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lately because of Incrowrimo I have been trying to send some letters to people outside the US and write people from other countries and cultures. I ran into a little internal struggle though on what I should do in regards to using Cursive or Print when I write someone in a country that English may not be their first language. In my mind I think maybe it would be better to write in regular print to make it as easy as possible for someone not fluent in English to understand. I obviously love writing in cursive but I do not want to make it hard for anyone to read my letter. Have you ever thought about this before? What do you do when sending letters to countries where English may not be the primary language? Appreciate any feedback or suggestions.

I truly believe that this "pay it forum" thread works. Paying it forward reaps rewards in life, in general, and it works here regarding pen-related goodies. My most recent experience: after I offered up a PIF package and mailed it last week, I received two awesome FP-related gifts. One was a deluxe bottle of ink (thoughtfully in my favorite color group) from my music teacher. Another was a surprise package of 4 sample vials of inks I've never tried, courtesy of a member of this site who I'd been chatting with. Once upon a time, this PIF forum was very active. It has slowed down some and I think it'd be great to see more activity. If you have pen and ink goodies getting dusty around your place, please consider offering them up! They will make someone else very happy, won't go to waste, will help you streamline your collection (and give you a good excuse to buy more, if you're looking for justification), and you'll be blessed with good stationery karma! (I promise I am not suggesting this so that I can request anything that may be offered. To be clear on that, I won't request or enter any PIFs for the remainder of 2017.) Thanks in advance to anyone willing to participate in this PIF challenge.

Hi everyone, Great to be part of this community. I am pretty new to fountain pens but my obsessive nature means I have already bought a whole bunch of low cost fountain pens to explore. I really would like to find people to write too so that I can enjoy using these amazing pens. I love to travel and my favourite location is New England in the USA although I have been very fortunate and travelled to many countries. My pen habit started when I was given a Mont Blanc Meisterstuck as an award where I worked, it was a slow burn because the Pen was very scratchy but I persevered and recently it suddenly became very smooth to write with and that was the flame that lit the blue touch paper! Looking forward to taking part and hoping to find out how to do some serious Snail Mail Malc

I recently learned about this Dear Flint Kids project and am really moved by the children who are organizing it. (The amazing young woman spearheading it also raises money for backpacks and school supplies, tickets for movies, and books--"A Wrinkle In Time" right now--to distribute in the community. More about her at http://www.lovewhatmatters.com/i-remember-my-mom-telling-us-to-not-drink-the-water-10-year-olds-terrifying-experience-with-flint-water-crisis/) I'm sharing this info for anyone who is looking to put their pens and ink to good use. No affiliation--other than inspiration. https://twitter.com/dearflintkids?lang=en The goal is to write to the children of Flint, Michigan, to let them know the the world sees and supports them, even as they still struggle to get clean water, among other basic needs. Send letters of encouragement to Flint Kids c/o: Mari Copeny PO Box 138 Flint, MI 48501

Hi Pen Friends, Someone close to me is among the people in the current batch of letter requests posted at The World Needs More Love Letters. I'd love it if this person gets a huge outpouring of love and mail. Please consider writing! It is a great way to put all of your delicious, fun, gorgeous pens and ink to use! From their website: "The World Needs More Love Letters is a global organization using the power behind social media to write and mail letters to strangers all over the world. Not-for-profit and completely mission driven, we let anyone nominate someone in need of a love letter bundle. We pick stories that resonate. You get the chance to write a letter and mail it in. The task is small but the impact is greater than you can imagine." Information about the recipients, including mailing addresses: http://www.moreloveletters.com/the-letter-requests/. The postmark deadline for the current letter requests is September 5th. I'm not going to say which of the 6 people getting "bundles" is the one I know. It'd be great if that person gets lots of mail, but I also think the other 5 are super-deserving. (I'm writing to the others in this batch, too.) So please read through them and respond to the request that feels right to you. Or write to all 6! And keep an eye on the site for the next batch of requests; there is always a list posted (in spans of about 2 weeks at a time) of people who deserve letters from you. FAQs about the organization: http://www.moreloveletters.com/home-alt/ And remember that if you use up some of your ink and stationery, you have a good reason to buy more. Thanks!

Hello all, I often print postage labels for small packages from the US Postal Service website and as I was perusing the area where you can purchase stamps, I came upon this very nice-looking souvenir sheet called "Classics Forever". It's a sheet of six stamps commemorating US postage and "in appreciation of stamp collectors and philatelists everywhere". They feature Washington, Franklin and Lincoln in various styles as based on postage from the mid-19th century. They are very handsome stamps. The mediocre cellphone pics just don't do them justice. What really strikes me is that they are printed with the intaglio method as with the originals (and as with paper currency). It's a method not often used with your regular run-of-the-press stamps: a metal plate is engraved with an image. It is inked up and then wiped clean. This leaves ink only inside the grooves of the line. Paper is then pressed hard against the plate and the ink from the grooves is transferred to it. The method produces a fine line and a slightly textured surface as with freshly printed money. The overall effect is elegant. Artistic. They make your letters look particularly classy and old-timey. (Especially when used on C6 envelopes like those made by Clairefontaine.) You can just about see the raised surfaces on the stamps as the light reflects off of it in the following detail. Interestingly, in the last picture, you can see further evidence of the intaglio method as one peels off the stamps to see the underlying backing. It seems that the whole sheet - stamps, backing and all - were printed in this manner as reflected light reveals the embossed effect. Despite their premium look and feel, and worthiness of discerning collectors (IMHO), these six stamps are priced at the going rate (US$ 0.49 each as I write this). They are "forever" stamps and can be used as 1st-class postage despite any future fluctuations in rates. One does have to order it from the website and pay for delivery, however. It doesn't seem to be available at Post Offices, very unfortunately. Was this topic the first ever stamp review on the FPN? Regards, Rich I have no affiliation with the USPS. I have purchased these stamps as would have anyone else. (In fact, I bought two sheets: one to use and one to just keep wrapped up and perhaps frame one day!) Neither was I compensated in any way.

hello, Lately I have been very interested in Indian and Middle Eastern (arabic cultures). I wanted to see if anyone from India (or mid. east) was interested in exchanging snail mail with an american I had once a pen pal from India but it didn't work out so I want to try again haha. Thank you!! (sorry if this is in the wrong thread)

Hey guys, Do any of you know any fountain pen-friendly paper similar to Clairefontaine that is easily obtainable in Malaysia? Paper will mainly be used as letter paper for mail so a notepad with perforations would be best. Thanks in advance!

Hey guys, Do any of you know any fountain pen-friendly paper similar to Clairefontaine that is easily obtainable in Malaysia? Paper will mainly be used as letter paper for mail so a notepad with perforations would be best. Thanks in advance!