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inlovewithjournals

~ musings on the hand-written life

inlovewithjournals

Tag Archives: letter writers alliance

Monday Miscellany

16 Monday Feb 2015

Posted by inlovewithjournals in monday miscellany

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la vie graphite, leigh reyes my life as a verb, letter writers alliance

Lovely post on La Vie Graphite about remembering to interrupt ourselves every once in awhile, to reconnect with things that make you happy and feed your creativity. Sometimes it’s impossible to find time to journal. But it’s so important we need to fit it in, even in a doctor’s office. Beautiful pictures as well. Glad to see him back on the web.

Leigh Reyes on My Life as a Verb explores Notebook Covers and the reasons we seem to want to cover what is already covered with more covering. Great photos.

I really love these Handmade Doily Valentines from Letter Writers Alliance. I doubt they would go through the mail but could be placed inside bigger envelopes. What a lovely surprise for your Valentine. Maybe next year!

Card File for Correspondence

11 Sunday May 2014

Posted by inlovewithjournals in crafts, letter writing

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Tags

arc notebooks, card file, incowrimo, letter writers alliance, letters

So I’ve been keeping my correspondence log in this ARC notebook, which started out as a Letter Writers Alliance log and turned into an InCoWriMo log, as I got a much better response from that endeavour than the pen pals that were sent to me from LWA. But as the number of letters sent grew larger (I’m in the 60s now since February 1) and my stack of replies seems to stay at a constant dozen, I needed something more organized. I wanted to keep track of the person’s name and address but also a log of our correspondence and some idea of what I’ve already said to the person. Don’t want to be a boring correspondent. So I came up with a card file. I had a 40% off coupon at Michael’s and I used it. Please know that I am not a crafter; I have never attempted decoupage before so this is my first project. Please indulge the rookie mistakes. 🙂

front of box

I wanted something more interesting than a recipe box but not as big as a conventional card file (one that might fit a shoe box – I don’t have that many correspondents). I saw this rough wooden box in Michael’s and thought it was perfect. I bought a bottle of Mod Podge and some foam brushes and went to town decoupaging the box. It’s not finished yet; I will do another post when it’s done. I intend to cover the entire thing (or as much of it as I’m capable of) with interesting paper I have collected over the years. In the picture above the paper on the front right is a page from my Bo Bunny Miscellaneous Me collection of notepaper. I cut it into an interesting shape, laid it on the box, and covered it with the gooey Mod Podge. The paper on the front left is gift wrap given to me years ago. You may recognize it from this post in which I use it as a divider in my planner. The sticker is one I picked up at Michael’s a while ago. I’ve been waiting for the right project to use them on and this is definitely it. The finished project will probably have more of those stickers.

closeup of front

I thought it would be interesting to have the paper cover the edges of the box. I used an exacto knife to cut the box open again after the paper was dry.

The image on the top of the box is a napkin, believe it or not. I removed the two layers of absorbent sheet on the napkin and was left with a very thin sheet with the image on it. It was tricky to decoupage as it becomes like wet tissue as soon as the Mod Podge hits it. But I’m very happy with the end result.

top of box

The other side of the napkin had a similar but slightly different design so I put that one on the inside of the box lid. You can see where the napkin started to tear on the left. I’m learning!

inside cover

For the card file I needed dividers. Michael’s didn’t have any so I went to Staples and they only had the brightly colored modern ones; I was hoping for the vintage looking black and tan ones. No luck. So I made the dividers myself using brown tags.

index card dividers

The two-toned brown tags match my colour scheme, such as it is. I used an alphabet stamp set to make the letters.

Each correspondent will have their own set of three types of cards: Name and Address on the first, Log on the second, and Letters on the third and subsequent cards.

sample cards

The first card is simply their name and address, and perhaps any extra info about them, like their username on FPGeeks or Youtube for example. The second card, the Log, will be a record of when each letter was sent from me and when I received their reply. The third card, the Letters, will be the details of what I said to them in each letter. I don’t want to repeat funny stories about the cats or my husband or something at work. And each set of cards will be fastened together with an interesting paper clip (finally a use for all those funky paper clips I own!). Each paper-clipped set will be filed under the person’s first name, as that is how I will think of them for sure. So when I sit down to write a response, I will have their last letter in front of me to answer, but I will also have all of their information from the card file. I’ve been using this system for about a week now and it’s working great!

As I said I still have work to do on the box. And after it’s all covered in paper I’m told I should do a final Mod Podge coat, to seal it all in. I will do another post when I’m done. Hope you enjoyed this – I’m certainly having fun playing with paper and glue!

The Fading Art

05 Monday May 2014

Posted by inlovewithjournals in articles, letter writing, websites

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

handwriting, incowrimo, letter writers alliance, letters, new york times, postcrossing

Loved this article by Catherine Field in the New York Times. I share the author’s fears of what this generation’s legacy will be. Handwriting is no longer taught in schools. Young people claim they cannot read cursive. So I share the fears but I’m also optimistic. With websites such as Letter Writing Alliance, InCoWriMo and PostCrossing more and more people are turning to “old-fashioned” methods of communicating. I searched for “penpals” on Google and over 1.5 million results were returned.

A good handwritten letter is a creative act, and not just because it is a visual and tactile pleasure. It is a deliberate act of exposure, a form of vulnerability, because handwriting opens a window on the soul in a way that cyber communication can never do. You savor their arrival and later take care to place them in a box for safe keeping.

Our souls crave human connections, not wifi connections. I have faith in humans so handwriting will be around long after I’m gone. At least I hope so.

LWA Notebook and Update

08 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by inlovewithjournals in letter writing, my journal collection

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

letter writers alliance, letters, pen pals

I thought I would show you my LWA notebook and give you an update on my pen pals.

front cover

Yes it’s another Arc notebook. I picked up this flashy hot pink number on my Phoenix trip.

inside cover

I attached my welcome letter to the inside cover and my membership card is in a clear envelope on the first page.

letter log

I’m keeping track of the letters and replies, with a brief description of what I’ve said and which stationery I’ve sent. I wouldn’t want to be boring and repeat a story again and again!

1st letter from kathy

On the left you can see my welcome letter envelope peeking out. And over top is my first pen pal letter, with my pen pal’s name and address covered by a sticky note.

2nd letter from kathy

And this is the second letter from LWA, giving me more details about the Letter Writing Socials and another pen pal; this time a Canadian.

letter from wendy

And here is my first pen pal letter! She lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I’ve sent her and the Canadian pen pal Christmas cards. I have yet to hear from my mysterious third pen pal but I remain hopeful.

So that’s it really. I will continue to post updates periodically, if for nothing else than to encourage anyone who reads these posts to join the LWA. It really is a fun organization. I’m also thinking of hosting a Letter Writing Social in the new year and of course I will write about that.

Happy writing, whatever form you choose!

Got my Membership Card

16 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by inlovewithjournals in letter writing, websites

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

letter writers alliance, letters, stationery, writing

My Letter Writers Alliance membership package arrived today.

front of letter

Sorry about the quality of the picture. I was so excited I took pictures as soon as I got home and saw it on the hall table.

back of letter

Love the washi tape touch.

Inside were my membership card, an introduction to the Alliance, my badge, and a postcard.

membership materials

The red card is a welcome letter and letter of encouragement to “Prepare your pen and paper, moisten your tongue, and get ready to write more letters!”

Taped to the back of the postcard is my membership card (grey) and my LWA badge. I still haven’t decided where to put it but I’m leaning toward my purple Fossil messenger bag. I think it would look very good against the purple.

postcard

And this is the front of the postcard.

So I was able to log in to the members area no problem, and they have some really neat stuff available to purchase, and also to download. And they want to match me up with at least two pen pals; all I have to do is send them a letter (of course) and answer a few questions. I really want to get in touch with other Canadian members. Their membership map doesn’t indicate Canadian membership but their marketing does so I’m going to ask about that.

And that’s about it. I think this is going to be lots of fun. Stay tuned!

LWA: Using Technology to Enable an Analog Activity

02 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by inlovewithjournals in letter writing, websites

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

handwriting, letter writers alliance, letters, stationery, writing

This week I joined the Letter Writers Alliance, a member-based organization dedicated to keeping the art of letter writing alive. The one-time membership fee is only $5.00. They say 85% of their members are in the US but they also say that of the remaining international members, 30% of those are in Canada. 

I love the idea of a Letter Writing Social, along the same lines as I talked about in my post of December 17, 2012: The Regional Assembly of Text and their letter writing evenings. The idea of a Pen Pal Swap is interesting. And those plastic pigeons – too funny! But to be honest it was the LWA badge that convinced me. I was a Brownie and a Girl Guide ya know.

…neither long lines, nor late deliveries, nor increasing postal rates will keep us from our mission

membership

Image from http://16sparrows.com/LWA/membership.html

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