|
Post by mailartist on Mar 15, 2017 16:03:18 GMT
Since then I havent ordered anything from them but they did send me a box of almost 500 envelopes with the return label for a country club in Tennessee out of the blue, not really sure what those were for, lol. Maybe that's the "personalized stationery" you were asking about on another thread?
|
|
|
Post by mailartist on Mar 15, 2017 16:01:06 GMT
I think also of the Bible verse in Isaiah 5:20: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness."
It's very likely that the Vistaprint execs are patting themselves on the back for offering not only cheap printing services, but also the wonderful benefit of this "rewards program." The fact that the "rewards" seem to be nothing to speak of, and that this supposed "good news" is buried in scads of small type, probably doesn't register that this is . . . well . . . flat out deceitful, if not an outright scam?
As my mom used to say, "If it seems to good to be true, it probably is." Still probably good advice. But it becomes easier to bilk others to the degree that we fail to see them as individuals, and start "groupifying" them as "customers," "friends," or even "liberals/conservatives." It might be easier to knowingly put a faceless "group member" into a bind, rather than a neighbor, whose name and face we know.
|
|
|
Post by mailartist on Mar 15, 2017 14:19:11 GMT
Kinda argues for "Buy local" and "Use cash" . . .
|
|
|
Post by mailartist on Mar 9, 2017 18:33:36 GMT
I'm not gonna deduct pen pal points if a person writes on unadorned paper. Didn't know there were "pen pal points" . . .
|
|
|
Post by mailartist on Mar 9, 2017 18:31:40 GMT
I will say, also, that the company Picadilly makes blank journals with wonderful paper. Half Price Books carries this brand where I live (and I think that Meijer's does, too, in your neck of the woods, PenPal). Often, these are on sale in the bargain section, at the "end of the season" (as though blank books ever go out of style...), so I've gotten both medium and large sized books for a couple of bucks.
I love the yellowy-cream color of the paper, and it takes ink really well. I simply disassemble the journals when I get home (a razor blade and straight edge makes easy work of this), and I then have a nice pile of paper, ready for use. Not as supple as Tomoe River, but not as expensive, either.
|
|
|
Post by mailartist on Mar 6, 2017 13:29:40 GMT
Radelief said: "The homemade envelopes I've done used 24 or 32 lb paper so while I was sure to glue securely, I wasn't the least concerned about them not being able to handle mech sorting."
This may depend on the sorting machinery that the envelope goes through. I've had some delicate, minimally assembled envelopes that have arrived, looking like they were delivered by a butler wearing white gloves, while even some commercial envelopes have arrived, split at the seams. I can't see any rhyme or reason to it, except that the random disassembled envelope still arrives. (It may have something to do with how "air tight" the envelope is after sealing. Since some machinery collapses envelopes flat, the envelopes may burst, like balloons, with the creases being the minimal points.)
"To tape, or not to tape: that is the question," and while an unencumbered envelope is more pleasing visually, my preference is that "envelope + contents" arrive together. So I often err toward "tape."
Of course, a sender will only know if an envelope has been thrashed in the mail if the recipient (a) receives the letter and (b) bothers to let the sender know. If neither of these happen, then it's anybody's guess whether the envelopes arrived okay. (Sometimes I've specifically asked, and have found that some writers are reluctant to mention such things, even if the envelops arrives in bad shape. However, if there is a postal problem, I know that I, as the sender, want to know, so I can take preventative steps in the future.)
|
|
|
Post by mailartist on Mar 5, 2017 18:11:27 GMT
Just be aware that washi tape is not permanent, and can sometimes come off in the mail, if used to seal envelopes.
If I use Washi tape, I generally put Scotch tape over it, just to make sure it doesn't disappear in transit.
As for homemade envelopes, I think there is a thread elsewhere on this site, but there are patterns available online for various sized envelopes. I use scrapbook paper (available at craft stores, and many big-box retailers), or old books. Atlases are great for envelope making (both the maps, and the gazeteer listings in the back, if you want a "just text" look). Also, remaindered picture books (especially library ones) often have great colors/illustrations, and the paper is often strong enough to withstand mailing.
When making my own envelopes (or even using commercial ones), I always reinforce all four sides of the envelopes. I've had some arrivals lately that have been split down the seams, so I'm thinking that they went through more brutal postal sorting equipment. No sense of someone just getting an envelope, with no letter "innards," so I add a little extra clear tape, just to be sure.
|
|
|
Post by mailartist on Mar 4, 2017 23:54:28 GMT
Perhaps this has been covered before, but I notice various "levels" on the site -- crayons, felt tips, etc -- but I have no idea what has caused anyone "to advance." Is it time-based (how long since first registration), or the number of comments made, or how many times the site is accessed, or something purely random?
|
|
|
Post by mailartist on Mar 4, 2017 23:47:54 GMT
I know there are differing opinions about the "question, no question" approach in letters. If a question happens to appear in my "thought stream," then I'll put in in the letter. Otherwise, I feel like an invasive therapist, or boorish pollster (i.e., awkward) adding unrelated questions to a letter. They feel "too after-thought-ish."
I generally indicate where I got the person's address, why I decided to write them (as opposed to, say, cleaning out the garage), and possibly something about my recent week. It's whatever comes to mind, really.
I would be interested in where people were writing the letter, more so than just the weather. At the kitchen table, while the peanut butter cookies are baking? On the living room sofa, while the spouse is watching the news and the dog is intently staring at the writer, telepathing "I need a treat, I need a treat."? On the sunny deck, with the chirruping of new baby robins in the nest overhead? Something that puts me "in the writer's experience," and conveys some sense of enthusiasm and engagement with the world and life.
The most bland letters (and thus the hardest to respond to) are those that are too telegraphic ("Happy InCoWriMo!" comes to mind), or else are so fountain-pen related that they feel more like a junk-mail marketing flyer: "Hi: this pen, that ink, anticipating such-and-so pen show, checking out so-and-such paper." Such aren't a conversation starter for me, since where does one go with that, except to respond with one's personal list of epistolary supplies?
It is always helpful to know at least something about the person. The InCo websites that only showed only addresses (nothing else) didn't interest me at all.
|
|
|
Post by mailartist on Mar 3, 2017 16:39:04 GMT
I "personalize" my stationery by being an inveterate "paper floozy." I hunt thrift store office supply shelves for dregs of anything that looks (a) different than either ruled school paper or boring, ordinary printer paper and (b) that looks like it might be an interesting challenge to use. It doesn't have my initial on the top, or be embossed with my address, but it still says "Me" in any event.
For sure, I've gotten some duds. Things that I thought would work this-side-of-amazing, for letters, but which were disasters. However, since I only spent a buck or two on them, it was no big deal.
On the other hand, I've found some WAY-too-amazing papers (which, with my luck, tend to no longer be manufactured) that were a dream to work with, and which I've loved as being different than what other folks use, and have wished that I could go back and get more of the same. But, alas . . . .
Mostly, however, it's more important that people write than that they worry too much about finding the best pen, or the greatest paper. In moderation, such looking is harmless, but it can become a stall to writing -- and writing and sending and receiving is the fun part anyway.
As for that, making envelopes out of found paper, or out of scrapbook papers, can be a fun way to elevate your correspondence above the ordinary. And (at least for US folks), E-bay and other sellers sometimes have lots of old-timey stamps (unused) for less than face value. Look for "Mint, never hinged." None of these likely have collectible value. They will work, however, to get a letter delivered, although you may need to use more than one stamp to match the current Forever rate. It adds a nice "retro" touch to letters (especially the old "lick and stick" variety), and getting stamps at a bit of a discount is helpful, too, especially if letter writing becomes an ongoing habit.
|
|
|
Post by mailartist on Nov 20, 2016 19:47:47 GMT
|
|
|
Post by mailartist on Oct 27, 2016 23:13:13 GMT
I read in old parish registers all the time for my genealogical research (No, the handwriting from 400 years back is not harder to read than that from 100 or 200 years back). My son recently saw me reading on the computer screen and exclaimed: "Can you read THAT?" I finally taught myself to write Kurrent (old German cursive) fluently. My husband's ancestors were from German-speaking Switzerland. He's got photocopies of old letters and family histories. Lovely script, it is, but he had no idea what anything said. Paid a translator to "English-ify" it, so we have the info, but it's not the same reading a translation. Wish we could read in the original, but alas, "we sprechen not Deutsch."
|
|
|
Post by mailartist on Oct 22, 2016 12:42:57 GMT
|
|
|
Post by mailartist on Oct 15, 2016 18:34:44 GMT
I'm glad to see someone posted a thought here, because I've been thinking about this all week, with not many ideas occurring to me.
One thing about the "bookmark in a library book" idea is that some libraries (ours included) examine every book upon return, and discards any detritus. I've never found anything left in a library book for the many years I've gone.
The best place to find stuff in books is places like used book establishments, thrift stores, and yard sales. Many years ago, I found two anonymous, unfinished, and flaming drafts of a letter that a woman was writing to her cad (read: unfaithful) husband. Pink pen, and lots of rapid, looping venom. Quite the intriguing read, that was.
Perhaps more enticing to a non-letter writer than sending a letter, is receiving one. It's much easier to see an intriguing example, and then think "Wow, I could do that" rather than try to come up with one whole cloth. Letters can seem an intimidating thing, appropriate, perhaps, for folks like John Steinbeck or Virginia Woolf, but not for local yokels like them.
What could perhaps be explored are the impediments that discourage neophyte letter writers. I can think of things like "How do I start a letter to a stranger?" "My life is so boring." "My handwriting is awful." "I need better stationery first." "I write letters, but no one ever responds." but there may be others. What are the problems that people face, and how to overcome them?
|
|
|
Post by mailartist on Aug 19, 2016 1:26:24 GMT
I understand postage is an issue (there's only a 1 rand difference in the postage rates for a full letter and a postcard in South Africa and both are expensive), but you can limit the amount of cards you send. Agreed, but I whether I send out ten at once, or ten over the course of an entire year, I have to consider what the return is for each. With a postcard costing the same to send as a letter, I discovered I preferred the letter. I can write more with a letter, send tuck-ins -- just be more flexible with content. Besides (and this might be different in other countries), commercial postcards are very difficult to get in the US because very few places carry them anymore. Maybe . . . maybe . . . tourist places still carry them, but the selection is limited. An occasional book store might carry a few postcards, but (again) only a type or two. Online vendors carry a greater selection, but this could double the cost to participate. On the other hand, envelopes and writing paper are still readily available. So it's whatever's easiest, I guess, and for those in the US, postcards can be much more frustrating of an endeavor than letters, especially when a Postcrosser demands a card that's just not easy to acquire. There are still lots of choices for stamps in the US, since the postal service is really good about bringing new ones out during the year. But other snail mail supplies are in short supply. A sad state of affairs, but that's just how it is here. : (
|
|