I’m still behind in my posts. BUT…I did respond to eighteen requests for lovely handwritten notes this evening!
I look forward to flooding the postal system with art in the morning. :)
Also, I know I skipped the Question of the Week on Wednesday…I’m sorry. I vote we start fresh next week!
These lovely handwritten notes are coming in from all over the world. They’re coming from places I have been to and I places I have not. They’re opening my world up to — the world! I would love to share the uniqueness of where you live with the followers of this project. Therefore, here is this week’s Question of the Week:
Tell me about where you live or where you are from. How does it look, feel, smell? What are the people like? What do you love about it? Is there something you would change about it?
Please send your lovely handwritten response to:
Lovely Handwritten Notes
P.O. Box 2674
Washington, D.C. 20013
United States of America
If you’re wondering what the Question of the Week is and how it works, start here.
I’m leaving town for my sweet California home for a while tomorrow, so I thank you in advance for your patience in regards to my responding to and posting your letters. I’m also going to spend a little time getting caught up and posting the great responses I have received already from the comfort of my Golden State. :)
Morgan is from Australia, and she recently wrote into the project in response to the following Question of the Week: If you could receive a handwritten letter from anyone throughout history, who would it be? Why, and what do you think they would tell you? What would their letter be like?
Her letter was complete with cheerful pirates. These pirates had glitter on their clothes and on their canons. I am a member of the party that believes that a little glitter makes the world a much happier place.
Here’s her stupendous response:
Friday 18th May 2012
Dear Lovely Handwritten Notes,
In response to this week’s question, I would choose to receive a letter from Michelangelo. In my mind, this letter would be on yellow parchment with paint and ink stains all over it. His writing style would be extremely cursive, but rushed as I expect he was a busy man. I chose Michelangelo because he is an extremely influential art historian. He was a known sculptor, painter, architect, and poet. He created the magnificent works of “David,” “The Creation of Man,” and he painted the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling. All incredible achievements.
I believe he would talk about how busy his life is and all the demands and commissions he receives. He saw himself as a sculptor, but his paintings were just as incredible. If we were corresponding, I would ask him about what he believed were his favourite works. I think I would also ask him if he regretted not marrying or having kids, but spent his whole life centered around his work. Anyway, that would be my historical figure I would love to hear from.
— Morgan
An art lover myself, I agree with Morgan that this would be a wonderful letter to receive.
Thanks for writing in! :)
I’m in awe of the creative souls this project attracts.
It’s the little details of this handmade postal love that can brighten any day.
One of these lovely souls goes by the delightful name of Madeline, and she lives in the United Kingdom. I received this handmade card from her in the mail. Yes, handmade. Isn’t it beautiful? It is so elegant and I love the colors. I am truly impressed.
Madeline responded to a previous Question of the Week: Have you ever received a letter from another country? Where, and from whom? Do you remember what it looked like? Had you yourself ever traveled there before, or did the letter make you want to? If you haven’t received one, have you ever sent one to someone while visiting another country?
4th May 2012…yes, I have received a letter from another country. I once went on exchange to Hamburg, Germany, and before my trip my partner and I exchanged letters. I think the first one was written in all different colours. I was fascinated by the little things, like how Germans write their 1’s like a seven. Strange thing to remember, but it stuck in my head. I always loved getting those letters from Germany, and still do (we stayed in touch)…
All the best,
Madeline
I love that Madeline remembered the smallest details of these letters. What great memories to carry.
Thank you so much for such a fantastic, handmade card, Madeline! :)
Hi everyone. Sorry I disappeared on you for a few days. I’m back.
My P.O. Box has been keeping happy in the interim. I’d like to share a response today from a lady who has this handwritten letter thing down to a tee. Her envelopes, stationery, the whole nine yards, are lovely. She also sends postcards around the world for people to send send back with a message and a postmark. Talk about connecting the world. I encourage you all to check out her project called the Orphaned Postcard Project.
Post Muse responded to the question: Have you ever received a letter from another country? Where, and from whom? Do you remember what it looked like? Had you yourself ever traveled there before, or did the letter make you want to? If you haven’t received one, have you ever sent one to someone while visiting another country?
The response came written in a beautiful card she had picked up while traveling in Wales. The front of the card has a thin wooden spoon on it, and inside there is an informational card about the spoon’s meaning, which reads:
The Legend of the Lovespoon
Giving gifts of carved wooden spoons is a Welsh tradition which symbolises affection and has its roots in centuries long past. In fact, the Edwardian English expression — to go “spooning” — is believed to have its origins in this Welsh tradition.
It is sometimes thought that this ancient Welsh custom represented an early type of engagement ring or perhaps that presentation and subsequent acceptance of a carved spoon confirmed the beginning of a serious courtship.
Though the exact history of the lovespoon legend is shrouded in uncertainties, we know that the carver would incorporate particular motifs to convey particular sentiments.
Nowadays, whenever you have something special to say, you can say it with a lovespoon.
It was such a uniquely wonderful card, and I loved that it also taught me a little about a tradition in another part of the world. Post Muse’s response to the Question of the Week was as follows:
4 May 2012Dear LHN,
This week’s question asks whether we have visited another country and written a letter from there, or received letters from abroad. Both are affirmative! Though I’ve received letters from many countries, the ones that most intrigue me are from Wales. I visited Wales a few years ago and it left its mark.
You can well imagine dragons and knights to fight them in Wales. The narrow side streets are lined with TALL hedges and the Welsh drivers must have x-ray vision because they drive with wild abandon around the corners and curves. The language is pure magic. Words that look as if they should take at least 5 minutes to say just tumble out as a single lovely note.
When I receive mail from Wales, all of the above memories come floating back. I did not write a letter from Wales, but I did buy this notecard. I didn’t buy any lovespoons, but should ever I go back, I will find a carver who can work a postal motif into the desgin.
Postally yours,
Post Muse
I loved hearing about how the mail could take her back to those memories.
Thank you for the response!
Allison is a pal of mine residing in Colorado. We met in New York when we were both counselors at a summer camp. She is fantastically crafty and perfectly creative.
In this lovely card she made, she responded to the past Question of the Week: Have you ever received a letter from another country? Where, and from whom? Do you remember what it looked like? Had you yourself ever traveled there before, or did the letter make you want to? If you haven’t received one, have you ever sent one to someone while visiting another country?
May 3, 2012
I’ve been thinking about the latest “Question of the Week” and thought using this little detail from a map on the card would be appropriate.
I have been fortunate in receiving and sending mail from far off lands. I guess as you know from my Facebook postcard album, I received many postcards from my mom as she went from city to city on book tours when I was a child. One was a European tour, and reading her accounts of different countries solidified those countries as real, accessible places for me. When postcards from my mom became quite a collection, other family and friends started making sure to send me postcards from their travels too.
One of my favorites my dad sent me from Brazil. It didn’t arrive to me in Los Angeles till six months later! I like to imagine it traveled from post office to post office all over the world before finding me.
Until next time,
Allison
I loved reading Allison’s response and thinking about the far off lands where her postcards have traveled. It makes this big beautiful world a little more connected. It takes places with different environments and cultures and brings them to your mailbox to learn from.
Thanks for the letter, Allison!
I was so delighted this morning when I logged on and saw that Lidia, a follower of the project, had blogged about receiving a lovely handwritten note I recently mailed her way. She wrote about wanting to write more letters and why it’s important. And — it’s all in Spanish! There was something about seeing my project crossing the barriers of language to spread more cheer to more places that really just tickled my heart and left me smiling. Letters connect people.
Lidia lives in Spain, and as you can tell from her blog, is a creative and crafty soul of a girl. Thanks for sharing, Lidia!
¡¡YUJU!! ¡¡Me ha llegado una postal!! La maravillosa Korrin de Lovely Handwritten Notes me ha enviado una no menos Lovely postal desde Washington ¡y me ha hecho muy feliz!
Llevo unas semanas bastante ocupada haciendo e intentando hacermillones de cosas. La actual precaria situación de no tener internet en casa está haciendo que me sea más difícil poder actualizar el blog y si a eso le sumamos que mi cámara de fotos ha muerto… entenderéis la calidad de mis fotografías…
Entre todas esas cosas (creativas) que estoy intentando llevar a cabo está la de recuperar la buena costumbre de escribir cartas.
Os lo creáis o no hubo un tiempo en que, la menda, pensaba que había un montón de gente maravillosa e interesante repartida por el mundo y decubrí que así era gracias a lo que en mi infancia era el carteo y en mi tardía adolescencia el penpaling. Un día mi madre llegó a casa con una revista infantil y unas cuantas postales y me sugirió escribir una de esas postales a un par de direcciones de la revista: niñas y niños a los que, como a mí, les gustaba Érase Una Vez el Cuerpo Humano o que, a diferencia de yo, decían pertenecer al Club Barbie O_O (¡¡¡###///??). Tenía seis años, un bolígrafo, unas postales de personajes infantiles y el beneplácito de mi madre para garabatear lo que me diese la gana ¡y lo hice! Fue fantástico comprar sellos y dejar caer esos trozos de cartón en el buzón amarillo… pero nunca recibí respuesta. Afortunadamente por aquel entonces tenía 6 años, es decir, toda la vida por delante para seguir intentándolo ¬¬ Dado que ese intento fracasó y que poco después mi madre me compró un bonito juego de cartas de Tarta de Fresa procedí a enviar cartas a diestro y siniestro: mi madre, mis compañeros de clase, mis profesora, mi hermana y mis hermanos… ¿El resultado? No fue mucho mejor… nadie me envió una carta de vuelta, sólo me apechugaban y me besaban…
Cuando tenía nueve años ya había conseguido amiguitas en media España. Envíaba cartas y postales todas las semanas y el primer año de instituto ya escribía a gente del extranjero… en inglés… bueno, o eso creía yo… Llegué a tener tantos “penpals” que tenía listas interminables con cumpleaños, material que había enviado a cada cual (para no repetir) y me agobiaba muchísimo el día que no tenía un ratito para escribir. Cartas larguísimas, paquetes repletos de postales, fotografías, regalos que circulaban por el mundo seguros de que, en algún rinconcito, había una persona esperando ansiosísima por recibirlos, que, como yo, escudriñaba al cartero cuando lo veía con el carro pasando por su calle intentando reconocer una caligrafía en alguno de los sobres.
Ayyy ¡cuántos recuerdos de papel! ¿Saben ustedes que mi primera declaración de amor fue una carta? Porque, como bien decía un viejo amigo, la responsabilidad de quien escribe una carta es tremenda si pensamos que, en ellas, se han escondido desde secretos romances a imponentes declaraciones de guerra… ´
Y así hasta el segundo ciclo de universidad, cuando el mundo empieza a girar muy rápido y los días se van volando y la vorágine te arrastra y ya no encuentras tiempo para nada y piensas en aquellos tiempos en los que por un ratito viajabas lejos, muy lejos, y las cartas no se perdían en direcciones caducadas y la gente era niña y siempre tenía tiempo, tiempo que ahora dedica a sus niños… Y vas perdiendo la rutina, y ya no queda nada más que suspirar cuando el cartero pasa…
Pero ¿sabéis qué? ¡Que esto se ha terminado! El País de Nunca Jamás reclama a sus antiguas súbditas. Grita en tu oído que el tiempo pasa demasiado rápido si tú caminas demasiado deprisa y que la única forma de evitarlo es volver a su reino. Afortunadamente hay cosas que aún no han cambiado tanto y me ha alegrado ver que a la vertiginosa velocidad de la red hay gente que le pone freno. Si piensas en recuperar el antiguo arte de escribir cartas, no te encontrarás sola, de primeras, me tienes a mí y los proyectos de intercambio son innumerables. Es más ¡con este post queda inaugurada la entrada semanal dedicada a las cartas, snail mail, post crossing, mail art o como quieras llamarlo!
Y para empezar os dejo algunos enlaces:
Lovely Handwritten Notes es un proyecto que llega desde Washington que, si no sabes cómo/qué comenzar a escribir, lanza una pregunta semanal para que respondas y envíes a su buzón. Korrin, espíritu fundador, es una chica maravillosa a la que si envías tu dirección te mandará una postal tan lovely como su propio proyecto (¡a mí me hizo muy feliz recibirla!).
En Pens and Envelopes además de encontrar posibles personas a las que escribir, podrás encontrar muchas ideas originales para escribir tus propias cartas e incluso poner un anuncio si quieres que alguien te escriba.
Si te apetece recibir postales de todo el mundo en tu buzón pero no quieres comprometerte a una correspondencia regular o, si la gente de Pens and Envelopes te parece muy joven, prueba suerte en Postcrossing (con traducción al castellano) donde te darán direcciones al azar o podrás buscar personas con las que más afinidad creas tener. Básicamente se intercambian postales así que no tendrás que sentirte en la obligación de escribir grandes textos ^_^
Y por supuesto ¿quieres que te escriba yo? ¡Pues sólo tienes que mandarme un mail pidiéndolo!
Y dicho todo esto ¿Te animas a recuperar el noble arte de escribir cartas?
