Hi! I just had to make a quick note that is is my most favorite topic of this series!!! For YEARS "special paper" has been a constant part of mom and my's vocabulary. Besides being visually drawn to a gorgeous design, our second gut instinct is to feel the paper. Yes, we're quite a site! :) I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do!
Now, back to Ann!
...............................................................................................................................................................
Hiddy Ho wRiting Rancheroos!
Paper… “Special” paper…stationery… on Wikipedia, the definition of stationery states that “historically stationery has meant a wide gamut of materials; paper and office supplies, writing, implements, greeting cards, glue, pencil case, etc.” I LOVE the word gamut! But paper has a huge importance to my handwritten note. Sometimes, due to a crisis moment, I am forced to forgo the use of my number one criteria for a note, due to mismanagement of proper stationery inventory and my thoughts find their way scripted onto a handy dandy typical notecard…but the paper source for writing is interracially woven into the importance of the handwritten letter.
In the summer of 2002, our family traveled to Alaska for a most marvelous cruise. An early side trip brought us to Victoria Island. After an intriguing day on the Isle, we wandered the streets of quaint shops and explored an old bookstore. Up to this point, paper had no uniqueness to me really, any old card or paper source would do…but that evening, in an old dilapidated bookstore…I spied it! It was….”special” paper! A sheet of soft yet textured piece of heaven, ivory in color with little delicate ladybugs and green leaves meticulously ornamenting that which I fell in love with at first glance,…it had to be mine! I purchased two sheets and traveled with it for the next sixteen days, snuggled in my suitcase for the duration of the cruise. I was very protective of my “special” paper and when it was gone…my obsession with such only escalated! My search for that same texture and feel became finite back home in Alabama and it has never ceased. I seem to not be able to tolerate just “any” paper…texture and feel is everything to this writer.
Kel and I just returned for our Chicago/Wisconsin trip and on the way home, we made a side tour to Shamburg, IL. I was not looking for it…Kelly actually discovered it…”special” paper in the MOST unlikely find! That is what makes it so very exciting to me. I usually discover the stationery that I dream of most, in unexpected places. I always wonder, as I write my notes and send them; do the recipients know that my heartbeat skips to not only the joy of sending them a handwritten letter, but the feverish fluttering of just the find of such a product, the touch, and the privilege to write them a note on that which I hold dear to my heart.
So, to all of you wRiting Rancheroos, some may make your own cards, others may just find true delight in a colorful design, but whatever floats your boat…I hope that the paper product becomes an essential part of your handwritten letter experience as much as it has become for myself, speck so.
Ah, special paper. You and Kel have spent quite some time in different stores "oohhing" and "awwing" over textures, prints, colors, ect. I tend to enjoy more of the shabby chic patterns, soft pastels, floral prints, gentle to the eye yet pleasing and relaxing. I do not have any texture paper but I enjoy the thrill when you and Kel stumble upon them!!
ReplyDeleteKendall, good to hear from you! Yes, I too enjoy the shabby chic look and I think that my most recent find tucked away in the bird house, might fit that bill. The colors are a bit brighter, but the tone of the paper gives that feel. The paper is to die for...I will send you a nifty note straight away and you can tell me what you think. :D Love mom oxo
ReplyDeleteI am guessing you mean Victoria on Vancouver Island, as the only Victoria Island in Canada is up by the Arctic Circle!
ReplyDeleteAnd a second guess, if you had walked up from the cruise ships to the heart of downtown, very likely you would have found the jewel known as 'The Papery' on Fort Street. http://www.yelp.ca/biz/the-papery-victoria
But as you say it was a well-aged bookstore, perhaps it was Russell Books, located a block away to the east... or Munro's, a block to the west; both landmark independent bookstores...