Did you know it is the month for letterwriting?! I think a heartfelt handwritten sentiment goes a long way any time of the year, but having a whole month dedicated to the art gives us pretty good motivation as well.  If you are  cardmaker like I am, it’s a good time to send them out to friends and family. RedLetterDayZine has a great post all about this April month of National Letterwriting. There are great links for more information at the end of the post as well.

I can’t believe April has already started because I feel a bit behind in my letterwriting already! I have my dip pen and wax letter sealing kit ready…but want to create some new stationery for the occasion. Watch out for some more lovely printable stationery here – I will be posting my designs! Also, stayed tuned for some hybrid cardmaking print-outs or kits, because sending a card counts as well. Let me know if you have any themes of topics in mind…until then!

Posted on April 1, 2010 at 10:06 pm | Back To Paper | 1 comment

This week on Inspire Me Thursday the topic is about the lost art of letter writing.  I really do hope that it is not a lost art…afterall, we all still have to communicate somehow.  Even the latest trends of blogging and twitter require people to write, just in typing form instead of old-fashioned handwriting.  I think the technology trends are really making the new generations of kids dismiss penmanship!  No one has to hand write an essay anymore, but it’s sort of sad. I’ve always been in love with old fashioned quill written letters from the past.  So romantic! 

Even I have pretty chicken-scratchy type of handwriting, but I had to stop and practice to get better at it.  These days, I’m not sure handwriting is part of the curriculumn in schools.  Granted there is so much for kids to learn these days, but I do think penmanship and development of writing by hand is important.  We can all get back to paper ourselves and make use of that rusty and trusty ink pen, right?

I hope you will stop a moment and take the time to hand write and send out a letter to a loved one.  Cheers!

Posted on June 8, 2009 at 10:48 am | Back To Paper | No comments

Your handwritten letter and your mother’s favorite flower – that’s the way it used to be for Mother’s Day.   Only a few more days left before we all honor our mothers – for a day at least!  In 1907 Anne Jarvis wanted to honor mothers around the world by giving them a day of rest and offering the gift of a carnation and a handwritten note. However, the holiday has since been commercialized and exploited, leaving Jarvis bitterly sorry that she had started the day to begin with. You can read all about Mother’s Day and the story of Anna Jarvis here.

Regardless of how you choose to honor your mother this year, I still believe that the most precious gift would be a handwritten note.  It can certainly be an addition to some other item you have in mind, but your heartfelt sentiments will be more dear to your mother than anything else you could give her.  Not to mention some nice stationery wouldn’t be a bad gift!  There’s a great selection that you can purchase online – New Stationery Products Arriving Daily at FineStationery.com

Sometimes people find it difficult to express all those sensitive feelings they have for their mother.  Again, it’s best to keep it simple if a full-fledged letter doesn’t come out naturally.  Just think of what your mother means to you, how she has taught you so much and inspired so much from within you.  You appreciate your mother and want to thank her – simple sentiments with a few personal points woven in from your memories together will make a wonderful note.

I also found a great free download from Ambrosia Girl – a mother’s day card for the husbands to give to their wives.  Gives your sweetheart the option to say what she would like to receive (or not receive!) – it’s her day after all!  You can also check out the article titled The Best Free Printable Mother’s Day Cards for more options.

Have fun creating something special this mother’s day and the most precious gift of all – a handwritten note.  So go on and get back to paper today!

Posted on May 7, 2009 at 3:43 pm | Back To Paper | No comments

April seems be a busy month when it comes to national days of observance.  The 2nd was National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day and the 16th was National Stress Awareness Day amongst many other bizarre celebrations.  However, what is interesting to me is that April is National Card and Letter Writing Month as well as National Poetry Month!

Time really flew by, because I remember twittering about this early on in April, but suddenly it’s already the last day in April and obviously I’ve run out of time!  I decided to say goodbye to April 2009 by creating a poem collage.  It all started from poets.org regarding Poem In Your Pocket Day.  I printed out one of my favorite short poems by Emily Dickinson and decided to collage it up with leftovers from my wedding favor craft supplies.  Reduce, reuse, recycle!

I’m happy with the way it turned out and although I missed out on this month of celebrating card and letter writing as well as poetry (things I love), I know that I can still get back to paper tomorrow!  These observances serve as a great reminder to pep you up on the ideas you already appreciate and love.  I realized that sometimes when you don’t have the right words to write, sending someone a handwritten copy of a lovely poem would be just as nice.

In fact, I’m going to do that now – let’s get back to paper!

Posted on May 1, 2009 at 1:19 am | Back To Paper, Showcase | 2 comments

I am finally settling down in Italy and got around to sending out postcards to friends and family back in the United States.  I have languished for a long time, not having the proper addresses and not being able to find nice postcards…but I have overcome those obstacles and sent out a whole stack today.  Yes, the post people stared a bit…

I opted for watercolor type postcards and vintage posters.  I much prefer that style than the regular photography, maybe because I still want to print my own photography postcards one of these days and can’t bring myself to buy them.  As I wrote my little notes on the postcards, I got to thinking about this old style of correspondence.  Obviously, you have to keep your note pretty concise as there isn’t much room on a postcard, even if you buy the large size.  I was thinking it might be the parallel to Twitter that we all use so much now online.  Short snippets and updates…even though a postcard only goes to one place.  I guess it is more personal that way and means a lot more to the person you send it to.

If you don’t know where to start, just send a quick “Hello there!  How are you doing?” note to your correspondences.  It will surely spur on conversation and help you reconnect with old friends.  Or you can also participate on a great site I found called Postcrossing.  It is a project started to help people all over the world trade postcards.  If you send a postcard, you’ll get one back.  I think it is the cutest project that really does bring back the joy of real mail and old fashioned written correspondence.  Definitely check it out and get back to paper!

Posted on March 19, 2009 at 10:51 am | Back To Paper | No comments

If you look creatively for materials around the house you can definitely save a lot of money and make your own greeting cards at home.  Before you groan and say that you are not artistic enough, don’t have the time or that handmade cards are too cheap to use, please give me a chance to offer some tips.

Keep it simple
You don’t have to make super fancy designs to make loving greeting cards.  You should really keep it simple by choosing one motif to focus on.  For example, I made some Valentine cards and simply used the heart motif in various sizes and colors repeated.  I put them on a blank sheet of paper, folded in half and stamped the phrase, “A Valentine Hello!”  You can also hand-write in a message or cut out sayings from other materials you might have around, like postcards, magazines and various junk mailings.  Keeping it simple helps you focus your message and really gives you an elegant design in the end.  I made these cards in just a few minutes time, my second “thing” for February, part of my Thing-a-day.com challenge!

Organize and use up lost time
I am sure there are little chunks of time throughout your week that are seemingly wasted.  You really can capitalize by first organizing your materials and tools, so you are ready to create at any moment.  Then use the little chunks of time throughout the week to make handmade cards or even multitask during other activities that don’t require your full concentration and attention.  Plan ahead by collecting materials and tools into one spot, maybe you can put everything in a basket or box you have around.  When a little free time comes or when the magical creative inspiration hits, you are ready to make a few cards in a flash, without having to run around and find things at a moment’s notice.  Also, think about the time you spend watching television – multitasking is possible!

Handmade with love
Making your own cards does not mean you are a cheap skate.  Besides the fact that yes, you might be saving a few bucks, it’s really the better thing to do for the environment.  Inevitably you will be using recycled materials lying around the house, why toss them out to fill up our landfills?  Not only are you helping out the environment, remember that handcrafted works are your form of art that say you cared and thus spent time for the person you are sending the card to.  Handmade always means with love and care.  Your recipients do feel that and appreciate the effort more than any material item.

Recycled materials you can use
All too often, people don’t see the wonderful papers that are lying around the house, just wishing they would be used in a craft project!  Here are some ideas of what I like to look out for and keep for paper crafts and making handmade cards:

• old greeting cards and envelopes, sometimes envelopes are unwritten on or just have a name that you can cover up.  old greeting cards can be dissected as well – especially the commercial type that you want to spice up with a handmade design
• envelopes can be easily homemade as well, just look for a template online and trace onto a big sheet of wrapping paper or a paper bag
• old calendars, shiny paper and lovely photos and pictures to use
• paint chip booklets and other catalogs with lots of color in them
• magazine covers and pages and various junk mailings that happen to use nice paper – keep those bits!
• old wrapping paper, ribbon and fabric scraps
• paper bags from various stores, some are made of very nice paper, all you have to do is use the part without a logo (or with it if you choose!)
• nature items like pressed leaves, flowers or dried seeds/flakes
• the possibilities are really endless, just look at things with a different eye!

Posted on February 3, 2009 at 2:35 am | Back To Paper, Showcase | 2 comments

A quick search on Flickr.com will give you loads of inspiration on cardmaking, stationery and various greeting ideas.  The wonderful aspect is that everything is from real people out there, just sharing to the public and it is always going to be updated with new ideas as Flickr is added to 24/7 by users.  I always like to see what others are doing to send their sentiments to friends and family.  I also like to check out vintage greeting cards that many have archived in their flickr accounts for illustration ideas in my own work!

Flickr is actually a photo sharing site that has a free and pro account.  Either option lets you share all your photos with friends and family, public or private.  There are groups to learn more about photography or specific subjects and many ways to incorporate your photos in your webpage as well.  You should definitely check it out if you are interested in sharing photos or photography in general.

Posted on December 15, 2008 at 11:10 pm | Back To Paper | No comments

So you have some stationery to write on and your favorite pen in hand, but now you find yourself at a loss for words? No question that expressing your sentiments with the written word can be frustrating at times. You have these emotions inside of you and a specific feeling you want to convey, but the right words just aren’t coming forth so easily.  This is no surprise, especially if you haven’t written in this manner to friends and family for a while.  I’ve hit against this problem many times, fearing that I would sound silly or ramble on too much!  Over time I realized that the key is keep it simple…

The simplest way to start is to boil down your sentiment to what the greeting cards would say.  Whether it’s a simple “Thank You” or “Just wanted to say hello…” – that’s really as far as you need to go to get things started.  I often like to send flat note cards out as there is less room and thus helps me to focus on what I really want to communicate.  Also, don’t forget that it is perfectly okay to be short and sweet in your sentiment.  Here’s an example of a quick and simple note:

Dear Linda,
Thank you for the gift you sent over last week.  I really appreciate it!
Take care,
Mary Jane

It really doesn’t have to be more complicated than that and there’s no point in adding in superfluous words or fancy sayings.  If it doesn’t come naturally to you, then it’s not something you should be writing down.  After all, your friends and family expect your familiar voice and way of speaking.  Even the quickest notes have the greatest meaning, because you took the time to hand write your gratitude or feelings.

If you are looking for a more formal or composed note you can definitely look to poetry for inspiration.  It’s okay to write, “I think this poem expresses how I feel, so I am writing it to you…” followed by the poem.  Looking through what others have written is great inspiration and when it comes to personal correspondence it’s okay to reuse poems and verses that help to express your sentiments.  For more ideas, check out the Greeting Card Verses category of posts for samples and links.

I hope you will be encouraged to get started writing, now that you have been armed with some ideas.  The traditional handwritten letter or card will be cherished by your recipient, so go ahead and get back to paper!  Cheers!

Posted on December 9, 2008 at 2:34 pm | Back To Paper | No comments

Writing the old-fashioned way means you need something to write on and something to write with.  That should pretty much do it, save somehow delivering the letter or note itself!  Finding your writing pen is actually a very important task when it comes to fostering your passion for handwritten correspondence.

I’ve tried many different ink pens, gel rollers, thin markers and calligraphy brushes, but still always on the lookout for more.  I might have already mentioned that I despise my handwriting.  I am very inconsistent with a chicken-scratch slash kindergarten style to boast about.  I would have liked to blame it on the fact that I am a math major and thus have cryptic symbolic type strokes, but really I don’t have that either (because I think that would be sort of cool anyway).  I’ve always just had bad penmanship and seem to be the only girl that can’t write pretty!

Well, no matter.  Over time and practice, I have learned to at least write legibly – the primary key is to communicate.  With more practice I have learned to be more consistent and lines on paper also help a lot, too.  Sometimes I get tired with a crampy hand, which definitely will affect your penmanship.  If you usually type and don’t write much by hand, you’ll realize like with any other muscle in your body, the ones for writing also need to be worked out.  Don’t hesitate to take it easy and write slowly – taking a break when you need it!

I realized that I also write better when I have a great pen that feels good in my hand and glides across the paper.  It really does help to find that special pen you love to write with. The key to finding your writing pen?  Try, try and try again.  Get your hands on as many writing utensils as possible and test them out.  Write a few sentences on different types of paper and sign your name.  Over time you will know what your likes and dislikes are when it comes to pen types and pen inks.  I also like to use certain pens for certain types of letters or on certain types of paper as well.

When you do find a great pen, you’ll instantly feel it.  Love at first write, I say!  When that happens, remember to buy a giant box and of course, get back to paper!

Posted on December 8, 2008 at 11:49 pm | Back To Paper | No comments

One of the reasons why I started loving traditional correspondence was for the stationery.  There are so many different kinds of stationery paper and cards to choose from, it’s a veritable paper heaven.  Who doesn’t love the variety when it comes to stationery? From ornately designed personalized notecards to festive holiday computer stationery to classic blank cards – there to satisfy everyone’s own unique style and preference.  I used to go into paper stores like Papyrus and Paper Source for hours, just marveling at all the wonderful paper and cute cards offered.

Besides the purely aesthetic value of stationery, each type and style has it’s rhyme and reason.  Your choice reflects who you are and how you feel about the person you are writing to.  The paper texture, color and material all help to augment the message you are trying to convey.  As with everything else in this world, looks do matter.  A ripped piece of lined notebook paper with a note scribbled on it certainly doesn’t convey the same feeling as a delicately letterpressed invitation on thick linen card stock.

Being a pretty frugal gal myself, I don’t splurge too often unless I find something really special or well-suited to a piece of correspondence I have planned.  I’ve also found the joy of paper crafting, stamping and scrapbooking in order to make my own cards.  I think handmade cards add that extra special touch as well and definitely easier on your pocketbook generally.

Truly, you only need a bit of imagination and the truthful words of your heartfelt sentiment to engage in traditional communication.  You can buy stationery or make something yourself – either way the recipient will know you cared enough to write to them by hand.  Surely there’s a birthday, holiday or personal occasion that would warrant your efforts of a handwritten note?  So start now and get back to paper!

Posted on December 7, 2008 at 11:31 pm | Back To Paper | No comments