New Planner Joy

I wasn't looking for a 2013 planner when I wandered into Subtext Bookstore in St. Paul this week. But I just had to have this one that has, of all things, a place for "Correspondence" in its weekly pages.

Even though it's a weekly calendar, it has a monthly page for each month. Opposite the monthly page is a place for "Goals & Objectives" "To Do This Month" and "New Project/Ideas". Joy and possibilities!

The planner is made by Polestar, a name and company not familiar to me. It's printed in vegetable-based inks on 100% post-consumer recycled paper that's been processed chlorine-free.

 The Polestar Business Planner retails for $19.95.

Now I just have to wait until Monday, Dec. 17 so I can start using it. So excited!

Letter Links

I have not been able to spend as much time reading correspondence blogs like I used to. I kind of miss it. There is so much good stuff out there!

I recently discovered Creative Correspondence. I think you'll like it too.

Do You Use a Bulletin Board? by A Penchant for Paper

What to Write About by 365 Letters

4th of July was a Good Mail Day by Missive Maven

The Rumpus is launching Letters for Kids, where your child can receive a letter from an author such as Lemoney Snickett, among others for a small monthly fee.

Magazine Insert Creativity Contest

People are so creative. We find new ways to use old things every day - pop bottles, books, envelopes, clipboards.

Pop bottle becomes backyard sprinkler

Book spines made into bookmarks

 

Turn junk mail envelopes into handmade book

New life for clipboards

Inspired by the Index Card a Day (ICAD) found on Daisy Yellow's blog, I think we can do the same with the magazine inserts. We just have to be more creative since we're not starting with a blank slate, so to speak.

 

What are some ways you've used these super-lightweight postcards?

Well, put your thinking cap on and get out your creativity toolbox for your chance to win a $25 gift card to Jet Pens!

Start with a magazine insert card and create a piece of art. No cards, you say? Easy enough- just visit your local library or bookstore and shake a few magazines. Soon you will have plenty!

There are two options for entry: Blog Post or Mail. There will only be one winner.

BLOG POST

Blog Post with Photos- If you have a blog, you can post photos of your creation with a link back to this original post. If your entry is complicated, please include instructions for those of us who may want to try your idea on our own. Email me at Jackie at lettersandjournals dot com with a link to your blog.

MAIL 

Mail your entry to Jackie Flaherty, Letters & Journals, PO Box 120052, St. Paul, MN 55112. Be sure to include your contact information as well as any instructions.

Rules

1. Contest is open to everyone

2. Deadline is Sept. 1, 2012 (must be received or posted by this date)

3. Multiple entries are acceptable

4. Winner will be selected by me and notified by email

Ephemera For Sale

I'm cleaning out my boxes and boxes of ephemera and have decided to pack it up and ship it out for the price of shipping plus $1.65 processing.

The assortment of items includes stamps, stickers, photos, maps, advertisements, notepaper, strings, envelopes, ribbons, ticket stubs, bookmarks, stencils, calendar pages, old book pages, scrapbooking supplies, a few odd pens/markers, rubber stamps, business cards and more!

Misc ephemera

I have 5 boxes filled to the brim with all of the stuff I've been saving and collecting for years. As much as I love the ephemera I gather, I just don't take the time to utilize making things like I used to- scrapbook pages, artist trading cards, handmade cards, collages, postcards.

Misc ephemera

I've put these paper treasures in medium flat rate boxes and will mail each one for $13 to the first 5 people who email me at Jackie at LettersandJournals dot com. (Flat rate fee $11.35 + 1.65 processing).

Misc ephemera

There may be more as I get to my stuffed that's packed away in the garage, but for now I'm working on cleaning out my closets, desks and one spare bedroom.

Paypal and Checks accepted. US only.

Printer's Row Lit Festival

Earlier this month, a friend and I went on a long awaited trip to Chicago to attend the 28th annual Printer's Row Lit Festival. Two days filled with books, publishers, authors, postcards, posters, journals and so much more.

Sunshine and crowds were in full force on both days of the festival. Estimated attendance: 130,000.

We started early and found shade where we could. At one point we went into a nice cool bar to refresh ourselves and give our feet a break. And later we visited Sandmeyer's Bookstore which was conveniently on a sidewalk along the festival path.

The booth displaying these handmade journals was extremely popular. They had hundreds of different sizes and designs available and they were a joy just to admire and behold.

But mostly it was about the books. They were everywhere!

Letter Links

Looking to write a letter or read about others' correspondence activities? Check out some of these blogs for interesting, curious, letter lovers like yourself.

Olive at Billions and Billions
Susan Branch (Illustrator) Letter Writing as an Art
Tara at The Elevated Envelope
Julie with her Penpal of the Week
Courtney at The Pen Pal Project
365 Letters blog post about Letters in the News

And finally, a short blog entry by Helen Martin, an poetic writer describing her history of receiving letters:

 As well as print magazines – my heart goes boom – I adore the beauty that is letters, parcels and packages. Since leaving university years ago, when one of my best lady friends and I were separated by hills, rivers, mountains and the M25, we have corresponded an awful lot through the medium of post. With absolutely no word of a warning, a parcel full of ripped out bits of magazines, postcards, a letter, some highly desired make up, a haircut proposal and glitter would turn up c/o my postie and upon opening, spill out in a magic flurry of thoughtfulness and loveliness.

There you have it. My letter writing links recommendations. I know there are more out there. What are yours?

National Stationery Show 2012

This week in New York begins the National Stationery Show (May 20-23) and I'll be missing it! This is the first time in a few years that I have not been there. So I've found some other blogs to follow who are sharing their experience:

Simple Song

Poppy Talk

Banquet Atelier & Workshop

Dear Hancock Paper Goods

Rifle Paper Company

Twitter & the National Stationery Show

For those of you on Twitter, you can find and follow the tweets by searching for #stationeryshow or #nss or following @stationeryshow. For specific events like the National Stationery Show, spending time on Twitter will open up a world of people out there who share your interest. If you're new to Twitter, here is all you need to do. Even without an account, you can:
1. Go to Twitter.com
2. Put #NSS or #Stationeryshow in the SEARCH box
3. Read posts by those who show up in the timeline
4. Click on websites of the people or companies that interest you

If you like what you see then I recommend that you set up a Twitter account so that you can follow all of the people you're finding on Twitter who interest you. Once you set up an account, you can start following people.

 1. Find someone like @stationeryshow and click on their name to be taken to their Twitter page
2. Click on their followers
3. Start reading descriptions and tweets and click on FOLLOW for any people/companies you like
4. Soon you'll have a list of people you're following and the great thing is as you find really interesting people, you can follow who they follow or who follows them. Warning: this is a rabbit hole, much like Pinterest, and can take you hours to resurface
5. Some of them will start following you back so I recommend for you to add a description to yourself mentioning the topics you like or the traits about yourself you want people to know (chocolate lover, mom to 4, hockey enthusiast - you get the picture).

This is a great way to find people who share your interest. To search for any topic, just add the hash tag # before a word or a combination of words all linked together. #stationery or #stationeryshow #penpals, #letters, #mail. Just pick a topic and off you go!