My letter to Joy (photo by Joy)

When I was in my teens, one of my favorite things to do was to write notes and send letters. I prided myself on excellent penmanship, vast collection of cute stationery and supplies, and a great, big, glorious callus on my right hand from years of writing. Of course, when email came along and became the standard of written communication, I traded my pens and pencils for my mouse and keyboard like everyone else.

I missed writing of course. There’s nothing like sitting down with a pencil in hand and a clean white sheet of paper in front of you. For some reason, expressing your thoughts via brain to hand, to pen, and then to paper feels differently than clicking away on the keyboard and seeing letters form into words and into sentences. with the physical act of writing, you compose your thoughts and organize them in a better way. So when I met fellow calligraphy/writing enthusiasts on Instagram who suggested trading envelopes, I jumped at the opportunity!

The first letter I exchanged was with Joy of Imagine Joy Calligraphy. I had met Joy briefly before her move from Los Angeles to Montréal, Canada, and was so glad to reconnect with her via Instagram. Joy makes everything she does look so very elegant and effortless and I just adore her work.

I had just been practicing my casual pointed pen script, so I write Joy a letter written entirely in it. :) And here’s Joy’s letter to me!

Joy’s letter to me

It was so wonderful to come home to this cute letter addressed to me in Joy’s hand! And I love the letterpress card from EggPress. Thank you again, Joy! :)

The second letter I sent was to Allison Anne of Dear Detective! Allison and I have quite a lot in common, such as the love of kitties, Blythe dolls, and art/ design/ illustration. Thanks to Instagram again, I got to know her better through all the photos she shares from her daily life. I was admiring her illustrated envelopes when she suggested we do an envelope exchange! Of course, I was more than happy to. I had just bought some bonsai stamps and thought a pale pink on aubergine envelope from Paper Source would make a good combo.

My letter to Allison

Allison’s letter to me

And here is the envelope she sent me. Isn’t it fabulous?! She was so sweet to do some research and knew I would love a glamorous 60’s style lady straight out of Mad Men, and I sure do. She reminds me of Joan Holloway Harris who I just love. Go take a look at Allison’s blog post and peek at her progress shots. Just amazing work. Thank you, Allison!

The third letter exchange is still in progress, but I will share it’s also from an Instagram connection. I was so surprised when I received a message from Lupe Carroll, who is not only a talented musician who has performed live on national TV, but he is also an impeccable penman. Lupe asked if I was interested in doing a letter exchange. Of course I was!

I used Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen White on a nice rich brown envelope from Paper Source. I also made a card with the words “Lupe Carroll Music.” I hope he liked it!

[Update: Nov 12, 2013] I got Lupe’s letter in the mail and am so impressed with his penmanship! Thank you again Lupe for the letter exchange!

It’s so fantastic that new technology (Instagram) is conneting me with such great and talented people and making us all rediscover the age-old love of letter-writing. I keep hearing people talk about the art of handwriting is coming back and there is a revival. If what I am seeing on Instagram and Tumblr is a reflection, I certainly believe it!