The Hunt for Personalized Note Cards
I doubt I need to tell you I'm a fan of the old-fashioned charm of letter writing. On a nearly daily basis, I find myself wanting to slip a little note in a mailbox that says: god, I miss you or I'm sorry I stood you up//haven't returned your phone call/spilled wine at your party or cheer up, little one, things will be okay or holy hell, congratulations! or thank you so much for being in my corner or I hope your sniffles have passed. I end up saying a lot of these things via email (and sometimes, terribly, not at all, even though I think them something fierce), but sometimes that wonderfully convenient and instantaneous form of communication doesn't quite get the point across in the fashion I'd like.
When I was recently having a hard go of it, EB sent me a card enclosed with a Depression-era (fitting!) recipe from her granddad. She certainly didn't have to, and it was maybe even a bit of a pain to dig up the stamp and print out the recipe. But the card made me grin, the old-fashioned recipe thrilled me, and I went from moping to feeling cared about pretty much instantly. An email, I doubt, could have imparted such glee.
I know what sort of woman I want to be: I want to be a lady who sends notes. Spanning the distance between the life you envision for yourself and the life you actually live is often just a matter of follow-through. In other words, I need to order myself some pretty note cards and a roll of stamps. Because the times I got gold shoes in the mail from my best friend or someone thoughtfully sent me a book about redheads? It was a great reminder that we are so much in the thoughts of those who aren't always at our sides. And that's the best.
If you know of some other great sellers on etsy who do pretty, affordable, custom paper work, please don't keep the secret to yourself -- share in the comments!
Comments
I want to be a lady who sends notes too! Thanks for reminding me to take a little time to tend to "my correspondence."
Posted by: Dana Youlin | October 22, 2008 6:19 PM
Sarah--there was a time when I'd write (and often rewrite) a note, just to insure my recipient experienced the full import of my sentiment. I love the idea of having a penpal...one you dream of meeting face to face one day. (There's so much you can surmise from one's handwriting!) I think nice paper with any personal touch--a scrap of fabric tacked on, a pressed flower, a lacing of a velvet ribbon...can all make for beautiful stationary.
Posted by: Ruth | October 22, 2008 7:20 PM
Ok... now I'm blushing. I'm really so glad it cheered you up.
Posted by: EB | October 22, 2008 9:16 PM
Oh! How lovely! So, now you have me thinking ... what about teacher gifts? Would a pack of personalized cards be an appropriate teacher gift? I have 5 elementary teachers to buy for, this would not only make my Christmas shopping easy, but lovely as well. I'm just not sure of the proper 'etiquette' for buying someone else cards. Thanks :)
Posted by: Kathie | October 23, 2008 8:40 AM
Ruth, you are so right. Tons of diy options in the stationery department -- cheap, too!
EB, Sorry to expose you! But seriously, it was mondo inspiring and really so thoughtful of you.
Kathie, These would awesome gifts! I would stick to something super simple if you don't really have a sense of the teacher's style, but generally, stationery always makes a great gift I think.
Posted by: sarah | October 23, 2008 10:40 AM
I must admit that I am good with sending thank you cards for gifts and dinner etc., but I do miss sending (and receiving!) letters. Email does wreck it all. I recall when I went away to university I initially refused to get an email account because I knew it would take the place of letters. And I received letters almost every single day! I can't imagine that, now.
I did have a paper correspondence going with a good friend in England, but, sadly, we've lost touch...
Posted by: Suzy | October 23, 2008 10:47 AM
Wow. Today I turned 56 and was feeling not good at all about it....pouty, self-indulgent, comparing myself to others, why am I not more financially secure, no significant other, did I find my true calling, blah blah blah. But this little post cheered me up... like getting my own handwritten note in the mail...and a kick in the butt to get going, already. In my opinion, email can never, ever replace the handwritten message, and the FEEL of the paper it's on...sigh.
Thanks for this wonderful picker-upper, Sarah!
Posted by: Suzanne | October 23, 2008 1:05 PM
Oh, Suzanne, Happy, happy, happy birthday.
Posted by: sarah | October 23, 2008 3:30 PM
I moved across the country last month and wanted to send out proper, paper moving announcements.
The very sweet Suann of simplesongdesigns (the first one above) printed them up for me and they were fantastic. People called to tell me how lovely they were. I highly recommend her work!
Posted by: brittany | October 23, 2008 7:48 PM
"Spanning the distance between the life you envision for yourself and the life you actually live is often just a matter of follow-through." Inspiring words to live by. Thanks for the virtual kick in the pants, so to speak! There are packages sitting around waiting for me to mail them, so this was great for me to read today.
Posted by: Jecca | October 23, 2008 9:02 PM
Great resources Sarah! And so true, receiving "real mail" is such a rarity these days. (Especially in the last few weeks when I find my letterbox over flowing with politicial flyers, ugh.)
Posted by: geek+nerd | October 24, 2008 9:19 AM
Brittany, It's so great to hear that you were happy with your moving announcements (I always want to send those out and, ahem, never do...) Suann's work is really lovely.
Jecca, Hope you got those packages out; I'm sure you'll have some very happy recipients on your hands.
Geek + Nerd, I know! And super bad catalogs (Boston Proper? Who thought I wanted that?). I feel you.
Posted by: sarah | October 24, 2008 11:08 AM
I LOVE the swing girl!!!
Posted by: rebekka | October 30, 2008 3:05 PM
I, too, love the idea of personalized stationary. One of the moving companies we used for a corporate had personalized stationary done for us by Birks. I felt like such a grown up using it!! I LOVE Kathy's idea of making personalized stationary for teachers. I teach adults who have been injured at work and sometimes I tuck a card into their books just as a pick me up or for encouragement. I picked up some great stationary today in fact. Time to start mailing letters to friends though.
Posted by: Naomi | November 15, 2008 8:49 PM