Around Town: Postal Modern Handi-Hour at the Renwick

I never thought I'd be asked to prove my age in order to attend a letter writing event. And I still would, but for a postcard I received from Melissa, of Craftgasm, inviting me to attend a Handi-Hour, hosted by the Smithsonian American Art Museum at the Renwick Gallery, across the street from the White House. The event, which changes themes, costs $20 and gets you two craft beers, a souvenir glass, hors d'oeuvres, and all the crafting you can handle for two and a half hours. The July event was co-hosted by the National Postal Museum and the theme was "postal modern" so, of course, I had to attend. 

I really didn't know what to expect. I thought maybe there would be 10-12 people with a few cold brews around a large conference table. I was wrong. 

The event filled a ballroom sized space within the gallery, called the Grand Salon, and the crowd spanned all demographics. Beer flowed, a musician played, and crafting was had by all. Between the Renwick and the Postal Museum, the crafting supply table overflowed with quality supplies: colorful calendars, fabric swatches, cool first day covers, canceled stamps, envelopes, stationery, and more. They really brought their A game. 

I made several envelopes from cool calendar pages, and wrote a letter (while somewhat under the influence) to the Missive Maven. All letters placed into a box at the event were then posted for free by the Postal Museum!

I would have crafted more, but I ran into awesome people from the internet. Melissa stopped by to say hello, and Erin, from the Postal Museum, introduced herself. They were two of the masterminds behind the July Handi-Hour. Turns out, we read and adore many of the same letter writing blogs. 

In meeting other people from the internet, I was pleased to meet Ashley, an intern at the Postal Museum, who shared her fantastic tattoo. By the time I'd crafted, chatted, and used both my drink tickets, it was eight o'clock and the event was over. So, I packed my bag with a few extra craft items and my commemorative Handi-Hour glass, and called it a night. Just like that, the Handi-Hour came and went, a whirlwind of crafting and creativity in a town otherwise known for its buttoned up demeanor.

Letter writing is almost always solitary activity, its a warm feeling to do write with others. Our community would do well to have more letter writing events. While the Handi-Hour was a good time, this collaboration with the Postal Museum was a one time event. I know other communities have letter writing socials, but I haven't heard of any in my area. I feel a project coming on.  Are any of you, dear readers, in the Washington, D.C. and interested in moving forward the idea of setting up a writing social in our area?

Waterman's 32A, Back in the Saddle

I'm so glad Martin Ferguson let me sneak in at the end of the day at the Baltimore Pen Show. In a few minutes, Martin was able to re-sac my current favorite fountain pen, my grey and red Waterman's 32A, armed with a delicious 14 carat gold flexible nib. I've sincerely missed writing with this pen. To welcome the 32A back into the fold, I filled the new sac with J. Herbin Cacao du Bresil - my most favored ink - and wrote a letter to my pen pal in Australia on some smooth white Clairefontain Triomphe paper.

It doesn't pick up well in photographs, but Cacao du Bresil is one of those inks which evades classification. On first glance, it might look black. On second glance, possibly brown... or grey, maybe even sepia. It's very complex. Cacao du Bresil is the perfect color for the 32A, a pen from the 1930s which reflects the dignified austerity of its time. Seeing that I had a color scheme on my hands, I had to follow through. I bound the letter with a shiny Levenger clip, and packaged the letter into an envelope I made from a Waterman pen ad.

I posted the letter with a few great stamps. I hope this letter sticks out as much as my first letter to this pen pal, which arrived in much flashier packaging. It was a real joy writing this letter, I hope it's the beginning of a lengthy new era with my 32A.

Hotel Stationery: Hotel Monaco

I often judge a hotel on its stationery. It's one of those items whose presence - like a bowl full of brown-less M&Ms - indicates a particular attention to detail. And, the better the stationery, the more props I'm inclined to throw a particular hotel's way. But, every once in a while, it's not about good or bad, but "huh?" 

A summer or so ago, I checked into the Hotel Monaco in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C. And, as I always do when settling into a hotel room, I immediately went to the desk in search of hotel stationery. What I found perplexed me. There were several 8.5" x 11" sheets of fair quality stationery, printed with the hotel's logo and bearing the hotel's address and contact information. And in place of number 10 sized envelopes were a set of fine quality A6 envelopes, printed with the appropriate hotel information. For the uninitiated, A6 envelopes measure 4.75" x 6.5".

I'm not sure why the Hotel Monaco decided to offer me incompatible stationery and envelopes, but not to be a beggar and a chooser, I took them both. And, when I finally decided to use some of the hotel stationery, it gave me the opportunity to craft my own brightly colored envelope.

This stationery was sent off as my first letter to a new pen pal from Australia. I really wanted it to stand out in her stack of afternoon mail. So, in addition to using attention-grabbing paper for the envelope, I used a sticker type seal from Papyrus (they include a pack of these seals with every set of envelopes) for glint. And, as a goodwill gesture, I bound the pages of the letter with a fountain pen nib paper clip/bookmark/neat thing from Levenger.

The letter should have arrived in Queensland a week or so ago, I can't wait to hear back from my new Aussie pen pal.

Personalizing Correspondence with Recycled Materials

I have a creative pen pal, who makes fantastic mail using mostly recycled papers. Although we've fallen a tad out of contact (my fault), I enjoyed our back and forth just as much for the materials we used in our communications as the actual words we wrote.

The above two pictures in this post are from her most recent letter to me. She folded a magazine page into an envelope and used daily calendar pages as stationery. That's a tough one to respond to.

So, I wrote my letter on paper made from sugarcane waste, called bagasse. And, I made my own envelope from a brown paper bag - a great durable material to cover packages and letters for delivery though the post.

To finish off the letter, I used a Go Green stamp. I'm sure there's more I could do, but I need some suggestions. What recycled materials do you use to enhance your letters?

IKEA Envelope

My homemade envelope rash continues! Although, I actually made this envelope from the page of an IKEA catalog over the summer. I found it last week tucked in a folder and I just had to use it.

Pallarols Inkstand Envelope

Several months ago, I stumbled upon an article about a silversmith named Juan Carlos Pallarols from Argentina, who works for months, sometimes years, on single pieces of art. One of his specialties is writing accessories, the products of which are often purchased by kings and... Antonio Banderas.

At the time, I tore out the page and tucked it away in my bag. Then, today, I came upon the article, which included some great pictures. And I did the most logical thing I could think of, I made the page into an envelope to send to a pen pal who loves fountain pens. I used a Gary Cooper stamp on the envelope because his is the classiest looking mug in my current stock of postage.

I would love to own one of these fine pieces! But, then again, I might rather spend the $25,000 required to purchase one on things that would make me feel way less guilty.

Maison Orlhac Letter and Envelope

Although I am not French, do not speak French, have never been to France and rarely eat French food, I really wanted to write a France themed letter. So I did. I wrote, long overdue, to a pen pal on some laid paper printed with my Maison Orlhac vintage letterhead. Something about this particular letterhead and that particular paper makes them go very well together.

Then, I used some heavy paper that I purchased at the Paper Cult going-out-of-business sale a couple months ago to make an envelope. As you can see from the photographs, the paper is printed with a travel theme.



Then, to finish the whole thing off, I sealed the envelope with a sticker that came in a set of vintage travel icons purchased at the same Paper Cult sale as the paper for the envelope. If it's not obvious already, I had a very enjoyable time putting this letter together.

The refurbished Maison Orlhac letterhead is now available for download in the Vintage Letterhead Image Archive. Bon letter writing!

Back to School Letter

In the back to school spirit (albeit, a little bit late), I wrote to the Missive Maven in a throwback style. I used lined Rhodia paper, wrote in pencil, and decorated with a fair number of stickers. Lastly, I touched it off with a civil rights figures postage stamp, very school-like.

This was a really fun letter to put together, it felt like I was writing a note to pass in between classes.

Emphasis on the Re-Use

While I was away, a thank you letter from Patty over at Just Letter Rip, written in response to this, found it's way into my post office box. I was ever so delighted to receive it. Not only was the envelope fun and creative, it was made ENTIRELY from recycled goods.


The envelope itself was actually another envelope in a previous life! Patty flipped an envelope she received into an envelope of her own. She has blogged about the process on her site.

Inside the Envelope Surprise

I do love a good surprise, and I hope that the people to whom I write do, too. One of the tools that I use in my surprise arsenal is the envelope liner. Here, I used an image from a magazine advertisement. I just the the ad to shape, glued and smoothed over. Then I folded the flap of the envelope over the top of the liner to frame it and give it a more finished look. I sent this slightly more elegant envelope and paper as a thank you note.

Red, White and Blue

For this letter to a pen pal, I decided to go with a color scheme rather than a theme. It just so happened that one of my latest vintage letterhead reproductions fit in with the red, white and blue scheme.


I used the same paper for the second page of the letter, but jazzed it up a bit by gluing down some used vintage stamps on the corners. I purchased these as part of a 25 piece lot on eBay for $1.50, including shipping and handling.


If you're interested, I have now made the Paul's Choice Inks & Mucilage letterhead image available for download. You may access it and the other vintage letterhead images featured on Everyday Correspondence here.

Robot Salesmen

This wonderful letterhead was sent off to a pen pal in Florida. So, to keep with the beachy-techie theme, I mailed the letter in an envelope I made from an advertisement I found with pixelated people enjoying the summer weather.


I then wrote the the addresses in block letters using J. Herbin Orange Indien. My topper was a black vintage cinema stamp commemorating a film from the 1930s - I'm just pretending that the film and my stationery are contemporaries. Just let me believe.

Robot Salesmen is now available for download here.

Roaring 20's Themed Letter

I must tell you about my latest fascination: vintage letterheads. I have been finding scans of vintage letterhead online and trying my hand at photo editing to obtain clean images that I can print (on my office color laser printer for max effect) onto quality paper.


This letterhead is from what I assume to be complimentary hotel stationary from the Hotel Mecca in Cleveland, Ohio. The original date (that I digitally removed from the image) was 1920. So, I picked up on that theme and decided to use an envelope I made from a liquor advertisement.


To top it off, I used a vintage black cinema stamp, commemorating the film Hallelujah, released in 1929, and a pair of classic Tiffany lamp 1 cent stamps.


If you would like to use the Hotel Mecca letterhead for your own correspondence, I have posted it for download here. It was free to me, and although I took the time to clean the image up, I see no reason why it shouldn't be free to you.

Let the Envelope Speak for Itself

So I have a penpal who has very strong political leanings, so I sent her this envelope. I hope she enjoys it. I put a simple forever stamp on the envelope to let the envelope really speak for itself.

First Letter From a New Penpal!

I find that one of the most delighting experiences is receiving the very first letter from a new penpal. Here is a very creative envelope from a new penpal of mine on the Eastern seaboard.
I believe that my penpal made the envelope out of doubled over wrapping paper, with the edges protected by folded over clear packaging tape. Given the theme of the paper, I thought that the clear tape was a brilliant artistic as well as "architectual" design element. It felt like I was opening a well worn, traveled and patched suitcase, covered in stickers from all the places it had visited.

I was more than happy to oblige the message on the flap of the envelope.

It was a very nice first letter and I've already got a few good ideas for my return letter to this new pal.

As a post script, she added this note:

As you can tell, and I will report to her, I totally dug the envelope.

Lastly, as a courtesy practiced by most fountain pen users, she left a footnote about the pen and ink combination she used to write my letter:

I really like that Galileo Manuscript Brown, offered exclusively through the Fountain Pen Network.

Envelope How-To

It sounds really rather easy, just fold and glue? The good news is that it is, the bad news is that it took me a while to figure out exactly what folds I should be making, and where I should be gluing. So, here is a pictography of an envelope that I made for a penpal this afternoon.

Step 1: Find a piece of paper you really like and select a size for your envelope. Mine is purple and measures 4" x 6". The paper under the fold is my template for sizing. I then folded the purple paper almost perfectly in half, leaving a bit of space
between what will become the back of the envelope and the fold line for the flap.


Step 2: Make the appropriate folds.

Here, I folded the ends of my envelope, on the left and right, to make my envelope 6" wide, and then made the fold for the flap in the middle of the paper so that my envelope will be 4" tall.

See how that little space I left in step 1 gives a bit of a window for a letter to peek out?

Step 3: Make the appropriate cuts, I use an X-Acto knife for this.

The only cuts that are really necessary to make are to eliminate the fold overs on the bottom third of the sheet, leaving a plain square bottom. All others are really personal preference.

This is what my paper looked like after all my cuts were made.

Step 4: The lining.

This step is (obviously) entirely optional. But I like to line my envelopes. Usually I use colorful scenes cut from magazines as a delightful surprise for my mail recipients. But I could find anything suitable in the stack of Time magazines next to my desk, so I chose a lavender colored piece of paper, cut to size, to glue into the backside of the inside of my envelope. If that doesn't make sense, please excuse my poor word choice and reference the picture.

Step 5: Glue tabs and fold!

This is where the envelope really comes together. With a touch of common sense, this step can't really be goofed. However, in my case, I accidentally glued the tops of my middle tabs instead of the insides, so the middle tabs in my finished product are on the inside of my envelope, rather than decoratively on the outside.

Oh well, this way, when sealed, my envelope will have a modern feel to it. At this point, further decorative cuts may also be made. i.e. flap corners.

Step 6: also optional (sense the freedom in the envelope-making process?), exterior decoration.

Wanting to keep my envelope simple and minimalist, I cut rectangles from the scraps of my lavender colored sheet of paper and glued them to the front of my envelope. It adds visual interest, makes the address easier to read for the mail carrier, and by adding a lighter colored background - frees up the ink options I have for addressing my letter! To keep with my monochromatic theme, I think I'll use some Waterman Violet.

As a last note, the envelope can be sealed simply using a glue stick, or with a sticker, or wax seal.

Although not earth-shattering, I hope that this little how-to helps you get the basic elements of folding and gluing down. Now get out and there and mail a friend or family member your very own work of art.

Homemade Envelope

One of my favorite things about receiving a personal letter is when I first discover it while sorting through my daily mail.

So, I try to make the most of that experience for those to whom I send letters by making my letters stand out. Often times, I'll make my own envelopes from colorful magazine pages. I just sent this homemade envelope to a dear friend: