Killing Time with Another TLWR Giveaway

I have had a really great post written and sitting in my drafts for several days now. Why? As I mentioned, I went on my 3rd field trip last Thursday and because it involves Canada Post, I felt it was only appropriate to send the draft to one of the powers-that-be to give his seal of approval before posting it online. Turns out, he is a very busy man so I am patiently waiting to receive an email from him to let me know that the information is accurate and represents Canada Post in a positive light. In the meantime, I am throwing up these silly posts in an attempt to kill time while I wait.

I came upon another blog, "I Love Letters", that I am enjoying. This blog comes out of rural Australia and is easy to read and follow and has a very warm "feel" to it. 'Kaz' posts her address and welcomes letters. She promises to write back so if you feel like sending a letter to Australia, she's the one to send it to. I also came upon"A Postcard A Day." In her words: "I'm one of those people who has led a nomadic existence, and so did my parents. My father started collecting postcards as a way to continue this life at least in spirit when his wandering days were over. I'm continuing the collection and posting at least one, chosen more or less at random, each day." It's like taking a mini virtual vacation to places and times you may never have visited had it not been for this blog. Not only can you visit exotic places all over the world, many of the postcards are from long ago and due to the research that goes into each post, you feel like a time traveller. This is especially great for those of us who are home bound due to careers, commitments and children.

So, while I wait, why not have another awesome GIVEAWAY? No matter where you are in the world, you can win this GIVEAWAY. This time, TLWR is giving away a  Letter Writing Kit. Not only will you receive a package with all things you need for letter writing but a part of the gift will be personalized stationery courtesy of Inky Design of Ottawa, ON, Canada. To be eligible, you must be a follower of The Letter Writing Revolution blog and then all you have to do is leave a comment below to enter. Comment once per day if you wish until Wednesday, October 20th when the winner will be randomly selected and announced. I recently received personalized stationery from Inky Design and it is beautiful and classy! The winner will email me their address and before long you will receive a gift of all things stationery! This GIVEAWAY will be mailed to you wherever you may be.

On a final note, I recently made a decision to take a sabbatical from Facebook. I have never been into Twitter but I have found Facebook has slowly started to take control over my time. Reminds me of the way I used to have the odd cigarette and before long I was a pack-a-day smoker. I created a profile on Facebook about three years ago and now it is a habit that I check into several times per day. Gotta know if Karen P. is happy/sad/constipated/hungover, etc.or whether or not Janet L. is eating a bagel/bored or on her way to work. Seriously. When I actually thought about it, I realized that aside from the cool links and photos, I really waste a heck of a lot of time on there. I know, I know, I really could control my urges more and only allow myself 30-minutes per day on Facebook but I am an all-or-nothing kind of a gal and so I decided to just have a leave of absence and go "cold turkey" just as I did with my smoking habit 12 years ago. So far, so good. It's been 48 hours and aside from a handful of panicked comments, I haven't received any FB messages and I feel free. I have also accomplished a lot in the last couple of days as I am not getting distracted and losing pockets of time on Facebook. My sister said something to the effect of, "It will be interesting to see who your "friends" are when you're not so easily accessible on Facebook."

Sorry...couldn't resist.

I guess it's the false sense of connection that I get from Facebook and the weirdness I feel when I run into someone who I haven't seen in two years and they ask me about something I did a month ago. When I look at them with that twisted/confused look, they reply, "Oh, I read it on Facebook." That creeps me out and I think I want to return to real connection like phone calls and handwritten letters. This cartoon  was posted in the comments at Good Mail Day. Made me laugh.

One last thing..........
The other day, I asked a friend (during a chat on, you guessed it,  Facebook) for his snail mail address as I wanted to send a birthday invitation to his son for our daughter's birthday. A few minutes later, I received an email from him with his email address in the body of the message. Huh? I replied and explained that I needed his street address and postal code as I wanted to mail an invitation. His reply, "Oh! Weird. Paper. I remember that. We'll have to find our mailbox!"

Yep, time for a revolution. A Letter Writing Revolution.

Field Trip #2: A Visit to Paper/Papier AND Our First TLWR Giveaway!!!

I had been planning this field trip for some time but had to wait patiently until after school started and things settled down a bit in order to be able to visit and interview one of two of the owners of Paper/Papier ~ a very chic, urban, hip stationery shop located in the Byward Market of downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. On Friday, October 1st, I had the opportunity to sit down with Gary Stern who co-owns the shop with his business and life partner, Andrew Hay.



The store front at 18 Clarence Street, Ottawa, Ontario

 When you walk through the front doors of the shop, you are greeted with colour....everywhere. You glance around and wonder where to start as each corner has something that draws you to it. If this is your first time visiting, you really need to allow yourself a good chunk of time to walk around and really see all of the wonderful items that are for sale.



The view as you walk through the front entrance

  My favourite is the large selection of single sheet stationery and envelopes with names like rhubarb and seafoam and of course the wall of packaged  envelopes in every colour imaginable.


Envelopes of every colour!

The majority, of course, is paper and paper products but they offer so much more like wrapping paper and ribbon sold by the yard, fountain pens and ink pots, a gorgeous line of body products (Bleu Lavande) made locally, greeting cards, artisan cards, gift bags, stickers and even a very popular Origami section.

After spending some time looking and touching everything (with clean hands, of course!) and saying, "Oh my goodness, look at this," and "Oh, you have got to be kidding," I moved to the back of the store and sat across from Gary. I wanted to talk about this shop that is so obviously cared for and filled with passion. I have been in a few stationery shops in many cities but none as beautiful and inviting and warm as Paper/Papier.

Before embarking on the world of all things paper, Gary spent ten years in interior design but the stress eventually got to him and so he naturally gravitated towards the business that his partner, Andrew, was already involved in. Andrew started out owning another store called The Papery which was also located in the Byward Market on Williams Street. He owned this shop for 20 years before buying out his Toronto partners and creating a new store at 18 Clarence Street known as Paper/Papier. Contrary to popular belief, Paper/Papier and The Papery on Bank Street are two completely separate and independently owned businesses. The name, Paper/Papier, encompasses all of their clientele....both anglophone and francophone and everyone in between. The location on Clarence Street (at Sussex) opened in April of 2003. Gary has been a part of this shop for the past ten years. When I asked him what he liked about this business, he replied, "I love paper. I love cards. I love writing letters. I love stamps." I get that. I love all of those things, too.

The day before I came to interview Gary, I received a letter from him in the mail and within the letter was a lone postage stamp. I thought this was a brilliant idea!!! Send a stamp to the receiver and they have to write you back and have no excuse. You have even provided the stamp. I am going to start doing this. It is a tiny  surprise to receive in a letter but one that is appreciated. When I asked Gary about letter writing and specifically how he first made contact with pen pals, he suddenly attached his index finger and thumb to his forehead in the shape of an "L" to illustrate the word "Loser" and announced he found the addresses on the backs of comic books. Speak for yourself, Gary!!! That's how I found my first pen pals, too. He hadn't read that earlier post entitled "Where It All Began."

Gary's main job at the shop is that of Card Buyer. THAT is a dream job for me. I can spend hours in a card shop, especially one that has unusual, funny, creative cards as opposed to the old, boring run-of-the-mill ones that you find in a strip mall. Gary has attended tradeshows in Toronto, NYC and even London, England to find the most unique, beautiful and original stationery that exists. I wondered if emailing/texting had caused a decline in stationery sales but Gary says, "No. There is always a need for stationery especially when it comes to cards like sympathy cards, for example." NEVER send a message of condolence by email. Nothing says tacky like that. The main obstacles for their shop are the harsh weather we sometimes get in Canada.... snow/rain/wind keeps people indoors and major construction that has been occurring on Sussex Drive this summer and fall.

Paper/Papier has a diverse clientele.....loyal customers from the days when Andrew owned the shop on Williams Street, nearby Embassy employees (U.S.A, Japan and German Embassies are just around the corner) and people who happen to be strolling by and come across this lovely store. The large selection of french language cards as well as blank cards, makes it easy for everyone to find something suitable.

Gary Stern in front of a portion of the cards available at Paper/Papier

Gary sees customers of all ages coming in and he is pleased when a young person comes in looking for formal thank you notes, for example, to send to a potential employer who recently interviewed them for a job. Last week, a young man came in needing assistance with purchasing a variety of letter writing supplies as he intended on writing to his girlfriend in another city once a week until they were together again. An older woman behind him in line wondered if he might have an older brother. Gary finds that younger people tend to send more cards while the older clientele are more apt to write several pages. He wonders if this deters people from letter writing; the fact that people think that a letter has to be long. This can be overwhelming. Gary recommends picking up a selection of note cards and just sending three lines to a loved one just to let them know you are thinking of them. If you see a card that makes you literally laugh out loud and it reminds you of your sibling or a friend, send them that card....it's like sending a little bit of laughter in an envelope.



Returning a piece of Chiyogami paper to its rightful place.
Chiyogami= large sheets of paper with traditonal Japanese prints on them.
Used for lamp shades, wall art, framing and book binding.
Paper/Papier has a nice slection of this unique paper.



Paper/Papier recently added a new in-store service. Sara Purdon of Inky Design now has an office space within the shop and is available for all of your invitation/personalized stationery needs. Sara has even offered a very cool giveaway to be offered next week. And at the back of the store, you will find a corner occupied by Tivoli Florists. They also have a location in Westboro. They have been a part of the store for the past five years and run as a separate business.

GIVEAWAY!!!

With Christmas less than three months away, the staff at Paper/Papier are getting the shelves ready for Christmas stock. They have the most gorgeous gift tags, cards (both individual and boxed) and everything else you will need to get into the spirit.

Mary getting ready for Christmas

And since Christmas is the season for giving, Gary is giving one of TLWR followers a $20 gift certificate to Paper/Papier! To be eligible for this giveaway, you must be local (Ottawa area) and a follower of The Letter Writing Revolution blog. All you have to do is leave a comment below to enter. Comment once per day if you wish until Saturday, October 9th when the winner will be randomly selected and announced.

For those of you who are not local, watch for next week's giveaway courtesy of Inky Design and TLWR. Everyone will be eligible to win that one!!!! Stay Tuned.........

Ramblings and Announcements

Just not sure about this whole blogging thing. I am not sure what I am doing it for........

I mean, I have LOVED the people I have met, the letters I have received and the letter writing that I am doing once again. I am pumping out several per week whereas before TLWR I was receiving maybe three pieces of interesting mail per year and writing the odd Christmas card, sympathy card or card of encouragement. Oh, and loads of thank you cards. As far as writing letters, though, I had stopped writing letters years ago. I wonder if this is the case for some of you. How have YOU been inspired?

I am aware that there are a few people in the world who read this blog regularly and who probably feel a bit of excitement when they discover I have added a new post especially because my blogging is generally irregular and inconsistent. The thing is, I want to hear from all of YOU......Who is reading this blog besides my two sisters, my mother and a few friends??? I know you are out there as I check my stats occasionally and have discovered that this blog has made it to all corners of the planet. I would to see who is reading this blog from Vietnam, South Africa, Russia, to name a few.

I received a message from a friend who was the provider of the contact in Afghanistan for the Letter To A Soldier post. It turns out that "Kris" is in Canada this week for a visit home and he has reported that he has been overwhelmed with letters to fellow soldiers because of TLWR! It is almost expected now and he just announces, "Who's turn for a letter today?" What I would like to know is who has written to a soldier and who has heard back? I haven't heard back from my soldier but I am just assuming I brightened someone's day with my funky stationery and ramblings. If you did write and received a letter in return, let me know. Apparently, the first Letter Writing Revolution letter that arrived in Afghanistan was sent from Guelph, Ontario. Please do not send letters to the address on that post after October 15th as Kris will have finished his service overseas. Go HERE to find an updated mailing address for writing to a Canadian soldier overseas.

This is Chuck. He is serving in Afghanistan and will be home in a few weeks for a visit.
He and his wife took my prenatal classes and this is a photo of him holding his first Father's Day card from his son!

Due to a chance meeting, I will be getting a tour of the main Canada Post plant in Ottawa next week where all of the letters are sorted. The tour is at 7:30am as this is the time of day when the letter sorting floor is at maximum capacity. I think this is kind of cool and I am looking forward to seeing what actually happens to my letters after I drop them into the mailbox at my local post office. Of course, I will be reporting on this outing to all of you and will hopefully get some interesting photos.

Next week, I am hoping to get to my favourite stationery store in Ottawa to interview one of the owners and to offer you, my followers, a TLWR giveaway. Stay tuned for that!

I received the following from a friend/colleague. It's messages like this one that keep me motivated to continue on with the revolution!

"I have never been a letter writer but I have always loved looking for or making the most appropriate/best card for whomever I was sending it out to. I try to mail out birthday cards and Christmas cards to all past clients. But as the number of cards to send out grew and I received very little feed back I began to lose heart. While I loved the picking out, writing a special note , sticker on the envelope and the calm walk to the mailbox, I sarted feeling like no one really cared if they got a letter or not until.......... there in your picture on your blog is my Christmas card from two years ago  lovingly pinned up, out for all to see.....my card. So thank you, while I'm not the letter writer, I am again excited about the cards. I am off to look for the perfect one to send to you."

I mailed out several letters this week including a birthday gift to a special, not-so-little girl. Never get tired of seeing the stack of colourful envelopes, stamped and ready to mail. Have YOU been writing letters? Have YOU been getting any back. Did those of you who requested a letter from me, get your letters? Please answer my questions as comments below.

I love to hear from you.