Letter Writers Alliance

Workshops!

The weekend of May the 17th and 18 is full of opportunities for letter lovers! For those of you in the Chicago-area with some free time, stop by the Chicago Style Crafters Trunk Show held in Circa Ceramics studio at 3759 N. Ravenswood. The show where lovely wares will be vended runs from 12PM to 5PM, but I will be giving envelope making demonstrations for anyone interested at 2PM each day. [Due to my daffyness, I will only be there from 12PM to 3PM on Saturday but all day on Sunday.] If you bring in a favorite paper, I'll be happy to make you an envelope out of it. Also, I'll have freebies for an LWA member who pops in!

Our sisters in letter-loving, Pod Post, are also having a workshop that weekend. It's called "Hidden Agendas: A Daybook for Alternative Correspondence and Artful Rumination." The picture is of their lovely invitation. The workshop is being held in Carol Parks' Studio in the NoHo district of Los Angeles. There is more info here.

Get out there and write more letters! Also, the Chicago Postcard Museum is still waiting for some postcards from you guys. Again, their address is:
Chicago Postcard Museum
780 West Army Trail Road, #208
Carol Stream, IL 60188-9297
USA 

Correspondence Games

Recently, an LWA member wrote to us and asked if we knew of any games, except for chess and checkers, that can be played through correspondence. The short answer was "no", but we said we'd look into it.

Correspondence gaming has been occurring as long as there have been games and correspondence, which is to say, a long time. The most common game played is chess, and there are correspondence chess leagues and regulatory bodies like the International Chess Correspondence Association. Like in so many things, the internet has usurped post's position in the correspondence gaming world, but some people do still play via mail.

The way a game works is that both players keep a control board and send moves back and forth to one another, often using special cards. Games like this can last months or even years and are an excellent way to connect to other cultures and countries through a regular penpaling based around a central theme. Research into correspondence gaming shows that people also play Go and Backgammon commonly through the mail. There are some complex war games that are played postally as well.

I suppose that basically any game could be played through the mail, but whether or not it could be played easily is the question. Games like chess and Go work because they have fairly common boards and rules. It's a lot more likely that your penpal will have checkers than say, Battleship or Candyland. Plus, you'll have to have a place to set up the game or at least a way of recording the game accurately.

Do any of you play correspondence games and have anything to add? Any games to recommend?

"Letters You Keep" Contest

Crane Stationery is hosting a contest giving a lucky letter writer the chance to win $500 and stationery.

From the website:
"To celebrate the tradition of letter writing, we welcome you to share a treasured letter that you've received and kept. One winner will be awarded a Crane stationery wardrobe for all of his or her correspondence needs, valued at $500. Crane will award $250 worth of Crane stationery to three runners up. Contest ends May 1st. The winner will also receive a copy of Crane’s Blue Book of Stationery as well as signed copies of books by our esteemed guest judges Letitia Baldrige and Samara O’Shea."

Find out more and enter here.

New Stamp Released Today

The second of the 42¢ stamps comes out today - a nice selection of American journalists, covering Martha Gellhorn, John Hersey, George Polk, Ruben Salazar, and Eric Sevareid.

From the usps.com product page:

"Working in radio, television, or print, the journalists reported — often at great personal sacrifice — some of the most important stories of the 20th century. They did their part to keep people informed about the world around them.

Art director Howard Paine worked with designer Fred Otnes of West Redding, Connecticut, to create the stamp art. The abstract backgrounds were meant to imply the “worldliness” of the subjects, without referring to explicit events; the fragments of text were meant to suggest headlines of articles by or about each journalist."

Buy this stamp in a pane of 20 at your local post office or online.

The last stamp being released at this moment under the soon-to-be 42¢ cost is the Purple Heart stamp which is available for pre-order. It is being released April 30th.

WWII letters found in warehouse crate

Image from Dad's WWII Letters to Mom.

An employee of the Community Warehouse in Portland discovered a crate full of letters between a couple, Ted and Glenna, during WWII. Some interesting snippets of the letters:
(Ted) "It's frightful to see the damage done by the blitz. Whole blocks and streets, building with five foot skeletons left standing, or only foundations"
(Glenna) "See you in a week and a half please. Even that's too long"

Read the rest of the article, the fate of the letters and who Ted is here.

If you are interested in reading WWII soldiers letters, check out history.com's collection "Dear Home" or the personal collection in Dad's WWII Letters to Mom, where this post's image is from.

New Stamp Released Today

Ah, the first of the 42¢ stamps come out today. I have to say that these flag ones are way nicer looking the the 41¢ ones. I also like that there are four different looks for the stamp. Variety is always good.

From the usps.com product page:
"Each of the four First–Class® stamps features a painting by Laura Stutzman of Mountain Lake Park, Maryland, of an American flag flying at a different time of day: sunrise, noon, sunset, and night."

Purchase this new stamp in a coil of 100, 3000, or 10000 at your local post office or online.

Stamp prices will rise from 41¢ to 42¢ in May.

Ravelry, LWA Group

For those LWAers on Ravelry (a knitting/crochet community), I just made a group on there for members. I haven't really been able to explore too much on there and had no idea there were such things as groups until an LWAer asked me to make a group for alliance members. So, here is a space for members to get together and find otherways and things to swap via snail mail. Hope all you knitting and crocheting LWAers enjoy.

Collecting Objects

I came across this project over at Notebookism, and it really tickles my fancy. It falls under my LWA radar because participants use the mail to receive and send their portions of the project. Further research has revealed that the minds behind it, Art House, are from my and Kathy's alma mater.

From the website:

"We are sending out mini accordion file folders. We want you to take them with you and fill them up with all of your personal objects - including receipts, ticket stubs, lists, Polaroids, or anything else that defines you and your life.

There are objects that connect us all. Everyday things like movie stubs and grocery lists. These objects are personal and say so much about us. We all have a desire to look into another persons personal life. With this project, we want to give you that chance. After we get the accordion folders back, we are going to have a gallery show with all the folders, allowing people to peer into your life... even if it's just a little glimpse..."

You can sign up for $13.00 which I think is totally worth it for the privilege of sending my paper detritus to participate in grand art. You can bet there will be letters in there, oh yes!

Ever-Together Wallet

A neat little wallet that resembles a letter. Oh how keen.

Inside-Out Patterning

There is a neat tutorial on design*sponge on how to utilize your bills as neat envelopes. I've always been fond of security envelope patterns, but I've never thought to turn the envelope inside out and reuse it. Oh, such a dummy. Anywho, here is the tutorial on how to refab those bill envelopes.

Via The Modern Letter.