Kiosk, the Soho shop full of "interesting things from interesting countries" puts their attention towards Hong Kong for their latest exhibit-cum-store. A curated selection of goods from Hong Kong--everything from green nylon twine to egg noodles--is available for purchase. Kiosk is a statement against over-design, offering simple and straightforwards goods meant to be appreciated for exactly what they are.

We found a few good picks in the letter-writing department here as well, so stop by, pick up some airmail envelopes, paper and plastic plain envelopes, or these great tiny stencils to use with your next letter.

Kiosk is located at 95 Spring Street, 2nd Floor, NYC.

The idea of France naturally evokes thoughts of flaky croissants, petite promenades, strong coffee, big wooden family tables full of food from the countryside. For us, we also imagine sitting in a country house in the south of France, writing long letters to old friends while light streams in the window. Carol B. Neiley opened Basic French, a shop in Red Hook dedicated to all the small and special parts about France--the language, the aesthetic, the warmth selling goods for the home and the heart. We love these postcards--the artful collages and bold fluorescent messages--available at her store.

Basic French is located at 5 East Market Street, Red Hook, NY, everyday from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

We have discovered a lot of great paper goods, writing tools, and paraphernalia through the Modern Letter Project, but sometimes revelations in products related to the postal service do run a bit dry. Not so with these envelopes, letter-writing kits, mail bags, and small books made by Brooklyn-founded, but now Tokyo-based POSTALCO. Check here for a store near you.

We've taken off our socks, put on our Spring coats, and are ready for a new season of stationery and letter paper. Some of our favorite picks this season come from And Spring, a Korean retailer of stationery, little objects for fine living, and accessories.

See more here (including their lovely photography).

Spring is coming and we're thinking of bright cheery cards with lots of color. We're big fans of these cute notecards from Winifred Studios on Etsy--hand folded on white linen paper with original design and digital illustrations. $3 per card, 4 for $10, or you can mix and match.

Longtime interiors editor at Wallpaper, London Designer Suzy Hoodless showcases gorgeous, gorgeous furniture in her UK showroom. Amongst the pieces we covet is this vintage writing desk from the 1940's. Take a look at other Suzy-Hoodless finds here.

(Above left: Love you Lots Llama; Top right: Love birds; Bottom right: Surrounded by love)

While growing up, Valentine's Day was always one of our favorite holidays. It meant red-and-white lifesaver lollipops, handfuls of red hots, and heart shaped sweet tarts. We decorated shoeboxes for our elementary school classrooms and dropped in those little paper valentines into each person's box, opening it up to discover and reveal our crushes.

(Above left: Say Anything; Above right: Moxie Madness)

Now that we're a bit older, we still love sending valentines to those we love--and not just our significant others. Why not use the 14th of February to be the consummate cupid and send cards to your best friends and family? Here are a few of our favorite Etsy Valentine's picks that you can snap up before next Thursday.

What can we say? With Valentine's Day coming up in just over a week, we've been prowling for the cutest cards to share some stationery love. We had to pick up a set of these "Better Together" cards as soon as we saw them, made by Earmark on Etsy, $15 for a pack of 8 (two each of four designs). Pairing items that sure do go better together--like pencil and paper (ahem, letter writers!)--these cards are crafty, clever, and certainly endearing. Share with your loved one, a good friend, or pick up the Better Together magnets to hang on your refrigerator.

Hello! Sorry we have been so delinquent about our posting this week, but worry not, we are still here and planning a big redesign for this site. We just wanted to let you know about these great notebooks ($30) we fell in love with from Studio Matador that are made up of black hardboard flaps on either side with 192 pages of mixed colored paper on the inside. The binding--well this is the truly special part--is handsewn in sections, so it lays nice and flat and also has exposed threads.

While a notebook is no letter--perhaps you have a special friend somewhere who deserves an entire compilation of your thoughts? Or, an idea for you letter-writers: write your letter in the first page of a notebook you love, and send the rest to your Modern Letter Project recipient. A gift started by you, finished by them, with only room to grow.

Nothing says "thinking of you" more than a postcard--whether while on vacation in foreign lands or just something you picked up from your sidewalk vendor. We love the look of these 1950s, 60s, and 70s French postcards -- scenes from daily life -- bocce and dinner, the beach and the laundromat.

Holy smokes! We are psyched! Julia Rothman, one of our favorite textile designers, now has greeting cards for sale on Hello Lucky, $3.50 for each 3.5" x 4.75" letter-pressed card, or $12.00 for a set of 6.

Buy the cards here and see more of Julia's gorgeous work here.

We at the Modern Letter Project are suckers for beautiful letterpress and handmade books- and Angela Liguori does not disappoint. Her etsy shop is host to a myriad of whimsical surprises, including Italian ribbons for sewing, bookbinding and other crafts. Don’t miss the twelve hand-made Italian recipe cards (first course, second course and desserts) as well as a number of other beautifully illustrated books.

More work from Angela Liguori can be found at Carta, Inc., her official business site, and Edizioni, her blog.

Every year we—yes, seriously—look forward to the release of the new stamps for the year. This year? A big surprise: sheets of Charles and Ray Eames’ stamps celebrating the couples contributions to architecture, design, photography, furniture, and as emblems of American history. The stamps, which feature sixteen of the Eames’ creations, were designed by artist Derry noyes.

The USPS notes:
“Perhaps best known for their furniture, the Eameses were husband and wife as well as design partners. Their extraordinary body of creative work — which reflected the nation’s youthful and inventive outlook after World War II — also included architecture, films and exhibits. Without abandoning tradition, Charles and Ray Eames used new materials and technology to create high-quality products that addressed everyday problems and made modern design available to the American public.”

See the other 2008 edition stamps here.

We're always looking for ways to beautify our letters without spending too much money on pretty store bought cards. It's ever a challenge to personalize while still keeping a letter pretty, and avoiding visual clutter.

One of our favorite ways to add personal touches to letters is using stamps. That's right--old rubber and ink stamps. TraciBunkers on Etsy sells 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" sheets of mail art postage stamps, which you can cut out to make individual stamps or use as an entire sheet, for $15, as well as a sheet of the alphabet (uppercase and lowercase) for $8. Use stamps, with different inkpads, cutouts from old magazines, and in combination with your favorite plain papers and envelopes to make neat custom stationery.

You can also get great custom stamps made at www.rubberstamps.net and The Stamping Place. If you're in New York, then definitely stop by at Casey Rubber Stamps at 322 E. 11th Street, our favorite little shop for custom stamps (and friendly service).

Happy 2008! We hope you had a wonderful holiday and rang in the new year with a bang. We've got lots of Modern Letter Project resolutions for '08, but first, we wanted to kick off the year by telling you about one of our favorite notecards and papergoods' designers in months. Essimar on etsy makes print-and-paper goods using screenprinting and collage techniques to create bright pops in color and both delicate and incredibly intricate textures. We love both her cards and her one-of-a-kind prints that make a bold, but whimsical statement.

See more work and purchase notecards, papergoods, and artwork at Essimar's etsy shop.

So we think we're in love with the perfect writing desk.

The Shelby Writing Desk is “A 50’s architectural inspired French modern writing desk. Two drawers with crushed bamboo fronts in the bottom shelf and a hidden writing surface built into the desktop. Antique brass hardware. Desktop features a crushed bamboo inlay to square off the writing surface and a gallery around the back of the desktop and 3/4 up the sides. Flare legs with brass caps.”

We love the capacious leg room, the special writing surface, the combination of bamboo and Mahogany. A new piece of furniture--a writing desk no less--might be a great way to kick off the new year.

Available at Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams.

One of the challenges in sending letters each month is wanting to send a greeting that's both personal and creative. When we got a gorgeous picture postcard in the mail the other day from one of our friends, it presented as the perfect solution to the creative-personal conundrum, and made us wonder where they'd come from.

The answer? Moo.com.

For those of you with Flickr accounts, Moo.com is a great resource for personalizing postcards with your own photographs. Choose up to 20 photos from your flickr stream (choose by tag, by set, or by collection), and get 20 customized postcards for $19.99. Postcards are standard size (5.83 x 4.13 inches), and laminated on the image size.

Click here to get started on your own postcards.

Finding the perfect paper is one of those on-going challenges we at MLP Headquarters are always struggling with. We're pretty smitten with Matterial's Drawrite tablets: orange lines, and space for both drawing and writing. Instead of doodling in the margins, these are landscape-oriented, half-lined pages, with a letterpressed cover and backing.

All paper is recycled, packaging is primarily reused from existing packages, and the tablets are created in limited editions. And, if you can stand to tear a piece out of your tablet, these would make a fine letter-writing paper.

In between those piles of holiday cards you're stressed out sending out in time for your relatives, friends, and old college roommates, why not make your mail a bit more fun with some casual postcards to your friends about town.

Bread + Butter, a collective of three artists and designers from Brooklyn, have come out with these gorgeously simple white, blind embossed postcards (with bright aqua or orange envelopes). The postcards are imprinted with irresistible-but-stylish words for every occasion and every friend. Choose from a simple "HELLO" to "FANTASTIC," "BTW," and our personal favorite, "I HEART YOU." Cards are $3.50 apiece and available at Bread + Butter's Etsy shop.

[This will be our last post before a little turkey-and-cranberry sauce filled holiday break. We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, wherever you are. We're so thankful for everyone participating in the Modern Letter Project thus far--you've made it so fun for us and we look forward to the months to come! We'll be back next Monday with more posts and lots of holiday letter-writing fun.]

By this point it should come as no surprise that we're total suckers for holiday cards. We love buying those pretty pretty cards with the pop-out ornaments, and the delicately hand letter-pressed gems that have become must-buys during the holiday season. We feel if there's one time a year to go nuts with snail mail, it's definitely the holidays. Here are twelve of our favorite holiday card picks to kick off this chilly season:

(Left: City Sidewalks (1); Right: Pancake & Franks (2))

1. City Sidewalks Greeting Card from Peculiar Pair Press: These gorgeous ivory cards are perfect for us city-dwellers sending our urban cheer out into the world. Letterpressed in red and pewter on ivory cards, cards are $4.00 each and available at Luxe Paperie.

2. Pancake & Franks holiday collection: As much as we love print and pattern, we also love the simplicity of clean lines. Pancake & Franks’ holiday cards offer a strong, modern pop of color – through the sparseness of antlers, winter fruits, peppermint candies, or outlines of holly. Their cards are printed on 100% recycled paper, prices vary.

(Top left: Lisa Congdon (3); Top right: Eggpress (4); Bottom left: Alice Stevenson (5); Bottom right: port2port (6))

3. Lisa Congdon’s work has long been a favorite of ours and it’s no surprise that we love her limited edition holiday cards with original drawings on vintage papers. These “happy holidays” inscribed cards come in a set of 8 for $16.00.

4. Eggpress's 2007 Holiday Collection is full of color and whimsy--another longtime favorite. This year the collection includes offset printed holiday cards screaming “joy,” “noel,” and “peace and love,” with icy blues and cheery reds and strong use of patterns. Their letterpress cards—we love the “cheersplosion!” and “candycane crosscut joy” which use cutouts to invite you right inside the card.

5. Alice Stevenson’s floral cards are great for the holidays—or really—any time of year. Intricate layers of flowers create an explosion of color that we just adore. Her cards are printed on recycled board and sold via Art Angels, a Norwich-based publisher of greeting cards featuring artwork by contemporary British artists.

6. port2port holiday cards: What can we say about Maria’s cards that haven’t already been said? We’ll quote her new collection, celebrate her pine letterpress printed card set and let it speak for itself. “On my mind this season is the daydream of slowing down time during the holidays … noticing a simple snowfall or a few branches of frosted pine while bustling about … just lingering … breathing it all in. It’s merrymaking time. Salute!” $28.00 for a set of 8 cards. [see our interview with port2port]

(Left two: Two Trick Pony (7); Right: Night Owl (8))

7. Two Trick Pony: Hand screenprinted, co-modern stationery that is just gor-geous. We’re loving the clean lines, modern fonts, and bright colors.

8. Night Owl Paper Goods: In clear reusable packaging and packed along with chartreuse envelopes, lines and motion take over these “holiday cards,” inscribed with that distinction on their fronts.

(Left two: Carrot & Stick (9); Right: Lizard Press (10))

9. Carrot & Stick Press: Dare to dream in prints and patterns. With repeating patterns of everything from candy canes and polka dots to lobsters and flamingos, Carrot & Stick Press is a perfect bit of cheer for the holidays or any other occasion. $16 for a pack of 8 cards.

10. Lizard Press, Notes to Grow On: Possibly our favorite cards this holiday season (or for any season), these “Notes to Grow on,” with peppermint seeds enclosed, perfectly blend form and function. The reds and greens scream of holidays, and a small packet of seeds (also with letterpressed packaging) are enclosed in the card featuring illustrations from Albert Schramm’s “Der Bilderschmuck der Fruhdrucke.” Available for $4.50 apiece.

(Left two: Moontree Letterpress (11); Right: Palindrome Press (12))

11. Moontree Letterpress' Brooklyn Cards are one of our favorites this year--especially if you live in this beloved borough like many of our project participants do. With the soft silhouette of the Brooklyn Bridge to behold in these hand letter-pressed cards, recipients will be reminded of a winter city skyline these holidays. $9.00 for a pack of 6 cards. [See our interview with Rebecca of Moontree Letterpress]

12. Palindrome's Holiday Card set pops with the color of bright red cardinals on a wintry day. We saw this collection and just fell in love with those birch trees. A must have! $18.00 for a pack of 6 cards.

With Thanksgiving next week, and the holidays just around the corner, seasonal stationery is on the forefront of our letter-writing minds. We're SO excited that some of our favorite letterpresses' holiday shops are opening (a long list of our favorites coming soon), including today's new collections at the port2port holiday shop. Maria's new collections are even better than we could have expected--of course featuring her new creations with the loveliest photography-- including all sorts of beautiful new holiday-related images and colors like pine-needles letterpress cards and snow-frosted window picture postcards. We've already snagged ourselves a 2008 calendar (top 2 images), a set of her photo postcards (The Freeze, bottom right), and a set of her pine letterpress set (bottom left) -- and highly recommend you fill up your cart because these will sell out fast and there are no reprints!

+ See our recent interview with Maria of port2port press

[Bill Smith is a Modern Letter Project participant and reports to us monthly with news on all things letter-related from Toronto, Canada]

So, where do you go to get a decent fine writing instrument or stationary within greater Toronto? I am going to share my favorite Toronto haunts over the next few months, but first have to admit that I'm coming from a position of bias, since I am a regular customer at all of them. While shopping at some of these stores is more expensive than buying online, you will definitely receive a level of service rarely seen anymore, which makes the trip worth it.

Laywines
Founded twenty years ago, Laywines is a family owned pen and stationary store located in Toronto’s Yorkville district. Taking the philosophy of not selling something to you that is not right to you, Laywines is a true sanctuary from the electronic world we live in. Stocking brands like Rhodia, Clairfontaine, Moleskine, G. Lalo, Cavallini and Company, plus Filofax and Que Vadis agenda refills, Laywines takes stationary seriously with the staff being knowledgeable and passionate on what they sell.

For pen aficionados, Laywines has an extensive selection of pens including Aurora, Caran D’Ache, Conway Stewart, ST. Dupont, Dunhill, Faber Castel, Lamy, Omas, Parker, Pelikan, Pilot-Namiki, Sailor, Visconti and Waterman brands. The store’s specialty is ink and refills for most writing instruments on the market with the best selection in Southern Ontario.

Laywines">Laywines is open seven days a week and is located on 25 Bellair St. Toronto in the Yorkville District and is open seven days a week.

While we love our screenprinting and our letterpress cards--all of the bright colors, the cute animals, the vibrant polka dots and patterns, there's something special about getting an old postcard or a hand-written note on a piece of old hotel stationery that also carries the weight of history. We decided to peruse ebay--source of myriad treasures--to see what we could dig up in the paper-and-notecard department and came up with some great finds. Bid away!

Boy Scout Vintage Official Stationery Box with Paper (top left)
1983 Vintage Star Wars Stationery (top right)
1940's Huron Stationery with Locomotive (bottom right)
1970s Snoopy/Peanuts Hallmark Stationery (bottom left)

We're super excited about the new Nantaka Joy website featuring some of our favorite stationery from the 2006 line created by designer Joy Deangdeelert Cho of Oh Joy! Studio. Her print and paper collection contains strong patterns and bright colors with words like "thanks," "happy," "love," and "pretty" -- joy-ous cards for special occasions. And, we're really nuts for her gold woodcut hello cards, an elegant and texture notecard created from embossed metallic foil on kraft stock.

See more cards and notebooks at the Nantaka Joy shop, which are available to buy online and at these retailers.

A few months back, we received a letter from a Modern Letter Project participant:

“I want to let you know how much I enjoy being able to participate in the Modern Letter Project. I have received some great letters, and I love the process of writing a letter each month. I even bought a desk so I'll have dedicated space to write my letters (don't tell--I'm including a picture of the desk in my next letter).”

Well, to say it simply: we were thrilled!

We are in love with the notion of letter-writing spaces, whether it be a specific café, a window seat in your house, your kitchen table, or your office. One of the ways we get in a letter-writing mindset is to retreat to our own special letter-writing places with a good hot cup of coffee and an inky black pen.

When we spotted these two desks—one old, one new—we just couldn’t decide which we wanted more: the sleek, modern writing desk with that cool blue color (but a hefty price tag?). Or, a beautiful old oak roll-top desk, with fifteen drawers, two writing/typing trays?

Do you have a letter writing place or desk? Where is it?

[Left: Writing Desk designed by Michael Young, $2,750.00,
Right: Vintage Oak Crest Roll Top Desk on Ebay, $697.00 (only available for pickup in California)]

(photos by Jennifer Causey)

Jennifer Causey is a talented Brooklyn-based photographer whose work we just adore. She takes brilliant photos of everyday pleasures, from breakfasts to nature, taking note of color, form, and the slightest nuance. Her photos inspire a warm feeling of nostalgia or sentimentality in us, so we're thrilled that she sells her photos as photo-inspired postcards on etsy, $16 for a set of ten.

These are perfect for when you don't have a lot of time to write a long letter, but want to send a thoughtful note on a unique and beautiful card.

See more at Jennifer Causey's shop on Etsy HERE.

Whenever I make to trip to one of the NYC post-offices, I cross my fingers they'll have released a new book of limited edition stamps. I'm the kind of person who likes to have Christmas-time stamps during the holidays, "LOVE" stamps at Valentines day, and Superhero stamps for cards to friends. (I save the plain old American flag stamps for paying bills.)

Lucky for us, lots of stamps are available for order at the USPS Postal Store online, where you can also search for collectible stamps, learn about stamp collecting, find out about forthcoming editions of stamps, and learn about all terms related to stamps (the Philatelic Glossary).

(I'm also pretty smitten with international stamps. Check out some of the postage at the Swedish Post office!)

One of the emails that first got us excited after launching the Modern Letter Project was hearing that people were sticking little gifts in their envelopes right along with the letters. There were mix-CDs and jewelry, photos, four-leaf clovers, and seeds. Brilliant!

Turns out you don't even have to go and buy separate seeds--you can find great letterpress cards with seeds right in them. Round Robin Press's hand-printed cards come with a pack of basil and chive seeds and a chartreuse envelope.

Cards are $6.00 apiece and can be bought on Etsy.

Here in New York, it still feels like summer, but in our heads it's definitely Autumn. We're thinking: sweaters, apples, pumpkins, and changing leaves. This can only mean one thing for letter-writing: fall notecards. We hunted down some of our favorite autumnal patterns on Etsy -- 'tis the season for reds, oranges, yellows, and browns.

Pumpkin Patch blank notecards by pinkbathtub (upper left)
Autumn Pomegranates by uccellocurioso (upper right)
Autumn Leaves by CardZoo (bottom left)
Fall Leaf Pack by twohanddesign (bottom right)

(Click on names of each card set for information on price and how to buy)

photo by Sean Gosse

I got hooked on writing with fountain pens a long time ago. I went to elementary school in Montreal in the early 1970’s when penmanship was still part of the curriculum and remember being told we were told we were going to learn to write with a pen. My first thought?: “Cool, I can write with a ballpoint like dad.”

My teacher quickly put an end to that thought, giving explicit instructions that the only pens allowed into class were Sheaffer cartridge fountain pens with a fine or medium point. Black ink was a no-no and only Skrip Royal Blue and maybe Blue-black in emergencies were considered acceptable ink colors. It was a messy way to learn how to write and when my family moved to Toronto, I switched to a ballpoint.

Jumping ahead to the late 1990’s, my girlfriend at the time collected fountain pens and let me try one out. I was hooked. Now, ten years later, I have about 30 fountain pens in my collection.

So why write with an obsolete piece of technology, you ask? Especially when we live in a world addicted to instant messaging?

There are a couple of reasons:

First, I remember the feeling of comfort I got after filling up a couple thousand 8x11 notebook pages with notes at university. My hand hurt from all the writing, and boy was that satisfying.

Second, after I tried my girlfriend’s Waterman I experienced a surge of nostalgia that took me back back to grade three, the nib gliding across the page with almost no effort. I picked up a Waterman Expert pen two weeks after that and taking notes in meetings has become that much more of a joy.

Third, fountain pens are life long personal accessories, tools to express yourself on paper. You refill the ink as opposed to going to the office supply cabinet stocked with disposable pens for a cheap ballpoint made of non re-newable resources. I have couple of pens in my collection dating to the very late 1930’s that I still use on a regular basis. They are comfortable to write with and guaranteed conversation starters.

Fourth, but not lastly, fountain pens force you to slow down and think about what you want to really express. Think of it as rebellion against the 24/7/365, instant message.

These days, I am usually seen with a Pelikan or a Parker pen in my hand be it working on a project, writing in my journal, or taking notes in meetings or night class.

We have to admit, we’re online shopping addicts, especially when it’s great cards, paper, and stationery for sending letters. Another great source of cards, stationery, and papergoods of all sorts from “emerging design talent from all over the world” is Poppytalk Handmade, an “online street market” featuring a gallery of great goods.

We're a huge sucker for notecards and nature themes, so how could we resist some of these Jill Bliss designs? Based out of Northern California, Jill Bliss makes lovely just-about-everythings, but we especially love her notecards. Printed with vegetable-based inks on 100% recycled paper (chlorine free and 50% post-consumer waste) with recycled paper envelopes, not only are these about the environment, they are environmentally conscious.

$12 for packs of four cards.

Click HERE for the mushrooms.
Click HERE for the tidepools.

As a kid, there was always someone--a teacher, my mom, my dad, my best friend--who just had that perfect handwriting. I was infatuated with the way they drew little maps, wrote instructions on the chalkboard, made grocery lists, or signed their name since my own handwriting always looked like chicken scribbles.

I was super excited to discover Maybelle, the force behind May+Belle Calligraphy & Design, a professional calligrapher and does beautiful work that is perfect for designing a custom letterhead, for invitations, place-cards, very special stationery, and lots more. Describing her style as "perfectly imperfect," Maybelle's style rings through and true.

For more info go to Maybelle's website or email her at maybelle(at)may-belle(dot)com.

Sometimes we find ourselves stumped for ideas, wanting to write, but just not inspired. We're pretty excited about The Majency Oracle, a 169 card printable deck of cards meant to spark the imagination of writers, poets, or any creative individuals.

The deck is designed to be printed on any color printer, on standard 3x5 index cards. It features a variety of color schemes and background images to create a unique experience each time a card is drawn.

Each card contains a single phrase designed to prod the creative mind down a path of its own. It might be a snippet of dialogue that suggests an overheard conversation; it might be a fragment of a description of a visual scene, one that could lend itself to a depiction in paint or prose. It could point to things waiting to be created, as small as a short story or as large as a mythology.

You can download the deck at designer James Bickers' site, as well as more information about the cards.

Purples and bronzes ring in fall colors in Port2Port's new line of letterpressed cards. We love the hand-packaging wrapped in twine and think these would be great for your September letters. Available through etsy; $21.00 for a card set of 5.

Speaking of notebooks we love, we can't forget our favorite link-able notebooks, Start Here NY. Conceived of by two New York designers, Tina and E, these slim, stylish notebooks are available as planners ($18), blank books ($14), with lined pages ($14), and in a tri-level style (part grid, part lined, part blanks, $16). Honestly, we recommend stocking up with the color-lined five-packs ($55) or the white-paged two packs ($20), so you can link-up your scribbles, jots, or even write your Modern Letter Project start(ing) here.

Notebooks can be purchased online at Start Here NY.

p.s. Have a favorite notebook? Tell us about it at themodernletter(at)gmail(dot)com

We love notebooks just as much as we love stationery, and as soon as we spotted these great hand-sewn jotters designed by Mustetussi, we knew we had to have one. Available at Rare Device in a variety of patterns and designs, $11.50 - 14.00.

Are you a stamp aficionado, but never know where to get those great vintage stamps? Longtime friends Bari Zaki and Chandra Greer of Greer in Chicago put their heads together to come up with the vintage postage stamp Greer exclusive, affixing 41-cents or more in vintage stamps to brightly hued envelopes. Envelopes and stamps come in a variety of colors and sizes.

For more information and additional postage, envelopes, paper, and letter-writing accessories, visit Greer in Chicago or online

[via design*sponge].

The Green Field Paper company makes recycled paper goods for all of your writing needs. One of our favorites are the Grow-A-Note Recycled Cards, a 6.5"x5" card contains a seed embedded in it. (Cards run $3.50 apiece).

Bloomin' Flower Cards also cards made of “100% post-consumer paper, soy-based inks, and organic pigments” and includes seeds for your garden.

[via treehugger]

One of our favorite resources for handmade notecards is over at Etsy. They have great letterpress, journals, and all sorts of paper-goods that are great for letters and writing. Here are a few of our summer favorite finds:

Summer strawberries letterpress cards from paperedtogether: A set of 8 cards printed on 100% cotton paper:

Polaroid postcards from Maditi: A set of 12 cards (6 images, 2 postcards each), glossy photograph with a matte back:

Shimmer, Sea, Shimmer letterpress cards from port2port: a limited edition set of 2 cards printed in gold and silver inks on bright white stock:

Lots more over at etsy. Check it out!