The New #PostCircle Stationery Range by AnneeApple

When I started #PostCircle I had no idea that over one hundred and seventy of you would be as enthusiastic about sending and receiving happy post as I am. Neither did I know what other sorts of wonderful things could come out of it! I'd like to share one such thing with you today. Introducing the brand sparkly new AnneeApple stationery range!

Inspired by all things #PostCircle, the talented Anne McBride has designed her very own range for fellow post lovers. And this is just the tip of the iceberg; she has many more design ideas up her crafty sleeve!

I love the idea of lettergrams (above), as after all this is how original written communications started out, with none of this separate envelope business! 

Who wouldn't love something so cheery to land on their doormat in a morning? (Much better than the tax return forms I received yesterday. Sigh.) Annee has cleverly merged bright, modern colours with vintage-style themes to make something for everyone.

Annee's stationery range will soon be available in her new Etsy shop (keep your eyes peeled for listings appearing soon!) with prices in the region of £6 for 20 sheets of writing paper, personalised linen writing paper (20 sheets) at £8 and five lettergrams at £5 (prices subject to slight change as the range is fully developed). For the latest on the range's launch, and news of a giveaway soon, follow Annee at her blog and on Facebook.  

Personally, I think my fellow otters are going to be very happy to get some of this #PostCircle stationery in the post very soon!

#PostCircle

"I've always felt there was something sacred in a piece of paper that travels the world from hand to hand, head to head, heart to heart." ~Robert Michael Pyle

When I featured this post recently on, well, post, and the joys of receiving lovely exciting post through the, well, post, a lot of you responded with great enthusiasm, which filled me with glee to see. (I cannot write today.) A conversation with @AmyFarry ensued on Twitter and suddenly I was offering to set up a post circle. As in, we all send lovely post and receive lovely post and are all happy and, well, avec-post. Good eh? So, would you like to be in  #PostCircle? Then read on, dear pen pal, read on...

This is how it works (and thank you to Anna of Skin and Blister because your organisation of #heartswap made this so much easier to get my head around):

1. If you would like to be a member of #PostCircle comment below AND email me at hellopostcircle@gmail.com. I will then send you a quick survey to complete. (We all love a good survey). 
2. After a week I will be dividing those who want to take part into groups of six. That doesn't mean no one else can join in - you can join any time - but I'll need to get going on making up the groups. I decided to form sub-groups so that I'm not giving out, say fifty addresses to fifty different people, and I can keep track of things more easily.
3. In the first instance each member will be assigned a partner just for the first time we post. This ensures that everyone receives nice post. 
4. After that, you can post to whoever you like in your group. The idea is that every time you receive some snail mail, you then send some out. This keeps things moving. 

The rules:

1. In returning your survey to me you agree that myself and five other people will have your address, and you theirs. I promise that I will not use your address for anything other than #PostCircle (ie, selling it to nasty spammy marketing companies) and you agree to the same. After a few months I may shuffle round the groups to keep things fresh but I will not do so without your permission. (If you snap photos of your post to social media please just make sure addresses are not visible).
2. When you receive post it's time to send something out. You don't have to post to the person who sent you post, you can send it to anyone in your circle. And don't panic and think you have to post something that day!
3. Please write #PostCircle on each piece of post you send.
4. If you don't receive any post for, say, three months, bob me an email and I will do a shoutout to your group to get things going again.
5. You can of course leave #PostCircle any time. Just email.
6. Your nice post can be anything you like, but please don't feel any pressure to 'spend money' on your post. A postcard, a handwritten note, a full-blown letter, an autumn leaf, a sweet button you found in your stash or a photo of that cheerful-looking frog you met on your walk yesterday are all great. #PostCircle isn't designed to rack up huge costs in 'gifts' to others. If you choose to spend money on a cuddly zebra because you know someone in your group loves them, that's wonderful and generous, but it is your choice and no one is under any pressure to match your spending. The idea is just to receive something thoughtful and lovely in the post on a regular basis, not to make yourself bankrupt. Remember that the cost of a stamp is a thought in itself! (And second class is fine too!)
7. International members - I will try to accommodate you but as yet I can't promise until I know how many UK members are willing to spend the extra posting abroad. Please do register your interest and I will come back to you when I know more. 
8. You don't have to wait to receive some post before you send some out, but please do send some out for every one you receive.

Here's to exciting post! 

On Post

Ah, post. Lovely, papery, pretty, thrill-inducing post. The 'fffffffffllllllmmmmp' (just made that word up, thinking it poetically onomatopoeic) as it slips through the letterbox. The joyous bark from a certain furry young lady of the houndish variety. The anticipation as I open the door after work, or frolic downstairs to see what papery joys the postman (or lady - Bea's very fond of our postlady) has brought today. 

I don't just love receiving post, but sending it too. One of the very best things about having an Etsy shop - apart from the joyous wonder that folk actually want to pay good money for my creations of course - is being able to parcel orders up and take a trot up to the post office with Bea so she can post them. It's become something of a tradition to utter a few friendly words of luck and happiness to the recipient of the parcel as we pop it inside the postbox, hoping it brings excitement and joy to its new owner when it fffffffffflllllllllmmmps onto their doormat.

Writing letters is such a therapeutic pastime indeed; there's something so soothing about writing by hand, and allowing my thoughts to tumble out onto the page. This slower pace of communication forces me to really think about what I want to say to my reader. None of this 'a quick few taps of the fingers and send' which I love so much when tweeting and texting, but the recipient of a letter will know I have taken the time to sit down with a cup of tea, choose my stationery with them in mind, spend a little time thinking, then carefully convey my message with the utmost care and my undivided attention.

Sending post has given me an excuse to become something of a stationery collector. Letter paper (hard to come by these days, or is it just me?), notelets and postcards are all gathered together, and added to whenever I'm out and about and see a papery greeting which makes me smile. 

And yes, I'm even enough of a geek to have a correspondence drawer! Do you ever find yourself writing a card or letter, then never getting round to sending it? Stamps, address book, writing stationery and stickers are all kept together in here. I even have a letter opener so I can open my own post with ease (stops me tearing it open with rabid excitement). 

Do you send a lot of post?

Have a communicative Wednesday,