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Titivillus

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I haven't written a letter for decades but I have just been browsing on the Royal Mail website and have discovered how to buy international postage online and print the "stamp" directly onto an envelope (Woo!). I quite fancy giving it a trial run if anyone is brave enough to volunteer me a name, address, postcode, and country (non UK, please).

 

Cheers,

David.

David,

You do know that by printing out a "stamp" from the RM website you are depriving people around the world of one of the UK's last great icon's?

 

I've been sent some lovely and interesting stamps over the years, and I've always tried to send interesting stamps to the people to whom I send letters. Almost without exception British stamps (OK other than the bog standard "First/Second" class stamps) are some of the most well designed, well thought out and best produced stamps on the planet, and those aren't my opinions they're the opinions of people who've received them.

 

I consider my letter writing to be average, I have to try and decorate them to make them more interesting, I think an interesting envelope is as interesting a part of the letter as the content (you'd agree if you'd ever read one of my letters!) stamps can be a big part of that. Below are two examples of stamps I've used on letters I've sent and one I received from the worldwide accepted home of crazy humour and mirth - Germany! Stereotype anyone? Well not once you've seen this stamp...

 

post-39563-0-37653300-1462027116_thumb.jpgpost-39563-0-53627300-1462027422_thumb.jpgpost-39563-0-90985500-1462027436_thumb.jpg

 

Would you really prefer to use a printed piece of paper from an RM website? Don't your friends deserve more????

 

MrC

"Those Who Know What's Best For Us, Must Rise And Save Us From Ourselves."

Witch Hunt - Neil Peart

 

http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/8703/letterminizk9.png

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I couldn't agree more with MrC about stamps. They add to a letter, and is something that could be discussed. Getting hold of the nice stamps via Royal Mail's website, especially for international postage, is not all that easy (better to ring them up for mail order, or try to find a nice little post office). Elsewhere, some are bemoaning the decline of philately.. The stamps open a door onto the world/knowledge. Even adults squeal with glee at some of the stamps they receive on envelopes containing letters.

There was a series of postal (fictional) stories on BBC Radio 4 Extra recently by Julia Darling (might be still available to listen online to) - one of the stories mentioned "the assertiveness of a stamp"

!

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My gang of penpals knows this already, but should you ever receive a letter from me, this is probably what it would look like. Basically, the letter itself becomes the envelope. Very handy for poor students such as myself.


I stole this trick from my friend Greg

, and it’s been a letter-writing blast since then.
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Hi, any artists out there who sometime use fountain pens for their drawings? I would love to exchange opinions with you about pens, ink, paper, and the vicissitudes of being an artist who creates directly on paper, canvas, etc. Are we out of touch by crafting one image at a time?

Love all, trust a few, do harm to none. Shakespeare

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Hi, any artists out there who sometime use fountain pens for their drawings? I would love to exchange opinions with you about pens, ink, paper, and the vicissitudes of being an artist who creates directly on paper, canvas, etc. Are we out of touch by crafting one image at a time?

 

There's a whole thread on this in the Write Stuff sub-forum. I've never used ink on canvas, but on paper, yup, a lot.

My latest ebook.   And not just for Halloween!
 

My other pen is a Montblanc.

 

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Mr Clegg !

 

You must not use the word "average" in any post referring to your letters!!

 

+knows better+

:gaah:

 

They have stunning stamps in UK.

 

+sigh+

=== Tenet insanibile multos scribendi cacoethes. Horace ===

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Hello
I've already used this thread but some of my original pen pals stopped corresponding.
I'm 29 Portuguese who likes FP, Photography, Music, Books and writing.

If you are interested please send a PM.

Thanks

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Hey All,

Been a fountain pen user for a while now !

UK Based, looking for people to correspond to anywhere in the world (the further away the better !).

I'm 18 and am in the last year of sixth form(college studies) before University. I have nearly completed my Pilots License and also competitively sail (qualified for British Junior sailing team - pulled out due to injury at the time) in the 29er and International 14 class. Also a keen musician at Diploma level on Violin and an accomplished guitarist.

 

I also enjoy taking photographs, long distance hiking and building and riding racing bicycles.

 

PM me if you're interested, I can write badly in French or a bit of Russian if needed lol !

 

Cheers :)

“Rome wasn’t built in a day, but then again I wasn’t on that particular job.” - Brian Clough

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Hi Folks

 

Just to let people know I will be catching up on my mail this weekend, sorry for the delayed replies but being very short staffed at work has meant me working more and having virtually no free time.

 

Also would love to hear from more people so if anyone interested in corresponding please drop me a PM.

 

Kind Regards

Nigel

Sussex, U.K.

NIGEL

Exploding Ink Maestro

 

Pens: Caran d'Ache Leman Godron, Lamy Safari, Italix Parsons Essential, Mont Blanc LeGrande '90 years' Edition, Sigma Style, Italix Vipers Strike, Parker Sonnet, Omas 360, Parker Duofold (c.1950), Conway Stewart #286, Conway Stewart #24, Onoto Magna Classic in Chased Midnight Blue and SS Trim

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My gang of penpals knows this already, but should you ever receive a letter from me, this is probably what it would look like. Basically, the letter itself becomes the envelope. Very handy for poor students such as myself.

I stole this trick from my friend Greg

, and it’s been a letter-writing blast since then.

 

 

Hi stringsandpedals,

 

I don't know your age but back in the days there was something called "Aerogramme" made of slightly blue paper with the blue-white-red airmail branding around it and it was only a sheet of paper to be folded exactly like you do it. It was pretty cheap to ship and safe because everybody knew that there's nothing valuable in it. However, some people struggle to open it on the correct side :-) I used Aerogramms when I was travelling in Asia back in the 90s.

 

Ileach

Support your local post office - write letters!

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Hello,

 

this may sound like a bad joke to you, but it is no joke.

 

My name is Stefanie. I`m 38 years old. Due to a severe illness I`m spending more time in hospitals than at home.

I have lost contact to my family because of my disease. And am feeling very lonely here. The other patients are no real help to me because they themselves have problems, too. And I tend to occupy myself with solving their problems for them, which is no good for me.

I love to write letters and communicate with people who are willing to correspond with an intelligent woman on all kinds of topics. I love to share thoughts, experiences and wisdom with you if you are willing to correspond and are able to avoid telling me solely about the bad things in yiour life. I`ve had enough negative energy pouring over me and now I need some positivity, you know what I mean?

 

And I´m also looking for a long-term penfriend, or two. So I can spend my days here doing something good for myself and you, instead of waiting for the next nurse or doctor entering the room and telling me more stuff that I have become so tired to hear.

 

Well, if you are interested to correspond with me and bring some colour into my boring life at the hospital, drop me a personal message.

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Greetings,

Stefanie

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I couldn't agree more with MrC about stamps. They add to a letter, and is something that could be discussed.

 

Even though the discussion has moved on from the topic of stamps:

 

I used to simply buy the stamps I needed, going for the exact ammoung. Now I buy stamps of as many different values as I can and, if possible, compose the necessary postage from as many different stamps as I can. In many cases, that just means two stamps, but sometimes it's four or five. Also keeps your maths brain active. ;)

Okay, I used to have the Letter Writers Alliance and The Snail Mail Exchange in here. Somehow, my browsers settings and the forum's settings work together to prevent that from being the case at the moment. Whenever I try to update my signature, the whole process breakls down. So. Whatever.

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Hello, I just found this section, and would like to throw my name into the hat...

 

Me: 51 year old widowed mother to a 16 year old boy.

Pets: Pug, chihuahua and Siamese Ragdoll.

My job: Legal Assistant, for about 30 years.

Coffee: strong!

Drives: a jeep.

Interests: reads (a lot - mostly memoirs and biographies), movies, collecting, some TV.

Humour: sarcastic.

Interests: many, many, and varied (cooking, gardening, collecting, knitting square things (?!), books, fonts and handwriting...)

 

I would like to hear from someone who wouldn't be afraid to get a quirky letter in return, might be a long rambling letter, or maybe just a few paragraphs, it might contain a flower petal or a weird candy wrapper, could be written in different colours, maybe even with different pens.

 

If you would like to send me a letter, please pm me for my address and we can get this going on :)

Shauna

 

flying-letter-exc.png

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Anyone in the UK wants to write me a letter with this stamps? Or anyone in the US using this set? Don't know which ones I like more :-)

Edited by Ileach

Support your local post office - write letters!

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@lleach, I would but my local P.O. don't carry nothing besides standard queens head stamps :/

 

I might place order via Royal Mail webpage next month as I have four international stamps left

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The Pink Floyd stamps don't come out until July. It is an issue of stamps I'm looking forward to.

!

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@lleach, I would but my local P.O. don't carry nothing besides standard queens head stamps :/

 

I might place order via Royal Mail webpage next month as I have four international stamps left

 

You might do better to telephone in an order - you should be able to order the stamp values you want from the nice issues (released within the last 12 months), without buying the sets.

!

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Even though the discussion has moved on from the topic of stamps:

 

I used to simply buy the stamps I needed, going for the exact ammoung. Now I buy stamps of as many different values as I can and, if possible, compose the necessary postage from as many different stamps as I can. In many cases, that just means two stamps, but sometimes it's four or five. Also keeps your maths brain active. ;)

 

Letters/snailmail - the 3 Rs - reading, (w)riting and (a)rithmetic - what more do you need!?

!

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You might do better to telephone in an order - you should be able to order the stamp values you want from the nice issues (released within the last 12 months), without buying the sets.

 

I am not collecting stamps, I did somehow when I was a child. And I can not use them over here in Germany. But I'd be happy getting a letter with one of these stamps on it. Just for fun, no further reasons needed. Otherwise I'd preorder them on the Royal Mail website or I'd phone in an order.

Support your local post office - write letters!

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Little bio paragraph:

 

I live in Brooklyn, and work in Manhattan, and have lived in NYC all my life; what I'm likely to write about are snippets of life in the city, musings over singing and performance, from all sides (performing, watching, tech prep), with the occasional wanders into goofiness, and profundity.

 

Oh, and the occasional rants -- which rise and subside quickly. I Have Opinions.

Hi Velma, came across your post from some time ago and I hope you are still writing and ranting. I'm a visual artist, drawing, painting, and have a few opinions of my own. I would enjoy corresponding with you if you are still in the FPN cyber-sphere.

 

Honey (yes real name, one of the many quirky Texas stories I have to share.

Love all, trust a few, do harm to none. Shakespeare

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