Letter Writers Alliance

Moth Mail (Aux Post #1)

Perhaps you saw some rumblings last week about our new offering called Aux Post. The Aux Post series is a collaboration between LWA and Carolee Wheeler of Good Mail Day where we create fantasy postal worlds for your mailing pleasure. What is more, Aux Post will be available to both members and non-members alike. (We will have one coming up next season that will be for member's only.)

Friday at Midnight (CST) our first Aux Post item goes on sale: Moth Mail. 

A set of Moth Mail supplies you with all the tools you need to harness the power of the Stellate Moth to deliver your insomnia-driven musings. The carefully packaged set comes with six handmade lunar envelopes, a wooden-handled cancellation stamp, six artistamps, and the history of the Stellate Moth (as written by our expert, in-house lepidopterist Dr. Shoggoth).

Oh, and the moon phase occurring when you purchase your set will determine which postage stamps you receive thanks to the moth pheremones used to print the postage. Read more about all that awaits you when you use the Moth Mail system.

Post Club

Looking to pad your mailbox further? Have a penchant for limited edition, screen printed postcards? Well, then Chris Pecora's Post Club might be for you. It's a postcard subscription service. For $40.00 you'll recieve one special postcard a month for a year. Plus, they come from Canada. I'm not sure why that thrills me, but it does.

Handkercheif Stationery from Postalco

Oh Japan, why do you have to make such nice things when I am trying to save my pennies? Lovely handkercheif envelopes from Postalco.

Love that aquatic one and the grey and brown one and... oh I love all of them. Find them for sale here.

P.S. And if you like mail and handkerchiefs, Mod Cloth has some fun ones.

 

Initiative Response Honors

We've had enough members completing various Initiative Response projects that you may have seen your fellow LWAers walking around with curious badges. I thought it would be good to write a little primer on what these badges mean. So here we go...

Know your L.W.A. Honors (From top left)
Typist badge, World Traveler badge, Out of the Box badge.

All of these above are awarded to members who have completed the various I.R. tasks within that specific initiative. There are three tasks per initiative, with opportunity for extra credit, which brings me to the bottom two badges...

Extra Credit Honors
First class honors (star pin)
You went above and beyond on an I.R. submission

Airmail Honors (wings)
You completed a second or third I.R. (not nec. all at the same time) in a unique or creative manner.

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Those are the honors we have for Initiative Response so far. So, if you see any of these badges on someone bag or person, strike up a conversation with them, for they are surely very cool.

For those of you have any of these honors, take a picture of where you have it/them and post it in the comments or upload it to the LWA Flickr group!

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And a reminder for everyone about the 2000th Member Cover Contest. Be sure to send your entries before the 31st of January. Winners and prizes will be announced on Valentine's Day.

Ephemera at Letterology

The excellent blog resource Letterology mainly focuses on vintage typography in advertisements and book covers, but every so often there's something epistolary in nature, like this holiday invitation. I like that Santa is going to this party after the 25th. That means he gets to kick back and relax a little. They also did any amazing piece on scans from an old stationery catalog and vintage office and art supplies.

P.S. First spotted via our friends at the GOOD MAIL Tumblr.

Christmas Island Postmark

Those of us in the U.S. have the option of doing our cards early and sending them to North Pole, Alaska or Noel, Missouri for super-special holiday postmarks. In fact, the U.S.P.S. website kindly lists for you all of the U.S. towns with festive sounding names like Rudolph, WI or Snowflake, AZ. Our neighbors to the North in Canada can do a similar thing with Christmas Island!

{postcard from Gem's World Postcards}

From an article in The Globe and Mail:

"Word has spread far and wide about the community’s name, and thousands of people want their cards stamped with its Christmas-themed postmark before they are sent on to their final destination.

The pace of this year’s arrivals is still rising, and postmistress Hughena MacKinnon and an assistant expect to handle up to 2,000 pieces some days-- 10 times the normal volume.

The tradition dates to the 1990s and hit a high last year, with around 16,000 pieces of mail coming through in pursuit of this special franking.

Ms. MacNeil petitioned for something unique and, in 1994, the spot got what is billed as the first pictorial postmark in the country. The original design was a simple motif with three conifers. The current postmark is more ornate, including a wreath laden with decorations and a bow.

"I like the wreath," Ms. MacKinnon said. "A wreath’s meaning was a wish of good health, so you put a little good health with the Christmas card."

Word of mouth spread and now mail arrives from around the world, typically in bundles of cards, each in a preaddressed envelope and accompanied by proper postage. These cards will be franked carefully, in both red and green, and then shipped onward to recipients around the world.

"The first thing that will catch your eye is the postmark," Ms. MacKinnon said. "It’s a conversation piece. People like to collect them and some put them on the tree."

Any members sending specially franked cards sent to the L.W.A. P.O. Box will recieve an Inkling!

P.S. Thanks to Send More Mail for the nudge about Christmas Island!

 

LEGO Winter Post Office {AKA Buy Me Toys}

When L.W.A. member Ashley tweeted about this, I had to go check it out. New for this year is the LEGO Winter Village Post Office. It is better than I thought possible. Look at the postboxes! Look at the TRUCK!

I'm sort of anti-premade LEGO sets on principle {I feel like they constrict creativity}, but dang, if I don't want this one something fierce.

Dear Santa...

 

SIY Kit, Pigeon Post

We are really enjoying the comments we've been getting about Pigeon Post and we've also gotten a few requests. We've listened, and we have made something per your requests: a Send It Yourself Pigeon Post Kit.

What it includes:
1 Pigeon (space-age polymer plastic, not real folks!)
3 Pigeon Post message forms
3 mailing label pouches
Instructions on how to mail
Postage for one mailing

Perks to the kit:
- The extra forms/labels let you mail the pigeon several times (via the recipient sending it back or sending it on to someone else).
- You can choose to deliver it by hand. Say, leaving it on someone's desk, in their mailbox, or in their bag.
- The box the kit comes in can be reused to mail the Pigeon Post in, which comes in handy for overseas messaging.
- You write your own damn message, keeping it private and giving you the freedom to decorate the form as you wish.

So, thank you for your comments - we got you loud and clear: You want to send the pigeon yourself. You want to be the one who writes the message and participate in adventurous post! So, for those of you who welcome adventure, I included a little video in this post (above) showing how to fit the Pigeon Post into the mail box. It is super easy, just hold it by the legs and put it in the mail slot back first!

What about the Free Range & Penned Pigeons?
With the introduction of the Pigeon Post Kit, we will phase out the "We transcribe your message" service after the sale is over on the 15th. Only LWA members have access to this sale price. Just one of the many benefits of membership.

Post Office Home

Today is my birthday and I'd really appreciate it if you all pitched in a bought me an old post office and then renovated it. I know, I don't really ask for much. It can be done. I have evidence! Observe {and be envious} of the home of Dr. Sarah Belhasen.

From This Old House.Com: "Inside, though, the building she purchased for $162,000 was drab. Many of the rooms were painted top to bottom in post-office blue. Hideous linoleum or tough rubber padding was glued to most of the floors. But it retained enough period details --including terra-cotta floor tiles, marble baseboards and pink granite wall slabs-- that Belhasen decided to take the rehab project on. She preserved many of these details in the former lobby, which now serves as an entry parlor and formal living area." There's a whole slide show of the beautiful home over on MSN Real Estate.

{Thanks to The Stamp Collecting Round-Up for the tip}

Have an Inkling?

We are very happy to introduce something new for LWA members: LWA currency. Yep, you read correctly, The Letter Writers Alliance now has its own currency called Inklings. Only, there is no way to buy inkling, you must earn them.

LWA is a community, so when you support the community, you get an inkling as a way to show our gratitude. Collect your inklings and then redeem them for exclusive LWA items, even LWA stationery. How do you earn inklings? Well...

Ways you earn inklings:
• Attending an LWA sponsored Letter Social
• Hosting a Letter Social
• Completing LWA mailing tasks
• Doing unique/interesting things to promote mail/letter writing
• Doing unique/interesting things to support the Post Office
• Visiting the LWA booth at craft fairs

As for the types of items you can redeem for your inklings, here's a taste:

Those who attended either of the letters socials in San Francisco & Vermont (respectively) this past weekend were the first ones to have the chance to earn inklings. Those of you closer to LWA HQ have your first chance to earn inklings at our letter social on the 13th at Greer. Details are on the sidebar.

Those of you far far away, please dont' fret, we shall soon be having letter tasks on the blog for your chance to earn your inklings.

-Kathy