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Post by mailartist on Oct 30, 2018 18:39:14 GMT
I've noticed lately the almost complete disappearance of "paper products." Local big-box stores used to have large stationery aisles with bound journals and regular paper, but now those areas are shrinking, and stocked with (mostly) computer paper, digital peripherals, ballpoints, and (during school season) an occasional spiral notebook or package of wide-ruled, loose-leaf paper. Aside from padded envelopes and mailing boxes, it's hard to even find regular envelopes for sale. For a while, it was possible to find paper items at thrift stores, but now, those shelves (shrinking in size, also) mostly have old three-ring binders, and dusty staplers. While there will likely be online sellers of stationery and fine art papers, and while scrapbook paper and stickers will continue (at least for a while), I wonder how quickly all paper products will disappear from retail shelves. Mail artists have long relied on "found paper" for their creations, but with online bill pays, and online catalogs, even things like weekly advertisements have disappeared from the mailbox. One can use an envelope pattern to craft an envelope from the page of an old book -- assuming one can even find an old book lying around (those are disappearing quickly, also, as everything goes "e-reader"). Snail mail is tangible stuff. Hard to make it out of nothing. It's no surprise to me that paper products are disappearing. Retailers have to stock what sells, and "if not enough people buy fountain pen paper . . . " -- I get that. BUT I am surprised to see how rapidly paper items are vanishing.
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Post by Mia on Oct 30, 2018 20:23:33 GMT
Over here, in the newsagents, there is a change of magazines on the shelves. There has been an explosion of magazine titles - more food/recipe magazines, more gardening mags, and arts/crafts - paper, knitting, crochet, sewing... and also mindfulness - be it wordy, or for adults to colour in. The latter, I have seen elsewhere someone use for envelopes or use the plain side (if there is one) for letter writing. I have seen pictures cut from magazines and glued to decorate paper to write on.
There are a few more "craft" shops opening up, so people can make their own cards, decorate boxes and other items with decoupage.... and sells fabric but in smaller quantities (maybe not big enough to make clothes with). More bunnies and soft toys to be made.
I think there is more promotion of slowing-down, offline hobbies, connections with nature and other people.
The stationer's here, also quadruples as a bookshop and newsagent, and toy store, was well known for stationery (had own brand of quality bond, even had their own brand of fountain/cartridge pens...) but only a small section is dedicated for postal communication, albeit more choice in notecards than pads of letter writing paper. There is a discount stationery/bookshop but they also sell small toys, and bits&bobs - the manager was outside this summer blowing bubbles, and he had been manager at the other stationer's too but did not blowing bubbles although the store does have bubbles!
There are other shops here but they only have a very limited range of stationery, not their main sellers and the quality of paper is not as wonderful as it could be.
There are plenty of charity shops and it was in one, I bought a folio thing which included the aforementioned pad of quality bond - 'twas unused but now all written on and sent across the globe!
I am known as the letter (writing) lady. I have had people come up and comment, not just on the letters, but they say that my handwriting is neat! They may also notice the fountain pen!
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Post by mailartist on Oct 31, 2018 0:54:20 GMT
Interesting to hear, Mia, how things are "across the pond." In our area, I think the expectation is that everybody "has a pad" of some sort (meaning, "digital"), so paper isn't needed.
I especially don't know how any US-ers manage Postcrossing anymore, especially with people who want postcards with this design on them, or that subject on them. A few "tourist" locations still carry postcards, but they are just for the local attractions. I don't know of a single retailer in my city who carries anything resembling postcards, although most still carry bi-fold birthday and sympathy cards and such.
I do believe there are some internet places that carry postcards, but they can be expensive ($1 each). On top of international postage, that makes a Postcrossing exchange pretty $$$. Hard for me to justify that (especially for a postcard in return that just says "Happy Postcrossing!") when I can send a full letter for less than that amount.
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Post by katiel on Oct 31, 2018 2:14:46 GMT
Postcards are definitely difficult to come by here in the US, and decent stationary, too. I agree. My go-to for both of these are Amazon. They have a big selection and prices for both are low. (Got a box of 100 postcards for $5 last year) That, and I’m thankful for my family and friends who pick up stationary for me whenever they see it secondhand. But you’re right, I think it’s getting harder to find. And stationary shops that used to have letter sets now often only have bifold notecards. I write a lot, I need lots of big sheets of paper! Sooooo....Amazon it is. But that said, this summer Michael’s sold a whole bunch of awesome stationary sets (FP ink friendly, too!). I think they must have sold pretty well, because I got letters from a whole bunch of my penpals on them. Let’s hope they sell some more for other seasons. I’d buy more of them. Here’s hoping!
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Post by motsamicaux on Nov 2, 2018 0:51:14 GMT
I hope there's a sale just before the stores don't re-stock. I'll buy everything they have on the shelves! ... I wonder how quickly all paper products will disappear from retail shelves....
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Post by although on Nov 3, 2018 3:15:15 GMT
Yep, the modern era of online retail is a double edged sword... I love having everything available to me at the click of a mouse. But, I hate the inevitable loss of local shops. Especially when it comes to paper. I would love to be able to browse through all of the paper options ina brick and mortar store. Unfortunately, all of the local "stationery" shops carry everything but stationery. If you are looking for birthday cards and candles, you are in luck though
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Post by mailartist on Nov 3, 2018 15:20:50 GMT
The power of an internet search to be a "personal shopping assistant" is limited, I'm afraid.
Last night, I wanted to take another look at a drawing e-book that I had seen before. I won't mention the name of the company (only to say that it's one of the prime, online retailers), but when I went to the site, I discovered that not only had the name of the book dropped out of my memory, but it had also expired from my "recently viewed item" list. No problem, I thought. I found it once, I'll find it again.
Maybe search engines function differently at midnight, but I soon discovered that any general search for drawing books brought a couple of nominal titles (akin to "How To Draw a Fly," "How to Draw a Flea," "How to Draw a Flea that Lives on a Fly"), but the rest had nothing whatsoever to do with drawing. The subjects seemed so random, that I thought, "well, maybe my search term is at fault," so I amended that, but still -- another stream of completely unrelated items. The first page of search results had about 40% of these "sponsored items," while the second page was almost 80%.
I rather suspect a 0/1 algorithm is behind this, rather than any sort of thinking, rational, considerate human being. After all, I think sellers (let's say, of snowshoes) can buy a certain number of "ad hits," and if hits have been down that day, then the ads still have to appear. So if you're a customer searching for perfume, you get snowshoe ads. If you're looking for a toaster, you get snowshoe ads. If you're an errant kitty walking across the keyboard, "searching" for "lkollilq32awea" -- Fluffy gets snowshoe ads. So, on one hand, I get the "seeming senselessness."
On the other, I did want to look again at this one ebook. But, "likely sale" became "no sale" because I couldn't find it, and soon got irked with the scrum of unrelated marketing (so much so, that a public rant on A World of Snail Mail was needed to cleanse all ire from the system), I closed out the program and moved on. I was interested in the ebook, but not in the useless amount of time to find it.
I'm not blind to the fact that businesses are revenue makers, but treating purchashers like idiots is not the way toward customer endearment. I suppose a random person looking for Saigon cinnamon sticks might be persuaded to buy snowshoes, too, but probably not. Granted, smaller online retailers are more likely to produce the search items I look for. If I'm looking for artist-grade oil paint, then they assume "Gee, she might really want to purchase some paint, so here are the options." It's not a friendly and truly helpful customer service person, but at least it's something, and it's respectful.
I'm so irked with this big online retailer that the idea of returning to the brick-and-mortars for Christmas gifts is appealing. At least, if I'm looking to buy a soup pot to put under the Christmas tree, I know I'll find that in the kitchen aisle. They won't stash kitchen items all over the store, sending me on a wild goose chase to find them.
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Post by radellaf on Nov 4, 2018 1:44:31 GMT
Did you ever find the book?
Sounds odd, so I was curious and tried it on Amazon... got 5 pages of either drawing books, drawing tools, framed drawings... and "Levi's Women's 721 High Rise Skinny Jeans". Just what my non-svelte male derrière needs to show it off. Or wear while drawing.
I have had cases where I couldn't find a thing, but it was when the search term brought up 90% some other meaning of the thing and I couldn't come up with enough "-words" to add to the search to get rid of all the noise.
As for the original topic, I will worry about a "post paper" world when I stop seeing computer printers taking up half the pages (paper or web) of the OfficeMax & Staples sale flyers.
I've mostly quit buying paper books because I need reading glasses, still don't like them, and can get an audio version of most of what I want. Bonus, I can listen just before falling asleep without needing any light. Lately I switched to a bluetooth earbud and now have a built in sleep timer of 3 hours before it keeps chirping "battery low" in my ear.
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Post by mailartist on Nov 4, 2018 3:35:33 GMT
Did I find the drawing book?
No.
In fact, I spent the afternoon going from one brick-and-mortar dollar store to another, trying to find 6' extension cords. It is the holiday season, with Christmas lights and such, so extension cords should be everywhere. Dollar stores do have electronic aisles, and extension cords are regular fare all the rest of the year, so why not now?
But it appeared that the dollar stores had been restocked with zero (0) extension cords, but instead a triple shipment of pet supplies (kitty collars, kitty treats, kitty toys, kitty kibbles), mounded over in the bins, and piled high to the ceiling. Personally, I blame errant-keyboard Fluffy for hacking into the Dollar General ordering program and skewing the planned order the "feline way."
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Post by radellaf on Nov 4, 2018 18:26:26 GMT
Wow. That's wierd. I think you are working off some negative karma or something. Annoy any witches recently?
I needed a cord for a battery charger for the car and Big Lots had racks and racks of cords. I didn't see the outdoor ones or lengths other than 3 and 6', but they probably had those in an aisle. What I really need are 3 wire outdoor cords with decent gauge wire, though, and those cost. Dunno about the dollar store. Got some nice 3" pillar candles from one that reliably burn without spilling and consume almost all their wax. I make candles but for $1, I want a supply of these too.
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Post by Mia on Nov 4, 2018 20:08:06 GMT
I've been looking online in a big webstore at things. I like to browse what other people have seen after viewing a particular item, and see on the last one I looked at, others viewed a sloth colouring in book, and a fortnite strategy book....
One of the discount stores used to have a great stationery selection. They had some Santoro merchandise, as well as Three Candlesticks paper and stuff. Now, half the stationery aisle is filled with cheap toddler books, and more arts & crafts than "good" quality stationery. I've previously bought writing paper and deco-tapes from the store. But recently, nothing in the store grabs my attention except last week when I bought a twin-stemmed orchid for £2.99.
Stationer's have more notecards - nice, but this is far heavier than paper especially considering overseas postage. Also, as we are a few weeks from Christmas, many of the cards in packs are square - some of the sizes fall foul of international minimum size for posting by Royal Mail; they haven't yet gone down the square surcharge route.
I forgot where I put last year's Flow Book for Paper Lovers, but found it after a little searching. I hadn't seen the book since early January!
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Post by filpot on Nov 6, 2018 7:21:55 GMT
I find with the "big online retailer" that unless you're very specific about what you're looking for, you get hundreds of "what on earth is that?" items popping up. It's hopeless for browsing, at least for me.
Here in the wilds of France I've found one nice stationery shop (it even has a dedicated fountain pen room!) in Carcassonne, and a fountain pen shop which sells all the delicious bottled inks that I can't afford in Perpignan. As for nice paper to write on with said pens, well, if anyone is selling it, I haven't found it yet!
Pretty well anyone who has received a letter from me in the last 4-5 years will know that I have gone the DIY route with decorated stationery. I buy a ream of cheap paper from Lidl (a discount store) with sheets a variety of colours, then decorate. Everything is grist to my mill - used stamps, rubber stamps, those little tags off the end of teabags, images cut from magazines...................... I'm currently also using old accounts ledgers I found in the attic. I'll use anything I can write on! I think perhaps I get more fun out of decorating the paper than my penpals do from receiving it!
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Post by hoyabella on Nov 9, 2018 7:53:18 GMT
I like this thread very much! Thank you all for contributing. I collected lettersets for decades, so at my current writing rate, I should have enough for a lifetime 😊 By the way, I stopped collecting because of less time for swaps, less interest, my wish for minimalism *and*, lsst but not least, because finding lettersets was more and more difficult (except on line but that was not an option then), indeed I bought my last set 10 years ago. The last sets I bought were greatly discounted, so I suppose they were remainders no one wanted to buy. Last year I asked for a letterset at a stationery shop and they only had luxury items (say 20-30 €...) not for me.
On the other hand, in the shops here it is still possible to find reams of coloured sheets, specialty loose sheets and envelopes (e.g. vellum or shiny paper) and all kinds of craft items such as rubber stamps, stickers, paper punches and the like, not to mention the school supplies. If I ever run out of store bought stationery, I'll use my homemade envelopes and decorate sheets do like Filpot does 😊 or I'll use plain paper with amazing inks.
Postcards are not a rarity here but most shops have tourist postcards only and not those many postcrossers like, such as inspirational quotes, illustrations, movies, cute stuff...
Mailartist, I relate well to your irritation at the inefficiency of search engines, I sometimes need to search images for work and I am afraid that inapproriate images come out... However, thanks to your posts, I have begun my day with a laugh, especially the part about the kitty walking across the keyboard and the book on How to Draw a Flea that Lives on a Fly 😁
Filpot, I have wished I can visit Carcassonne since I've begun playing the board game, now I have one more reason to go!
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Post by mailartist on Nov 9, 2018 13:43:35 GMT
irritation at the inefficiency of search engines, . . . inappropriate images come out... That is one reason why, several years ago, I realized that I had to develop my drawing skills. Sometimes, in a letter, a picture is worth a thousand words -- and often, I am lazy and don't want to write that many. I want to refer the reader to some photo or graphic or illustration and move on with my point. For a while, I tried searching for images online, but (as with any generic search term) the results were, more often than not, completely random and pathetically unrelated (as in one search for "pictures, Grand Canyon." Don't ask me what I ended up looking at.) I found myself wasting lots of search time in pointless scrolling, and still wasn't getting the image I needed. In one letter (and for some reason I can't remember), I wanted to add a image of an injured and bandaged-up ostrich. No luck on searches for real photos, obviously. SO, I took my pen and inserted my own, rough cartoon. It looked pretty crude, but, with the surrounding text, it worked well enough to make my point. And the rest was history. A sketch here, another sketch there -- whatever I thought would help the letter I was working on -- so that, by now, I'm three years into oil painting classes -- something I would never have thought possible, were it not for flukes in search engines. Necessity may be the mother of invention, but less-then-helpful search engines may lead to rewarding, new avenues of creativity.
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Post by filpot on Nov 9, 2018 15:45:58 GMT
Filpot, I have wished I can visit Carcassonne since I've begun playing the board game, now I have one more reason to go! hoyabella, when you get there, the shop I'm thinking of is Librarie Papeterie Breithaupt Majuscule. Its own website concentrates on the books element of the shop, but if you put the name into google maps and then click through the available photos, you'll see a couple of the very beautiful room which contains their fountain pens..... I haven't been there for a couple of years because......................... temptation!!
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