I Wrote a book!

Celebrating the release of my new book, A Letter A Week, with my family ~ January 8, 2022

A Letter A Week is a 104-page journal book that allows you to log 52 handwritten letters that you write throughout a year. There are tips and ideas on who and what to write.

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org. I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Below are other retailers you can order the book from.

For a signed author copy or to order wholesale, please email me at julie@aletteraweek.com.

Who is this book for?

• People who enjoy writing letters
• People who write once in a while and would like to be more consistent
• People who would like a yearlong challenge
• The person who needs to unplug from electronics more often
• Those who know people in their life that would benefit from reading a letter
• The person who rarely picks up a pen and would like to connect to more people

The book will also:

• Improve connections with people without email or texts
• Be mindful while thinking of others
• Show how important the recipient is to the sender
• Share gratitude towards others
• Have a keepsake to treasure for years

Order your copy today and get ready for a year of writing handwritten letters!

GIVEAWAY!

Check out my Instagram page for random stamp and other merchandise giveaways!

Thank you for supporting A Letter A Week!

Do you save cards and letters?

Long time no blog!

Here are photos of my bulletin board before and after from this afternoon.  I enjoy having them up on my board to remind me of the wonderful friends and family I have and those who like to keep in touch through written correspondence.   Every couple months I take down cards that I put up and put in a file.  At the end of the year I’ll go back through them and either toss them or hang on to them.  All mood driven.  I’m a big fan of  The Minimalists, but believe you can still have the memory of something even though you no longer have the tangible item (sorry mom, I tossed the peacock glass Christmas display thingy you made for me years ago–but see, I still remember it).  😉

        

I went to Europe last month and enjoyed sending postcards from the Netherlands and Belgium.  One afternoon friends had to wait for me to go to the post office to get stamps.  They couldn’t believe how much I spent on postage, but I figure if I didn’t spend it on that it would have been for some meaningless souvenir…Here is a photo of my postcard and stamps.  The other photo is from the post office where I think the USPS could increase revenues if they had a number system like they did in Belgium.  So, I picked # 301.  When I looked up at the screen it was #290 so I perused through the stationery racks and supplies they had there.  Let’s just say I purchased more than just postcard stamps.

Of course I thought the stamps were lovely.  In Belgium they were beautiful butterflies and in the Netherlands they were of bikes, cows and tulips.    I know I returned home before these arrived, but it’s still fun for me to send to friends and relatives.

Happy June!  I’ll be posting more soon.   Until then, I’m just wondering–do you purchase postcards when you travel?  Do you save cards and letters?  Regardless, I hope you find time to write someone even if it’s just to say hello.

Who I am writing today …

After reading Roxanne’s blog, A More Creative Me a few days ago, I wondered what my “vision” for this blog was.  Is it really letters just because (I know I shouldn’t use just like I do, but too bad because I’m not an English major and I’m not trying to win an award blogging) or is it to keep an ongoing record of who I write to and why?  Who knows where the vision or direction of my blog will go this year, I am open to letting it unfold however it may, all letter writing related of course.

A thank you card is in order today for the wonderful Sarah from the concierge’s desk at the hotel where we stayed who so kind to not only put flower petals on our bed, but also arranged for this lovely display to be in our room upon arrival.   Loved it!  We had a wonderful time (minus the Green Bay Packer loss) and are blessed to be able to take little getaways as much as we do.

So, I’m in the gift shop and had to (!) purchase some cards.  Remember my last post where I said it was nice to get a pack of cards at Target for $3.00?  Well, these are on the higher end of the scale at $6.00 a piece. What can I say other than I am a visual and tactile girl.  The photo below does not do justice to the thick quality cardstock and letterpress indentations. Feeling these cards makes them worth $6.00.  I have only been to Orlando briefly, but if I’m ever near that part of Florida again, I’d love a tour of Rifle Paper Company if they would allow me.    I have seen letterpress machines and could have spent all day at Oblation papers in Portland, Oregon when we went there last year.  Do you have favorite letterpress stationer?  There’s yet another future blog post!

Also, last week I wrote about sharing articles with you that I’ve kept on my phone and wanted to share a one today.

I took the postcard from the resort and wrote to Tom Purcell thanking him for his article titled, On Handwritten Letters.  I like researching online and aside from spending an additional half hour looking for a physical address for him, I was able to read more of his articles that weren’t letter writing related, but it’s cool to learn about others.  I know I’ve written this before, as he may never get my postcard, but I enjoyed taking the time to let him know he had an engaged reader out here in cyberspace. The best thing about his article to me was, “Still, I miss getting handwritten letters in the mail.” And, that my readers is why I believe it is a nice gesture to still write on paper with one’s own writing.

Here is another postcard that was in the room.  They also provided a flat note card and envelope that was on the desk.  Any hotel that still provides stationery for its guests will get a repeat customer out of me!  I always keep a couple first class and postcard stamps in my wallet for occasions just like this!

I wish you a good rest of the week.  I’m off to purchase some of these beautiful stamps online as you know what fun holiday is coming up in a few weeks!

 

Football letters in the news …

When I read something online that is stationery or letter writing related I thought I’d start sharing them here on my blog instead of letting them pile up on my iPhone.  Here is a screenshot of articles I kept that I will discuss this week and hope one of them touches you in some way.

Because I am a big sports fan, not a huge Peyton Manning fan, this was a nice story.  His ranking definitely has gone up.  After yesterday I guess I will say, “Good luck next season, but Go Packers!”  Sports are more than what the athlete does on the field.  I can’t imagine the requests professional athletes receive, but this one is of course special because Kristen Patterson wrote a letter.  That is one aspect of letter writing is that you don’t know who will read it or how the recipient will be touched by it.   When I googled to get the link to post this article I saw another article about Manning that I liked even better!  Thanks to his mother for instilling the handwritten note writer in him.  Yeah!

The moral of the first story though:  Always put a return address label on your envelopes.  I currently have six different return address labels and stampers.  I’d show you them, but then my home address would be on the internet and not sure my husband would like that.  I have thought about getting a post office box, and after reading Sincerely Kate’s blog a few days ago, she finally purchased one, so I may too, even though I’m not a true pen paler.

If you don’t have a return address label I recommend Artistic Checks for fast and simple ones.  They are under $10 for 250 and they have a variety of designs.  I have simple clear labels with black ink.  I also have two self-inking stamps from PSA Essentials.  My personal calligrapher designed a return label for me where I can print out labels from  standard Avery Labels, good ol’ 5160.

While on the subject of football and because I have less than three hours until the College National Championship begins, Go Oregon! (Did I say I am a big sports fan?) here is another handwritten note article that I came across where the video sums up why I love it! How cool that this 6th grade boy from Oklahoma wrote to all 32 NLF teams and so far has only heard back from one.  What I admire most is how the owner of the team, in his own writing, took the time to write this young boy who will surely save the letter and helmet for years to come.

Have you ever written to a large organization and heard back?  I wrote to President Clinton years ago (again, showing my age) when I was a middle school teacher asking him to visit our science class since he would be in the Los Angeles area.  I did receive a letter back, but some intern said he had to decline due to his busy schedule and it wasn’t handwritten.  I’ll have to look for that one.   Have a great rest of Universal Letter Writing Week!

1 Step to Letter Writing

I don’t know about you, but I am so tired of reading 10 steps for this, Seven sure ways to do that.  There are so many tips out there on how to write the correct blog post to and ways to get more readership.  I am writing this blog solely as an outlet of my passion of letter writing.  As you can tell (if you scroll back, I guess), I haven’t written in a few months.  I’ve written lots of letters and taken a few photos for blog posts.  I’m living life and the days keep going by.  The reason for this post is to just say I don’t think you need a reason or a how to write a letter.  When you feel compelled to write, just do it. Yes, you’ll need to put some effort into what to say and buy some stamps and know where the nearest post office or mailbox is, but I guess that’s where the time and thoughtfulness comes in.   My card choice may not be perfect or my writing sloppy, but my intention ALWAYS behind writing is to sit and connect with that person for a moment–even if they don’t reply.

Above is a sample of some of the stationery I received from girlfriends this month for my birthday.  It’s a such a great gift for me and I love thinking of my friends when I send notes to others.   I have a French Bulldog that looks just like this card so I was thrilled to receive these.  It’s also nice to get stationery that you have never seen before.  That’s where specialty card stores are a must for me, especially when we travel.  The fall leaves is blank inside and was perfect for this time of year and green is my favorite color so of course I loved these too.

Happy letter writing whatever method you choose …

Long Overdue Thank You Notes

I have to give Hallmark credit. I am normally one who likes to send stationery that isn’t from a Hallmark store. However, due to not being able to get around that good after hip surgery, I was limited to go to my local Hallmark store. I don’t mean to sound like a snob, but I think I am when it comes to stationery. I love boutique vendors and way too expensive letter press stationery. Limited to time and money on this trip, I found these adorable thank you note cards. I love the colors and the raised ink. Hallmark is a good gig. You gotta hand it to them for also having a special .99 cent card area.
Target and Michael’s can have good selections too. I am having my own cards made as we speak-I’ll tell you more about that soon!

The cards above are being sent to friends who sent me a get well gift or card during my recovery. It is amazing how a note from a loved one can support you when you are under the weather or in my case, laying around for days.

I saw a card once that said, “You’re welcome” on the outside and on the inside read, “Thank you for the thank you card”. I thought that was quite clever.

Who can you send a thank you card to today?

February 7: Send a Card to a Friend Day

So excited to sit for a bit tomorrow and send cards to friends!  It’s National Send a Card to a Friend Day!   I of course do this all throughout the year, but tomorrow will be for those close friends, ones I text and see a lot, but don’t really write to that often.  It is still fun to take time to let them know how much I appreciate our friendship or send them a little motivation.  So many of my friends are hard working moms and sending them a handwritten note is the least I can do for them.  I don’t have kids, so I try and let my mom friends know how incredibly awesome they are!

The photo above is where I get my cards when I’m at home. It sits right next to my desk and computer and is within arm’s reach.  I purchased this BisleyCollection Cabinet from The Container Store years ago.  I love it and spend way too much on stationery, but this is exactly why I started this blog:  To inspire others to write letters, “just because …”

I’m not an English major and I’m sure someone can rip apart my grammar.  I am passionate about putting pen to paper and hope you will enjoy what I share!  I don’t plan on posting just “National” this or that day. I had been sitting on this blog for months and the other day when I read about Thank a Mailman day I decided to dive in!  I will share who I write to and hopefully encourage others to write more too!  There are many articles out there about the diminishing art of the handwritten letter. I’ll share those, my favorite stationery vendors, other bloggers and organizations that support writing good ol’ snail mail.

Please feel free to add any comments or suggestions!  I’m new to this blogging world, but figured I’d give my Facebook friends a break from constantly talking about the art that I love:  handwritten letters.