Very naughty having not written a letter for almost a week.

Title says it all! Very naughty indeed, even though I have a pile building up for replying to... 

Discussions....

Recent letters I have received have mentioned the lack of places to discuss penpalling and correspondence matters on the web. There may be threads or small sections on various other hobby boards to find penpals, such as InCoWriMo board over on the Fountain Pen Geeks (fpgeeks) forum, or Pen-friendship/Penpals board over on the Postcrossing forum.

The former already has boards to discuss and review inks, fountain pens, and paper. However, I don't think there has been any discussion on cute Diddl or other pictured / patterned letter writing paper / pads. I find the Diddl paper quite fountain pen friendly. 

What about other places? There are groups on Facebook. Have you ever tried finding old threads, or topics you are interested in on a Facebook group? What if you take a break, even if it is only a week or so, it is difficult to see what you've missed.

What about the forum over at Interpals? Well, I have never found a long-lasting reliable penfriend there. Instead, I've had people with explicit profile pictures post messages to my profile, some marriage proposals, and comments/messages from people who have not actually read properly my profile. As for the forum, there doesn't seem to actually be a specific section for discussing letters and associated topics.

Surely there must be other places? Well, yes. One I did join last year but have had no success with is aimed mainly for females only (judging by the site's name), and although there are boards for specific age groups, the one for the oldies starts at 30!

I haven't looked at the number of female and male correspondents I have...

Another correspondence project has a forum but outside the time of the project, the site is not maintained and administered. I've just been over to check what has been happening and there have been lots of spam accounts opened, yet again. Letters are for life, not just for February.

So, where does that leave us? I don't know. Is there appetite for a forum with sections where you can discuss correspondence matter, maybe find new people to write to, et cetera? Maybe I should start my own?

Proof of concept

Today, I posted 3 letters to different corners of the world. One of the envelopes is sealed with wax (below). 

Last year, I had the idea of making my own seals. I bought some modelling stuff and made this. I had left it to dry and forgot about it. I found it last night and thought I would try it on a letter to the US. I had surfed online for ideas about them and one suggested using an oil to prevent the wax from sticking. I lightly covered this with vegetable oil and took the plunge. OK, one of the petals stuck but otherwise, it looks to have turned out rather well. I hope it arrives safely.

Also on the subject of wax, I usually use a ballpoint pen for fear of the address running in the rain if I use a fountain pen. Sometimes I protected the address with sticky tape. A couple of correspondents have suggested/used candle (not lit) rubbed over the address - looks like it works nicely. 

Cheerful post.

 Today, I came home to 2 letters. I just love these stamps used for postage. One of the letters was sealed with wax, and came from a correspondent who has used other seals on letters to me.

The bottom seal is the latest one I have received. Which seal is your favourite out of these?

Earlier in the week, I received this letter also with fab stamps. I hope to reply by May the Fourth!

I have finished writing a reply to this letter, and will post it tomorrow. I love the Valentine's stamp.

The letter I replied to had this little pretty drawing in. My talents for drawing are limited!

I celebrated my birthday this month and my mother used this stamp on her card to me. Eastbourne is somewhere I have visited.

While on the subject of places visited being on stamps, I didn't realise Kedlestone Hall was on a stamp. I went there earlier in the year and only just discovered I had the stamp in my for-postage collection.

I am annoyed

With the postage rates rise at the end of March, I thought I had already memorised the prices and a few combinations to make up those rates. For some reason I thought First Class stamps were 64p! On some of the letters I posted last week and maybe the week before, I put 2 firsts and a 5p. 64p x 2 plus 5p would be £1.33. However, those first class stamps are only valued at 63p. So, I have put insufficient postage on for the airmail rate. The letters should still get to their destinations as the postage is more than sufficient to cover surface mail rate....

New correspondence comes of age...

InCoWriMo has been a success and some of the correspondence has been back and forth enough for me to justify allowing some correspondents to have their own little file (or plastic resealable food bag) for letter storage, and for being included in my address book. Congratulations to those lucky correspondents !!

For InCoWriMo, you don't know who is writing to you until you receive their letter. Sometimes, you have written to them too and your letters have crossed waving to each other on their travels in opposite directions. This has happened for a second time with one correspondent! Soon, we'll have this sorted so letters do not cross.

Paper, again

I have been away for the Easter holidays but have also been busy writing letters. More were posted today than I received on my return today.

 I just love this Diddl paper, although my fountain pens do not splodge ink everywhere.

When I receive a letter, I am on cloud nine, though the occasional letter could see me roll off the cloud in laughter!

 The other week, I came across some new writing sets. I love the back of the boxes with sample letters.

The designs are fantastic too. I bought a new set by the same people yesterday but I haven't yet taken a photo of it.