Stationery Opinions from Pen Friends

Pen friends just love their stationery, and many of us qualify to call our stationery a "collection".. grin!

There's always another few dollars left for another new stationery to add to the collection! We love it! Stationery can reflect your personality, or your mood at the time you write your letter. It's a "good thing" as Martha says!

Keep scrolling down to read lots of pals thoughts on their stationery likes and dislikes, and how they decorate their letters... and loads more!

If you love stationery, please send me your two cents below, so that I can add it to this web page and possibly publish in Inky Trail News, the Pen Pals Newspaper, too!Thanks!

In cleaning out my mom's home, when she developed Alzheimer's and had to move, I discovered she had a passion for stationery and writing supplies as well. I also recall my grandmother as a letter writer to whom we gave stationery at Christmas and birthdays.

I use any type of stationery and also make my own. My husband has scanned some of my paintings and sketches into the computer and prints them out. I've toyed with the idea of packaging some of these note cards and postcards to sell.

Anyone who's a letter writer, or writer in general, probably will find that they can't resist the pretty and interesting stationery and writing materials they happen to find.

Katharine D: Stationery is the blank page upon which friendships are built. It is an important part of our communication and an outlet to express ourselves and be creative! Stationery is all these things and should be an important consideration when sitting down to write a friend a letter. After all, letter-writing is an art and the stationery is the canvas!

If you are writing your friends on plain white lined paper or blank computer sheets you are missing out and so are your friends. Discount stores can often offer decorated stationery at budget prices, or you can create your own!

Use stickers, rubber stamps and even cut outs from a magazine and a glue stick to embellish your plain or colored pages. Be creative! Remember doing potato stamps in grade school? This can be an inexpensive way to create an interesting background or margin pattern on your letters. If you can draw, a little doodle in a pretty colored ink can add an accent to the corners of your page. Use pinking shears to fancy-up the edges of plain colored paper. Digital photos of yourself, your home, your yard and places around your city or town can be printed on your computer and added to plain stationery or used to create your own computer stationery.

Envelopes usually come with store-bought stationery, but for your own you will need pretty colored envelopes. You can make envelopes out of any kind of pretty paper - just observe how a store-bought envelope is folded. A few tries with your own squares of paper and you will find it's not that difficult to create one. On a busy pattern, a white label can be used for the address. Stationery stores or anywhere that cards are sold often have a surplus of colored envelopes. If you ask you can sometimes get a bunch for free, as they often get overloaded with them. These card envelopes are great because you can match the colors with the stationery you are using and they are large enough to hold FBs and other enclosures easily.

And don't forget to decorate your envelope! As long as the design doesn't block the address, it is fine to decorate envelopes, and it makes them fun to get. Who wouldn't like to find a colorful decorated envelope amongst their daily dose of BILLS!? So don't settle for plain paper and boring envelopes, spend the extra time to create an artful letter, and enjoy yourself in the process. You will feel great when you pop that creative letter in the box and your friends will appreciate it too!

Brenda B, Queensland, Australia: As you may remember, I always like to send handwritten letters to my pen pals, as I enjoy writing with a fountain pen and find it relaxing. I prefer to receive handwritten letters, but I'm always happy to hear from my pals whatever means they use - typewriters, word processors, even e-mails. With a handwritten letter, at least you know you are not getting one of those generic "newsletter" editions, that is, as long as you get an original, not a photocopy! I enjoy using beautiful and/or unusual stationery, and sometimes I decorate my own. Often I can use stationery which I know appeals to a certain pal, or it may be a souvenir of some place I've visited.

Buying stationery is my main vice, I think! I have drawers and hanging files full of it, unable to resist pretty papers. I use all sizes, all types, especially something unusual if I can find it. I try to buy stationery depicting places I visit on holidays. Usually I handwrite all my letters, so I don't have to worry about size and shapes of paper, or texture. The stationery I make is often by pasting a design I like, then photocopying it on whatever paper suits. What else do I do stationery-wise? I make all my own greetings cards from scraps, I make envelopes from old magazine pages, bookmarks using offcuts from anything, and little gift boxes from greetings cards I receive. Nothing is wasted! How cost-effective is that?

Does that justify all the stationery I buy? I have fun just thinking about stationery!

Vergie E, TX: I use plain bond typing or copy paper for my letters. I type all of them because I have a little arthritis in my hand and can't do much writing by hand. I like to decorate my letters with scanned photos, sometimes of me, sometimes other things that I have in "My Pictures", my pets, or just a cute picture I've found. So I usually have a photo of some sort at the top of the first page of my letter. After I spent Christmas with my sister in Florida, I included a picture of me between two giant teddy bears at the Teddy Bear Museum in Naples, Florida. It actually made me look small. LOL.

Nancy M, TX: Since my favorite hobby is scrapping I like to decorate my letters with stickers and such. Alot of times I will print it out on computer paper because I type alot faster than I hand write.. so I will have bright colored paper or things like that. You can do so much more with a computer than with just handwriting. I also have writing tablet (you know the small one) that I use alot too.

Mary L, Florida: I use my white computer paper and usually will print out my computer "stationery" and save for when needed, either for hand-written or typed letters. I put one picture on a sheet in the upper corner. I use my own photos, or something I won on ebay, pictures of vintage fashion patterns, and clip art. Of course, I use rubberstamps and stickers too. Or sometimes, my colored markers draw leaves and flowers as borders. :) I guess that covers it!

I also save plain white envelopes, when I don't use for purpose of the solicitor, from my "junk mail" so I have a supply of card-sized envelope - good for hand-made "cards" (made from computer paper with picture positioned on front.)

Ann D, TX: I must admit, I have used some of the pretty seasonal color-printed stationery in the past. But for the most part, I make my own stationery. It's less expensive that way. My penpals get a different header on their letters every time, each one containing the latest shenanigans of my cat, Milo. Of course, it would be presumptive on my part to tell about him, so he tells his own story (i.e., Milo sez, "It's a purrr-fect day in Texas!";or Milo sez, "How-el in the world are ya?" or yet again, Milo sez, "Meow-ly happy returns!") along with an appropriate graphic of a big, fat, Siamese/gray tabby cross. You get the idea. I also design the stationery for my garden club and my writer's group. I use graphics and varied fonts depending on the group. All is printed on plain white paper. I've even made business cards, invitations, brochures, etc, and used the same graphic as the letterhead and them on white. I keep all these on my computer and print them as needed.

Donna T: My favorite software for Pen Pal letters came with my computer. It was part of the Software Package I got with my Purchase. It is "Microsoft Graphic Studio Greetings" 1998 Version. Hallmark is also mentioned on the opening page. So, for along time, I thought it was put out by Hallmark. Later have decided it is not by Hallmark, but by Microsoft. I got Hallmark Software and the Borders are not available with that program. What I really like on the Microsoft program is the Borders option. Lots of different ones. And they make a nice simple, but effective addition to a plain sheet of paper. I have used these Borders on plain white paper and on colored paper. All the Greeting Card Software have Stationery too, but many of them are so busy, it is hard to write a "normal" letter on the page. I still use the Microsoft Border for Pen Pal Letters, even after 4 yrs and do not get tired of them. I do write a few hand written letters and use smaller, more typical size stationery for that.

I am sending a few of my favorite sites for freeprintables.

www.organizedhome.com. Go to section for Free Printable Household Organizer Notebook.Lots of good Basic Forms.

Hewlett-Packard has a good site for printable projects www.printsville.com

For Stationery, although just checked this out and some shown were not available. www.shadow-graphics.com/printables

Two Basic sites with lots of Links - scroll down to see all that is offered: www.sippingtea.com/4printable.html www.freebies4ya.com/freebies/printables.asp

For many of these sites you need the Adobe Acrobat Reader before you can access these designs and print them. I know I downloaded that onto my computer.

Carol Sue O. :I always use stationery, any and all kinds, lines and no lines. I'm always looking for stationery with mail boxes on it as I love them. And I also think of the person I am writing to and what they like and if I have any with their likes on it I use that. I have an Armoire full of nothing but stationery, it's an addiction. I write and type letters. Some of my pals have trouble seeing and prefer I type and I can make it bigger for them to see.

Cindy T., Michigan :I know my stationery passion started when I was six years old. When I went to my great grandfathers house in New York state. My great grandfather was a newspaper printer. His basement was full of all sorts of paper in all differnt sizes, colors, and textures. He had a few steal cabinets full of paper and a large round picnic table in the middle of the basement floor... where we could pick any type of paper we wanted and color on it. So I go over to the cabinet, sometimes removing a cobweb, and then picking a large pink or red colored paper. He had all of the rainbow colors of papers in those cabinets. Then he gave us a bag of paper to bring home with us. I know this is when I started to love stationery. Now I am an adult. I still love paper. I have closets full of paper now. IT is kind of funny as it looks like my great grandfathers stash of paper. My grandfather passed away a few years ago at age 94. I remember every part of my childhood in his home. I love you Grandpa and I hope you can see this story and I think of you always. My first experiences with pen pals was five years ago, and really started me buying a lot of stationery. I always wanted pretty paper to write my letters on. It was interesting seeing others papers from around the world too. I buy stationery from the Dollar Store. Everywhere I go I was buying paper. Now I write a newsletter and it helps me use some of the paper I have bought. I even tried going one moonth not buying paper - but that didn't work. I'm addicted! After writing pen pal letters for awhile, I found so many people out there are like me. They love paper too. So for all the stationery lovers out there, I hope you liked this story of how my stationery love began.

Tara, TN:I use both decorative stationary and plain, for which I add things like stickers or rubber stamping to jazz my letters up. I do look for matching paper and envelopes. I like to use wrapping paper or pages from a magazine to make my own envelopes. Then my pen pals get a nifty surprise! They know it's a letter from me. Sometimes I type my letters, but it seems faster just to write. I like to experiment with different types of papers to make my pen pals letters more interesting.

Jackie, UK : I personally like to use Store bought stationery with matching envelopes.

Lisa S., Phila, Pa:I have enough stationery to last me thru the next millennium, that's my legacy to my daughter, lol. I use all kinds of stationery and note cards. Sometimes I do use tablet paper with lines, but I always put stickers or something on it to dress it up. Sometimes I use white unlined paper but always have some type of picture or graphic or something on it. I hate dull papers.

Wyn P., Florida :I always use the computer decorated stationary. If by chance I get a gift of decorated stationary I use that as well.

Brenda B., Texas:When I write my letters I use stationary that I consider warm and friendly. I also try to pick something whether it be by hand written or typed that kind of relates to the person that I am writing too or what the holiday or season is. On the envelopes I try to decorate with stickers and such as I want that person to see as soon as they open their mailbox that they have a personal letter in there. When I open my mailbox I see papers for advertisement, bills on the plain white envelopes, junk mail and right there sparkling like a piece of treasure in a treasure chest is a letter with color, decoration and all kinds of things that says "hey, you have special mail today". just makes my day to get mail from my pals. If I use plain colored paper I decorate with stickers. But when I am out and about and I see stationary that is so amazing and cute that it just jumps right out at me, I will get that. Brenda Baze, TX

Sarah S., Georgia : In the majority of my writing, I do use the computer to type and almost always use decorative stationery, either bought or made on the computer at the time I write.

Sharon E.: I find it interesting how many people like the different types of stationery. Each person’s taste in stationery is a little different, and it is fun to see him or her express it. For years, I collected stationery of different types, and now, I find it fun to make the computer-generated stationery of my own. I have used family pictures for backgrounds, searched the Internet for personal interest art, such as scenery, and am constantly watching for graphic CD’s at the computer software outlets that I go to. Anytime anyone sends me an e-mail graphic, it is liable to wind up as a stationary background in my next letter. Yes, for me, the computer added a whole new aspect to my letter writing. It made it easier for me (once arthritis set in, writing neatly became more of a challenge), it made it more colorful, and it has inspired me to go back to doing more of what I love – writing to people, and making new friends via The Inky Trail. And, it even enabled me to make those letters much more interesting, by selecting backgrounds that are adapted to each person’s interests.