Thursday, February 5, 2009

Pens and paper and cards!

One thing that seems to be common among letter writers is our love for all the trappings that go with writing letters...the paper, the pens, the envelopes, the stamps...and the cards, oh my, the cards! It's all just so much fun!

I have my favorite pens, including a silver Parker pen that I gave to my grandmother and then I inherited after she passed away. No one else likes to write with it because it's skinny and slick; they think it's hard to hold, but I never have a problem with it. I don't like rollerball pens; I never can get the ink to flow smoothly. But, I do love a good fountain pen. Problem is, right now, my fountain pen leaks ink, and I haven't figured out out to solve the problem yet.

On the other hand, I also find it hard to pass up fun pens. In my purse, I have the Parker pen and a collection of very inexpensive colored pens. And, just yesterday, I splurged and bought a large package of multi-colored Sharpie brand pens. I don't yet know what I'll do with them, but I couldn't resist the "Limited Edition Cafe Colors"! Who can walk past pens with names like "Earl Gray" "Pomegranate" and "Mocha"?

And, the paper. Oh boy do I have paper! I'm hoping this 365 Letters project will help me whittle down my stationery collection. I have lined paper, plain paper, hotel stationery from places I've never even been, special "onion skin" paper I bought way back in high school when I had all the overseas penpals and needed thin paper to cut down on postage costs. I haven't bought stationery in years, yet, still, my paper and card collection fills to overflowing a large under-the-bed box!

Speaking of cards...who can resist them? I have the standard greeting cards — Happy Birthday, Hope You're Feeling Better, Sorry I Missed Your Birthday, etc. And, then I have notecards, blank cards with pictures or drawings on the front and lots of room to write on the inside. And, just in case I ever run out of decorated notecards, I have plenty of really blank ones that are just waiting for me to decorate.

I'd say envelopes are the least exciting part of my letter-writing paraphernalia. When I was a teenager, I worked for American Greetings, keeping up the card rack at a retail store. When cards were damaged, lost or stolen, the envelopes were left over, so I built up quite a collection of odd-sized envelopes. Nowadays, my daughter and I enjoy making our own envelopes from magazine covers, calendar pages, old books and even yellow legal pad pages.

Hopefully by the end of this year, I'll have used up quite a bit of all this stuff...then I'll go shopping for more!

9 comments:

Rachel said...

I love cards!

Cherry Lane Jane said...

You make it all sound so fun! I hate my handwriting though so I don't do it that much.

Midway Records said...

I used to spend my lunch hour just reading funny cards at the flower shop. Doesn't take much to entertain me!

Learning Spanish at 41 said...

Your writing is wonderful! Thank you for visiting and choosing to follow my blog...I appreciate your participation. :-)

Myrna said...

I think this is a great idea. I can't remember the last time I received a hand-written letter. These days, everything is delivered via technology, and I'm afraid I've gotten too accustomed to it. I look forward to taking the time to jot some thoughts on paper! Talk about deja vu! Myrna

bARE-eYED sUN said...

thank you Carla,
i relate to the paraphernalia pile-up.

letter-writing is an activity that i've been thinking of returning to for years. "thinking", mind you; putting off is more acurate.

its so much easier to send an email or make a phone call. there's something missing from these, however. i'm not sure what, a yo no se que . . .


the slacker in me says "hey don't get involved, let the kooks have their way - - - just light up, and hit the PLAY button". ;-) - - -

i don't even KNOW 365 people! but, know what? by golly, gee willikers - - - i'm gonna do it - aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhh!


thank you again, for a very interesting, appealing and motivating post. i'll visit again and let you know if i wrote the ONE letter.

- - - meanwhile, you keep it up, we're right behind you.

go girl!

..
.ero

Terri said...

Congrats on your win over at sew inspiring I will send out your booties on monday.

I am doing a giveaway on my blog as well if you would like to stop by. Everyone is welcom.

ARTERY said...

We have the same interest. Oh my. Can I add you on my blogroll? I'll catch to read your posts and follow them.

Anonymous said...

Hello,.... How are you today?

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