the art of the handwritten note

Remember when you were a kid and your mother would get the mail and you would eagerly ask, "is there anything for me?"  And she would sigh and say, "no, just bills."  And you thought, well, at least you got mail.  And the few days where she would hand you something you got, your heart would leap with excitement.  Now, as an adult, you sigh when you get bills.  But every now and again, you sift through the envelopes and happen upon one that's handwritten and your heart leaps just like when you were a kid.

I try to send out notes.  My mother taught me to write thank you notes my whole life (thanks Mom!), so now I do it religiously.  And I have a dear friend in Los Angeles whom I only coorespond with via letter (unless we really need to talk about something important) because we like to think we're both people of the written word.  There's just something about sending and receiving a letter.  Did I mention you can do it in style?

(a simple note from my father)

(my grandmother's stationary)

(my old stationary)

(newer stationary from Silhouette Blue)

What do all these pieces of stationary have in common?  Why, they're personalized, of course!  You don't have to break the bank on Crane Stationary (although they do have lovely product) or another paperie store.  I found Silhouette Blue on Etsy.  While searching, I found I liked the seller's aesthetic and she even customized.  I told her I wanted a blue lobster and she sent me a sheet of color and font choices and it included 4 mock ups with one round of editing - all for a very reasonable price!  Here are some other sellers that I like:

(scroll monogram by Posh Girl Boutique)

 (clean stripes by Oh Louise!)

(custom calligraphy by perch papier) 

 (personalized flat notecard by Daily Sip)

(even letterpress if that's your style, like this stylish one by Missive)

Whatever your style, perhaps it's time to invest in some stationary and drop a note to someone you love.