Snail Mail!

Hello my lovelies!

As promised, I'm back with another blog post, and this one is going to be about snail mail!
Now, if you search snail mail on Instagram or Pinterest, you will quickly understand why I love it so much! It is basically post... but not typed bills or adverts. Snail mail tends to be much more carefully and beautifully made with stickers and washi tape. And, of course, they are nearly always handwritten by your penpals.
I personally only have 4 penpals, although I have seen some people who have more than 20! Although for the amount of time I have that is definitely not feasible! Plus, I really want to fond strong bonds with people, and I feel like if I had too many that would be less likely to happen. But each to their own :)
Either way, receiving a handwritten letter is amazing- especially if it is as gorgeously decorated as the ones I receive! I mean, just look at these envelopes!

I even received one from my lovely Dutch penpal Suzan which was clear!

Not only that, but the letters themselves are gorgeous too, and always so sweet!

And if that wasn't enough to make you fall in love with mail art, just look at the sweet little things inside! I've received stickers, postcards, hot chocolate, confetti, envelopes and more!

But the thing I love most is the writing itself. It is just so amazing to read a letter that someone has clearly put so much effort into, and it's awesome to be able to learn about their country, culture, language and opinions. I have 3 Dutch penpals and 1 German penpal, and I've found out more about what it's like to live in their country than I would even if I spent 10 hours researching it on the internet. And since I learn German, it is really helpful to write in the language occasionally to my lovely penpal Vanessa too.

Handwritten letters are just so much more personal than emails and messages, and I just love it so much!

Plus it's a great excuse to go out and buy more stationery! Just look at my collection of letter writing supplies (which I am going to make a detailed blog post on, naturally ;) )

There is not much I love more than sitting down with a hot chocolate and writing letters and making envelopes and wrapping up teas and decorating with stickers and then sending them off.
So, in conclusion, I highly recommend you start writing more letters! It is a great way to gain a wider cultural understanding and form friendships with people all over the world.

With love,
Clara xx

Hello and welcome to Clarabella!

Hello everyone!
Thank you so much for checking out my blog- it means a lot to me!
My name is Clara, however my Dad has often called me Clarabella. I love to craft, play the trumpet, run, learn languages and cultures, scrapbook, journal, draw, write letters... and so much more!
I thought a blog would be the perfect place to share my hobbies and loves on, and hopefully you will all like it!
Anyway, as an introduction I thought I would write 10 facts about me :)
1) I live in England, but I am 3/4 Northern Irish in blood. My mum grew up there, and I have visited there many times as lots of my family live there. I love both England and Northern Ireland.
2) I love to learn languages. While I only learn French and German at school, I like attempting to learn the basics of other languages too such as Danish and Irish. The one language I'd love to speak and write the most is Russian- I think it sounds so beautiful, and the written language is just amazing!
3) I also play the trumpet, and I love it so much. Although I am not crazy on classical music, it is amazing to play, and I just think the trumpet is such a gorgeous instrument. I also learn tiny little bits of piano, although I must admit, no matter how fun it is to play, it doesn't come as naturally to me.
4) On the topic of things I like doing, I also love running (well... sometimes!) Last year my best friend and I decided to run 10 km for Cancer Research UK in the race for life, and it was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. We trained so hard for it, and raised so much and it felt amazing to know what a difference the money could make. If any of you are looking for a new hobby, then honestly running is fantastic!
5) I have an obsession with stationery. Paperchase is heavenly to me! Honestly though- browsing through letter sets and looking at adorable pens and stickers is so much fun! And using them is even more fun, of course! If only it wasn't always so expensive...
6) Linking to stationery, notebooks are some of my favourite things to have. I have kept a daily journal since January 5th, and old entries are so lovely to look back on. Also, if you have time, it is a really nice thing to keep pages with photos and stickers in of special days- a little like a scrapbook. But I don't just reserve my notebooks for journals- oh no! I have notebooks filled with doodles, to-do lists, video ideas, sketches- anything and everything!
7) As I mentioned earlier, crafting is another big hobby of mine. From knitting to sewing to jewellery making to clay figures, I've probably done it! I love sewing cute keyrings with fabric, and making polymer clay charms is great fun too. Not to mention they make great gifts! I actually have a YouTube channel on which I make crafting tutorials and updates, if you would like to take a look! :) Just search Clarabella Crafts and it should pop up!
8) The sort of music I listen to, to be honest, it mostly whatever my sister plays! Haha! I especially love The Strokes, The Smiths and David Bowie. If I'm looking for music, I tend to go along the genres of indie and alternative rock... and sometimes a little indie pop ;)
9) I am fairly tall. I think I am about 5 ft 8 1/4 inches. Maybe not as tall as some, but definitely taller than average! People tend to assume it's nice being tall, but I've got to say, people constantly commenting on your height and saying you're 'giant', isn't the most fun! Although I'm sure others have it much worse.
10) My favourite colours are probably a bright turquoise or teal, or a deep red/purple. But then they do change a lot. In summer I definitely tend to light bright colours more, and in winter I'm all about those deep, rich colours like burgundy and navy <3

And that's about it! I will be sure to post again soon my lovelies!
~Clara x