I’ve been stalking someone…
Instagram stalking that is. I’m living vicariously through Claudia, penpal extraordinaire.
Her feed, @cloudydaysandletters, is what mailbox dreams are made of. She has truly raised the hobby of sending letters to an art form and creates miniature masterpieces to delight people across the world.
I love how the images she posts are timeless. The color palette of her posts is gorgeous and I feel like I could stare at each image for hours imagining what each sealed envelope might hold.
And now we have her in our virtual living room to tell us a little about herself! I’ll get the coffee…
Cloudy Days and Letters
Claudia, the sticker spotlight is yours:
Hello, Pipsticks blog readers! This is Claudia, and I’m a 23 year-old snail mailer, loyal penpal, and penpal mentor!
I’m an only child hoping to fly away from the nest relatively soon. I majored in East Asia Studies and I’m currently taking my master’s degree.
Apart from penpalling, my hobbies are traveling and photography (I’ve visited over 14 countries all around the world and I can’t wait to discover some more!), reading listening to all kinds of music, cooking, baking, meeting up with friends… And arts and crafts of all kinds, of course!
Where do you live?
I live in Barcelona, which is the second capital of Spain: A city located in the East coast of the Iberian peninsula, right in the Mediterranean Sea. I am currently a master’s degree student in International Relations, Security and Development and I’m taking an internship in Casa Asia, a Spanish consortium that aims at promoting the knowledge and development of the relations between Spain and the countries of Asia and the Pacific…
I’ve just never felt like writing letters and sending them in a plain white envelope. Since I started I knew I wanted to make a difference somehow, I wanted my letters to be special and unique, that’s how I started decorating them with washi tape, stickers, other pieces of paper, playing with patterns and textures…
And here I am! It’s just a matter of practice and experimenting with what you have in the house, from old scrapbooking papers to magazine pages!
If you could travel anywhere where would you go?Right now I’d love to go back to South Korea, as I lived there for a while (2013/2014) and I miss it badly. I feel like I have to make peace with the country somehow, that I have to say goodbye the best way I can this time (when I left in summer 2014 I didn’t know if I would be back soon or not, so it feels like I left a part of me there).
As soon as I have enough money saved up I’d like to visit my second home for two or three weeks – this time as a tourist!
It’s a mess, but I like to call it a beautiful mess!
Why do you love stickers?
They’re one of my “must-use” accessories for mail art! I use stickers of all kinds to decorate my handmade envelopes: From fake stamps to vintage looking ones, name tags, labels…
As a child, what did you want to become when you grew up?I wanted to be so many things when I was a kid! First I wanted to be a princess, than a soldier (for some reason!), a vet, a zoo keeper, an IT, a chef…
And then when I was 11-12 I decided I wanted to be a translator, which might be the closest thing to the future job I’m going to have, haha.
What advice do you have for people wanting to be more creative?
Experiment with paper! Don’t be afraid to make a mess out of beautiful paper: We all learn from our mistakes but also of our creations that came out of nowhere!
Sometimes the cutest things you’ll make will be completely random.
Putting a piece of washi tape or a sticker here and there can make a big difference! Don’t give up, look up for some inspiration if necessary (but never copy!) and try different materials. It’s just a matter of time!
Thanks so much for the chat, Claudia. I know you’ll be creating beautiful things wherever your studies and work take you. No matter where you travel yourself, you’re leaving your mark world-wide!
I am a newbie to penpalling. I started about a year ago. I am an avidly addicted sticker freak though. Started collecting almost 34 years ago. Needless to say I have tons. Hope to catch ya soon.