Letter Writers Alliance

National Postal Museum’s Annual Holiday Card Workshop

This Saturday (today!) and Sunday (tomorrow!) are the free holiday card making workshop days at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. The event will be held from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on both Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8. The museum provides all the supplies- you just bring the mail magic! They'll have patterned papers, postage and rubber stamps, gems and other 3-D embellishments, special cut-out scissors, washi tape, stickers, markers of every color and more! If that doesn't sound like a party to you, then why are you even here? The workshop takes place in the museum’s lower-level Atrium which has had its halls decked out in the holiday spirit as well. If you're in the D.C. area, I highly recommend this free and family friendly fun time! I wish I were there!

 

L.W.A. Studio Closing Sale in Chicago

We are downsizing at the L.W.A. studio due to our recent announcement and some ongoing landlord shenanigans. We have been offering some choice bits and bobs up online so that our whole community can participate, but now is the time to think about larger pieces. If you're looking for anything postal or paper, please come to our Chicago studio sale on August 25th from 11AM - 4PM. We are selling typewriters, shelves, folding tables, a mini-fridge, card spinner racks, postal treasure, and supplies galore. We've got boxes sized 16 X 16 X 20 that are full of supplies and equipment that are being sold as MYSTERY BOXES (you may remember we sold something similar earlier this year). They are big and heavy and I don't even remember what is in them... I know there are cones of twine and a button maker and a corner rounder and vintage record keeping books that I intended to use for letter organization and WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE?! They are priced at $50 each, NO PEEKING. 

Any member can come by and show me their card and get a Perfect Pen Pal Award ribbon for free (and probably some other stuff too)(while supplies last)! This is a great opportunity for anyone who loves letters to find unique items and also for the back-to-school crowd. This mini-fridge is dorm-ready and priced to move AKA you can have it for $20 as long as you move it down the stairs yourself. I moved it up the stairs by myself; so I know it's possible, OK? I just never want to do it again. Please come buy this fridge so I don't have to move it. Likewise for the rest of the stuff.

Come see us at 355 N. Laflin Street #209/Chicago/IL/60607 

We'd prefer payment by credit card during the sale for record keeping and safety's sake. If you want to reserve a MYSTERY BOX for pick-up, let me know and I can send you an invoice. Likewise for any of the items still on sale virtually. Let us know if you have any questions!

Tools of the Trade

Attention typewriter lovers, the American Writers Museum in Chicago is opening a new exhibit called Tools of the Trade. They'll be displaying machines from Ray Bradbury, Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou, and other writing instruments like Fredrick Douglas's inkwell. I am THERE. The exhibit opens on June 22. To celebrate, they are GIVING AWAY A TYPEWRITER! Did you hear me?

To win this 1949 Smith Corona Sterling, you must perform the following (pretty simple) actions:

1. Share a photo of yourself at a typewriter, either one of ours or your own, on social media by June 30.
2. Use #ClickClackAWM to enter the contest.
3. Be sure to tag us in your post and follow us as we’ll announce the winner online. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Good luck every0ne! Happy typing! See you at the exhibit.

USSA Postal Service: Chicago Casting Call

Image: Zachary Cahill, USSA Postal Service//The Significance of the Letter

Kathy sent me this link to an amazing sounding art project that is looking for participation/collaboration. If you'll be in the Chicago area on March 5th, perhaps you could be persuaded to participate. It seems like something all L.W.A. members would be perfect for. From their site:

Kleine Welt exhibiting artist Zachary Cahill is conducting a casting call for the USSA Postal Service, an unfolding project that incorporates found narrative and participant-generated content to help create a story of postal relatedness: a novel for the post-post-internet age. Visitors will be invited to participate in a conversation with the artist to share their postal stories and the significance of letter writing, have their portraits taken, fill out a brief (anonymous) questionnaire, and have cookies and milk (and hot cocoa).

The project takes place at the Neubauer Collegium, 5701 S. Woodlawn Ave., on March 5th from 3:30PM - 5:00PM. Please RSVP here.

Holiday Stamp Collectors Weekend

The Smithsonian National Postal Museum invites you to join them in their historic lobby tomorrow, Saturday, December 1st from 11AM to 3PM, for hot cocoa and cookies, view stamp displays, collect your own canceled Holiday stamps and to learn more about philately with members of Christmas Philatelic Club and Christmas Seal and Charity Stamp Society. It is free to the public. All you have to do is show up and have a stamptacular good time.If you can't make it this Saturday, there's a holiday postcard printing event on the 15th as well. D.C.-area members should really be taking advantage of the NPM (and all the Smithsonian Institutions.)

StampShow 2018 & National Topical Stamp Show

My peripheral mail-loving world is currently quite abuzz with anticipation leading up to the 2018 APS StampShow. APS is the American Philatelic Society, and this show is a joint effort with the American Topical Association. I know a number of my penpals are gearing up to go to this show in Columbus, Ohio this weekend to partake of the  dealers, societies, live auctions, literature and philatelic exhibits, and first-day-of-issue ceremonies for new stamps. (The Dragon stamps are coming out here, folks!) The show is FREE and open to the public. I'm looking forward to everyone's postal reports during and after the show!

P.S. Photo courtesy of Global Pen Pal's instagram.

Survey Says...

The good folks who organize Write_On would like your help with next year's event! There's a survey up til August 8th about how you participated and what else you'd like to see with the program. Give them your feedback if you have a moment! There's a prize opportunity too!

P.S. If you're in NYC on Friday, the Morgan Library is hosting the New York Letter Writers Society for a social.

Postcard Scavenger Hunt

My pen pal and all-around cool person Jessica Jewel (she of cool downloads) sent me a postcard from a recent adventure. The adventure was through Street Salad Co. The idea is that you use their postcards to go on a scavenger hunt around Oakland finding street art, murals and other hidden gems as you go. You can just buy the cards, but they have taken things a step further and invite you to engage on a whole experience, a guided tour to the sites with time for writing postcards along the way. I love LOVE love step 5 in the process. I want this to be wildly successful because I would love to see this group branch out to other cities. What city would you want to see? If you were making a postcard scavenger hunt for your city, what would you include?

L.W.A. Book Club: Dear Mister Rogers

Mark your calendars for Sunday, May 27th at 3PM Central to discuss Dear Mister Rogers, Does It Ever Rain In Your Neighborhood? with special guest Betsy Siber. Please join us online for a chat and bonding time over a book that combines a beloved show with our favorite thing- the mail. You've got a little over two weeks to read it!

 

P.S. Kathy has resurrected the Letter Writers Alliance Instagram account. Please add it to your list for information on upcoming special events and promotions!

Introducing the Puget Sound Correspondence Society

So, Monday's post is a bit of bridge to this one. Here's someone who has started their own letter writing club (with very beautiful branding if I do say so myself) and has their first meeting set for April 28th. Chelsea is starting this Seattle-based club because she "just want to write for letter writings sake and I wanted people to do it with!" That's awesome. I'm so excited to see more letter writing happening. If you're around, and you love letters, (and I know you do), go out to the inaugural meeting!