A Visit to Paper Source in Edina

I love visiting stationery stores! Looking, touching, dreaming, buying. There are four Paper Source stores in the Twin Cities. This post is about my recent visit to the Edina store. In a previous post, I wrote about my visit to the Mall of America store. You can read that here.

The ladies working here were super friendly and seemed like they were having fun at their jobs- helping customers, changing displays, answering the phone. Very upbeat! I liked it.

So many good things on display - lots of pens, markers, planners, note cards, calendars and so much more!

This cute back door was at the back of the store. The store had lots of light mostly coming through the front and side windows.

They even had a public bathroom right in the middle of the store. It was perfect! Maybe all the stores have one. I've never checked before. But was delighted to find one unexpectedly.

I've been on the hunt for pretty papers like these (below) to use as backgrounds in my new photo light box as I strive to improve the photographs I take for this blog (It's a work in progress).

Lots of lettering promos and books.

 Are you ready to take your lettering to the next level?

 You might want to see if your local Paper Source store is hosting their own classes.

I took a calligraphy class years ago and it helped improve my penmanship quite a bit. Maybe it's time for something new. How about you?

April is National Letter Writing Month

April is National Letter Writing Month. How are you honoring this tradition? My guess is that for those who write letters, it won't matter what month it is (although it's always nice to having something you enjoy be honored or nationally recognized). And for those who don't write letters, it also doesn't matter what month it is - letter writing month or not.

I think the recognition of the Letter Writing Month does a few things. It helps us become more aware of our hobby as a national pastime. And, like many pastimes and hobbies, it's not for everyone. But the ones who identify strongly as letter writers, it helps us feel a connection with others who also classify themselves among this group.

Like any hobby enthusiast, there is also a group of fans who don't actually write letters (for whatever reason) but love the concept of writing letters and want to identify themselves as belonging to the group. Maybe they can be called Latent Letter Writers. I think the same thing exists for all hobbies and passions (tea drinkers, knitters, golfers, calligraphers, people who journal or use day planner. You get the idea).

In addition to appreciating letter writing as a national hobby, Letter Writing Month also promotes the stationery stores and product lines related to the industry by helping them connect letter writing enthusiasts to their product or service. For many of us finding the perfect pen, ink and writing paper is a ritual and highly valued as part of our craft. For others, selecting any pen or pencil, some plain paper and commence writing with no thought or concern for their tools,only the end result of creating a missive to send. Along the entirety of this spectrum is everything else in between the extremes. Where do you fit in?

Finally, I think the Letter Writing Month allows letter writers a way to connect with other self-identified letter writers. Blog posts like this, discussion venues in all types of social media, articles in the mass media all create an opening to allow others to see or join, admire or dismiss this soul-enriching pastime.

Enough blogging. Time to go write a letter. You know- in honor of National Letter Writing Month.

Roatan Post Office

In February of this year we went to Roatan, Honduras for a winter getaway. I had never heard of the island of Roatan before discussing this vacation with our friends.

"Who goes to the Honduras for vacation?" I recall asking. They explained that Roatan is an island off the coast of Honduras that is renowned for its snorkeling and scuba diving. You get a general idea of its location in the map below.

Roatan is in the Caribbean and is placed along the world's second largest coral reef, Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. Here's a view from our beach on West Bay, where we could walk out or swim to the coral reef and enjoy the views of ocean life.

What's a visit to a new place without sending some postcards? The message boards all warned that it most likely wasn't worth the effort as mail (especially postcards) rarely reached their destination out of Roatan. They also warned that it was impossible to buy stamps anywhere except the post office, which was a 30-minute, one way, taxi ride to Coxen Hole from our resort at Infinity Bay.

Here is a photo of the Post Office in Coxen Hole.

 

I did ask at the hotel gift shop as well as a few other local tourist shops near our hotel about purchasing stamps. One woman who owned a t-shirt shop explained that the hotels and shops like hers had to stop selling stamps because it was discovered that employees were stealing stamps and not mailing letters. This is a very poor island and is hardly recognized or supported by the mainland (according to locals) so they rely on tourists for their livelihood.

In hindsight I should have taken a photograph of the sheet of stamps I purchased. I bought 10 postcard stamps and five letter stamps. I did take a picture of two letters I was going to mail from Roatan, but in the end I decided to wait and mail them when I returned home.

I left the Honduran stamp on the envelope, but added a US stamp.

I also mailed a postcard to myself as I always do when we travel so that I can add it to my travel scrapbook. It has been 6 weeks and I haven't seen it yet. Possibly, I never will. But I won't give up hope.

My friend went to Cuba last 4th of July and it took until Thanksgiving for me to receive the postcard she sent.

9th Anniversary of Letters & Journals Blog

Today, Letters & Journals is celebrating nine years of blogging! Wow! I've been working on this magazine concept for years which is why I started the blog in the first place.

It's taking me much longer than I would have imagined to get this off the ground, but I haven't given up. I still envision an interactive website with a print edition of a magazine that:

  * Comes out 1-2 times per year (eventually 3-4)
  * Is 80-100 pages in length
  * Filled with articles all about Mail, Journals, Planners and so much more
  * Features stationery stores in different cities
  * Features events and promotions going on around the country
  * Contests and giveaways

The new website is scheduled for launch this summer with Issue #1 of Letters & Journals planned for summer 2019.

What would you like to see in the magazine?