Summer Sale!

Hurry on over to my store to catch the Summer Sale!  Check out new listings and all the Letter Writing Kits available.  This is a great time to stock up for Birthday gifts or other events!

Writing with a bit of FLOURISH.... and the Benefits of Cursive Writing II

Let's bring this back...with a flourish!!!  

Postmark 1887, I just love the parenthesis at the bottom of this.  Why did she open it through mistake?

Once, in not a so distant past...this script was STANDARD in schools across America and the United Kingdom in the late 1880's through the early 1900's!  I picked up this little gem of an envelope  at my local Stamps and Rocks Store along with several others (see the picture below).  I am fascinated with the beautiful scripts on these little pieces of history!  But I am saddened by the wholesale removal of cursive writing (of any kind) from our schools today.  It makes me spitting mad.  Ummm. ahem.  I am so sorry for that very unlady like display of passion, but we need to wake up!  There are some things worth reviving in our culture, and I want to  propose that Cursive Writing is one of them!

Here is my stack of old envelopes.  Unfortunately, it is VERY difficult to find the letters in them.  But I still love the old envelopes.    The picture there, is a postcard that I believe the sender made of herself...precursor to the "selfie"?  :-)  There was a cute  note on the back of it.

I become so inspired when I see these beautiful scripts...that I immediately long to be able to write something beautiful as well.  So out come the nibs and inks, and my trusty Spencerian Script book. This is available through (click on this: John Neal Books, for some reason my posts are not high lighting the links! ) This is probably the best place that I have found for the beginner  (and advanced) supplies.  

The book!

The Dinner!

Thankfully, I was inspired at just the right time.  Valentine's day.  My dear husband, Mr. Foster, gave me a dozen BEAUTIFUL roses, and a box of chocolates.  I wanted to do something extra special nice for him in return.  So, out came the candles...the china...and a nice steak dinner...

The Letter!

I had been practicing my Spencerian Script...however....I can see now why calligraphers avail themselves to the use of a light box!  I must see if I can commission someone to make one for me.  As you can see my script goes up hill quite a bit... I wasn't original, I just simply copied Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "How Do I Love Thee" sonnet, and added a little comment.  My dear sweet husband thought I had written it! :-)   But, after not taking credit for it... I gently directed his eyes to the rather large script of her name at the end... he seemed to love it just the same.

Did it take rather a long time to write?  Yes.  Was it worth it?  Yes.  What benefit did I derive from all the pains I took?  Well, that would be hard to state, but let me see if I can explain.  The process  of slow, methodical , purposeful , quiet, solitary, writing...is an ethereal experience.  Each and every stroke is full of brain tingling sensations! The slowness of this exercise allowed my mind to think of many things... particularly my husband, pleasant thought indeed. Nearly all of your senses are involved...touch--dipping the pen into the ink,feeling the texture of the  paper.Hearing ---the scratching that the nib makes against the paper.  And sight--- watching the strokes take place, hopefully in some beautiful form.

Perhaps the most important benefit of this ancient craft, is the sense of partaking in something that has been happening since the beginning of time, much unchanged.  What a link to the past.  If you want to read more about the benefits, read the following article, it sites a NewYorkTimes article on the benefits of cursive writing and the brain science. (Click on: article  )

I used the crow quill pen that I purchased from Speed Ball.  

Don't forget to use the wax and your favorite seal...pictured here is intertwining hearts.

And just a few days after this was written...I received this beautiful envelope and letter from Mrs. Duffy ( Letter Matters )  She is doing everything she can to keep the art of beautiful writing alive. There is a great community of calligraphers  today.  If you are interested in pursuing these groups, I would recommend:  ( Iampeth )  and ( The Flourish Forum.)  Both great places to get started.

Write Beautiful Letters.

Write Often.

Lady Pamela

Pink Overload...Begins!

Warning...lots of Pink coming your way.  I make no bones about it.  I am a sucker for pink.  So...I am always picking up "pink" supplies when I can find them.  

Here are a few things I found at Dollar Tree on a recent trip ...lots of pinks and reds going on here.  Great frugal finds.  

Are you making your Valentines, or buying them?

Write Letters,

Write Often.

Lady Pamela

Is The "Thank You Note" Outdated?

How to write a creative Thank-You Note others would love to receive!

The good folks at Letter Writer's Alliance caused quite a stir when they posted the link on Twitter to the NPR program , " All Things Considered: In This  New Year, Is it Time to Nix The Thank-You Letter?"  You can listen to the program here: NPR/thank you note  which was originally published in  the Guardian here.

  Oh, I get the point that Mr. Ormerod is making...that insincere gratitude (i.e. forcing our children to grudgingly send thank you letters for gifts) is not gratitude at all.  He advocates other alternatives such as phone calls, emails, or drawing a picture that might be more creative.  Heh, heh...unless you have a parent who is an avid snail mailer! Then it is get out 1 million paper crafting tools such as washi tape, rubber stamps, paints, chalk , stickers, punches...

I don't know where you stand on this debate, but I encourage (yes, sometimes mandate!) my children to write thank you notes for gifts they receive.  I am personally alarmed at this generation's extreme lack of gratitude in general, so I believe now would be the worst of all times to do away with this tradition.

So let's look at how to write an interesting , non-boring, Thank You Note.  This is the perfect time to do so, according to 365 Letters as she  mentions in her most recent blog post that January is National Thank You Month!  What better way to show appreciation than to write one's appreciation!

How To Write an Interesting Thank You Letter...

• First, you want your correspondents to SEE you, to FEEL your mood, and to SENSE you as if they were there with you , like over a cup of coffee.
• It's all about the details!  Start with where you are, what you 're doing, and what is going on around you.  Act as if the reader is blind and you are his guide, giving him a tour through your day. Do you think that your life is not beautiful every moment?  Join the crowd.  We all have  some very non-beautiful  moments, or down right boring moments in our lives.  The trick is to remember that beauty is often your interpretation of the event, not the event itself.  Beauty comes in the telling.
• Setting the scene.  Description adds padding to a letter, but it also invites the correspondent to enter a "vacation zone"  for a brief 5 minutes or so.  It carries him outside of his familiar walls and into a new , unknown scene.  
• Here is an example I found on the web in some files I had copied (author unknown),

Dear Jane,

This morning I opened my eyes to sunshine streaming in through a window covered with crystal tendrils of ice.  I was loathe to get out of bed!  I was so cozy under the flowered comforter you helped me pick out at that funky shop on 3rd St,

But I rolled out of bed anyway and after a cup of hot tea and an hour alone before the kids got up  I was "right as rain" and braced for the onslaught of diapers and protests of clothes that don't match and milk rings from untidy cereal eating and ...you know it all.  That is one of the many things that make me happy in my life--that you are in the trenches with me even though you're so far away.

Love your faithful friend,

Sarah

Perhaps some of these thoughts can guide us as we sit down and write some thank you letters for the month of January.  And back to Mr. Omerod.  Instead of nixing the Thank You Letter/Note, I believe that maybe the parents (or adult generation) should set the example with the true attitude of gratitude in this endeavor.

Write Letters.

Write  Often.

Lady Pamela

Tuesday Tea Time and Letters!

THE SETTING:  '

This little ensemble is not a match.  And do you know what?  I like it like that.  It makes it all so much more interesting, doesn't it?   But that is ok!  Really.  Haha..."matchie, matchie" is a thing of the past, so the designers tell us!  The tea pot has a nice winter feel to it...the cup and saucer shares much of the green and plum colors.  Perfect!

We have been having such cold weather...but I can not complain too loudly as I know that other regions are  more frigid than ours.  Regardless of our temperatures...we can all enjoy a nice cup of hot tea...or coffee...or cocoa and settle ourselves down and write a few letters.

So grab a mug or a pot of tea, and join me as we write our letters today!

Write Letters.
Write Often.

Lady Pamela

Kraft Happy Mail

We Have A Winner!

Why yes.  We do have a winner!

All the goodies (small items above packaged separately!) for our winner...Sheryl can now share the love with someone else!

This week's winner of "Show and Mail" is Sheryl who  hails from the state of Massachusetts!  Brrrrr....!  Her sweet letter arrived this week, and lo and behold...look how she decorated it!!  You would almost believe that she followed by stationery tutorial (see previous post).  But really , her letter arrived BEFORE I posted that .  I so love  her original art work.  Beautiful!  She also included  a tea bag...always appreciated!  Sheryl and I have been pen pals for 12 years now.  She had many questions for me from my last letter.  I love how we share our joy of the fiber arts...she is an amazing knitter...and I hang out in the crochet world.  We also share our trials and joys of homeschooling, often sharing tips of what works...and well...what doesn't!  To top it off, Sheryl has 11 children and STILL has time to write letters!  Thanks for your letter Sheryl...hope you enjoy the goodies!

I can't wait to see what is in my mail box this coming week!  Don't delay...next week's giveaway for "Show and Mail" will be just as great!  Write me a letter!

And don't forget...a Letter is ALWAYS better!

Write Letters.

Write Often!

Lady Pamela

Tuesday Tea Time and Letters... Rituals!

Some time ago, Mrs. Duffy over at lettermatters.com posted an interesting question .  She wanted to know if anyone had any particular rituals that involved our letter writing experience.  I am sorry to say that I did not leave a comment, but it did get me thinking about my own rituals.  

Most of my domestic rituals involve tea.  I absolutely love tea in almost any shape or form.  I even have particular mugs I drink from at certain times of the day.  My green recycle mug is for the AM (it is LARGE).  I use an old Christmas mug for my green tea in the PM, I sometimes substitute   with my Kincade mug if I can't locate the old Christmas one.  I also have a bone china tea cup collection that is displayed in my antique pie safe.  Sometimes, when I need a bit of elegance...I carefully select a REAL tea cup. Each one of these lovelies have a story of their own.

• But here  is where the real RITUAL begins...

When I want "Five Minutes Peace"( and ok, I really want more than 5 minutes!) (that is the title of a delightful children's picture book)  (akkk! I know it isn't proper to have all of these parentheses!!!!!)... and I want to enjoy my beautiful mail ...peacefully, I enjoy the ritual of selecting one of my tea pots from my collection and brewing an aromatic pot of tea.  In the fall and winter time, I slip on a tea cosy to keep it warm, I then place this pot on a tray, with a little treat of biscotti, or some other cookie or whatever treat I might have hidden, I might add--you don't birth and raise 10 children and not know how to hide things! I then continue  on up to my bedroom, close the door and enjoy my tea party of 3...me, myself and my letters!  Ahh...total relaxation.  I have managed to enjoy this ritual , even with a house of rambunctious children.  Yes, there would be the wiggling fingers under the door...and their pitiful cries, of  "mommy!"but to no avail... I was determined to have my bit of ritual.  I needed the renewal that the steaming pot of  hot tea offered.  I understood what Mrs. Elephant needed, so that she could keep on giving to her little ones.

This book, by the way, is a mandatory  read for all you young mommies out there who need your batteries recharged!

I no longer have little fingers poking under the door frame...but I still need my bit of ritual.  What about you?  Dear Reader, I invite you to share your "get alone to read my letters" ritual here!  Please leave a comment or send me a write up of your ritual and I will share this with the readership!

And one last thing. Would you mind very much if I shared periodically on Tuesdays, my tea obsessions along with letters?  You wouldn't have to worry about me being a tea snob, because , well, I'm not.  I just think that tea and letters  are a great combo!  And do let me hear from you as well!

Is there no Latin word for Tea?   Upon my soul, if I had known that I would have left the vulgar stuff alone. 

~~Hilaire Belloc

Write Letters,

Write Often,

Lady Pamela

Outgoing!

Love this combo of washi...

Out going...

"Sista" Mail...vintage fits.  ;-)

More "sista" mail.

Jan loves all things Japanese <3

Kokeshi Kraziness!

Slight variation for LouAnne

I love the word stickers...but they seem to stump me for phrases...does anyone else have this problem?

I love the rebelliousness of snail mail, and I love anything that can arrive with a postage stamp.  There’s something about that person’s breath and hands on the letter.

Diane Lane

Write Letters,

Write Often

Lady Pamela

Postcard Romance...1907 style!

Letters as History:  Vintage Postcards

Treasure Hunt...Vintage Postcards... and what they said!

These boxes were mentioned in my vacation post. http://lostartrevived.blogspot.com/2014/09/snail-mail-and-little-things.html Oh, if I had only had time to go through both shoe boxes... but  I was hopelessly being rushed.

The postcard covers were all of  such a wide variety (airlines, businesses, travel destinations... educational institutions, etc.)  Oh!  So much history on these photo postcards.

Ahhh....but the "B" side...or the Back side!  Oh what a world of epistolary mystery!  Each little postcard contains just a snippet of the poster's world.  Several of the postcards had the stamps placed upside down.  Now in the Language of Stamps that would mean...don't write me.  However, I don't believe these folks were following the Victorian stamp language.  Probably just absent mindedness,  But , then again...maybe...

This card was a  an interesting airline photo...but whoa!  Look at the back!!!

This message is such a hoot!  Do you think that Evelyn heeded  the advice given to her by Joseph?  So curt, short...sort of scary!  Yikes!

This was a super romantic card.  Just look at that picture...doesn't it just ooze love and romance?  Alice must have been some gal!

Look at the beautiful penmanship.  I love the use of a fountain pen here...or maybe this one was made with a dipping pen.  Either way... very romantic.. 

Oh....this just moves my heart.  

Dearest Alice,

I haven't forgotten you--much to the contrary.  Trust it is likewise with you.  Oh if you only were here, especially  in a night as shown on the reverse side of the card.  See you Monday, dear.

Ron (or is it Don?)

I for one haven't done very much with postcards.  First, they are difficult to find and usually only available  at tourist locations.  I have started to get into the habit of purchasing them when I am out of town, but then I get railroaded when I don't know where the local post office is located.  Therefore, my cards never get sent when  I am on holiday.  I was discussing this with a pen friend who just recently  sent me  a postcard from Vermont, I believe .  I told her that I would probably  just start sending them out from my home...they are still interesting, even if not dispatched from the location of origin.  What do you think?  Do you send postcards?   Why not do as I have just done and make a visit over to the Post Crossing site   http://www.postcrossing.com/ and join  it   like I did to make a little postcard history yourself?   Who knows...maybe one of our postcards will wind up in a shoe box in a thrift store  100 years from now...and cause  amazement, wonder, and magic  in someone else's life!

Watch out Germany!  My first 5 postcards are to you!

Write Letters,

Write Often!

Lady Pamela

Snail Mail and little things...

It's the small things in life that we neglect...

Life gets hectic.  We, as Americans, supposedly have the hardest time of all when it comes to slowing down, and relaxing.  Most of us keep tight schedules which allows little time for  thoughtful repose much less to sit down and thoughtfully compose a hand written letter.  Vacations help to remind us of our need to slow down, to take in our surroundings... to notice the color of the sky...the smells that are in the air...new sounds all around... It is time to notice the little things around us. 

 I was impressed with the shells while we were there.  I was mainly interested in the very small ones ( I wanted to leave the bigger ones for the youngsters who were collecting with their sand pails in tow!).  What an unlimited variety of colors, shapes, sizes!  To consider  the possible journey each shell  may have taken to have  washed up on the shores of NC... well, that can just sort of stagger the imagination.  Literally it is incredible.  Some were huge, others were so tiny that they were less than a centimeter, yet perfectly formed and beautiful.  Little things.

Little things are important in the large scheme of life.

\

We have been blessed this week to have enjoyed this view from our balcony deck!  What a sight it has been, a definite change from the rolling  hills and pastoral scenes of the Piedmont of Virginia.

My mobile letter writing kit and my favorite rocker awaits. 

I have taken advantage of the down time to pen several letters...

Don't for get to bring your favorite Vacation read!   I have selected the Illustrated Letters of Jane Austen.

I discovered a small book store in the village and found this wonderful little stand with the Leuchtturm 1917 journals and planners, it was literally hiding behind the postcard stands in a corner of the store.  I selected one off the shelf after much contemplation.  This holds a world of yet to be written. journal entries, notes,thoughts, sketches, whatever comes to mind.  Hot Pink...oh yeah!

I also did some sniffing around in some old thrift  and antique stores and found these lovely boxes full of vintage postcards.  I only had time to go through the box on the left.  Ugh , I hated leaving the other one untouched.  Dear Reader, I left it for you!  It was so entertaining reading the notes written from the 1920's,30's and 40's.  I will post more on my finds at a later date.

\

I also brought with me a selection of letters to reread while on vacation.  Oh, and "of course"  that is NOT a rubberband you  see encasing those lovely letters....it is a delicate ribbon...oh, ok.  it is a rubberband unfortunately.  I wish I had  a lovely lacey ribbon, but alas I secured  this collection of letters at the last moment before departure.

This brings to mind a quote:

What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters.  You can't reread a phone call. 

~~Liz Carpenter

Do you reread letters?  If not, you are missing out on a real treat.  The above letters are a collection from a young friend of mine.  They tell a bit of a story of her life over a period of time.   I encourage you to save letters, you won't regret it.

This week has taught me many things.  I need to make more room in my life for contemplation.  For little, but important things.  Letter writing is one of them.  Take time for the little things in your life as well.

Write letters,

Write often.

Lady Pamela

The benefits of cursive handwriting : Princeton study/ Mrs. Duffy... and inspiration!!!

A Study...

A Letter...

A lot of inspiration!

Here is another study...but put out by a researcher at Princeton, this time about the benefits of handwriting (you know, the kind you do with your hand and a pen or pencil) over the keyboard.  Not that the keyboard will ever be replaced, but I think that there is a happy medium somewhere here!

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2014/06/princeton_university_study_finds_students_more_likely_to_learn_by_taking_handwritten_notes.html

Then, right on the coat tails of this study, what should  all of a sudden appear in my incoming mail , but a lovely, beautiful, letter from Mrs. Duffy (see her wonderful blog:  Letter Matters).  And, I must say that I  do pause... and examine...  her workmanship from every angle...

Isn't her script absolutely lovely?

While admiring it...I just had to pull out my quill pens, dipping pens, inks and nibs... 

And my long-forgotten Spencerian Script instruction book.

This is a very do-able guide...if you devote the necessary time.  I couldn't find my oblique pen holder... but I could locate my various nibs and inks.

Here is a peek at one of the pages in the book.  I highly recommend it, but again, it requires much devotion,and patience to see results.  I don't believe that I shall ever be as elegant as Mrs. Duffy, but I have been inspired!  Mrs. Duffy is experimenting with her dipping pens...I am sure she is doing beautifully.  I am in the market for a very flexible nib for calligraphy in the  fountain pen style.  Does someone have any suggestions for me in this regard?

Reach outside your comfort zone...grab some inspiration and...

Write letters,

Write often.

Lady Pamela