Might my fountain pen bird drawings seem familiar? If you’ve ever ordered a piece of jewellery from me you may recognise them. I’ve been meaning to share the story behind this little bird since I began my blog.
The inevitable end-of-term frenzy of hurriedly concocted costumes, crazed social schedules (the girls’), bonkers hair (mine) and importantly, The School Disco meant that the handwritten project – my revival of hand-penned letters and the use of fountain pens and typewriters went on hold for a week or two.
Oh though, LOOK at the gorgeous snail mail I’ve received already, from Carolyn who attended one of my silver workshops recently, dear, long-standing blog friends Moogsmum and Driftwood and lovely Louise of Superduperthings (do pop over to her beautiful blog for a peep).
The joy of receiving a hand-written letter is hard to explain. Not only is it exciting to open the hand-addressed envelope, but also the individually written words, doodles and varying shades of ink makes each letter a thing of beauty and rather a rarity since the dawn of hastily typed emails. Each envelope is a small paper present full of a friend’s handwriting and thoughts – the words may have been the same if they’d sent me an email but the aesthetics and experience are very different.
Now that the school holidays have begun and we’ve recovered from the *coughs* viral visitor that came calling on our first day off, the project shall begin in earnest. My fountain pen and I are poised for inky action and I intend to write several letters a week.
I know Lesley has dug out her collection of old pens and Tess has even started using her elegant hand to write shopping lists but do you have a fountain pen stashed away? Might you have memories of relatives writing to you? I’d love to hear about it.
A handwritten letter, especially when the writing is as lovely as yours, is a little work of art 🙂 xxx
I do so love fountain pens. My eldest bought a cheap little calligraphy set the other day, I have my eye on it. In the same shop I was reading a book about snail mail. Wonderful, I love, love, love handwriting and letters. I love your little bird motif, I saved it from the beautiful necklace you sent me. If I get my hands on that pen, I shall write you a missive. CJ xx
I am very much in love with this entire post. Every little birdie x
very inspiring!…so much nicer to have a letter than an email 😉 lovely post x
My father always used a fountain pen to write to me at university. He has that strange sort of handwriting which looks beautiful and regular until you come to read it, at which point it's just a better version of my spider-in-the-ink handwriting!
I always used a fountain pen at school, my brother is dyslexic and his tutor encouraged him to use one as the writing is more controlled and sometimes readable. I do have a lovely collection of fountain and calligraphy pens that I rarely use any more due to children, work (I make bridal accessories) and general life taking up so much time, I would love to have the chance to write to someone, perhaps I should make my own chance.
Emma, I am greatly enjoying more fountain pen posts, and wish to update you on the status of my own fountain pen situation. I did find quite a variety of Lamy pens available through amazon, but before going that route, I've decided to try to resussitate my trust old Parker and Waterman pens. They are having a long soak in some warm water, that I keep freshening as some of the dried ink escapes from the pens.
I've invested a a fresh bottle of Waterman Mysterious Blue ink in preparation for the upcoming filling ceremony. As I recall one of these pens has a medium point, the other one has a fine point. At least one of them has a left-handed nip.
My third, even older, pen is a Parker with a tortoise shell look to its case. I remember buying it at a January Harrods sale while Ms Thatcher still ruled. Bet she used a fountain pen….
I'll keep you posted. xo
I'm another who loves a letter. I must see if I can find my 'proper' pen.
I'm fascinated too by the posting of images of text on Instagram, it seems to be a rising trend, and confirmation for me that a picture only medium is ultimately not the most rewarding form of communication.
What a lovely idea and you are correct who doesn't love a a hand written note and better yet if with a fountain pen! Thank you for thinking of this idea. I would love to join in after my daughters wedding August 22nd : ) I will check back after that and get addresses! : ) xoRobin
I would love to be part of a hand written letter group. Are you organizing one? If so, count me in. Carla
Love this post, just recently rediscovered letters written to and from my best friend when she had moved to Ireland. They were tricky times but how we howled reading back at how our younger selves dealt with them! Seriously thinking about writing a book around that time based on the letters.xxx
I still have your beautiful little box with the tiny bird on and now I know its history. It is a fact that handwritten letters are so much a thing of the past but your own handwritten blogpost is a lovely way to revive this skill. Sadly whenever I think about writing with a fountain pen I get an image of very inky fingers 😉 I was never very successful with pen and ink. Keep up the good work!
Hello Emma! I visited your blog today and was charmed by your fountain pen writings. I have done several posts about my fountain pens and writings. I just found several by googling – teresa kasner fountain pen collection. 🙂 I invite you to visit and see my pens. I *love* writing with them! I may have to try to remember to do a post by writing them in ink and photographing them.. I loved that idea. ((hugs)), Teresa 🙂
I love my birdie box almost as much as I love the necklace that was in it x
glad you liked your fountain penned post x