I’m not a packrat, but I hoard one thing.
Shoes? No. That’s a good guess.
Flowers? No. That obsession belongs to the gardener man I married.
Diamonds? Oh, please. In my dreams.
I amass stationery. Can’t help myself.
A cute notecard winking at me from the store shelf. A spry little boxed set. Darling notepads. Greeting cards. Envelopes.
Stationery sends me over the moon and back to my roots. Each piece a miniature ad campaign.
Selling the message. Singing the jingle. Swaying the heart of this Hallmark shopgirl turned copywriter turned blogger.
Books are irresistible to me. Only makes sense to adore their smaller siblings.
Stationery tells short, short stories. Briefer than novelettes. Briefer than some poems.
While substantial letters between important people aspire to grow up and be published, most stationery finds fulfillment in the common exchange of private lives shared. In the precious time it takes time to handwrite the page. To ink out whispers. Giggles. Smiles. Tears.
My husband collects plants in his garden, flowers to flood the beds. Likewise, I think my obsession with stationery is a worthwhile vice. Beautiful. Creative. Relatively inexpensive.
Best of all, though stationery is lovely blank, I can write WORDS on it.
I dig electronic communication. Oh yes, I do. But there’s nothing quite like the written word on paper.
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews 4:12 NLT
Be Still My Beating Heart by a younger Sting. Weren’t we all younger in 1987? Happy Valentine’s Eve!
J*** is not the only guy who likes to grow the iris and such. Tell him I have purple, light purple, and yellow in such abundance we could probably swap some starts. Nurturing along a bronze of two, which I stole from an old house site – they were coming in with dirt moving equipment to tear out the old foundation. Don’t think they will be missed much.
My peonies are getting quite mature, but my roses have fairly run there courses, and I hope to get a few fresh starts this year. The annuals I leave to my lovely wife. Whatever brings me my hummingbirds.
Stationary. What is even better than stationary is the kind words you can put on it. The only thing better than getting a letter in the post is, of course, getting a BOX in the post.
Roy, you know J will take you up on your offer. We love irises. We’ll have to catch up with you next time we’re visiting MO.
PS: Hope you get your box in the post today!
Just one more thing we have in common then. Check me out – cakeparties.com. Been doing this paper goods thing off and on for over 10 years. Obsessed. Going to Paper Source is nirvana for me. Truly. :)
Wow! Love your site. The company name and its story are sublime. You are one cool, talented chick with a great, great first name :)
Haha. The site isn’t updated, but you get the idea. Simple. I wish I could take credit for my first name…unfortunately, it was supposed to be Keith, as my parents thought I was for sure boy #3. I was nameless for a week after I was born. :)
Amy suits you much better than Keith :) And, updated or not, the site looked pretty good to me.
I too love stationery, and there is nothing like getting a hand written note from a friend in my mail box to warm this heart!
Wholeheartedly agree.
Aaahh, me too! I even have a filing system for my stationary and cards, labeled by occasion. I always say that letter writing is a lost art. Ha! I even make my kids hand write thank yous on the fabulous cards I find. :-) love this post!
Thank you, Joy :)
Gorgeous photo! I love irises. I found out last year during a visit to an old, overgrown cemetery that in the past some people planted irises over graves when they were unable to provide headstones.
Irises are one of my favorite flowers too. My dad has a flock of them that faithfully bloom each year and multiply. We had to leave ours behind when we moved, but hope to plant some here in Kansas.
Did not know that about cemeteries. Interesting.
I like pens. I don’t buy as many or as often as I used to, but when pens are needed, I gravitate towards buying the special ones. Not the ballpoint pens. Not the fat ones or the very expensive and shiny ones. I like ones that make small, crisp lines without bleeding. .38, micro, very fine, that’s the preferred line width… pens you normally can only find in office or art supply stores. When I take my time, I write miniscule.
I also used to collect paper. I have a smallish collection of stationery, but it’s never something I focused on. General paper however is. My children however have eaten through my stacks of paper, erasing over two decades of stock.
My wife wishes there were many more things that I’ve horded over the years that would find their way gone. Resources I tell her! You never know when you need it! And, inevitably, you get rid of it and a week later realize you could have used it!
What about pencils? Do you collect them? I prefer to write in pencil, though usually write in pen.
My husband likes to say you never know when you might need it, too. And it’s true when I chuck something he hasn’t seen in years, he will inevitably ask for it within the following week. lol!
I do have a sundry supply of pencils; but, while I prefer pencils for many things, I don’t find myself collecting them except by accident. I do prefer mechanical pencils over old fashioned ones though – so you can write small consistently!
— I used to see how small I could write and still be legible. Around about a millimeter tall in capitals seems to be it.
I like the mechanical ones too bc they’re always sharp. But I write big and heavy, nearly emboss the page.
Oh you’re just like me! Nothing can replace paper and pen! I think this is one of my favourite posts ;)
Books and paper. Paper and books… :)
I love good stationery, too. When I was a kid, school supply and paper stores in Hungary were full of different correspondence kits, mainly aimed at girls. From cartoon characters (I had tons upon tons of Pooh and other bear-related ones) to flowers and sceneries (my favorite one was a Lord of the Rings one with Lothlorien), I had oodles of them. And I used them all the time! I would write to classmates in the summertime, friends in other towns anytime, and just as often, to friends abroad I met through fencing.
Now, growing up, my tastes have simplified – but I still haven’t quite gotten that one letterhead I want to design. I think it’s missing some letters yet. P.E. and J.D., for the man and me, respectively :D
Wonderful, CN! Good for you :)