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Emma Mitchell

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February 26, 2016 By silverpebble 27 Comments

Exchanging letters

WALBH 3

Those who joined in with my letter exchange have begun to send and receive their handwritten post in the last week or two. Each image posted on Twitter and Instagram of pens, bonny stationery, little drawings, recipes and in one case a jar of marmalade (!) sent in the post are beyond lovely. It’s such an ace thought that there are notes and messages arriving in people’s letter boxes rather than their inboxes.

Lisa's postcard

 

A wonderful typewriter postcard sent to me by @lp_lisalisa to thank me for organising the letter exchange

The best part is that many people now have two penpals and in some cases the second and third letters are on their way.

If you’re joining in and receive a lovely paper something in the mail then do share a picture on Twitter or Instagram and tag it with #writealetterbyhand. It would be a treat to see what you’ve received or are sending.

Louise's letter

Louise of @superduperthings seems to have included an illustrated recipe with her letter

I’m a little late getting to my letter-writing but decided to dust off my watercolours and paint a spot of Spring, inspired by hedgerow happenings in recent weeks (pictures to follow in my next post). Eldest has been painting too (she was off school today with a grim cold and headache) and I think putting brush to paper was rather medicinal for her.

claireWALBH

Claire Sutton (@clairetweet‘s) letter before she posted it off. Those bees!

If you are part of the letter exchange and have received a handwritten something in the post I’d so love to hear about it. Has it reminded you of the penpal days of childhood? Have you found it tricky after the rapid informality of emails, texts and DMs?  Similarly if you’re still awaiting a letter then perhaps I can help…let me know…

Filed Under: Illustration, Letter exchange, Makers Tagged With: Botanical illustration, fountain pen, handwritten letter exchange, handwritten letters, letter writing revival, post, postcard, slow living, snail mail, writealetterbyhand

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Deirdre McArdle says

    February 26, 2016 at 8:16 pm

    Hi Emma, I haven’t yet received a letter. I wonder could you check to see that I have been paired with someone, or maybe it’s case where someone hasn’t been in touch yet. I have sent my own letter off to my penpal so I’m hoping that’s been received.
    Thank you!

    Reply
  2. Jo says

    February 26, 2016 at 9:15 pm

    Hello

    I am in the same position as Diedre. I had to send my address to my partner to receive from, but I fear wires may have been crossed? I hope the recipient of my letter doesn’t think I’m a nutter?
    Jo

    Reply
  3. Sarah R says

    February 26, 2016 at 9:34 pm

    Hello there
    I sent my letter off yesterday so fingers crossed that I get a letter back from them. I also received a really lovely letter from someone called Lara and I’d love to write back but unfortunately there’s no address on it. I’m hoping that she doesn’t think I’m just rude and realises that she didn’t include an address. Maybe she will write again. I do hope so as she sounds lovely.

    Reply
    • Rosie says

      April 23, 2016 at 3:06 pm

      Hi,
      Hope you dont mind my random contact! I am in same boat as you, received a lovely letter from Katy in Leamington Spa who unfortunately did not include her addresss….help?! Really hope she realises thats why i havnt replied and im not a nutter!
      Regards
      Rosie 🙂

      Reply
  4. Cathie Helgeland says

    February 27, 2016 at 1:16 am

    Hello I sent m letter off a few weeks back to my assigned letter pal and had a few email contacts as well. Though I have not received any thing as yet not a email I am hopeful that I will soon as I am eagerly waiting for a reply… this should be fun!

    Reply
  5. Mugdha says

    February 27, 2016 at 8:33 am

    Hi Emma. I signed up for the hand weitten meter exchange but haven’t received an email about being paired with someone. Would you be able to check please?
    Thanks,
    Mugdha

    Reply
  6. Claire Kruse says

    February 27, 2016 at 12:45 pm

    I can confirm that Louise of @superduperthings did send me a recipe, it is for scones, along with a lovely letter and note book!
    I love it all!

    Reply
  7. Kirsten says

    February 27, 2016 at 1:14 pm

    Hello!
    I just wanted to check if we get one or two people to write too? I was paired up with a lady from the USA but have just had a letter from a lady in France saying we have been paired up! A little confused!!
    Love Kirsten Butler

    Reply
    • Paula Barras says

      February 27, 2016 at 9:33 pm

      Hi Kirsten,
      The way it works is that you are ” paired up” with one person, while another person is “paired up” with you, hence why you have someone in France and the US to write to!
      Hope this helps, Paula x

      Reply
  8. Kendal says

    February 27, 2016 at 4:17 pm

    I can’t thank you enough for organising this. I’ve been following on Twitter and it’s been so lovely to see people post photos of their letters that I’ve been waiting in anticipation for my letter to arrive. Today that day arrived and it was so lovely to sit down and open up the letter. A letter from someone I didn’t know but when I read through it I thought to myself we are going to get on well. We have quite a few common interests that I couldn’t have been matched with a better person. My handwritten letter went a couple of weeks ago and I know it’s been received as I saw a photo on Twitter and we’ve acknowledge each other and she’s going to write soon.

    Reply
  9. Cindy says

    February 27, 2016 at 5:09 pm

    When I told my friend who lives near me here in the US about the exchange of letters, she was so happy! She said that 20 years ago, she had penpals from Ireland, Scotland, and the UK, and one invited her to visit him (some were female, one was male), so she did and had a wonderful 3 weeks touring England and Scotland that she’s never forgotten. Loved all the little small towns she visited. Wishes she could get a pen pal also, but was too late for this exchange.

    Reply
  10. Rach says

    February 27, 2016 at 6:14 pm

    Just wondered if I’m too late – would love to join.

    Reply
  11. Lisa P says

    February 27, 2016 at 7:58 pm

    Oh look how pretty my little postcard is on your blog. So glad you liked it.
    I wrote to my person & they wrote straight back which was just wonderful. A flurry of letters & little cards have gone back & forth over the last few weeks. So much joy in something so simple. I still haven’t received anything from the person that was given my name but hey ho, I haven’t given up on them just yet. I’ve been inspired to write little notes to all sorts of people I know and long may it continue. Very happy to add to my address book if anyone wants to write x

    Reply
    • Paula Barras says

      February 27, 2016 at 9:42 pm

      Would be happy to write to you if you’d like to receive a letter from someone else. As long as you don’t mind letters being artistically improved by cat or dog pawprints!!

      Reply
  12. Clairetweet says

    February 29, 2016 at 9:19 am

    I sent my letter off to Dublin last week and am still excited to receive mine! Hoping that it is late as it’s coming from somewhere interesting and exotic. The whole project is a lovely idea and must have been a lot of kerfuffle for you to arrange so thank you and well done! I can’t deny I was a little confused my Elfster as it didn’t show much when I first looked at it on iOS devices, but I got there in the end x

    Reply
  13. Andrea Cook says

    February 29, 2016 at 12:07 pm

    I sent my letter off last week so it should have arrived by now and hopefully has made someone smile.

    I’ve not received anything as yet but I haven’t given up on it – maybe it’s taking a while because it’s coming from some far-flung place!

    Huge thanks to Emma for organising this – it’s such a wonderful idea.

    Reply
  14. Fat Dormouse says

    March 1, 2016 at 9:11 am

    I’ve finally sent mpy letter off – sorry it is late! I became oiverwhelmed by the idea that everything had top be “perfect” and beautiful and whimsical and…and…How silly! So at the weekend I got out my pen and wrote!! I hope that Kirsten likes it – when it finally arrives!!

    Reply
  15. Karen Juliano says

    March 1, 2016 at 2:12 pm

    I love this! I did not get in on the ground floor of the project but I will take this reminder to write some notes by hand to friends I’ve been meaning to thank or say hi to.

    Reply
  16. Fat Dormouse says

    March 3, 2016 at 9:37 am

    I have received a lovely letter, postcard and CHOCOLATE from Tracy. I’m not on Instagram/Twitter but I will blog about it later today.
    Thank you for organising this!

    Reply
  17. Fat Dormouse says

    March 3, 2016 at 9:58 am

    Blogged!!!
    As you can see: https://fatdormouse.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/letter-writing/

    Reply
  18. Debbie says

    March 3, 2016 at 10:37 am

    I wrote to the person I was matched with and had a really lovely letter back. I was surprised how much we had in common and the letter really made my day! I hope it’s the start of a long letter writing friendship. However, I haven’t received a letter from the person who was given my name and address, Is it possible for someone else to be given my details? This really is such a lovely initiative. Thank you.

    Reply
  19. Sarah Jones says

    March 3, 2016 at 4:03 pm

    I sent my letter off on Saturday 27th February but have not had a reply as yet. Just wondered if the person I am paired with had decided not to take part or I am not patient enough in awaiting a reply. Really I am jealous of all those who have had letters already.

    Reply
  20. Monica says

    March 4, 2016 at 1:26 am

    Will you be doing another round of this? It looks like fun and I’d love to take part if you open it up in the future. I love letters and snail mail.

    Reply
  21. Maureen says

    March 4, 2016 at 5:57 pm

    Hi, I sent my reply on 13th February but not heard anything back yet, or received any letter from the person that received my name/address but maybe they have pulled out? So (fingers crossed) I will receive something, best wishes to everyone taking part from Bonnie Scotland

    Reply
  22. Meaghan Chabot says

    March 22, 2016 at 1:46 am

    Can I be a part of this? I absolutely love the idea, and everyone’s ideas are so creative. I am in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

    Reply
  23. Habib Al-Muhanna says

    December 31, 2016 at 9:35 pm

    Good day,

    I would like to exchange hand written letters with others
    this is my postal address
    Habib Adnan,
    P.O.Box 19107,
    Al-dhubat Post Office,
    Zeona,
    Baghdad, Iraq.

    Reply
  24. Suzi says

    December 3, 2018 at 8:08 pm

    Hi
    Is letter writing still happening please ?
    Can I join?

    Reply

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