TIS THE SEASON by Gregory Lentz I hope everyone had a wonderful

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of Thanksgiving dinner. No matter what kind of food, homemade, store-bought, or eating out, the time spent with friends and family and being thankful is what it is all about. The day after Thanks-giving is commonly a very huge shopping day, important to the economy as Christmas and year-end

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Typically we roast or deep-fat-pressure cook-fry a gigantic turkey, stuffed with “stuffing” (made from breads and broth, celery, onions, spices... some recipes call for oysters and any other manner of ingredients), veggies too can be cooked within. Some folks have goose, duck, pheasant, or Cornish hens. Mashed potatoes, candied yams, deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, and sweet deserts like pumpkin p i e are the staple

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and though not everyone knows or celebrates Thanksgiving, I hope it was still a great day for all! Here in the States Thanksgiving is a holiday held on the last Thursday of November. This year it was on the 25th, my brother’s birthday, which happens to fall on Thanksgiving about every seven years! It is traditionally a day out of the year to spend with loved ones, to be appreciative for the things we do have, to give thanks for our blessings. It is a day of home cooked goodness and togetherness. Around the world a Thanksgiving holiday is celebrated as well; in Canada they celebrate a similar holiday on the 2nd Monday of October (which in the States is dedicated to Columbus for his

“discovering” the new world), in Leiden, Netherlands they too celebrate a Thanksgiving Day, and also in Grenada. Traditionally in the States the holiday is taught that the Pilgrims (those among the first to settle here from Europe) had fallen on some dire times, and the Native American tribes of the area came to help, showing them how to plant corn and better use of the land and hunting of wildlife for sustainability. When the crops were ready they all feasted and shared a day of thanks. Each year since it has been celebrated, and unfortunately for the Native Americans America prospered (thats a story for another day!). The day, like many others, has greatly been commercialized, but it still holds as an important day for family values.

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sales are approaching. It is called

Black Friday,

because if businesses are in the “red” (meaning they have yet to at least break even) the huge sales of the day (the whole weekend really) would push them out to the profit zone. Many stores open very early, even starting sales at 12:01 a.m. It can be insane, every year there are news stories of people trampling one another and getting into fights over products. However, there are some of the very best deals of the year to be had, and it is the official start of the Christmas shopping season. The Monday after Thanksgiving has come to be known as

Cyber Monday,

where all the best online shopping deals can be had that Monday. Times, they

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voices with classic Christmas jingles like: Holy Night Silent Night, Joy to the World, and It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas! The lights are always fantastic too, whether it is neighborhoods decked out, or the city; all the different colors in the evening is just magical. Many cities have a Festival of Lights,itwas always fun (and still is!) to go for a car ride at night as a child to see the lights in town and around the neighborhood. As a kid decorating the Christmas Tree was always a great treat. Over the years I have seen many

is close at hand as well, a time the world over where we say goodbye to the previous and look forward to new beginnings. It is pretty common to have a New Year’s Resolution, at least one thing in your life you would like to change or make for the better. People gather and party, count down the minutes and seconds at home with a small group of friends and families, or out

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who brought gifts, Christians and other give gifts for the appreciation of their friends and loved ones. No matter your faith, traditionally, like Thanksgiving, it’s a day and time of giving and spreading goodwill. Commonly here in the States and many other places, we have the Christmas Tree, Wreathes, Mistletoe, gift giving...and we cannot forget Santa Claus! Christmas has really evolved over the ages and is a blend of many different cultural elements. One thing I enjoy is the Caroling, small groups of singers who share their lovely

who magically and traditionally delivered gifts to good children while they slept, and a near identical fable and belief has been attributed to Greek and Byzantine folklore in regards to Basil of Caesarea. As a child I grew up believing in Santa Claus, I used to leave out milk and cookies for him (still do). Many stories have been createdaroundthisfigure,and hislikenessisprettydominant in the tradition of gift giving. Kids still write letters to Santa in the North Pole in hopes of getting what they desire for Christmas. Nowadays I just Twitter him! It amazes me how similar traditions are the world over, thoughwestillseeandactasif

NewYear’s Day

on the town in mass. I always enjoy the fireworks shows, and would one day love to see them from other countries as well! Some cultures celebrate New Year’s at different times of the year than most others who celebrate it as January 1st, so one could actually celebrate it more than once a year! No matter where in the world you are, what your beliefs are, or how you celebrate it, these holidays all have a shared concept of being thankful for who and what you have in life, and of new beginnings. We don’t have to wait for these special occasions of course, but they are a great reminder in our busy and hectic lives to stop and celebrate all life has to offer...

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is soon upon us,“a most wonderful time of the year!” I look forward to seeing family, and all the decorations and festivities around the neighborhood and town. I especially look forward to Eggnog, a favored Christmas time drink. It is a dairy product, can be homemade or bought under varying brands and quality. It has it’s roots in Middle Ages England, though it was for a long time a drink of the aristocracy and the wealthy, as dairy was an expensive prod-

uct and there was no refrigeration. Eggnog is commonly mixed with alcohol like bourbon, rum, or a flavored liquor. I prefer mine without, I love the taste of cinnamon and / or nutmeg, vanilla, and of course the egg! I’ve not tried to make it myself, but perhaps this year I shall. My favorite brand to buy is the Southern Comfort brand, which is non-alcoholic (though Southern Comfort is a popular American whiskey), it has a very good flavor! Christmas, or Mass of Christ, started out as a day to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and like the Three Wise men

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we all are so different...you can learnaboutothercelebrations on the web using a simple search of “Christmas around the world”. One of these days I hope to make a tradition of spending these holidays in other countries to immerse myself and appreciate other cultures.

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have changed...

more than just a faithful symbol, but a symbol for the season, of life and sharing. I have to admit I am a sucker for the tradition of Mistletoe, have to get my kisses! Mistletoe has been found in various cultures and lores, ranging from the Greeks and Romans, to the Scandinavians, and within various Christian celebrations of the season. It is commonly believed that those beneath the mistletoe are obliged to kiss one another! Is it really cheating to carry your own during this season? We cannot forget Santa Claus this time of year! Jolly ‘ol Saint Nick! He has his roots in the Dutch

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photo by Manuela Balocco

different kinds of trees, real and fake, green and white, with all manner of decorations. Some families like real traditional trees with homemade decorations, some collect specific themes or colors...My Grandma McDonald always put out a miniature village of houses, people, trees, and even a pond (made of a mirror) with ice-skaters! There are many different and wonderful traditions celebrated of this yearly occasion. TheTree has its roots from the days of Saint Boniface during a time when Christianity was spreadingandthepolytheistic beliefs were waning. Legend says Boniface cut down the Tree of Thor (a spruce or pine type tree which is typical today for Christmas Trees) to disprove the legitimacy of the old Norse Gods the Germanic tribes shared with their Norse neighbors, saying something totheeffectoflettingChristbe thecenterofyourhouseholds rather the old deities, and so the tree started to become a center piece of the growing faith. The more traditional of the use of the Christmas Tree came from Martin Luther, who used the older tree tradition as a means and replacementforthetraditional Catholic Nativity scene, as his Protestant Movement was splittingfromthemainstream CatholicChurch.Whetherone is Catholic, Protestant, or even Atheist, the tree has become

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Find PenPalling & Letters on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/penpallingandletters

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PenPalling and Letters is a blog dedicated to correspondence. You can find many interesting articles there together with polls, so feel free to voice out your opinion. There is also a section with interesting links that you can follow and learn more about the wonderful hobby of penpalling!

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Renpalling & Letters: www.penpallingandletters.blogspot.com

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terklaas” and how they celebrate it in the Netherlands. Sinterklaas is a traditional winter holiday in the Netherlands. But it is not only celebrated here, but also in Belgium, Aruba, Suriname and Netherlands Antilles. It is celebrated every 5th of December in the evening (Saint Nicholas’ eve). In Belgium it is celebrated on the 6th of December in the morning. The feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of Amsterdam, children and sailors. He is the basis of the mythical holiday figure of Santa Claus. Saint Nicholas is also celebrated in some regions of France (Nord-Pas de Calais, Alsace, Lorraine) as well as in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, in the town of Trieste and in the east of Friuli (Ita-

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myself I loved it! Everywhere I go I buy postcards: on holidays, daytrips and even during shopping! I always buy, at least, a card for myself and one to send out when I’m visiting a city. I am busy with a photobook of cards so that I can look back at all the places I’ve visited. Are you interested in these cute things related to penpalling as stationery, stickers, nice pens? Do you also collect other stuff? Yes, I love everything what has to do with letters! I have a weak for all kind of cute stationary, postcards, stickers and deco tape... I even use stickers on my postcards! I love if I receive special stamps on the postcards, but I don’t collect them. I collect addresses. I’m going to send everybody who mentioned their address on the postcard they have sent me a Christmas card! Let’s listen Deirdre now so she can tell us about “Sin-

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by PenPalling & Letters Deirdre is welcoming us in her land to tell us about a lovely tradition which occurs every 5th of December in her country. Those of you who come from this place already know where we are travelling today, but for those who still don’t know, let me tell you some characteristics about it. Deirdre’s homeland has a lot of land area gained to the sea, preserved by a system of polders and dikes. Most part of the country is very flat and 50% of its territory is lying less than one metre above sea level. This country is located in northwestern Europe and also has territories

in the Caribbean. Typical stereotypes when people think about this land are tulips, mills, wooden shoes, canals or cheese but be sure that the Netherlands are much more than these! Deirdre likes postcards very much and she presents her collection in her Blog: “Loved by you”. (editor’s note: http://loved-by you. blogspot.com ) Don’t forget to have a look at it to check Deirdre’s great postcard collection! Maybe she is interested in exchanging postcards with you! Hello Deirdre! Thanks for taking part in Travelling around the World sharing Cultural Heritage, Folklore and Background section and of course, welcome to Penpalling & Letters! Could you tell us where do you exactly come from in the Netherlands? Hello there! I’m living in

home base here and in 1688, during the Glorious Revolution, William III of Orange’s invasion fleet departed from the port. How did you discover penpalling, Deirdre? How long have you been into it? I’ve just started with penpalling about one month ago. I’ve sent out several introduction letters and waiting on response at the moment. I’m an active postcrosser for over a year but sometimes I miss the further contact with others. When I stumbled upon your website I started thinking about penpalling. So thanks to you I started with penpalling! :) How did you get to know Postcrossing? Have you been into it for a long time now? I was an active blogger and through other bloggers I came in contact with Postcrossing. Since the moment I registered

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Hellevoetsluis, which is a town in the province Zuid-Holland and has a population of 39,799 people. Hellevoetsluis is located on the Haringvliet and has always been connected with water. During the time of the United Provinces, Hellevoetsluis was the naval port of the Admiralty of de Maze (Rotterdam) and could accommodate an entire fleet within a special land-enclosed fortress with harbour and dockyard facilities, accessible through a canal. Thanks to its strategic situation the town grew from the beginning of the 17th century to be the homeport for the Dutch war fleet. In later years the port was fortified more and more and Hellevoetsluis therefore became a unique combination of fortified town and naval port. The Admirals Maarten Tromp, Michiel de Ruyter and Piet Heyn had their

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a celebration of the person, who has a Name Day - it does sound a lot like a Birthday, minus the cake and the candles or the presents. The tradition states that on Nikulden you will have to prepare a meal from fish, usually the meal is carp with nuts.

Nicholas day they mostly find candies in their shoes. However, if children are not good, they will receive a visit from “Krampus” who traditionally leaves a rod in their shoe, an instrument their parents will use to “discipline” them. But kids always get candies, something with a rod

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the Julian’s Calendar), but this is one of the traditions that are celebrated according to the new Gregorian’s Calender, which sets off the day to December 6th. Carp Typical Bulgarian dish In Bulgaria, the festivity is celebrated as a Name Day of all the people whose names are a derivate or close to the name Nicolay - Nicola, Neicho, Nicolina, Nicoleta, Kolio, Nicolas, etc... Names Days are popular among the Orthodox Christians. They are pretty much like

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ly). The modern tradition of Sinterklaas as a children’s feast was confirmed with the illustrated children’s book “Sint Nicolaas en zijn knecht” (Saint Nicholas and His Servant) written in 1850 by Jan Schenkman (1806–1863). He introduced the images of Sinterklaas delivering presents by the chimney, riding over the roofs of houses on a grey horse and arriving from Spain by steamboat. It is said that throughout the year Sinterklaas lives in Spain together with his Zwarte Piet, who accompanies Sinterklaas and helps him delivering the gifts. Every year in the middle of November they come with the “stoomboot” to the Netherlands. The entry of Sinterklaas occurs in a different Dutch city every year. In 2010 it will be in Harderwijk. Kids will gather together in Harderwijk and in front of the TV because the entry will be live on television! When Sinterklaas is in the Netherlands all the kids are allowed to put their shoe by the door or chimney. They have to sing a song and put a treat in the shoe for Sinterklaas or his horse. The next morning there will be a small treat in the shoe for the kids.This can be a small present or candy.TypicalSinterklaascandy are: kruidnoten, peppernoten, chocoladeletters, taai taai, schuimpjes and a whole lot more! Chocoladeletters, taataai and schuimpjes Kruidnoten When I was a child Sinterklaas always came after dinner, around 19:30. He knocked loudly on the door, I ran to the door and

The last story belonging to the Travelling around the World section took the attention of many people. Many got in touch to express how much they liked reading Deirdre’s words. Sandbook.Net Team is one of them. They even wrote a summary of how Saint Nicholas is celebrated in their homeland in the comments section of “Sinterklaas” post. After some exchange of thoughts and ideas we decided to work on a compilation about how Saint Nicholas is celebrated in some countries all over the world. And here it is the result in this new post. Following Deirdre’s celebration in the Netherlands, we have guests from Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany and Italy who wanted to share with all of us how Saint Nicholas is celebrated in their homelands. St. Nicholas was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus’ words to “sell what you own and give the money to the poor,” Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships. Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who persecuted Christians, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned. He died December 6, AD 343 in Myra and was buried in his cathedral church, where a unique relic, called manna, formed in his grave. This liquid substance, said to have healing powers, fostered the growth of devotion to Nicholas. The anniversary of his death became a day of celebration, St. Nicholas Day.

Croatia Marina comes from Croatia and she tells us that in her country, the evening before St. Nicholas day, kids put their boots or some other shoes on the window, so that St. Nicholas can bring them gifts. This way, in the morning of St.

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The Saint Nicholas tradition all over the world

Bulgaria SandbookNet tells us that the tradition and celebration on December 6th in Bulgaria are a derivate from the St. Nicholas, “Sinterklaas” in the Netherlands. Here, the day is also known as Nikulden (den means day when translated from Bulgarian, Nikul is a derivate of the name of the Saint). Actually, Nikulden is an Orthodox Christian festivity for St. Nicolay Mirlikiiski - who is a patron of the sailors, travelers and bankers. An interesting fact is that the festivity is actually on December 19th (according to

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found a big bag of presents. The whole evening I unwrapped presents and played with my new toys! So this is Sinterklaas for the Dutch! Have everybody who celebrate it a nice Sinterklaas or Saint Nicholas! And see you soon sharing traditions from your part of the world! Maybe you are the next one!

because maybe they weren’t so good but that’s only a joke in the end... Krampus (demon-like creature) & St. Nicholas. 73

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Find PenPalling & Letters on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/penpallingandletters

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Renpalling & Letters: www.penpallingandletters.blogspot.com

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Germany Sabine is from Germany and this is how she lives the celebration in this country: “Coming originally from East Germany, there the children put their fresh cleaned boots in front of the door the evening of 5th December. During the night, St. Nicholas is filling the boots with some sweets, small gift, etc... The main thing is that nobody sees St. Nicholas. In the morning of 6th December, the children run to the boots to find their gifts. Now I’m living near to the border to Switzerland, France and Austria, and here St. Nicholas is coming to visit the children in the kindergarten, it means he is visible here!

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FRANCE Samia is from France and this is the story she wanted to share with us: “I live in the north-east of France, near the border of Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. I think that St. Nicholas is more celebrated in this part of France (Alsace and Lorraine) than in any other. Generally, during the day, St. Nicholas and “Père Fouettard” visit schools. Then, in most cities, there’s a parade (more or less big, given the size of the city) and all along the way, St. Nicholas gives out candies, sweets and chocolate. The most famous celebrations of that day in my area take place in the city of Nancy. I don’t know if you’ll be able to watch this but here is the video report about the parade that took place last Saturday in Nancy”: http://bit.ly/StNicholas

Italy Our last guest is Sara, who comes from Italy. This is the story she shares with us about celebrations in Friuli: “Here, in Ligosullo, a tiny mountainous village situated in the North East of Italy, almost at the border with Austria, the arrival of “Saint Nicholas” is celebrated every year and all the kids wait for his arrival with particular impatience, too. “San Nicolò”, as we call it in Italy, is also our patron saint, that makes the celebration even more important in our small village because in the morning there’s a special Mass at the local Church, too, following our catholic traditions, and in the afternoon all families with children meet up in a room provided by the town council to wait for San Nicolò’s arrival. The kids get always very excited, of course, and usually the weeks before this day their mums and dads ask them to be good, otherwise San Nicolò won’t bring them any gifts! San Nicolò arrives with a big basket full of presents, that obviously all parents and grandparents have given to him before the celebration, being sure to write the name of the kid so that the old Saint doesn’t make mistakes. Ok, the saint is old and his sight is getting worse and worse, but mistakes like that aren’t accepted by children! He wears his typical outfit, a long dress, a sort of walking stick, his hat and has a very long beard. This year we celebrated it on Sunday 5th December, as being a Sunday all children weren’t at school or kindergarten, and this way we could also have a lovely time afterwards, drinking hot chocolate some guys from our town had prepared for everyone and eating “pandoro” and “panettone”, which are typical Italian Christmas season cakes”.

world traveller: North pole

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Interviewing santa

A house like no other stands before us, a wooden version of the gingerbread house. It stretches away into the clearing and, no doubt, far beyond it. Chimney pots erupt from the roof, spewing smoke gently into the sky. The house is ablaze with light, swaying lamps hanging above doors as candles flicker gently in curtained windows. A door is thrown open and a woman, dressed all in fur lined red, gestures to us and calls us in from the cold. Eagerly we follow her and find ourself plunged into a deliciously warm house. Inside is as beautiful as the outside, all wood with ledges and bannisters draped with coils of fir branches. Smells drift through the house, smells of candles and gingerbread and hot coffee. If we lean our heads to one side, we think we can hear the sound of bells ringing... 77

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From Edinburgh, we are whisked away by helicopter through a sky that grows ever darker. We have no idea where we land because all we can see is snow. As far as the eye can see, there is just drift after drift of snow sparkling gently between a full, winter moon. Wrapped in blankets and shawls, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re bundled into an off road vehicle which proceeds to take off at a frightening speed. But the men who are driving, men who are covered from head to foot in thick, black clothing, appear to know what they are doing. Up hills and down through ravines we go, plummeting through a frighteningly dark forest before we emerge the other side, thankfully unscathed and at our location.

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s the song says, Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the most wonderful time of the year and, to celebrate, we have lined up a special interview. But, in order to get to our interviewee, we had to make a journey of epic proportions, a journey which saw us first fly to Edinburgh, in Scotland...

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and faster. Back in my father’s day, they were heavy wooden things and we’d have to change the reindeer every few thousand miles. Poor things couldn’t keep up so we had several different teams located at strategic points around the globe. As soon as one team started to get tired, we’d land and hook up another. Of course, we always had to have one with a red nose to guide us. It wouldn’t be Christmas without dear old Rudolph! He started off every Christmas sleigh run but come Barcelona and he and the rest of the gang would be getting a good old rest in the sun for a week or two. These days the sleigh is built from ultralight fibreglass and we only need one team of reindeer. Rudolph and the boys can clear the globe in a matter of hours these days! We also get a lot of help from NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command). They’ve fitted the sleigh with GPS and have set cameras and radar around the globe so that you younguns at home can help track us around the globe. It’s a great help because, if we get into trouble, you can help NORAD scramble fighter jets to come and

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quickly presses a finger to Mrs Claus’s lips. “Shush! Don’t give it all away!” Once more he looks to us, squeezing his wife into a tight hug as he smiles beneath his beard. “We’ve been together a long time. Longer than either of us can remember.” Pushing herself from his lap, Mrs Claus gives him a playful swipe as she walks back from where she came. “I can remember well enough, Mr Claus. Just because your mind is beginning to go doesn’t mean mine is! I won’t remind you in case it affects certain parts of you!” She gave us a cheeky wink. “Would you younguns care for a top of your drinks?” Still feeling the effects of the cold ride to the Arctic, we politely accept. SANDBOOK: Santa, how do you prepare yourself for the biggest night of the year? SANTA: How do you mean? Going to a gym and all of that? Oh no, we don’t go to the gym! I’ve got Mrs Claus for that! No, in a secret location not far from here, we have a special testing ground. It’s there that we test the sleigh and keep the reindeer all in shape. We’re constantly trying to modify the sleigh, make it lighter

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SANTA: <laughs heartily> Don’t you younguns worry yourself. It’s good to have you around. I don’t get to talk to many of you. By the time I see you, you’re all asleep, tucked up and dreaming. You just ask your questions and I’ll answer them as best I can. SANDBOOK: So, Santa, exactly how long have you been doing this job? Santa looks at us, dark eyes twinkling mischievously as he touches his nose. SANTA: Now that would be telling, wouldn’t it? Besides, I don’t want Mrs Claus knowing exactly how old I am. She’ll start talking about pensions and retirement homes and I’ll be damned if I’m going into one of those places! There’s life in this old boy yet! And boy, does Mrs Claus like it! SANDBOOK: Talking of Mrs Claus, how long have you been married? For a moment, our jolly fat man pauses, one finger poised over the screen on his knee as

he appears to try and remember. Leaning over his shoulder, he calls towards an open door, “MA! MA CLAUS!” The red clad Mrs Claus bustles back into the room, wiping her hands on her stripy apron as she does. Raising an eyebrow, she asks, “What in heaven’s name are you bellowing about?” Santa’s face is slightly ashen, almost embarrassed as he looks to his wife. “How long have we been together?” His wife’s smile is as big and as bright as his as she picks up the small computer from his lap and lowers her slender frame to his knee. Looping an arm around his wide shoulder she blesses us with her smile, crystal blue eyes twinkling from beneath a fringe of fluffy white hair. “His memory is terrible when it comes to us,” she chuckles. “We got together when we were nippers, remember? You were working for your father, learning your trade, and I was working across the road in the bakery. You were about 19 and I was 18.” Her blue eyes frost over, filled with a look of dreaming. “I remember it like it was yesterday. We got married a year later. Must be about, oh, tw-” Raising a hand, Santa

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his iPad once more, Kris Kringle apologies and promises us that we will have his full attention. SANDBOOK: Thank you for giving us your time, Father Christmas. We understand that it’s a busy time of the year and we thank you for your time.

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fur lined seats before a huge roaring fire, St. Nick offers us metal steins of steaming coffee as Mrs Claus, the smiling woman who brought us in, brings us plates of cookies and cakes. It is as if everyone’s idea of a perfect Christmas is happening right here before us. Picking up

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gadgets to one side and stands to greet us. There are no handshakes here, just deep laughter and welcoming bear hugs. He doesn’t disappoint and is dressed in his red suit, his hat perched cheekily on his head, fluffy beard tickling us as he holds us tight. Gesturing to

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Arriving in a large, wood panelled room, we are greeted by the man himself. Gone is the roll of parchment and the quill pen, to be replaced by an iPad and smart phone. Sparkling eyes and a jolly smile greet us as the man known to the world as Santa Claus places his

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warm room. The fire is beginning to burn low and we feel ourselves yawn “It’s time to get you younguns on your way home,” Santa says as he guides us through the gargantuan house. Outside, a sleigh, loaded with furs and blankets and warming drinks, is waiting. Reindeer are hitched up to it and Santa smiles as he helps us up. “Obviously it’s not the one we use for Christmas, but you’ll have a safe ride home in it all the same.” An elf climbs up and collects the reins. A moment before we begin our journey back through the snow and ice and thick forest, Santa winks, his bushy eyebrow dipping with his eye. “Don’t forget, I’m watching! You be good now and I’ll see you on Christmas Eve!” With that, the sleigh races into the darkness and through the trees, the rails easing through the snow. As we come out onto a snow filled plain, the elf gives another shake of the reins and the reindeer pull us from the ground and into the crisp, cloudless sky.

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wishlists are loaded onto a huge computer mainframe. I’m telling you, these computers have taken a lot of work out of figuring who’s naughty and who’s nice! Once upon a time, we had cupboards and cupboard of little index cards and we had to keep updating them whenever we got new information! A lot of the time, the naughty people weren’t actually naughty and it was just malicious friends writing to say they were! In this day and age of CCTV, I can keep an eye on everyone all of the time. Don’t be fooled by the government saying they’re there for your safety; they’re there so Santa knows what you’re up to! And I keep every letter! Every letter I’ve ever received is stored in

asking questions for school projects, while some just want to know how our whole business works. Obviously I can’t tell them everything because that would just spoil it all! But I’ll let you younguns in on a little secret; we also help Cupid, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and the Great Pumpkin. All of their mail comes via our special post office. Yes, it’s not always for me, but it’s a joy to get these letters, cards and wishlists to their correct destination. <laughs as he pats his stomach> How do you think I stay this fat! It’s not just from the mince pies, cookies, milk and sherry all you children leave out! SANDBOOK: Okay, one last question and we’ll leave you to get ready for Christmas Eve. Do you personally reply to all the letters you receive? SANTA: <Smiles> Of course I do! It would be impolite not to! And these days, with emails and mobile phone, it’s all a lot easier. <Holds up his right hand and rotates his right hand> Doesn’t hurt my wrist so much! Somewhere in the room, a clock strikes the hour, the deep bell ringing through the

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in the North Pole. There the elves read them and sort them into naughty and nice boxes before they pass them onto me. Of course, like any business, the staff don’t always get it right and, more often than not, I have to change which box the letters are in! On average I get about 30 boxes of letters a day throughout November and the first weeks of December. When the letters have been sorted, the boxes are loaded onto a little underground railway. There’s only two stations; the post office and here. The station is in another part of the house and, once the little train arrives, the elves unload the boxes and bring them to me in my office. I go through them one at a time and all of the Christmas

kidding?! It costs nothing to send you a letter?! SANTA: <smiles> Absolutely nothing! That’s the magic of Christmas, you see. At each sorting office, in each town around the globe, we have an elf stationed. It’s their job to collect up all the letters to me and load them into boxes. These boxes are then loaded onto a network of super-secret underground trains which link all the post offices of the world with my post office. As long as Santa Claus, or any version of my name, is written on the envelope, the letter will get to me. That’s the Santa Claus promise! SANDBOOK: What about envelopes that have badly written addresses on them? How do you know where to take the gifts to? The smile never leaves Santa’s face as he replies:

Back in the days before all this new fangled technology came along, we had specially trained teams of elves. They, the ultra secret CBE (Code Breaking Elves) went and trained at government code breaking agencies. There they learned how to read all kinds of handwriting and symbols. We still have those teams of elves but we also use computers as well. We put the envelope into a scanner and the computer reads it. It gives us its version of the address. The Code Breaking Elves then look at it and if what they see matches with the computer then we’re good to go. However, some still take longer than others to decipher but never fear; the gifts always get through! SANDBOOK: And what about after Christmas? Do you get lonely not getting any mail? SANTA: <Laughs> Oh no! We’re always busy here! And I’m always getting mail. From January through to March, I get a lot of thank you letters from happy children. From March through to the beginning of November I tend to get a lot of letters asking questions. Some are

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give us a hand to get the last of the presents on their way. Thank goodness we’ve never had to rely too heavily on their kindness, touch wood! SANDBOOK: On average, how many letters do you get from children? SANTA: That would be millions. A lot of children have moved with the times, as I’ve had to. <grins and holds up his iPad and iPhone> But they’re also required to send me a paper letter. I still like getting the letters. It’s always nice to get sackfuls of letters, all of them written in different pens and on different papers. A lot of children decorate them as well. I do read them all but I have a special team of elves that help me. Every letter comes to a special post office here

a big bunker below the North Pole. In the warmer months I like to take a trip down there and read through the letters from years gone by. SANDBOOK: How does someone post a letter to you? SANTA: Oh, there are many different ways. A lot of countries have set up special postal addresses so that children can send me letters. If you go to that Wikipedia website and type in “Letters to Santa” it will give you a number of different postal addresses. Other countries have other customs. Before it became common to post the letters to me, children in Great Britain used to burn the letters on the fire. What a waste, I say! In Mexico and other Latin American countries, the children not only send me a letter through the post but also send me one attached to a small helium balloon. Well, better to be safe than sorry I say! If the mail doesn’t work at least the balloon will! SANDBOOK: And what about postage? How much does it cost? SANTA: Nothing! Absolutely nothing! SANDBOOK: You’re

CHRISTmas in UNITED KINGDOM

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The Queen’s Speech Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the Queen’s Speech! The tradition began in 1932 when King George V broadcast a message via the radio. The first televised speech was in 1957 and, every Christmas day, a new message is broadcast, now via TV, radio and the internet. The speech always touches on the events of the year that is coming to a close and looks into the year that is about to dawn. In the mid-afternoon of Christmas Day, millions of people sit down and prepare to listen to her message, armed with glasses of sherry and plates of mince pies. Which leads us on to...

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Mulled Wine Around Christmas time, the smell of cinnamon, cloves, orange and nutmeg fills many homes. Mulled wine has become a drink that a lot of people enjoy, its smells warming homes and bodies as it heats up in a pan on the cooker. Nowadays you can buy teabags of spices which you just drop into the wine or bottles of preprepared wine which you heat on the hob. But there are still many people who like to make it fresh. For anyone who would like to make mulled wine, here is a recipe for you to try:

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Midnight Service In the late hours of Christmas Eve, sometime before midnight, people arrive at candlelit churches. Like millions around the world, many people enjoy attending a midnight service. Bathed in the light of hundreds of flickering candles, they sing traditional carols and listen to the story of the birth of Christ before taking communion. Even for those who aren’t religious, the Christmas midnight service still holds a special appeal.

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Frost lies on the ground, glittering in the light of candles and twinkling lights. There is snow in the air, flakes shimmering downwards as you walk through the town on Christmas Eve. Around you people sing, their songs flowing from the open doorways of pubs and from the windows of the buildings around you. Nearby the sound of bells begins to fill the air, calling late night revellers to midnight church services. In your eyes and in your heart sparkles the joy and happiness of the Christmas season. Welcome to Christmas in England...

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by Rach Gee

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Ingredients 1 bottle red wine 60g/2oz demerara sugar 1 cinnamon stick grated nutmeg 1 orange, halved 1 dried bay leaf 60ml/2fl oz sloe or damson gin (optional) Prepar ation Method Put the wine in a saucepan with the orange, sugar, bayleaf and the spices. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Taste to see if you want the wine sweeter, and add more sugar to taste. Off the heat, stir in the sloe or damson gin if you are using it. Strain into heatproof glasses and serve at once. Mince Pies While we’re on the subject of food, we may as well talk about mince pies. Millions of these little pies are eaten over the Christmas period with the shops stocking them from early October. Mince pies are made from shortcrust pastry and filled with mincemeat and topped with a pastry top. Modern mince pies don’t contain any meat and the mincemeat is made from dried fruit. They’re best served 84

warm and topped with cream or brandy butter. If you would like to make mince pies, just follow this recipe. For this recipe you will need 2 non-stick patty tins, 1 x 8cm/3in cutter and 1 x 6cm/21/2in cutter.

Remove the tins and leave to cool and then dredge with a little more sugar. While nearly all store brought mincemeat is made with vegetable suet, if you’re a vegetarian is may be worth checking the jar to make sure. You can Ingredients also make your own 1 batch sweet shortcrust mincemeat and pastry; pastry there are plenty of 450g/1lb mincemeat recipes on the internet. icing or caster sugar, for Turkey dusting And the last in our list of food to the roast turkey! P r e p a r a t i o n Christmas wouldn’t be method Christmas without roast Preheat oven to turkey! Basted with 200C/400F/Gas 6. Roll out butter and stuffed with the prepared pastry on a an apple or onion in lightly floured surface to the cavity and sausage about 3mm/1/8in thick. meat in the neck, the Cut out 18 rounds with Christmas turkey is the large cutter and roll served with roasted out again if necessary vegetables and lashings to cut out 18 lids with of gravy and cranberry smaller cutter. Line the sauce. patty tins with the larger rounds. Lights on Houses Fill the pastry to about Should you find yourself half their depth with walking the streets mincemeat taking care of a English town at not to overfill. Dampen Christmas you may find the edges with a little yourself face to face water and cover with with houses draped in the pastry lids. Seal the lights. In recent years, it edges well. has become more and Brush the tops with more popular for people water and dredge with to decorate their houses sugar. Make two small and some people take cuts in the top of each it as far as they can! pie. Bake for 15-minutes It’s not unusual to see or until golden brown. entire nativity scenes

on gardens, all lit up for the world to see and, next to it, an entire herd of nodding, glittering reindeer! They certainly brighten up the dark, cold winter nights and, whether you agree with what people have put up or not, they are always a joy to see. Some people who light up their houses ask for donations which are then passed on to charities. Putting lights on houses at Christmas was parodied in a 2004 TV series called Christmas Lights. About six weeks before Christmas, towns across the country switch on the lights that decorate the shops and streets. Most of the time, the lights will be turned on by a celebrity in an official turning on ceremony. Sometimes the celebrities are well known, sometimes they are local community heroes. The towns are filled with fairground rides and stalls, with shops open late, their windows decorated for the season and blaring out Christmas music. Hot drinks and sweets are served. The most famous lights are those along Oxford Street in London. Christmas Number 1 A few years ago, on the

Sunday before Christmas, people would gather around their televisions and radios to listen to the Top 40 countdown and find out which song would be the official number 1 song for Christmas. The songs were always fun, catchy and, more often than not, hated by everyone! Whether it was Cliff Richard singing about the joys of Christmas or Slade wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, the number 1 at Christmas has been with us 1952. However, in recent years, the number 1 spot was always dominated by whoever at won The X Factor. It seemed that the fun of waiting for the announcement of the top song had gone. That was until 2009 when a grassroots campaign got Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing in the Name” to number 1. It may not have been the most festive song but damn if it didn’t put the fun back into the race for that esteemed spot! Another campaign is running this year, albeit with the fun, catchy and downright annoying songs we’re used to! Of course, the likes of Cliff Richard, Slade, The Pogues, Boney M and Band Aid are now part of the Christmas music scenery, blaring from shops, radios and

TV’s around the country. TV Adverts Every year, without fail, the businesses go crazy selling their wares and compete with each other for who can put out the biggest, brightest and craziest adverts. Marks and Spencer and John Lewis always come out on top, each year pitting themselves against each other with bigger and bolder advertising campaigns. For several years, Marks and Spencer used the slogan “This is not just Christmas food, this is M&S Christmas food”, which went onto be parodied by anyone with access to a computer and a microphone! One of my personal favourites was put out by Debenhams in 2006 (You Tube search: Debenhams Xmas Advert 2006). If you’d like to see some of our Christmas adverts, go to You Tube and search for: Marks and Spencer Christmas Advert John Lewis Christmas Advert And that, in a nutshell so to speak, is a small taste of Christmas here in England. Thank you for reading and I’d like to take this opportunity to with you all a happy and peaceful Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

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I was the only one who had faith that she would come back to me, and she did. Over the years, our Christmas’s just get better for me and I am happy to share her with my children as she gives them special cards and personal ornaments also. When my kids were just babies, I used to write them letters telling them how special they are to me and how much they have grown, along with the funny things they did or learned. Now my oldest, Elizabeth, has fallen into my footsteps and loves writing. She has her own journal and writes letters to her friends. My middle child, Haylee, is 4 and she can write a few words and letters, and my youngest, Serena, is 2, she is the funniest child I have. She doesn’t know how to write yet but can almost carry a conversation with you, only small words of course. I also journal. About my day, about how I feel, and about whatever comes to mind mostly. When I am finished writing an entry, I feel relieved that I was able to write about what was bothering me and about my day. Do any of you journal? Is there a special place you

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until Christmas day, we would make ornaments for our Christmas tree that we would decorate together with ornaments, candy canes, tinsel in all colors, popcorn on a string all around the tree, ornaments made out of dough and painted, paper crafts, etc. Every year was a different project for us to complete. We decorated the house inside and outside and it was just wonderful. We always made jello salad (jello and whip cream and fruit mixed together) and fudge candy. That was our special treats. Sometimes I would sneak some of the candy while it was hardening in the fridge. One thing that is something she does for me every year is she buys me a special Christmas card. Not one of those that come in a package of 20 or so that all look alike, but a special one that says a beautiful poem or song lyric, then she writes how she feels about me and always makes me cry, in a good way. I am lucky to still have her in my life after a fatal car accident 8 years ago that had ran over her whole body. I was 17 and even though she was in a coma for two months,

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Happy Holidays Everyone!

little gifts also? I find myself writing a long letter and mailing it with a small gift of a letterset or a pack of stickers along with the Christmas Card. Depending on the person of course. December is very special for me. Not only is it when my birthday is (December 7th), but it also marks Christmas that as a child I didn’t understand the value of Christmas until I had my own kids. I am an only child so basically what I wanted for Christmas I got, so in a way you can say I was spoiled. The first time my kids were able to appreciate Christmas was last year. My oldest was age 5, my middle child was age 3, and my youngest was age 1 (she doesn’t understand yet) but we had bought them all the same thing so they wouldn’t fight. A baby-doll. They all loved them and just played and slept with them every night. My nanna always made Christmas special for me. As a kid we would wake up on Christmas morning and watch the parade on TV and she would make me my favorite breakfast and hot chocolate. Then we would open presents and then leave and go visit family. Preparing up

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“ It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere we go...”

This is my favorite time of year. The tree leaves start changing color and the weather starts to change as well. Somehow the people become a little nicer. Where I live it doesn’t snow. I wish it did. It just rains and is sunny. But, I would take snow any day over rain. Something about the snow that is so magical and so beautiful when it falls to the ground. Does it snow where you live? One day I hope to travel to another country and see the beautiful snow and the treetops that it falls on. I would love to see pictures of your house and the snow around it. What are some of the best parts of this holiday season you love the most? I would love to know your childhood experiences and funny stories too. Share a recipe or two with me, I will do the same. You can always email it to me. LOL. One thing about penpalling is I get to experience different types of stories from other people from all over the world and it is amazing to me. What does everyone do for the holidays? Do you send out Christmas cards to your penpal’s and family? Do you send

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SAMANTHA’S THOUGHTS

RECIPES

SOUP BENEFITS “Soup makes a hot, filling snack or meal that offers a variety of health benefits. The ingredients and possible combinations are virtually limitless. The healthiest soups are homemade and include fresh, low-fat ingredients such as vegetables and beans and a minimum amount of salt. Some benefits of eating soup are it can be nutritious, providing a full serving of vegetables in one bowl, and may offer weight-management benefits as it is generally low in calories.” Read more: http://bit.ly/soupbenifits

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iNGREDIENTS 2 table spoons margarine 2 medium onions 2 potatoes peeled 1 small lettuce 1 kohlrabi, peeled 2 table spoons tomato paste 2 vegetable stock cubes 1 kib spinach ¼ medium cabbage ¼ Cauliflower 1 small endive A handful of fresh peas A handful of fresh parsley 1 stick celery Salt and pepper

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MALTESE RECIPE, COURTESY OF Melanie Pace Serves 6-8

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WIDOWS SOUP

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This section will view recipes send by you, our readers. Soon we will be able to cook some really ineresting and very diverse dishes coming from all the corners of the world.

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REcipes

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The time they show they care and listen and respond to a problem you had with what they feel could help. Anyways, this year for my birthday I want a Hello Kitty or Twilight Saga birthday card with some stickers. Easy enough right? So, if anyone who wants to send me a card, please contact me. You don’t have to send me anything. But, if you want to then you know how to contact me. Well, I wish everyone a very Happy Holiday’s and have fun. Love Always, Samantha Stroy itsapenpalworld@gmail. com

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limited edition pen, and a postcard from her country. I was so happy. Sadly, we have lost touch but I would love to find her one day. So, what was the best gift or gifts a pen pal of yours have sent you for Christmas? How long does it take to get to know someone well enough to stop calling them your pen pal and refer to them as a friend? For me, I don’t take that word lightly. In order to become a friend, the letters have to continue more then just your favorite color or TV show, but talk about personal daily life and want and give advice.

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mail and wants her own. LOL. So, I would like to know how many people have kids or brothers and sisters, or nieces and nephews that want to write to children their age?(With parent’s permission of course). Those who are in the military and have children that would like to write other children and send stickers and coloring pages, postcards and things we do through the mail? Do you think it is a good idea? Please get back to me and let me know. My information is at the bottom of this article. What does Christmas mean to you? What are some stories you have that involve penpalling that you would like to share? One year, this pen pal I had in Japan knew I was obsessed with Hello Kitty (I still am but not so much. lol), she sent me a very nice letter and some items wrapped up in Hello Kitty wrapping paper. Come Christmas day, I go to open them and to my surprise the presents were so amazing. If I remember correctly, one was a letterset (a Japanese only edition), a Backstreet Boys fan club magazine and membership card (yes, I loved them at the time), a HK fan, a

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like to journal or write to your pen pals? I love tea and coffee, so you will usually find me writing with a cup of tea or coffee by my side. There’s something about the aroma that makes me concentrate more and feel more comfortable. My letters tend to be long. Even my introduction letters have become longer now that I have been writing them for more then a decade. That makes me sound old, doesn’t it? I am turning 27 thisyear.Iamthankfulforthe things I have accomplished and have way more things that I want to accomplish in my life also. I look at this as another stepping stone in my life that I will overcome and be proud. Writing for me allows me to express myself in ways I don’t think I normally could. My friends know about my penpalling but don’t understand how I can write a complete stranger from across the world or even right here in the USA. With me, I can sit down and write letters that talk about my life, while I could never expect my friends to understand why. Does your friends know you pen pal? What do they think about it? My daughter is at the age to where she wants penpal’s too. She sees me receive

Method: Clean and prepare all the vegetables. Chop them roughly. Melt the margarine and add all the vegetables and cook them together, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are wilted (about 5mins). Add salt and pepper and the tomatoes paste (puree), stock cubes and enough water to cover. Simmer gentle with the lid of the saucepan over a low heat for at least 45mins until all vegetables are well cooked. Before serving this soup poach an egg per person in the soup together with the goat cheese or cottage cheese or ricotta. Serve with shredded parmesan.

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language is one of the most rewarding things you can learn. p.s. I am starting Chinese this year (thank god it’s related to my work, we’ll see how it goes). Make an international trip And I am not talking about a trip across the boarder, but a major trip that you always wanted to do and kept putting it off until today. And right now is the best time to

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that the learning is more individually planned for you? Or lessons at a language school where you will meet new people who will learn the same language? What motivates you? Keep reminding yourself what is your goal – to speak with your foreign friend/to watch movies in the original language/ to travel to the country where the language is spoken… A new

on yourself to keep your promises) or even make a bet with your friend that you will stop. Give yourself treats for each week of keeping the resolution (e.g. buy yourself something nice like new stationeries instead of a packet of cigarettes). Begin working on your dream This one of all is the most important. What is your dream? Sometimes it’s even a challenge to articulate it. But I am sure everyone has a dream. You want to open a café one day? You want to have a jazz band? You want to publish a book? Travel around the world or start a small business? Become a ski instructor in Colorado? Meet your idol? Buy a house? Own a Ferrari? Become a pilot? … Start working on your dream, identify what you need to do to get where you want to be, outline the steps and begin climbing that high mountain ahead of you. Of course this is not a year’s plan…but in the end of 2011 you will look back and you will see that a big part of your journey is behind you already. So take the first step. Dreams are the most powerful source of energy. Energize yourself!

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Start dancing classes …or tai chi/acting/ painting/playing instrument/boxing/yoga classes. Of course, you love dancing! So why not start the classes. Look them up online, get all the info about costs and timings…and most importantly, go to the first one! You will see how great it feels. Maybe get a friend to go with

you at first. But one thing is for sure: 2011 will treat you better - you will do something for your body as well as for your soul. Learn a new language Ok, this may not be as easy as dancing…but still. Maybe you always wanted to learn French to understand French movies. So why not starting now? Think of what is the best way for you to learn – do you prefer a private teacher so

(chips, candies...). Throw a food-party where each of your friends will bring some healthy meal. And of course, healthy lifestyle includes sports as well. If you stretch your body every day for 10 minutes, you are already doing a great deal for yourself! Keep in touch with friends Maybe you (like me) have plenty of friends who you have met in different places and situations - lots of them are on facebook, some are penpals, some are e-mail pals and some you meet personally. In this rushed world, it’s easy to fall out of touch, so take time to be in contact with those you don’t want to lose from your life. Make a rule for yourself (mine is: get in touch with 3 friends a day – and I don’t mean the same 3 friends, but those that I have not heard from or written to for a long time). A simple sms or a few lines in email are enough to let them know that you think about them. Quit bad habits From smoking to biting your nails, it’s time to stop it (as every year, of course).  Make a new strategy, tell your family and friends about it (to put a bit more pressure

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by Teresa Wodehouse

regular movie nights for friends and family! Do it for yourself and find time for what you enjoy. Meet (new) people Maybe you feel a bit alone, maybe you are single and after a painful breakup, or you’re on maternity leave and your friends are all too busy… well, there are plenty of people out there that would love to spend time with you doing fun stuff you enjoy. Sometimes you might have to push yourself to go out but if you know your time ends up being a blast, then go do it. Join language classes, aerobics classes (and they do have also those with babysitting options!), or sports team. Eat healthy Alright, you love chocolate, gingerbread, ice cream and gummy bears. Not to say you have to stop all that. But if you want to start putting something more nutritious on your table, there are wonderful recipes that will make your taste-buds tingle. Enjoy cooking; try various international cuisines, exchange recipes with your friends and penpals! After all, the unhealthiest food tends to be the fried and fatty in packages that you typically do not cook but eat without even knowing you are eating

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As the year is coming to an end and we are getting ready to welcome the New Year 2011, many of us are (again as every year) thinking of all the New Year’s resolutions. Usually, these resolutions do not survive past February, let’s be open about it. But why give up? Rather brings these dreams to life, make a plan and stick to it. It will only make us feel good in the end of the year. This article was written as a bunch of resolution ideas – and its best outcome may be if you take some of it as an inspiration for your plans for 2011.

do it (or it is never the best time and you’ll keep postponing the idea). Plan, buy a map, look up a flight ticket, count costs, talk to the people who have done a similar trip, save up… and GO! You will never regret, and your 2011 will be more exciting and adventurous! Read more This one has been on my list since I finished the university (part of my studies was literature). It is hard to find time to read, especially when you are tired after work every evening, and weekends are so short. So the key is to find the time to read. Make it a ritual – read half an hour before you go to sleep. Or if you commute to work/school, read on the bus. Write a list of books you are dying to read and tick them off when you finish them. Don’t start with “War and Peace” if you don’t want to spend so much time on reading. Why not short stories or shorter novels for a start? Entertain yourself Be it theater, opera or movies, if you love this kind of entertainment, you definitely should spend more time on it. Buy tickets in advance, get a season-pass or what more – organize

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2011 INSPIRATIONS

WINTER HOLIDAY TRADITIONS:

discussions

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Mulie Drammeh For me in my country call the smiling coast of Africa that’s the gambia. Is now a tradition seeing both the Muslims and Christian celebrating christmas together which is amazing.

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Maggie Nicholson We don’t really have any traditions like that for Christmas, but we do have 1st footing for new year...

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Mirjan Dekker New Year’s dive. On January 1st ‘crazy’ people are going to dive in the sea with their bathing suits on. While it is winter and when it’s winter here it’s freezing cold! More info: www.denhaag.nl/en/residents/to/New-Years-Dive-1.htm

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Amy Genberg Halloween in the US where children go house to house in costume to trick or treat for candy.

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Renee Aho Building outhouses on skis and racing them through the snow.

Deirdre Langelaar Sinterklaas! 5 December we celebrate Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas is a traditional Winter holiday figure in the Netherlands, Belgium, Aruba, Suriname and Netherlands Antilles; he is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas’ eve (5 December) or, ...in Belgium, on the morning of 6 December. The feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of Amsterdam, children and sailors. He is the basis of the mythical holiday figure of Santa Claus in the United States. Sinterklaas is his usual name. The more formal name is Sint Nicolaas or Sint Nikolaas. He is also known as Goedheiligman or simply Sint. The Dutch never write Sinter Klaas.

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Erika Millares On New year in Mexico, we eat grapes and make 12 wishes for the new year exactly at midnight, when a bell starts to ring and for each time it does you have to eat 1 grape :) sounds easy but is bit tricky sometimes! LOL and another thing is to wear red underwear to have a lot of love in the new year !

Cherry Silver Turkey on Christmas Day in UK.

Brandie Minnig This one isn’t really a tradition of my country but one of my family... When I was about 5 years old my mom and I lived very far away from our family, one night while listening to a song by Alabama- “A Candle In The Window”, I asked my mom.... if we could light candles for all the people we missed. We did this on Christmas Eve, taking turns lighting candles and saying who they were for. This has continued every year since then and I am now 32. We have shared it with friends over the years and though it usually causes the tears to flow, it is just as magical today as it was back then!

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Gregory Lentz We don’t have anything nationwide in the States, excepting the traditional family gathering at Christmas time for dinner, treats and gift giving. Many of the Christian Faith often attend mass, and children commonly write to Santa for what they desire, and leave milk and cookies out for him on Christmas Eve. Families tend to create their own holiday traditions: spending the holiday somewhere new or a favorite locale, volunteering, many different things that are passed on to their children or when starting a family they create and start a new traditional. This year my brother and his wife are expecting their first child, due date is Christmas Day...we lost our father this year and he was so excited and hopeful to meet his first grandchild. Whether my niece will be born on Christmas Day or not this holiday will always be a bitter sweet tradition of celebrating love and loss for us.

Miriam Gerst On New Year Eve ( which is in about September , as we have a different calendar ) we use to eat food that symbolizes our wishes and expectations from the coming new year ; we eat a round cake or a round loaf of bread - to wish ourselves living through the whole year ; we eat an apple with honey - to wish ourselves a sweet good year; we eat pommegranate, to wish that we will do as many good deeds as many seeds are in the pomegranate; we eat a dish with carrot as the Hebrew word carrolt reminds the word bad law to wish that there will be no bad laws ( like higher taxes , etc ) and so on.

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Manuela Balocco A Christmas tradition in Italy is the BEFANA. In Italy the children wait until Epiphany, January 6, for some more presents. According to tradition, the presents are delivered by a kind ugly witch called Befana on a broomstick. Children put their socks on the fireplace and the Befana puts presents inside. It was said that she was told by the three kings that the baby Jesus was born, she was busy and delayed visiting the baby. She missed the Star lost her way and has been flying around ever since, leaving presents at every house with children in case he is there. She slides down chimneys, and fills stockings and shoes with good things for good children and it is said she leaves coal for children who are not so good.

HOW TO SURVIVE THE HOLIDAYS

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To join our birthday twin section, send us your birthday, name, country and email to our email: fun@sandbook.net To contact any of our Birthday Twins, log onto our website and look at the Birthday Twin Section.

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May you all have a wonderful day!

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9th December 1995, Alex, Bulgaria 16h December 1989, Sandra, Sweden 16th December 1984, Jaswant Tan, Singapore 20th December 1985, Martina, Austria 22nd December 1972, Sandi, Germany 23rd December 1968, Lillemor Nielsen, Sweden 6th January 1956, Belladonna Glaser, USA 6th January 1970, Rhonda, VA, USA 8th January 1960, Selina, New Zealand

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Food It’s the time of the year, when eggnog and delicious cookies, sweets and candies are all over the place. No matter where you look you find food: jelly, baked or dipped in fine chocolate – how can you say no to that?! Even if you mind what you eat, can you really deny yourself the pleasures of Xmas? NO! Then have a strategy. It’s not about what you eat, but how much you eat of it and what you do to burn off the calories. So indulge yourself with the sweets but remember keep track of the number/ quantity. Try to figure out your own way to burn those calories – walk up and down the stairs instead of taking the elevator, jump on a trampoline, take yoga classes or simply walk in the park. Who knows who you can meet?!

The Team of Sandbook.Net would like to say a very Happy Birthday to:

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Holiday Depression There is more and more research stating that holidays are the times that we are most likely to get depressed. Depression comes in many forms and it doesn’t have to be the clinical and most severe type of depression for you to recognize it. Early signs are feeling of boredom stepping in, lost of interest, apathy. How to avoid it? Research shows that keeping yourself busy with tasks and projects can protect you against depression episodes. So pick up your organizers and start planning activities for the new 2011, even if you don’t end up doing them. You can always look through them on a later stage and motivate, inspire and energize yourself.

Birthday Twins! What’s more cool than finding someone who shares the same birthday date with you? No matter how far away you live from one another an instant connection is made. On one and the same day, you party together to celebrate Your own Special Day!

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SHOPPING Be reasonable. Think before you make the purchase – do you really want/ need it? Don’t rush into buying things that simply say “buy 4 and you get one free” – they never work! You’d buy a lot more things than you actually need. And nobody loves “leftover” gifts from last year! So be practical. Make a list of all the things that you need to buy and go buy them. Only them!

Birthday Twins

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FASHIONISTA - A VISIT FROM BEAUTY BRITE

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found to work for me. So, if there are any products out there that you are wondering about, please email me at beautybriteblog@ yahoo.com and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll see what I can do! I would be up to trying it and sharing my experience. You can visit my blog at www.beautybrite. blogspot.com. I hope to hold giveaways on my blog! What does that mean, you ask? Giveaways allow my readers (thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s you) to win free beauty products, goodies, and more! If

there is a product you want to see offered as a giveaway, you can also email me your suggestions! If you do visit my blog, please leave a comment or two, I love to hear from fellow pen pallers! I am also looking for follows and if you want to exchange links, I am open to that as well. Do you have a blog? Stop by and leave a comment with your link. By Stephanie Fatta www.beautybrite.blogspot. com

Body Glitter I just found a body glitter recipe that is really easy to make and wanted to share it. Have fun with this one! Add some glitter and sparkle to your day, evening, or night out! Body Glitter Recipe What you need: 3 tablespoons of unmedicated aloe vera gel (can be found next to the hand lotions in discount or drug stores) 1/2 teaspoon very fine glitter, color desired 1 drop essential oil with fragrance desired (optional) Food coloring (optional) Directions: Add as much glitter to aloe vera gel as you like (you can always experiment). If you are using food coloring, mix a few drops at a time in with your gel until you get the desired color.

Add essential oil, if desired. Stir to blend, then store at room temperature in a small, airtight jar or container. Enjoy the body glitter! NOTE: Some people are sensitive to essential oils. Test the body glitter on the inside of your arm before applying to face. DO NOT USE NEAR YOUR EYES.

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beauty products and giving my thoughts and opinions. The idea of starting a beauty blog came to fruit because I was already making videos on Youtube about beauty products. I saw other bloggers writing about their favorite products and that gave me the idea to start my own blog. I also find blogging to be a great way to make new friends and connect with others. I enjoy writing about beauty products that I am using or have

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Hi everyone! My name is Stephanie and I was so honored, thrilled, and excited to be asked to write about beauty for the magazine! I have been pen palling off an on since elementary school and really got into it in early 2003! Since then, I have had pen pals come and go. In addition to pen palling, I also love beauty! Recently, I even started a blog about beauty where I write about makeup, beauty products, product reviews, giveaways, and much more! I love trying

bear for angel

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contest

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contest: Fill In the Blanks

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Contact us: Check our website www.bearforanangel.weebly.com You can find us also on our Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/bearforangel Our email address: bearforanangel@googlemail.com

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The non-profit organization Bear for an Angel was set up by Michelle Dayson, mother of two angel babies lost to miscarriage. She wants everyone to have a nice memory of their babies, sadly gone too soon.

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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StrictlySnail/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crazy_pen_pals/

Hi there! This is the non-profit organization Bear for an Angel! We fund personalized teddy bears for families who have had a miscarriage, still birth, neonatal death or cot death, we rely on fund raising & donations to do this. We also sell memorial items including, birth scrolls, bracelets & lots more. Bear for an Angel can also do personalized memorial bears for funeral’s or any other loss available to purchase.

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“The subscriber who gets the right answers wins a invite to one of my yahoo penpal & swapper groups 1. Josh Cowan lives in ____________ Washington 2. One of Josh’s favorite shows is _______________ 3. Fb is short for _____________ 4. Another name for postal mail is ___________”

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By Josh Cowan , jcowan1023@gmail.com

SUBSCRIBE Is the next issue free?

How to become a guest writer?

How does the subscribe feature on the website work?

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What is the policy on commercial Ads?

Commercial Ads are paid ads for products or service that is not classified as a penpal or a swapper ad or an add from a small business that provides supplies for correspondence (stationary, address labels). Such ads are going to be reviewed and negotiated with the respective companies. For more information email magazine@sandbook.net

Make sure that you stay informed for the latest news Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sandbook Add us as a friend on Facebook http://facebook.com/sandbooknet And join our Facebook Group: http://on.fb.me/SBNgroup And join our Facebook Page: http://on.fb.me/SBNpage Read our blog at: sandbooknet.blogspot.com Visit us on our website: www.SandBook.Net

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I don’t see my Ad. Why?

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St. Valentine Photo Message Competition Sandbook.Net is organizing St. Valentine’s Photo-Message Competition. Send us a photo of you and your significant other by January 15th, 2011 with a small (or long) message that you want us to run for your special Valentine. Send the photos to magazine@sandbook.net, subject: St. Valentine. We will upload all photos and messages on our website and let you vote for your favorite. “Is there an award?”, you ask. Yes! The winner will take home a lovely scrapbooking set and of course some stationary materials. We will feature the winner in our February issue!

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1) Promote us - tell your penpals and swappers about the magazine. 2) Give us feedback - either on our website www.sandbook.net or through Facebook/Twitter. 3) Become a guest writer - Contact us with your idea of an article. We need to make sure that the topic is still not taken by someone else. We don’t want to print out articles with similar content. Deadline of all The published ads are in agreement with our policy: articles is the 30th of each month. If we receive the 1) we are not a dating site/community - write article after that date - your article is going to be run in the next issue. If you decide to send any pictures appropriate ads to have them published! 2) no inmates - we have kids that are members in our with your article, you will need to have the rights to that image and the image needs to be with a minimal community! 3) money requests - such ad will result in your resolution of 800x600. permanent ban from our community. Go to www.sandbook.net and go to the Magazine section. Then simply click “Place an Ad” and you will have to fill out the form that loads on your computer screen. Please remember to give your actual/real email address, as it will be the only connect information that anyone can use to get back in touch with you.

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What can I do to help with the magazine?

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How to place an ad in the magazine?

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Yes! So go ahead and tell all of your penpals and swappers about it. Promote the magazine so we can choose from various penpals and swappers ads. The Again, get in touch with us and let us know the name of the topic that you want to write about. If it is not more, the merrier! already taken, we’d give you the go ahead to write it. We are doing that simply to ensure that we don’t have one and the same stories printed under variation of names. The deadline for all articles is the end The “Subscribe” area on our website collects of the month (Nov 30th, 2010). Any articles submitinformation such as your name/nickname and an ted after the deadline with be either published in the email address. After filling out the form, we will send next issue (December one) or will be left for the one you a notification when the latest issue is released. after it (January 2011 one). It’s done simply to ensure Don’t forget to check your spam folder - our automatic we have enough time to design your pages so that system message may be stuck in there. When you they will have the look that we all will enjoy. Thank find it, just click “not spam” and your notification will you for your understanding. appear in your inbox next time.

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Share your winter holidays with us! The winter holidays are one of the most diverse ones in terms of cultural differences. So we want to let you all know that we will be collecting photos of how you celebrated Christmas and of course the New Year’s Eve. You can send us one or several photos of you, your family and friends, or even of decorations or food that you are preparing for the fest. Send the photos that you have taken over the holidays to magazine@ sandbook.net , subject: Winter Holidays. The photos will be published in our Cultural Event: Pages in our next issue (January 2011). That way we can all take a look at how people around the globe celebrated one of the most loved holidays!

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NEXT ISSUE

PenPal of the Month Winners After the holidays.... St.Valentine’s Contest Relationships Recipes Travel guide Discussions

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Samantha’s thoughts Lost PenPals Birthday Twins PenPal Meetings Penpals & Swappers Ads

Simplicity Embellished PenPalling and Letters Fashionista & Fun Pages

Coming out: January 11, 2011

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