Secret Penpal Scavenger Hunt Revealed!

Around sometime last summer, I was able to find and sign up for postal society. That was also when I discovered Wreckthisgirl's blog and saw the beautiful posts for her Secret Penpal Scavenger Hunt swap. I really was looking forward to participating as soon as possible, and last December I finally signed up and was able to take part in it!
My partner was Jacquelene:

“Hello! I love stationery, sunshine, punctuation, fat books, woolly socks, origami, cross stitch, tea and big cities. Just finished a PhD in British nuclear history and hoping to write a book about public information films. :)”

With that info I was went out scavenger hunting in downtown Chicago right before and during the polar vortex (worst idea ever). But gather all of the things for the scavenger hunt was so exciting and fun! I was able to travel and see parts of Chicago that I hadn't had a chance to see which was great.

The first kit I put together for Jack was the City Explorer's kit:

I grabbed a couple things from my favorite shops in the Wicker Park and Logan Square area in Chicago. My favorite cafes like Intelligentsia and The Wormhole,  the Play toy store in Logan Square, Quimby's an awesome independent zine/bookstore, and some ephemera that I picked up around the stores. There was also this really cool matchstick flower packets at Play so I picked up one of those along with a cute pouch. 

The second kit that I loved putting together was "something old fashioned"

I put all of the things into a vintage Kodak transparency slide case. It was really cool opening these and it was also from around the 1950's so I thought it fit the theme wonderfully!

Inside I put in an old vintage photo of a sharply dressed handsome man from the 1920's, a vintage lace handkerchief, and five vintage (1950's) photo transparencies.

some of the transparencies! I believe this one was captioned "alaska"

The next kits were a journaling kit, something that represents me, something quirky and a gift. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take a photo of the journaling kit and something that represented me. 

The journaling kit I handstitched a notebook and included a pen along with washi tape samples and ephemera. I also wrote a list of tips and ideas for journaling. I probably included more things but kind of forgot )x

for something that represents me, I put together a packet full of the zines that I made.

For something quirky:

I included a Gemma Correll pin, an infinity midi ring, a handmade button with the phrase "selfie", and a handmade secret penpal scavenger hunt january 2014 patch!

The selfie button was so fun to make!


Lastly, the gift I included were a bunch of tea packets and some japanese origami paper along with many paper cranes (no picture)

The youthberry and wild orange blossom was a loose leaf fruity white tea I had from teavanna (one of my absolute favorite teas ever!)

I wish I was able to photograph what I sent out better. Unfortunately my camera's charger was lost (as mentioned in previous posts) and I didn't have my dslr with me at college. So iphone photos had to do. I wish I could've took a photo of the journaling kit because that was one of my favorite kits to put together other than the city explorer's kit!

Anyway, the partner sending a parcel to me was Michelle from BusyWeekends! 

Everything Michelle sent was packaged in pretty vellum and paper  envelopes which were so fun to open!

Michelle beautifully lettered everything

The city explorer's kit that Michelle sent showed me a wonderful snapshot of Washington D.C. and the crazy spots to visit!

The mail art kit that Michelle sent was packed full with ephemera! Every envelope had tons and tons of little ephemera and goodies inside! It was my absolute favorite part of her parcel!

She even sent me some unused stamps! They are almost too precious to use!

and more stamps (these ones are used)

Then she sent me a beautiful gold pouch as "something made of fabric" and some delicious blueberry green tea satchels as the extra gift! The green tea was absolutely heavenly with a bit of honey.

Overall, this was probably the most fun I had putting a parcel together! Looking back, I think I may have gone a bit excessive and added a ton of more extra trinkets than what was the norm (looking at other people's parcels) but I don't mind sending a lot of things! 

What I received was one of my top favorite things that I've received via snail mail! I loved the hard work and care that my parcel was packed with. I can't wait for another round so that I can sign up again!