Quick Note

I got some awesome mail today.  My friend Mrs. Fakefish is selling a cute Half-Size Zine Kit on etsy.  She gave me one to check/try out.  What a fun idea!  I'm off to go write something!!!  Thanks!!!

My Mail Made It!

In the photo in the below link you can see an envelope that I repurposed to send out a hello to a new pen pal.  Ironically, she is from Ohio!  Mine is the envelope mentioning fun in fall and showing off a stamp made by a rubber stamp that I got in a cute set from Barnes & Nobles' going out of business sale.

Me and The Pen Thief

My Pen Pal History

When I was 6 my family moved from the Dayton, Ohio area to the north of Dayton, Ohio area.  I had one best friend and she and I were determined to keep in touch.  Which we did.  We have kept in touch for about 37 years!  Neither of us writes all the time, but we continue to touch base and send Christmas cards.

In middle-school, I somehow managed to get a pen pal who lived in Manchester Endland.  She wrote to me for a few years and even sent me souvenirs from the Royal Wedding.  (Charles & Diane)  Eventually, this gal stopped writing.

As I got older and began having friends who were going off on adventures around the globe, I started to get more international mail.  And when I crossed the U.S. I began writing letters to everyone I knew & especially those who would write back!!!  My mom and her sister (Bonnie) sent me awesome care packages.  I began writing back on anything I could find (candy bar wrappers, scrap paper, whatever).

My letters became even more fun when I had a very creative pen pal (a boy!!!) who had a great sense of humor.  One of my letters to him included a photo from the outside of my house of my bedroom window.  I had added some doodles and a detailed escape plan.  (I was home & bored to death for the summer.)

I was in heaven the year and a half that I lived in France.  A) because it was France  B) they have the coolest stationery stores C) again, France!!!  I was able to send home all kinds of crazy stuff; mostly to my family and I was getting letters from other friends who were stationed around the globe.  At this time, I also began using cassette tapes to record messages from all the great people I got to know and of all the sounds of France.

As I've gotten older, the internet, cell phones, kids have changed the amount of mail that has come my way.  I still adore mail and had a hard time not hearing back from folks.  (Not my folks; my mother has been my one faithful penpal ever since I flew the coup!)

What joy it was to discover that I was not alone!!!  After moving from Ohio I was quite lonely for mail and somehow managed to find Swap-bot, Postcrossing, and Walltype*.  I was hooked instantly.  The only thing holding me back was postage!  (or money; which is required to buy postage)

A couple of years ago some friends talked me into blogging.  I have nothing interesting to blog about.  After moving & finding others who love stationery, magnets, mailart, etc., I just started sharing my mail "adventures."  I'm sure very few friends even reads my posts.  Oh well.  But I've made another discovery:  other people blog about their mail.  Can life get any better???!!!  Now, if only I could find a way to pay for my new habit!!!

5-5-8-1

Five letters: Ohio, Pennsylvania, England, Colorado, California

Five postcards:  Canada, Washington D.C., Poland, Australia, Italy

Junk Mail:  bill, credit card application, another bill, another bill, request to donate money, cataloge for a place I can't afford to shot at, free cell phone if I add another line

Freebies:  Suave goodies from Walmart.

Crane & Co.

 pen pals wanted  

Friday, August 19, 2011

This morning we woke up feeling nostalgic for a pen pal.

But first, a flashback: Fifth grade, Ms. Lily's class. She is holding a stack of white envelopes, each containing one of our names awkwardly scribbled on the front. Through big cursive script inked in green on wide-lined notebook paper, we learn our pen pal's name is Michelle. She is from Maryland and has a Golden Retriever named Bluto (after the 'Popeye' character). Some students write to their pen pals for the obligatory three months. We write to Michelle, and she to us, for the next three years.

It was then that we first became enamored with the art of letter writing. Though we have embraced the immediacy of email, there is nothing quite like ink gliding over paper, recording the events, feelings and nuances from the week. Or day. Or year. Likewise, no Inbox subject line comes close to the feeling one gets when sifting through the day's mail to find a personalized envelope. (We're smitten just thinking about it.)

To celebrate the art of letter writing -- and indulge our own nostalgia -- we're inviting fellow enthusiasts of classic correspondence to become our pen pals. Write us a letter, and we'll write you one back. It's that simple.

To sweeten the experience, every pen pal will be entered in a contest to win an assortment of Crane & Co. paper goodies.

If you love the idea as much as we do, please feel free to spread the word and, of course, write us a letter. Our pens our ready to go.

Please send letters to:

Crane & Co. Pen Pals

44 West 28th Street, 8th Floor

NY, NY 10001