Our Newest Family Member

Meet Ben, our new family member. He's a one year old Lhasa Apso mix. We got him from the local humane society. I love to take him for walks and watch him chase butterflies and  grasshoppers. Very cute.

So even though this post is not about letters or journals or the magazine, I just wanted to share a little bit of cuteness, fun and joy that Ben has brought into our lives.

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.

A Typewritten Note

Some of you asked to see what the cursive font looks like on my new typewriter. I typed up a small sample, but the ribbon is not very fresh so the words are faint. I have joined a typewriter group on yahoo to learn a little bit more about this hobby and to decide if I want to invest in buying a new ribbon (probably) and learn how to install it properly (hopefully). We shall see.

Thanks for your lovely comments. It's so nice to share with others who appreciate the fascination with they typed and written word.

You can click on the image to make it larger if you are having a hard time reading the words.

Typewriter $4

This lovely typewriter was a $4 find at a garage sale. I haven't had a typewriter for years, but lately I had been intrigued by them from following Strikethru's blog and purchasing her zine 'Silent Type: A Retrotech Journal.'  I also recently received the typewritten 'Thank You' note from Lily that I blogged about.

The best part of this Voss typewriter (besides the fact that it works and only cost $4) is that it types with a cursive font! What a delightful and unexpected surprise.

 Olivander on Flickr

Growing up we had a behemoth black typewriter. As a young child I loved to spend afternoons  sitting at the desk and typing away.I think I just copied things out of a book. Sometimes I tried to create stories, but I was too slow at getting out the words.

 

In college I used an electric typewriter. What I remember about that was the endless hours trying to format and NOT make a mistake. Now with computers and formatting and font selection, it is truly a whole new world. But sometimes it's fun to use stuff from the old.

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.

July Stationery Giveaway

The July Stationery Giveaway will be announced this Sunday, August 1, 2010. This is a free monthly drawing featured at the Letters & Journals website.

We offer different prize baskets every month and draw a winner on the first of the month. Once you're signed up for the e-newsletter, you're in! (You don't need to re-register each month.)

Journaling Arts.com (giant journal)
HotShoe Cards (notecards)
Crane & Co (notecards)
Pennant (magazine)
Sakura of America ( 3 pen sets)
Daycraft (small notebook)
Brushdance (illustrated Journal)

Typewriter + Thank You Note = Happy

This

This lovely typewritten note came to me last week as a thank you from Lily Greene.

Lily, whose story is featured at Letters & Journals this month, collects postage stamps. I save most of the stamps from the mail I receive, so I sent her a few of the cute, funny or more obscure ones that I have.

And she was sweet enough to send this adorable and quite original thank you note.

Are you inspired?