Edward Gorey #7

Edward Gorey has a wonderfully comic way of expressing himself as he displays in this illustration with men wearing skirts.

I haven't decided yet who this card should go to. Certainly someone with a fine sense of humor and an appreciation of the more subtle things in life, such as men with mustaches wearing long skirts.

Website Maintenance 4/26/11

The web host for Letters & Journals is planning to do some server maintenance on Tuesday, April 26, 2011, so the site will be inaccessible for most of the morning. This blog is separate and will not be affected.

I'll wait until after the maintenance to schedule the next blog posting. I'm also working on the April e-newsletter, the May Stationery Giveaway, preparation for the National Stationery Show and content ideas for the premiere edition which is scheduled for Dec 2011. Exciting stuff!

Showing Off My Pen & Pencil Box

A friend of ours, Harvey Christiansen, is a talented woodworker. So when I needed a new place to store my favorite pens and pencils I went to Harvey with an old cigar box that was about the size I was looking for and asked if he could make a pen and pencil box.

He made three! In two of the boxes, Harvey had the great idea to include felt inside. Nice! (See Happy Pens below)

He also put on a carved wooden star, some orange felt and a wood frame and then matched the same type of latch that was on the cigar box prototype. I didn't think to take a photo of the latch. Next time.

  

I'm very pleased, as are my pens!

Natonal Stationery Show 2011

I have been busy making plans to attend the National Stationery Show (NSS) in New York May 15-18, 2011. This will be the fourth time I've attended and I'm just as excited as ever.

 I'm already made up the outline of an itinerary with some highlights of events that I know I will be attending. These include:

• Going to the Opening Night Party at Battery Park on Saturday night.
• Attending the Future Conference on Sunday morning where I will get to hear Seth Godin. The theme for this year's conference is 'Put it on Paper: The Importance of Pen and Ink in the Digital Age.'
• Meeting other Twitter friends at the Tweet n’ Greet that NSS is hosting this year. Twitter has been great to meet other show goers 

Last year I met some of the first sponsors to the monthly stationery giveaway at Letters & Journals. They had no idea what kind of return they would get for their investment, yet they took a chance. These include:

Christy at Regreet

Mark at Ecojot

 

 Julie at Flying Wish Paper

April is National Card and Letter Writing Month

If you need a reason to write a letter, then let me remind you that April is National Card and Letter Writing Month. Many of the people who follow this blog are already letter writers and need no outside impetus to propel their actions in this regard. But for those who need to be enticed, consider this...

Start with a nice writing area...

Add fountain pen and bottle of ink...

Some kind or encouraging words...

A colorful stamp or two...

Address and seal the envelope...

Drop off at the post office...

Wait for your return letter...

Because if you send them, you will receive them. That's just how letters work.

Preparations for the 100-mile Garage Sale

There is an annual 100-mile garage sale in southeastern MN that follows Highway 61 from Red Wing to Winona as well as parts of Wisconsin.

 The sales takes place over Mother's Day weekend. Last year my girlfriend, her sister and mother went and had fun loading up the truck, visiting with the friendly small town residents, stopping when they felt like it to eat at local cafes and, when the day was done, they had reserved a hotel room so that they could rest and hit the remaining sales on their way back home the next day.

I thought this sounded like a great way to spend a weekend! So I have made my own hotel reservations with my daughters and we are planning to enjoy the scenery of Lake Pepin and the bald eagles while we wind our way down Hwy 61 stopping at garage sales.

 All of the pictures you see in this post are of items I picked up last year at local garage sales. As you can tell I am more into pencil size boxes, paper, ephemera, pens, stamps and other desk top paraphernalia.

 Here's to good weather and finding lots of books, office supplies and ephemera on our 100 mile odyssey!

Craft & Tell Winners

Just a quick post to announce the two winners of the Craft & Tell sponsored by Elmers and X-Acto. Congratulations to:

Brooke left a comment on 3/31 on the main website.

The Pen Thief left a comment on the blog on 3/29.

 Ladies, please send me your info so I can send it on! Thanks!

The product for the mini Craft & Tell was listed on the original post and will be sent directly from a rep at Elmers.

Update April 16, 2011: Sorry, Brooke, I never heard from you to get your mailing info, so had to select another winner.

Edward Gorey #6

This is one of my favorite Edward Gorey postcards, 'Bibliophile with cats'.

As you can tell by the date in the calendar below, I am a few weeks behind on my Gorey postcard updates, so I'd better get this in the mail.

I'm sure I won't have a problem finding a reader and cat lover to receive this card.

April Stationery Giveaway

Welcome to the listing of all of the prizes that will be awarded to one lucky winner of the Letters & Journals monthly giveaway. We partner with stationery sponsors who contribute prizes in exchange for promotional mentions and additional exposure through the Letters & Journals website, Twitter and Facebook.

Tilia Press is a new sponsor and maker of eco-conscious cards, sent in an awesome cloth tote bag (see below) that is wrapped with 2 sets of note cards, 4 individual note cards and 2 bookmarks.

Survival by Design has donated a collection of note cards, luggage tag and magnet. These colorful cards feature characters with strong personalities and no eyes or nose- the better to let their everyman personalities shine through, I think.

Chewy Tulip sent in these six postcards for a first time donation. For more designs and quirky animal fun, check out her Etsy store.

Rifle Paper Company, also a new sponsor, sent in a set of Folk Art cards with the colorful and whimsical designs as shown in the card set below.

Many of you stationery lovers are familiar with Chronicle Books and their great selection of book and stationery items. This month they have included a Party Paperie set which includes invitations, envelopes, place cards and menu cards. If you're not into elegantly designed dinner parties, then you can use this beautifully designed collection as ephemera in your new stationery or art project.

Papaya Art has been a continuing sponsor of the L&J Giveaway and this month their donation includes a large hardcover journal and a small address book.

The unique card set you see below is called Poker and is from Set Editions, a letter press card company that uses recycled and post consumer paper in its product.

The spiral bound notebook from KoCo New York (below) is lined on one side of the pages for your notes and blank on the other side of the pages for your doodles. Clever and functional!

Peppertree has contributed this beautifully designed yellow note cards for this month's spring giveaway. You may recall last month they donated the purse sized three pack of notebooks, which are very popular.

Once again Puro Papel has contributed a gorgeous custom made package of luggage tags that includes a marker you can use to authentically create your own signature or address info so that your luggage will always find its way back to you (or you to it.)

Crane & Company has been a long time donor to these monthly giveaways and this month they have included a stationery set with their quality paper and envelopes.

SE Hagarman Designs uses crystals to add bling to her cards. The five cards pictured here are all included in the April giveaway. Stacey's website was recently redesigned, so if you have a few minutes, you should check it out!

PiPo Press had donated three packages of these flat note card sets. April is the last month to win one of these (cross your fingers!)

These last two items were donated by Product Superior. The first is a Cat Notebook and the other item is a set of 5 pencils (the pencil photo shows two sets of pencils but one set went out with the March giveaway.) They have also donated an Octopus print that will be in its own special drawing at a later date.

There are just two ways you can win any of the monthly stationery giveaways:
1. Be signed up for the free Letters & Journals monthly e-newsletter
2. You are put on the mailing list for information regarding the premiere edition when that information is available (No subscriptions yet- just a heads up on the status of the print edition) Send info here.