Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers

Hey!  I did a thing!  I started something new.

Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers is up and running and I couldn’t be happier. You can follow @HappyMailforChocolateLovers on Instagram here to keep up to date with what I am creating.

I have had time these last few months while I have been working from home for myself to really reflect on what it is I want to do and bring to the world.  My desire is to create beauty and joy to share with others.  It’s been a rough year with Covid, creativity, lockdowns and deciding to leave my part time job, and I took the time to really explore what I wanted to do and how to move forward with my business.

Really what I love is making art and sharing it!  However, I also do need an income of some sort so Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers was born.

What is it?  It’s a way I can share some of my creativity with you around something we all love – chocolate.  There are a few ways to support and subscribe to this side of my business and currently they are as follows:

• As a subscriber to the Official Patron tier you will receive a digital newsletter and digital download once a month.  This tier is $5 a month and arrives in your inbox.
• The Monthly Postcard level has me sending you a postcard in the mail once a month with a personal message written on it.  I have designed and/or made the postcards myself and I have many ways to surprise you with postcards each month of the year.  This level also includes the digital newsletter and download.  So, you will find something from me in your inbox and in your mailbox!
• As a Happy Mail subscriber, you will receive an envelope of goodies that I have created, designed, and/or made, each month in the mail.  There are two options for this tier, shipping within Canada, and shipping Internationally (the cost different covers the price of postage worldwide). Happy Mail is shipped directly to you once a month and includes a note from me, at least 2 postcards for you to keep or send to friends, 2 – 6 other items that are perfect for celebrating your love of chocolate. These items will change monthly, and all share a chocolatey theme. It will be an A5 envelope (6 inches x 9 inches) full of goodies to surprise you once a month. I promise to be creative and have fun deciding what to include. This may mean stickers, note cards, prints, original artworks, magnets, handmade paper, and so many other surprises.  Also included is the digital newsletter and digital download each month.

I’ve chosen to use Patreon for this passion project of creating and sharing joy that is inspired by chocolate.  Patreon does all the computer work, record keeping, and all the billing which allows me to post exclusive to Patreon members info and polls.  Basically, it does all the things I don’t love about business, thus giving me more time to create fun digital downloads, products and items for you to enjoy. 

Personally, I love snail mail and how it can be such a huge surprise to receive something that isn’t a bill.  My hope is to surprise you with fun things as the year passes and to always put a smile on your face as you receive Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers.

I look forward to designing and making creative, interesting, out-of-the-box surprises for you with Happy Mail, and am so grateful if you choose to support me by becoming a patron of my art.

I have many goals in the future for this project and hope to one day be able to pay other artists to design and share their art through it.  I’d also like to add another tier where a custom jewellery piece for Patrons would be sent 2 or 3 times a year.  I am still working on how those would need to be planned and executed, and I hope to add them to Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers as my platform on Patreon grows.

My current goal is to get to 50 subscribers and then open a jewellery option.  I hope you will pop over to Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers on Patreon to take a look at all the details.

Here’s how it works payment wise.  You join Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers on Patreon, and the site takes all your information, be sure to leave your address if you want a welcome surprise!  On the first of the month Patreon charges your credit card.  I then check Patreon to see if you have successfully paid, and then I get to planning happy mail for the month.  I order anything I need done outside of my studio (print materials, stickers, though one day I would love to have the equipment to do that at home) and wait for it to arrive back.  I design the digital download and write a newsletter and send it out, usually mid month.  I work on creating and making some of the items in your happy mail envelope and around the 20^th of the month, I sit down and write each subscriber a personal message before I ship out the Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers and postcards in the mail.  The beauty of keeping this confined to an envelope it can travel easily, swiftly and without a huge shipping charge.

If you have any questions let me know, pop them in the comments below or email me directly.  I can’t wait to share Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers with you and hope it brings you chocolate art, joy, and surprise!