Today was a long but productive day on Planet Baby. Drew, Planet Baby's carpenter extraordinaire, helped Mr PB build some shelves for the playroom cupboard. We are so delighted with the result - far more organisation for all the board games, play dough, felt sets, plasticine, colouring-in books, pencils, textas, paper, craft supplies and assorted paraphernalia we have. Bring on the drawers now - then we'll be ultra organised ☺.
A Month of Letters
Today's post is short and sweet about something I suspect some of you might be interested in. After being alerted to it by gorgeous Claire at Heartmade UK, on Wednesday, I hopped aboard the 'A Month of Letters 2012' challenge at Mary's blog. Click on the button in my sidebar to be taken to the blog.
The idea is that for every day of February, you mail at least one item through the post every day. It could be a postcard, a letter, a photo, a newspaper cutting or even just a fabric swatch.
The whole idea is to bring back the joy created by sending people something tangible to remind them of you, not just an ephemeral email which can be deleted. It's not too late to join and it's free. I know Claire is doing it, too - are any of you interested?
Click here to sign up.
Mary has kindly whipped up a calendar for you to record to whom you've sent your mail for the month. Here's mine - I hope I'm not spoiling surprises here!
She's also added a sheet of participant stickers which look like stamps. Cute, don't you think? You can either cut them out and glue them onto your envelopes or print them out on adhesive paper to create your special stamps. Don't you think it sounds like fun?
My passion for writing letters
I am such a Luddite - I posted about it here. I adore writing letters and cards and much prefer them to fleeting emails, tweets or Facebook messages.
Letters can be read, re-read and re-read again. They can be cherished, carried around to allow you to feel close to the sender and even passed down through the generations. They may be tear-stained, coffee-stained or SWALK ('sealed with a loving kiss').
Not only are they fascinating recordings of the minutiae of daily life, I think the author's handwriting allows you to peek into their soul and understand more of their essence.
Handwriting delights me
Handwriting *enchants* me. I love it in all its varied forms, although the prettier the better, I must admit!
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Back in Grade 4 in 1980, we were taught 'cord cursive'. This had recently replaced the exquisite 'copperplate as the school standard form. I thought that a travesty as copperplate was just so much more elegant. But I had to comply with the school rules and learn the new style. It grew on me. My handwriting now is essentially the same as the style I learnt in 1980.
But when I was introduced to fountain pens when attending school in West Germany as a Rotary Exchange Student in 1989, my handwriting altered slightly. The sublime ink flowed so magically over the page, allowing my writing to develop more flourishes.
So, in the spirit of sharing and spreading my love of letter writing, I've handwritten you all a short letter today. I used my beloved silver Lamy Safari fountain pen and crisp white Croxley 'Basildon Bond' watermarked paper.
I'd be interested in your comments. Is it how you'd imagined my writing would look like? Or not at all?
I used to chide myself, thinking it looked too infantile and neat. Now I've finally accepted that it truly represents who I am.
Do any of you share my passion for handwritten letters? When I posted about the love letters Mr PB exchanged with me whilst he was abroad for a year in the mid-1990s, a number of you lamented that you had nothing similar to look at as so much of your communication occurred via email, texts and tweets.
I guess that's partly behind why a lot of us blog - to record moments in our life, our moods, events and discoveries we've made that would otherwise go unrecorded.
However, I am mindful that I really want to ensure my blog doesn't disappear into the ether by accident. Wouldn't that be just horrid? I think I'll investigate the whole blog-to-book idea. What a treat it would be to hold in my hand and leaf through! I've heard good things about Blurb - have any of you tried it? Or do you have any other recommendations? Do share - imagine the thrill of opening that parcel!
