Stationery Store Database

Letters & Journals is building a database of stationery stores in the US and Canada. Do you have a favorite stationery or office supply store? Do you have a friend who has their own letter press card store? Maybe you are a stationery store owner? We are planning to have the most comprehensive list of stationery/office supplies stores and need your help to send in your store information (address or website URL).

Anthology (Madison, WI)

The September LetterNews first mentioned this request to help create the database and there was an immediate response from subscribers listing their favorite stores. These are still in the process of being added. (Thanks to all of you who sent them in so quickly!)

Please leave a comment or send an email to add your favorite store. Later we plan to add reviews and photos to the stores to help others plan their shopping, planning, dreaming excursions. I don't know about you, but I can hardly wait!

Highlights of LetterNews

There are two feature stories in this month's edition of LetterNews, the e-newsletter for Letters & Journals. If you don't get the newsletter that was sent out Monday, August 30, you can read the articles on the website.

The first article, by Debra Illingworth Greene, is 'Lost and Found: A Journal Story' which tells the story of one lost journal and how it made the journey back to its owner.

The second feature is by Kathleen Cleberg who reviews 'The Spirit of Letters', a book about great artists who painted people reading or writing letters such as this famous painting by Vermeer. If you're interested in purchasing this hardcover book, I found some copies for sale at www.abebooks.com,  a website that sells new and used books.

(Photo: Girl in Blue Reading a Letter, Jan Vermeer from 'The Spirit of Letters' published by Hallmark in 1961.)

Letters & Journals Blog Moving

Big changes are happening with the Letters & Journals blog! After 16 months on the blogger platform, I've decided to move it to the L&J website so that the blog and website can be the same. I was hesitant at first since I'm so comfortable with the layout and functions on the Google blogger, but as I spend more time on the website, it makes sense to combine them into one place. I will post in both places for a few weeks to give people some notice and, for those who visit regularly (Thank you!) some time to change their links or bookmarks.

The website is taking some time to adjust to as is the monthly e-newsletter, LetterNews.  Deciding where things live (topics and stories), how to get them to display as I expect them to, adding photos, changing fonts, etc. I'm trying a new format for the August newsletter and will see how it works with the full stories in the newsletter. That will be ready this weekend or early next week.

(Image is courtesy of Salvatore Vuono.)

August Stationery Giveaway

There are some great stationery items in the monthly giveaway at Letters & Journals for those signed up for the monthly e-newsletter LetterNews. Since June we have signed up 300 stationery lovers!

Ciak leather journal from Journaling Arts.com Crane thank you notes, J. Herbin glass pen and a bottle of Lierre Sauvage (green) ink, Sakura Micron pen set, Rhodia dot pad and a Spring 2010 Pennant magazine.

July Stationery Winner

This set of note cards from Hotshoe Cards is one of the seven items in this month's stationery giveaway that was won by Valerie F. An email has been sent to Valerie notifying her of her good fortune. Valerie has one week from today to contact me with her mailing information. If she doesn't respond, a second winner will be drawn and announced.

The monthly drawing is open to all the subscribers of LetterNews, the free monthly newsletter for Letters & Journals. Odds of winning on 8/1/2010 were 1 in 277.

The August stationery giveaway is underway! Prizes and donors to be announced throughout the month.

L&J Magazine Update

We launched the Letters & Journals website in May 2010 and had some great responses to the design and layout as well as some of the stories that have been featured. Thanks to those of you who took the time to comment!

We started sending out LetterNews, the L&J newsletter that we had hoped to send bi-weekly, but most likely will be a monthly, at least for a while. There's a lot of great content out there, but it's a matter of having the time to put it all together. The design for LetterNews is still in process, but in the meantime, we're using the L&J logo.

A lot of you have said to get you on the list for the print magazine which is scheduled for 2011 (hopefully early in the year). The best way to do that is to sign up at the Letters & Journals website or for LetterNews. Please spread the word. The faster we can build the list of names, the sooner L&J magazine will go to press!

June Stationery Winner

The winner of the June Stationery Prize Basket was H. Wendt. Congratulations! And thanks for signing up for LetterNews, the newsletter for the Letters & Journals website. We had hoped to publish bi-weekly, but plans have changed to make it a monthly newsletter instead.

The July Stationery Prize Basket is being put together now. If you haven't already signed up for LetterNews and your chance to win, you can do so here.

Prize Basket Filled with Stationery Goodies

The June prize basket at Letters & Journals will have its random drawing on July 1, 2010. The winning entry will be drawn from the list of people who have signed up for LetterNews, the e-newsletter for Letters & Journals.

The list of goodies can be found here. For photos of each prize, please go to Flickr.

Letters & Journals will have a new drawing each month. Here are some of this month's contributors:

Crane
Private Reserve
Sakura of America
Art & SoulWorks
Flying Wish Paper
Xonex Pens

L&J's Newsletter named LetterNews

Letters & Journals ran a contest a few weeks ago to get some suggestions on what to name the weekly newsletter. We had a lot of wonderful and creative submissions and after a few weeks of gradually narrowing down the list, we decided to go with LetterNews.

LetterNews works on many levels. First of all, it's a play on newsletter, so that is highly appropriate. Secondly, the word letter is what makes up all of the words contained in your letters and journals. And finally, letters as in correspondence in the mail.

The lucky contributor is Ilona who most of you know as The Missive Maven. I emailed her the good news and she was just thrilled. For those of you who are curious, she chose the JetPens gift certificate. I'm sure she will share with all of you the updates and reviews of what she ends up buying with her new-found fortune.

The newsletter will start publishing at the end of this month. You can sign up at the L&J website if you want to get on this e-newsletter mailing list.