#snaimailer

[thesnailmailletterproject]

A letter about love

Kamakshi writes about the beautiful nurturing relationship she found with her husband and this is what I draw in return of her letter. In case you would like to receive an original artwork for your handwritten letter to participate in my snail mail letter and write to me at theumbrellabar@gmail.com 

[snailmail-penpals]

To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.

Phyllis Theroux

[strawberryfemmes]

Got my first letter from a penpal today!! She’s very sweet and even painted a picture of me!!

[midnightlunchbreak]

HOW TO START WRITING LETTERS

Hello stationary friends (assuming you are not on a bus or train). Let’s talk stationery.

I love writing letters and postcards to my friends. I always have. 

It’s a cheap, fun hobby where I can write by hand little messages to let others know I’m thinking of them.

Letters don’t have to be fancy. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on stationery or a fountain pen or vintage stamps to send meaningful, heartfelt letters. Postcards are often super cheap (less than a dollar in most places) or you can use printer paper or lined looseleaf if your handwriting gets a bit wandery on blank paper. I have hoarded postcards from every random place I’ve traveled (including highway rest stops in the middle of Maine) and have dozens at this point. My favorite pen for a long time was one I found under my desk in a high school classroom. And stamps for postcards are cheaper than normal stamps, but all in all, stamps are probably the most expensive part of correspondence. For a while, I kept all my writing supplies in a wax paper envelope from the post office that my stamps came in, and upgraded to an empty chocolate box when my collection started growing. I repeat: Not. Expensive.

That being said, I have also slowly started accumulating stationery and pens, both for correspondence and for bullet journaling, according to my style of letter-sending. I buy things here and there as they show up on sale or when I want to splurge a little. I also pool resources, sharing washi tape and pens with my sister in exchange for stickers from her truly enormous collection. Getting some friends together and having a mailing party can be the best way to try out sealing wax or brush pens before buying them yourself!

Here are some places with stationery I really love. I often find them in bookshops and museum stores, as well as stationery chains like Paper Source or Papyrus, but you can also find them at big chain stores Barnes & Noble and Anthropologie, which are both starting to branch out more into paper goods.

https://riflepaperco.com/stationery/stationery-sets

^ fancy boxed writing sets, which I have a weakness for

http://www.mrboddington.com/boxed-notecards

^ whimsical, sweet cards for familiar pen pals or the (inner) kids in your life

https://www.sugarbooandco.com/accents/paper-office/notepads/

^ very #aesthetic writing pads with cute quotes on them

https://www.chroniclebooks.com/collections/letters-to-my

^ haven’t tried these yet, but I see them everywhere and they look like a good solution if you want to write letters but don’t know what to write

I’m not so fussy about pens, and prefer ballpoint for envelopes and postcards, as I know they won’t smudge if the mail gets wet. Fountain pens are a rabbit hole I haven’t fallen down yet, and frankly, I think nice handwriting will shine through, whatever pen you use.

Here is my favorite website for learning good penmanship, or just a new style if you want to branch out: https://loopsandtails.com/

I also don’t decorate my envelopes a lot. I really like pretty, functional things and am not so much into embellishment. I’ll do some washi tape or a sticker, and a wax seal occasionally, and write out the address nicely. However, I don’t have the patience to do a lot of extra doodling, and collecting scraps of paper and ephemera for decorating with honestly stresses me out. 

I don’t know where to buy vintage stamps, but the post office has a bunch of cool ones that rotate out depending on the season and the clerks are often really chill with letting me sift through them to pick ones I like. Go at a slow time if you’re planning to do that, though, as the post office line can get pretty long. They only have one (or two?) styles of postcard stamps, and one or two styles of international stamps. I like to carry postcard stamps with me in my bag so I can mail letters from wherever when I’m out and about. I actually keep them in the back pocket of my bullet journal and have a couple pages in the front of the journal which act as my address book. 

So get out there and start writing!

[slakjespost-blog]

Slakjesblog #001

Waarom begon ik met bloggen? 

Wat leuk! Mijn eerste blog bericht! Eerlijk gezegd heb ik ook nog nooit eerder zoiets gedaan of geschreven, dus ik ben maar gewoon begonnen met schrijven.

Ik begon een half jaar geleden met Slakjespost. Eigenlijk was dit voor de lol, omdat ik net begon met snailmails maken (door Annemarijn van Snailmailhoekje) en ik zocht een manier hoe ik mijn snaimails kon delen. Ik maakte een Instagram account aan, eigenlijk alleen voor mijn vriendinnen zodat ik kon laten zien wat ik had gemaakt. Maar nog geen half jaar later zat ik boven de duizend likes en had ik meerdere samenwerkingen met bedrijven. Ik zou Slakjespost beschrijven als een account waar ik al mijn creativiteit op deel. Zo begon ik met snailmails maken en posten, maar al snel kwamen daar andere dingen bij zoals handlettering en illustraties. Ik ben iemand die teveel creativiteit en te weinig tijd heeft. Ik maakte ook geen tijd voor mijn creatieve hobby's, omdat ik dacht dat het niet echt toegevoegde waarden had in mijn leven. Maar ik kreeg zoveel leuke berichten van mijn volgers. Ik kreeg complimentjes, vragen over de dingen wat ik had gemaakt, maar ze brachten me ook op nieuwe ideetjes. Mede door mijn volgers heb ik het gevoel gekregen dat ik meer tijd mag maken voor mijn hobby's. Ze maken me vrolijk, ze inspireren me en motiveren me. Verder heeft Slakjespost me ook in contact gebracht met andere creatieve mensen waarmee ik vrienden ben geworden.

Omdat Slakjespost me zoveel goeds heeft gebracht, vond ik het tijd om een stapje verder te gaan dan alleen een Instagram account. Ik heb meerdere keren de vraag gehad waarom ik geen Youtube video's wil maken. Hier heb ik een simpel antwoord op: ik vind het heel leuk om mezelf te filmen en jullie wat te vertellen, maar ik heb geen feeling voor het bewerken van video's en wil daar geen energie in steken. Verder vind ik schrijven wel heel leuk en hier wil ik graag beter in worden. Nou, dan is dit een goede oplossing toch?

Ik hoop elke week een bericht te kunnen posten. Ze zullen over verschillende onderwerpen gaan, denk aan:  Shoplogs, reviews, daily stories en How-to-make berichten. Weet jij echt iets waar ik over moet schrijven? Laat het me dan even weten via een berichtje op de mail of via mijn instagram.

Veel creatieve groetjes,

Dominique

[papeloushe]

[thebegoscorner]

Snail mail bien dulce!

Snail mail bien dulce!

Buenas!!!!!!!!! ¡¡Hoy os traigo mi primer snail mail!! Como me hacía mucha ilusión empezar a hacer este tipo de proyectos y la verdad que soy una enamorada de lo tradicional,me gusta escribir cartas, enviar postales cuando viajo, leer un libro de verdad, … pues empecé con mi propia hermana, ella lo hará a su estilo (es diseñadora gráfica y aprendiz de tatuadora) y yo al mío, nos hemos hecho…

[elven-alium]

my new journaling / snaimail blog is @notebooksandenvelopes

[thesnailmailletterproject]

A snail mail from an old friend

I was delighted to receive a letter from Soroshi, we’ve known each other long and have shared colleges, professions, places and a passion for drawing together. She writes to me the most fascinating letter I’ve ever received. It’s a gorgeous green handmade paper folded into a maze of delightful drawings and handwritten notes. I had such a ball reading it over and over!

I’ve had this letter for a long time with me simply because I couldn't decide on what I should draw for her. I haven’t met her in years and then I thought what could be better than to give an old friend a glimpse into my life now.

So, I drew her my favourite corner of my home and wish we could be here together talking about our younger selves riding motorbikes in Auroville. True that! We were cool like that.

Soroshi is an extremely talented soul and apart from being a wonderful Architect, she is also quite a skilful artist. Please do check her work out on her blog:http://alucidowl.wordpress.com/. She goes by the name alucidowl on Instagram as well.

In case you would like to participate in my Snail Mail project and receive an original artwork in response to your handwritten letter. Do write to me on theumbrellabar@gmail.com

[papeloushe]