Covered of Cuteness Giveaway!

Today we have a special guest with us. Her name is Michelle and maybe you don't know who is she, yet... What about if I mention about Lettersets.com, TheCutestStickers.com or Shelley.nl? Do these names ring a bell?
Surely some of you already know that Michelle together with Henk run these lovely online shops full of the cutest items for a while already. Michelle is here today to talk a bit about her penpalling experiences, her online shops and to offer a very special gift to the readers of Penpalling & Letters as well as to the loyal customers of Lettersets.com and TheCutestStickers.com.

But go on reading to find out how to participate in this "Covered of cuteness giveaway":

Hello Michelle! It is a big pleasure to have you here, at the Penpalling & Letters Blog, sharing with us both your penpalling experiences and your love for the cutest penpalling supplies.

Hello everybody! I am also happy to be here and spend some time with you talking about letter-writing and cute penpalling items!

- How did you discover penpalling? For how long have you been writing letters?

I first started writing letters when I was about 12, with a girl I met on holiday. I then answered some penpal ads in a magazine and was soon hooked! I loved writing long letters and decorating the envelopes. And nothing beats finding a colourful envelope in your mailbox! I lost touch with some of my pals when I started university, but rediscovered my favourite hobby a few years later. I'm still in touch with my very first penpal. I even visited her last week and we caught up over coffee. Penpal friendships are amazing, it's such a special way to get to know somebody and especially in these modern and "fast" times I enjoy sitting down with a cup of tea and taking the time to write a long handwritten letter.

- Which "penpalling supply" is your favourite to use?

Personally I love using letter pads. They have lots of sheets in different designs and are perfect for my long letters. When the sheets don't have lines on them, I put a sheet with black lines underneath so my writing doesn't go all crooked... Then again, I also use lots of stickers on the back sides of sheets to make them look more colourful.

- How did the idea of Lettersets.com come up?

My penpals were asking me where I found the cute stationery I was writing on. I bought it at an Asian store in Amsterdam and soon discovered it was hard to find in the rest of Europe. I started selling some letter sets through eBay and then started a website consisting of just a single page of letter sets. I wanted to make it a place where penpals could come together, so I also added a penpal ad section, a part for swappers with info on FB's and printable label bags. At the time the webshops that did offer stationery, often charged ridiculous shipping charges to Europe or didn't accept Euros so we became popular very quickly. It soon took off so I decided to make a more professional website and Lettersets.com was born. That was in 2003 and we've been online ever since. We now accept both Euros and US Dollars and send everything worldwide. There are few countries that we don't have customers yet! A few years after the launch of LetterSets.com we added a separate website for stickers, TheCutestStickers.com. We have moved to England, Canada and Malaysia and always brought our shops with us. We're now back in the Netherlands where we are originally from.

- Had you ever thought that your letter-passion would become your own business?

Never! I feel so lucky to have made my hobby into a business. I also love bringing people together and so many penpals have found each other thanks to my website. We have so many penpal ads on our website now and it's such an easy way to find a new penpal or swapper.

- Which penpalling supplies do you offer to your customers at the moment? And which stationery brands do you work with at your shops?

We focus on letter sets, letter pads, memo pads and stickers. We sell mainly Asian brands, and mostly from Korea. They have really cute stuff which is also very affordable. We occasionally sell items from brands like Sanrio and San-X as well as some other Japanese brands. As long as it's pretty or cute we like it!

- Which penpalling supplies are the favourite ones of your costumers?

Letter pads are the most popular for using but there are also quite a few customers who order every new letter set we add and then keep one sheet and one envelope of each to collect. We also sell lots of stickers. I find they come in great use for decorating letters and FB's and also make a great small gift to add to a letter for your penpal.

- Are you interested in providing new items to your customers in the near future as well as different brands of stationery?

Absolutely! We always love hearing from our customers and always keep an eye open if there are any special requests.

- What's the aim of your online shops?

Spreading cute items worldwide against low prices!

Michelle, thank you very much for such a lovely interview and let us know the story of Lettersets.com and TheCutestStickers.com!

It was a pleasure to be here. See you all very soon!

By the way, Dutch speakers have the chance to enjoy the Dutch version of Lettersets.com, go and have a look at: LeukPostpapier.nl

And now, let's talk about the giveaway that Lettersets.com and Penpalling & Letters have ready for you!

If you enter this competition you can win a stationery goodie bag worth 25€/32$ offered by Lettersets.com! However, if you can't wait, you can order now by entering discount code "PPL" in the Shopping Cart in all the shops for an instant 10% off. This offer is exclusive for the readers of Penpalling & Letters!

How to enter?

1. Visit Lettersets.com/TheCutestStickers.com to see which item(s) are your favourite ones in the shop(s). Come back to this post and leave a comment here together with a way to contact you.

2. For an extra entry be/become a follower of Penpalling & Letters (notice that to be a follower you don't need to have a Blog of your own but an accessible Blogger profile) and tell us in a comment which stationery brands are your favourite and which ones you would like to see in Lettersets.com/TheCutestStickers.com. Make sure you leave a way to contact you.

3. Tell/link about this giveaway on your Blog/Website for another extra entry. Tell us which items from your favourite brands you would like to see in Lettersets.com/TheCutestStickers.com and again leave a comment in this post. Make sure you provide the link to your Blog/Website post together with your comment as well as your contact data.

4. Tweet about it on Twitter to get a new extra entry and tell in your comment here what you like the best about Penpalling & Letters and what keeps you coming up for more. If wished, let me know what you would like to see more of! Make sure you leave a link to your tweet and also a way to contact you.

5. Join Lettersets.com and/or TheCutestStickers.com on Facebook at Lettersets.com and TheCutestStickers.com (if you have already joined you are in) for a fourth extra entry and leave your Facebook name or the e-mail you are using in Facebook here and, of course, a way to contact you.

So, as you can see it is very easy! Everybody is welcome to enter so remember to spread the word! Deadline is the 21st September and the winner will be drawn shortly after. Remember that the lucky one will be given a cute goodie bag full of penpalling supplies worth 25€/32$! For those who cannot wait remember that as long as the competition is running you can do your stationery purchases at Lettersets.com, TheCutestStickers.com or LeukPostpapier.nl under the discount code "PPL" for a 10% discount!

Good luck to all and hope you enjoyed Michelle's visit!