Hi Chris, One time I was out for a walk with my kids. I came across boxes of envelopes and letter paper that was put out for the trash. Beautiful quality paper in a pretty off white color. They were personalized with the name and contact information of the notary. I made my daughter get out of the stroller and took all the boxes home. I trimmed the top of the letter paper to remove the name and put a label with my return address over the one on the envelope. I had great stationary for years.
Hi Chris, thank you for this video about getting started with pen pals. One of my other hobbies is called tapesponding. It is similar to having pen pals. The difference is the messages are spoken into a microphone and recorded onto cassette tapes or minidiscs. The recording is posted, just like a letter, and your tape friend will listen, take notes and record a reply over the top of your old recording. This hobby was at its most popular in the 1960's and 70's when tape recorders were easily found in shops and the home computer had yet to be invented. Nevertheless there are still a few of us who keep this thing going. Whenever I receive a recorded message through the mail I take brief notes as I listen using my trusty fountain pen and notebook. That gives me something to work on when I record my reply. As far as writing letters is concerned, I usually keep in touch with my elderly parents this way since they live some distance from me. I keep them supplied with Jinhao's and Wing Sung's every now and then. Interesting video Chris and I hope people will try writing to pen pals since it can be very rewarding.
Yes Margret that would be possible. A couple of friends of mine made an audio recording onto their computer and sent the sound file to me by email. And it worked! I am aware my original comment has gone somewhat off topic but thank you for your interest.
Hi David -- wow that is so interesting about "tapesponding" ... I had never heard of it! I think this would be super cool for grandchildren. I have never been into the whole "skype" craze. :)
So helpful Chris! I love to get paper from the thrift shop too. I never thoight about picking up a card set and just using the envelopes. That is a great tip!
The eclipse stamp is temperature sensitive. If you warm it up (put your hand on it for a moment, or warm it with your breath) the moon will become more visible, like the eclipse has passed.
Hi Bob -- oh my goodness I did not know this!!! I just tried it and sure enough it worked!!!! Thank you for mentioning it!!!! I'm about to write back to the pen pal whose letter had this cool stamp! :)
Nice tips. I have found pen pals on pen pal Facebook groups. My friend has a group I enjoy. I like the tip of writing what you’ve sent. Due to my chronic illnesses I have a bad memory so I often forget what I’ve already sent.
Chris, I love getting letters from you and this video was just awesome. Inspired by you, I have set up a TN as well for my Pen Pal letters. Al though I am not as regular as you are, having the TN has helped me tons. Thanks so much.
Hi Banu -- you are very welcome! I also love getting letters from you! :) I had started the TN when I did InCoWriMo and letters started coming in and I wondered how in the world I was going to know what I had done and which end was up LOL. It helped a lot and gave me a place for everything!
Thank you for the tips. I've just joined Letter Writer's Alliance and will do Incowrimo in 2019 for the first time. Have stationary, fountain pens, inks and stamps at the ready
Thank you sindu3 -- I'm not very versed in facebook but I'm always needing to tell people where to look for pen pals so I'll do some research there. :)
Hi Theresa!!!! I deal with perfectionism on quite a severe level at times. Art has helped me -- even the type of art where you just see what happens like the ink blobs in the ink videos. Doing those teaches me that beauty can emerge without any conscious - controlling factor -- just put the water down and apply the drop and see what happens. It's amazing!!! I try everyday to do things and consciously remind myself that I'm not to judge it good or bad but I am to finish. :) Being frozen with perfectionism kept me from a lot of things in the past. :)
Hi Sharon -- oh I wish for you to have the time for more creative things and more letter writing too!!! :) There was a time not too long ago when I wouldn't have been able to do the pen pal writing or the you tube channel due to the work/caregiving. :)
An inspiring video that may finally put the match to and fire up my less than stellar pen pal letter writing. I actually bought 2 sheets of the eclipse stamps (and watched the eclipse at the lower edge of the totality in NE - unforgettable!) so the intention is there. Unfortunately InCoWriMo comes at the worst time for me work wise - maybe when I retire.... thanks, as always for the info.
Hi Sue -- those eclipse stamps are even more awesome than I realized!!! :) I can imagine I would not have managed well with pen pals when I was working in various situations in the past either. I guess when I phased into caregiving I did then find myself with a lot more time in "waiting" situations. :) Did you see Rob's comment about the post card web site/project?
Hi there, Chris. Cool video, love your tips and recognise that I need to organise my letter stuff a lot better. I have a notebook in which I log addresses and letters received and sent with a precis of contents (ish). But I can never find it 🤣 ! And I have stuff like cards I got intending to include them, and keep forgetting! I have a few pen pals, but would be cautious about getting too many, and not being able to keep up. I do have plans to write to friends I have limited contact with too, so .... and confess I'm not getting on with that task! As you know, I am a great aficionado of my local charity shops and LOVE using them for this kind of thing - and for craft supplies too, which sometimes make it into my letters when made into SOMETHING. I think they make a letter into a little package, and share a little more of me, in a non-verbal and tactile way, and hope they are not too expensive to send out! It's good fun, though I worry sometimes that it could be too much for some folk. I don't think other folk should feel obliged to reciprocate in the same way at all : that's quite important to me. I do like to hear their experiences and thoughts in nice longish letters ... Thanks for sharing your ideas
Hi Margret!!! I think of you each time I go "thrift shopping" -- I know you love finding crafty things in them & I do too -- it's just amazing what is found!!!! So interesting and such a good point about how we can communicate non-verbally thru art and craft as well -- I find that so amazing the pen pals who are so skilled at that. I do like stickers, washi tape and stampers but I seem to rely primarily on words in my letters and until I started pen-paling regularly, I didn't think too much about it -- the other way I LOVE to communicate is thru pictures -- and if I get organized enough I can get reprints (very economically) at the local drug store to include in my letters but I'm not very good about pre-planning those sorts of things! :)
If you have a colour printer you could consider loading your pictures (perhaps from your phone?) and could then print them fairly economically on ordinary paper, perhaps adding them to your actual letter paper, before you start your letter. I think photo paper is probably more expensive, but good if you really want to keep the prints and have a 'proper printer'. I have photos of my dogs taken on my phone and I got permission to print them on the colour printer at work and they are now framed and look Grrrreat! I've now got a colour printer at home but have yet to play with it much. I think it could be pretty easy to do and you can use your keen eye for 'framing' an image to its full advantage in your letters, too. You might also enjoy printing them onto your letter stationery as a 'watermark' too! I know you don't have ENOUGH to do already 😁 In fact I MAY just try this myself! [I look forward to seeing videos on how much you enjoy doing this! 👍 ]
BTW, I would LOVE to come thrift shopping with you! I imagine [from other videos I've seen] that your thrift stores are HUUMongous. Our charity shops tend to be small, but with different ones for different organisations, sometimes fairly close together. Round here, you'd need a car to tour them, but in town centre it's more walkable. Different agencies can have different strengths, though, so THAT can be interesting! Probably half of my furniture (including my dining table - seats up to 10! - and chairs , desk, chairs, settee, dressing table, bedside tables and BED, as well as various lamps!) are charity shop sourced. Love it. Most of the rest is hand-me downs! .... God, I'm so cheap! ... would your husband love me?
Chris, what a great video. I love all the tips. I have moved several times, and thought I should write to some of the friends I’ve left behind. But as you say perfectionism can sometimes get in the way. But we have such lovely inks! I need to get over my fears. Thanks for the tips.
Hi grannaboo03 -- once I started writing back and forth to a few pen pals it really helped because each one has a sort of "signature" style. Some are very artsy and the letters seems like they should be framed (envelopes too). Some folks do stickers and washi tape, or make their own envelopes. Others write with maybe 4 or 6 fountain pens to "show" what each pen they are writing with looks like. It helped me realize we are all so different and it would be boring if I was just like someone else. My own mother has the most stunningly beautiful handwriting that has always been her signature -- along with including interesting clips from cartoons or articles. When I write to my Mom I love to include pictures. :) The first really interesting thing I noticed during InCoWriMo last year was that people found the most interesting ways to label the envelope "InCoWriMo2018" I was just amazed, stickers, stampers, hand lettering. I'm still trying to think of "my way" to label my outgoing envelopes next year. I have a few ideas. :)
Thank you so much, Chris!! For sharing this video. A lot of good tips! Yes it does feel good to get a letter in the mail besides bills lol. I will look into the incowrimo for 2019.
Hi there -- you are very welcome :) I hope you enjoy it!!!!! I found that it was such a nice project to write a hand written note, post card or letter each day in February. :)
Great video Chris! And perfect timing, too. I love how you are so organized. I'm going to look into InCoWriMo; that sounds fun. Thank you for taking the time and making your videos. I'm always learning something new. Take care, Ginger
Hi Ginger -- you are very welcome! :) It has been a lot of fun for me and the way my brain works I HAVE to be organized or I wouldn't be able to function well at all.
I am part of Postcrossing, a postcard exchange. Some participants put in their bio (or when they register a card) that they are looking for pen pals. I have just gotten started.
Oh this sounds like a lot of fun! Post cards sound so doable at times when a longer letter just isn't ... plus the collectible nature of sending and receiving from many places!!!!
Hi Rob -- oh that sounds just SO FUN! I love post cards!!!!! I am going to want to check this out for sure! This would be so excellent for those on a strict time budget. :) Thanks for sharing it here!!!!
@@Melanie.8888 Hi Melanie - yes I am. I do have a lot of pen pals so I tell anyone wanting to write to me that it sometimes takes me longer than I'd like to reply. Other times my reply pile is small. If you want you can email me and we can talk about exchanging addresses: chrissaenz@grandecom.net
I've found all my pen pals from reddit! The subreddit is simply called r/penpals ( www.reddit.com/r/penpals/ ). It's really active, people are always posting about themselves asking for pen pals.
The cards and the envelopes are from Turkey - as far as I can tell. ;-) BTW, you were right, opening the mailbox each day can be a bit more thrilling when you know someone might have sent you a letter. :-)
Hi Marta! Thank you -- I don't know what made me automatically think they were from Russia. :) Language is not my strong suit for sure ... I know just a little bit of Spanish except for my native English.
@@ChrisSaenz13 I understand that. :-) While I do not speak Russian, this language is pretty easy to spot, at least for us in Central Europe, due to its Cyrillic alphabet (used by a couple of other Eastern European nations). Fun fact - during the Cold War Russian was in fact mandatory in Polish schools, so my parents still remember some basics. Turkish had an arabic alphabet, changed to latin as a part of Atatürk's Reforms - and it even has some characters similar to German, both in writing and pronunciation. :-) BTW, I found most of my pen pals through a website: www.penpalsnow.com/index.html - and RU-vid. :-) Oh, and I received a letter from Sweden today. It made my day! :-)
@@ChrisSaenz13 Great, but mainly what I woukd like to know is do You use waterproof inks? Once my letter got back to me, completly blank. Only my address was readable.
@@LadyAlleria Oh now I see what you're asking. Well, for envelopes I'm careful to use permanent inks - sometimes I just use a non-fountain pen permanent ink pen if I don't have any fountain pens inked with permanent ink. But for the letters inside I use all kinds of inks mostly non-permanent or only partly water resistant inks.
@@ChrisSaenz13 little booklets that get passed around. You start one by saying friendship for: (than the person's name and address) you'll add your name amd address. Then you'll mail it to your penpals who'll add theirs and pass on for others to add their information
