I ran across something today that is really cool. It’s called a Holley Portrait, named after a guy who came up with a clever way to do a typographic self-portrait involving his thumbprint and text. I’d never heard about them until I ran across Daniel’s web site that has a few. How clever!

As I’m always on the lookout to find some new and interesting way to write a letter, why not a Holley Portrait Letter? Go over to the site and read about how to make them. Then, instead of doing the traditional portrait, why not put a letter into it instead — the type of letter that someone would keep, like a “how I feel about you” letter or a “you’ve made an impression on me” kinda note. Or do a smaller version with all five fingers in a “bouquet” for “five reasons I love you” or “five reasons why I’m lucky to have you as a friend”, etc. You get the idea.

Have fun!

Here’s a great thing to do with those bills you get in the mail!

Check out Design Sponge’s tutorial on how to turn junk mail security envelopes into something really groovy!

A creative lady named Gina, left a comment on a blog I was reading and it was such a good comment about letter writing that I had to share it.

My good friend and I (she lives in another city) decided to write a letter once a month to each other for 6 months. We divided the letter into: what I’m thinking about right now….something interesting I heard lately…what new sensual experience we had (a bubble bath…a great dinner…some interesting recipe) …what we were reading or what piece of art we had stumbled upon we really liked….and a few other minor categories…. The only rule was, of course, we had to hand write it. It was a wonderful experience…my friend and I first off discovered we had never seen each other’s handwriting because we always email, message etc. As time went on…we often doodled or even colored the borders around the paper…just because it seemed it brought out the creativity in each of us. It was a wonderful friendship project and we learned so much about each other too.

One of the reasons this idea is so great is that it creates a structured environment in which to write a letter. Often people think their lives are boring or that they have nothing to say. This method actually tells you what to write about. It’s a perfect jumping off spot.

Why not try Gina’s cool idea? Get a friend to do it with you. Set up your categories to write about and then try it for a few months and see how it goes.

[photo credit: soartsyithurts]

I ran across a great post by Miss Jessica on how to be a good pen pal. She has some great tips!

I’d like to hear about your pen pals. Do you have any? Got any great pen pal stories? Please share!

If you DON’T have pen pals, why not? Have you seen the great magazine called The Letter Exchange? It’s a fantastic way to get high quality pen pals and they have a free forwarding service if you want security and anonymity until you feel comfortable with your new pen pal. Go check them out.

Photo credit: Andreas Nilsson

Back in our 10-day challenge I mentioned organizing your letter writing materials as one key to letter writing success.

Why not make it easy for your kids as well? The more you write letters, and the sooner you write in your life, the more likely it will be that you’ll be a letter writer. So, start with the kids and raise future letter writers!

There’s a great article I ran across at The Long Distance Parent about how to create a letter writing kit for your children. Go check it out and modify it for your own familial circumstances.

Photo credit: carf

I sometimes buy letters on eBay. I love having these collections of letters and sometimes sift through them for little glimpses of the past.

Every now and then I will run across one that is very dramatic, sad, sometimes alarming. But for the most part they are quite ordinary. But don’t confuse ordinary with uninteresting. Quite the opposite. These are lovely, charming letters that are small windows we can peer through, flashbacks to another time and place.

I read one recently that I wanted to share with you. I want you to see this one because it shows how, over time, what you might consider boring or plain becomes something completely different. This letter, while quite ordinary, is full of delightful moments — a description of an old train ride complete with confused porters, the first moment of trying Chinese tea, images of boats on the Hudson River and all the while a description of the man himself seated on a bouncing train, malfunctioning pen in hand, struggling to get to the end of the letter before the train pulled into the station.

When faced with the challenge of a blank piece of paper, fear it not. Take your pen in hand and strike at the great expanse of whiteness until it is filled with written images of you and where you are.

And now peek through this window to 1947 and see John sitting on a train. The shade is up on the window and as he begins to write you see him consternated because his pen has run out of ink…

Somewhere on the way…
Sept. 22, 1947

Dear Mom & Dad,

This is the first chance I have had to write to you. I hope you are all fine. The change in ink is because my pen just ran out of ink and I am writing with Junie’s. Please excuse the writing as the train vibrates quite frequently.

We have had a marvelous trip so far. The train from Springfield was good, but it was pretty late. I saw the Hudson River on my way to Chicago. I expected a much wider river, but it must have been pretty deep as tugboats and barges were moving up and down it. The rest of the way to Chicago was uneventful.

We made Chicago around one o’clock and it looked like rain. So we found a hotel and went to sleep. After sleeping about eleven hours we checked out. It must have rained for quite a while because the streets were flowing with water. It was still raining then, as we had about twelve hours left we went to this famous sea food house for dinner. Boy were we hungry, and they did serve up enough and more to gorge us. After that we decided to see the Lincoln Park Zoo as it was enclosed. While at the zoo it stopped raining finally. When I have more time and a smoother desk, I shall write about the animals we saw.

After leaving the zoo we went to the theatre district and saw a show. Then we had another meal as we were quite hungry. We ate in a Chinese restaurant. We had a Chinese family meal for three, and I doubt if five could have eaten everything. And for the first time in my life I drank tea as that was all they served. It was pretty good, too. They do not serve milk with their tea, just sugar. Well, anyhow it was a delicious meal.

We arrived at the railroad station a half hour early. They told where our train was, so we walked out to it. The porter told us it was our train so we piled on. After we pulled out the conductor tells us we are on the wrong train, but that it still goes to St. Paul. What a break! You see we got on the Great Northern train instead of the Northern Pacific train. It was really the porter’s fault as there were seven of us on it. So they held the train in St. Paul for us. Boy Lady Luck was riding with us.

Well we just pulled into Fargo, North Dakota. I can’t mail this now, but I will as soon as possible.

See you at Christmas, I hope!

Your son
John

Photo credit: Andy Beal

People seem to have a love-hate relationship with the holiday newsletter. People like sending them, another group either loves or hates to receive them. The two main complaints about holiday letters are: 1) they seem mass-produced and impersonal, and 2) they are often tiresome and boring to read.

The good news for those of you who like doing a holiday newsletters (or for those of you who have been afraid to try it) is that, if done well, they can be a received with enthusiasm and possibly even anticipated as the holiday nears. Here are 15 steps you can take to make sure your holiday newsletter is the best it can possibly be.

1. Consider your audience. Who is the newsletter for? Just for intimate family? For family and friends? When you write your newsletter be sure to do it in a way that all people will find it interesting. While you and your close family might be fascinated by every burp and gurgle that comes out of little Emily, my guess is that the audience for that news will number somewhere around five (if that). Instead, create a nice mix of personal news with other things that casual friends will find useful and inspiring.
2. Monitor your tone. Had a hard year? Had a great year? Watch for the extremes of both. A holiday letter should be upbeat and pleasurable to read. It’s okay to admit your hardships or tragedies, however, consider putting a spin on it that will turn it into something positive. If you’ve had a fabulous year of successes, please do share them, but watch that you don’t cross over the line from pride into bragging. Also remember that some of the people who receive your letters may have had one of the worst years of their lives.
3. Include pictures. People love pictures. They are interesting and break up long paragraphs of text which will make your newsletter easier for busy people to digest. Instead of using clip art or stock photos, use your own personal photos that reflect activities or accomplishments throughout the year. You can also add interest by drawing in silly thought balloons or informative captions. Whatever pictures you use, make sure the people are big enough to be identifiable and do use a good print quality so the photos are clear and attractive.
4. Find the humor. Even a newsletter that is low on the scale of interesting can be salvaged if it contains a few nuggets of humor. Try to find humorous things that have happened in your life over the year and include those or try to put a funny spin on something ordinary. If you don’t feel like that’s your style of writing, maybe you can have a family member do a “guest column” in your newsletter — maybe they will have a funny interpretation of your year or a particular event. Another alternative is humor through pictures. If there are any amusing photos be sure to include them!

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Sometimes people say they don’t write letters because they feel they have nothing interesting to say. I completely understand and have often felt the same way. I am the mother of two boys, have a busy life and much of it is filled with routine minutiae that some days even I don’t want to know about it let alone… well, why would anyone else want to read about my day??

Then I have to take a deep breath and remind myself of a trick that works very well and I’ll share it with you if you promise to try it out. Promise?