You’ve Got (Hand-Written) Mail?

The last telegram was sent last weekend in India which despite the fact that I have never actually sent, received or seen a “real life” telegram has made me extremely nostalgic for the old ways of communication. I can’t remember when I last wrote a non-business related, hand-written letter or received one – we’re talking years. Snail mail now means bills and junk. Before hand letter writing goes the way of the Dodo, I’ve decided to do my bit to keep it alive.

First things first is something nice to write on. Yippee an excuse to shop. I get very giddy about stationery. My heart really does beat that little bit faster when surrounded by pretty paper products and I am always on the lookout for new places to get my stationery fix. A fairly recent discovery has been the treasure trove that is The Journal Shop. My sudden longing for a diary in late February led me here and it continues to hit the spot on the paper porn front.

It was love at first glance with the ‘Lettres d’Hélène’ letter writing set below from Swiss brand Le Pigeon Voyageur. It’s beautiful, simple and elegant but at £45 I just couldn’t justify the expense (believe me I tried). Lovely though isn’t it? It’s now on sale at The Journal Shop for £29.90

Le Pigeon Voyageur Stationery Set, Letters to Helena — Letters to Helene set, Le Pigeon Voyageur

Le Pigeon Voyageur, Letters to Helene Set — Le Pigeon Voyageur, the sets come in these three colours –

And then I stumbled upon these delightful letter writing sets from the Japanese brand Midori. The stickers sealed the deal!

Midori letter writing sets – each set has 4 envelopes, 8 sheets of paper and 4 stickers

Midori letter writing set stickers — Zipper and bicycle stickers – LOVE these.

Midori letter writing set paper — Embossed paper clip on paper

Each set contains four non self-seal envelopes, eight sheets of paper and four stickers. I love the stickers in particular they just put a smile on my face and look at the embossed paper clip on the paper. So simple but amazing how tiny little details make all the difference. My only minor quibble is that the writing paper could be a teeny bit thicker (yes I’m a paper nerd I prefer at least 100gsm and this feels like 80 or 90gsm though I’m not sure).

So I hand wrote a letter for the first time in at least five years (cards don’t count) and used an actual stamp and post box which felt very weird. Hopefully there’ll be a smile on the face of the person who gets this letter too.