💌 January Snail Mail: New Pages, New Love

Welcome, dear reader 🤍

If you’re holding this month’s snail mail in your hands, we hope you took a moment to pause before opening it. January is such a tender in-between with the quiet after the holidays, the thrill of a new beginning, and the soft hope that this year is a new one with so much possibility!

This very first month of the Heartbound Snail Mail Society is rooted in that feeling. New Pages, New Love isn’t about reinventing everything overnight,  it’s about welcoming gentle beginnings, choosing softness, and letting the year unfold slowly.

What Was Inside Your January Snail Mail

This month’s envelope was curated with intention, comfort, and romance readers in mind. Inside, you’ll find:

• A 5×7 postcard illustrated by Ann Joven, created exclusively for Heartbound and inspired by cozy mornings, quiet hope, and the magic of starting anew.
• A QR code that brought you here, to this members-only space filled with special surprises, extras, and behind-the-scenes moments just for you.
• A cozy sticker sheet designed for planners, journals, or anywhere you want to add a little softness.
• A bookmark that matches the vibe of the postcard, perfect for marking a page that feels like home.
• A reading prompt to encourage reflection, intention, and presence as you begin the year

Each piece was chosen to feel like a breath of fresh air, something you could return to again and again.

Get to Know Your January Artist: Ann Joven

We’re so honored to feature Ann Joven as our very first Snail Mail Society artist. Her illustration set the tone for everything this project hopes to be.

How would you describe your art style in three words?

Whimsical, romantic, dreamlike.
I love adding highlights and putting magical effects on my artworks to evoke this dreamlike feeling on it. Since romance is mostly a central theme in the artworks I create, I like to focus on that as well as the storytelling aspect of my illustrations.

What drew you to this month’s theme, and what did you hope readers would feel?

When Jenika gave me the brief, she told me she wants something that is cozy and feels like a new beginning. I really love that because reading always feel like a new beginning to a new world that we want to explore. So for this month's theme, I made an illustration that feels like waking up with beautiful scenery and a great book by your side as you welcome a new year and somehow that --the scenery, the book-- gives you a sense of hope for a new and better beginning.

Do you have a favorite romance trope or love story?

My favorite romance trope is, hands down, slow burn! Especially friends to lovers! I love love love slow burn romances, the yearning stares, the years of waiting and pinning, it always feel so sincere and raw.

Where do you usually find inspiration?

I find a lot of inspiration from nature, films, photography and my fellow artist may it be in my arts or in my writings. The world alone has a lot of things where you can draw inspiration so I like to observe and notice even the small things.

How do you like to slow down or find softness in everyday life?

This is a bit of a hard question because sometimes I just can't seem to rest. Between being a freelance artist, a college student and also a writer, there's just so many things that I have to do. As a perfectionist it's even harder because I always strive to make the best of everything that I do. And so I need that constant reminder, too, that it's okay to not be perfect sometimes.

However, as I'm writing this, I'm realizing that perhaps the moments that I feel at ease are whenever I use my creative skill. Whenever I work on personal artworks that I'm passionate about, whenever I write the characters that I've been daydreaming of, I guess those are the moments that I really slow down and escape in a different world of my own.

Where can readers find and support your work?

Probably on my social media and signing up for my newsletter. I have an Instagram account where I post most of my artworks, usually commissioned works, personal arts, and even fanarts of my favorite books and films. I also have a newsletter where you can sign up on my website artsbyannz.com. 

Besides that, I'm also going to open my digital shop where you can buy some digital wallpaper and calendars and other art things! I think following an artist, liking and genuinely interacting with their creations is already a huge way to support them.

Any small joy you’ve been loving lately?

I've just passed my thesis so that really removed a lot of stress on my shoulder and gave me more time to do the things that I love. Besides working on my commission works, I'm also finding joy in being able to finally focus and write on my work-in-progress novel, daydreaming about, writing and just thinking of a lot of artworks that I can make for them. I have a lot of new novelette ideas that I just can't wait to write and art ideas that I really want to finally draw. 

Bonus - Mobile Wallpaper

Here's a serene mobile wallpaper for the month of January you can use! Let us know if you like it.

Download here.

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Thank you for being here — truly.

This Snail Mail Society exists because of readers like you who believe in slowing down, in romance, and in the magic of thoughtful, tangible things. We’re so grateful you’re part of this beginning with us.

With love,
Jenika & the Heartbound family 🤍