BuZzeS: My Chatty Valentine

Dear Everyone ~

Last week, I received a lovely collection of thoughts in the mail from the kind heart and vintage typewriter of Kim Soo, a paper crafter & envelope folding enthusiast. Her letter begins “I compose this note of thanks to you on some lovely Cara Pura Zeichenblock paper supplied by your amazing shoppe.” Kim Soo goes on to say, “My 1940s Smith-Corona Silent (not so silent) typewriter requires and deserves nothing less than this cotton joy.”
 
The bookmark she enclosed is a scrap-happy tour de force. “You might,” she writes, “recognize its parts, ebulliently joined, from the Extremely Exquisite Scraps from November 2024’s Studio Sale. I could not bear to scrap the smallest scraps…”

I didn’t have time to reply to Kim Soo on the lyrical level I wanted to, but I shared photos of her oeuvre (letter, bookmark, envelope) with my Postal Muse, who offered to reach out and delve for details so I could share Kim Soo’s epistolary elegance & eloquence for this Valentines Day post. Alyson & Kim Soo had what I can only describe as a highly illustrated chat! Kim Soo has graciously agreed to let us share some tidbits herein.

Kim Soo grew up corresponding with her favorite cousin, Claire. They’ve been at it for over 40 years now. They occasionally communicate electronically… and their daughters “are besties and electronic correspondents (until further coached). And, our husbands are similarly connected. A large part of this strengthening community has been corresponding and keeping in touch over the miles and decades.”

Kim Soo is currently reveling in her copy of Syme’s Letter Writer, and when Alyson asked her for a photo of her creative space, Kim Soo spontaneously styled her own mise-en-scène in the spirit of this illustration from the book. The Underwood on Kim Soo’s desk is her “other typewriter,” named Francis; the Smith-Corona on which she typed her Valentine to me is named Tom.

 Kim Soo definitely doesn’t type on the drop-down “leaf” of her Deco-era desk, which has been in her life since the mid-’90s. To the right of Francis (the Underwood), Kim Soo placed her June 1977 letter from Claire, which concludes, “Please write back.” We say, Words to live and love by! The tour of her accessories and accoutrements continues: “My favorite fountain pen is on the left upper corner. The yellow pencil cup is actually a paper-covered can that another dear friend and Pen Pal sent me literally on its own through the mail in the 90’s—another inspiration to correspond that well-earned its place. His handwritten message to the postal worker still makes me smile. To the far right are little items I like to write upon/send.” As for the family photos, Kim Soo annotates: “Atop, you will see a photo of my grandfather, a WW2 U.S. Navy veteran who still inspires and warms my heart, and he is the common ancestor with my cousin, the little girl with bangs on the left.”

As you might imagine, Alyson plans to mail her first envelope (hand-folded, natch) to Kim Soo today, hand-cancelled “February 14.”

May your Valentine’s Day be filled with xoxtra love, Bari

BuZzeS: Accordion Book meets Boxy Portfolio

Dear Everyone ~

I am doubly delighted to debut my first group Zoom workshop of 2025: Hardcover Accordion Book in a Boxy Portfolio. My two inspirations for this workshop are… More is more and Why not?

This is a perfect pairing of two structures—one boxy and one bookish—that require no stitching.
Either structure is lovely & useful on its own. And we are taking this opportunity to showcase our new papers from Carta Pura, made in Italy. (Certamente, we have promptly given them Italianate names.)

The first structure students will make is a 5" x 7" x 1" portrait-format accordion book with hardcovers. The book has 20 Stonehenge panels (Here’s the accordion arithmetic: 5" wide x 20 panels = nearly 3 yards when open fully). The second structure is a boxy portfolio measuring 5¼" x 7¼" x 1¼" with three gusseted flaps reinforced with complementary Italian decorative papers. The portfolio’s closure is a length of vintage ribbon and the spine has a well defined recess, spacious enough for a title label of your choosing.

The materials I’ve selected for this workshop pair two bookbinding classics. A linen bookcloth—understated but elegant—that is delightful to glue and looks smart next to the Italian papers, whose patterns are wonderfully reminiscent of my early bookbinding days. Many bene: We have cut the papers in your kit to a size that allows you to decide which pattern to use for your portfolio and which to use for your accordion book covers. Ruby & I have mixed & matched three palettes, and Alyson named them appropriately: Siena (pairing Murano & Rosso Classico), Padova (pairing Galileo & Castello), and Verona (pairing Piccolo Rosso & Palazzo). Verona, of course, was the home of one of Shakespeare’s most famous pairings.

If this workshop is calling to you—whether in a whisper or an aria— but you're concerned about the glueing portion, may we suggest our Introduction to Glueing Happiness live-recorded lesson as a warm-up? You will (1) experience glueing five distinctive bookbinding materials; (2) learn to make a hinged book cover; (3) acquire the skill to wrap a perfect corner; (4) learn how grain direction impacts the glueing process; (5) practice ways to minimize glueing mishaps; and (6) last but nary least, learn to care for your glue brush. The recorded lesson is 3-ish hours, and you can absolutely watch-and-glue in installments, though tuning in for a “full-length performance” is the ideal.

 As always, I will record Hardcover Accordion Book in a Boxy Portfolio in real time, and it will be available to you later the same afternoon to watch and rewatch at your leisure. No previous bookbinding experience is necessary, though some glueing experience is a plus. You will have ample time during each step to ask questions while we work. If you have any questions now, please feel free to call or e me to discuss! 

Hardcover Accordion Book in a Boxy Portfolio
 
Boxy moxie, Bari

P.S.
Exceptionally, the shop will be closed this Thursday, February 13. Regular hours resume Friday at 12pm. And Ruby will be dispensing very last-minute valentinear inspirations and tiny origami hearts.
 
P.P.S.
The Italian patterned papers will be available individually as of March 1, after workshop students have had a suitable palette-perusing interlude.  

BuZzeS: Garden of gorgeous notebooks, gallery of great greetings

Dear Everyone ~

Everything’s coming up paper! For starts, we’ve brought in a big bouquet of notebooks from Kiran Ravilious. They are petite (4⅛ x 5¾), exactly the height of a LePen. The 24 unlined natural white pages are lightish in weight, toothy in texture, and well suited for any medium.

Crafty aside: The cover designs all extend across the back. The cover is robust enough that you can repurpose it—not as a hat, a brooch, or a pterodactyl—but as a notecard, a postcard, or a gift tag. A slip of a tip for removing the staples seamlessly: Open the notebook so it’s fairly flat and you are looking at the “center spread.” Slide the actual tip of your Shipping Clerk’s Knife under one of the prongs and lift, repeat on the other prong. Next, flip your notebook face down, so cover up, and slide the tip of your SCK under the staple and lift gently. Voilà! 

You can also make a charmola envelope (We suggest a true center seam, with a 2" top flap.) in which to present the notebook. It’s sure to find favour.

Paper Bird cards have been restocked, plus two new-to-us designs. Hang tags and pencils and tubes, O my! Scissors and stampers and birdies to boot! Hi-ho! 

Also from Paper Bird...  several beguiling landscapes by Janine Burrows

Notecards by nature artist James Winrow have finally arrived after a week-long birdseye tour of the Midwest. They’ve seen post offices in several cities, including Indianapolis, Oshkosh, and Oak Creek. They, and we, are delighted to confirm that they are now resettled and available individually, as well as in a set of six. 

Kiran Ravilious
Paper Bird
James Winrow

Note time like the present, Bari
 
P.S.
Perfectly square pencil shavings (PS x 2) cards are up to so good, from a sapphire sea to a candle’s glow, from a tile roof to a party hat….

P.P.S.
Enveloped with curiosity about the patterned paper I’ve made the notebook’s cozy from? Next week we will be debuting BZS’s first workshop of 2025!

BuZzeS: V is for Valentines and visits and vermilion

Dear Everyone ~

We hope you are feeling very Valentinear… and perhaps even in the pink. Herewith some additional inspiration & supplies, starting with a layer-by-layer look at the first valentine I’ve received this season.

I’m thrilled to report that after a fortnight in the mail stream, my ARK x 2 Valentine arrived this past Monday! My postal muse (a.k.a. ARK I) & I like to think it had been detoured for display in our imaginary Envelope Museum for a time, hence its delay. Fortunately, even fortuitously, it arrived in perfect shape, and Alyson & Audrey LOVE that I’ve asked to share all its parts here.

The Rivoli Rose outer envelope (6¼ x 9, a large envelope by USPS standards) was franked with a quartet of Mary Faulconer’s 20¢ LOVE stamps from 1982 and Jeanne Greco’s courtly stamps from 2009. Ms. Greco used images from eighteenth-century French playing cards as a reference, per a lovely press release from the National Postal Museum that also noted, The issuance of the King and Queen of Hearts, the latest stamps in the Love series, pays tribute to the world's favorite “game.” Touché! Reverting to Rivoli Rose, we are now stocking these perfectly pale pink envelopes in five sizes, from Presentation (9 x 12½) to Enclosure (2½ x 3¼). Think pink!

The inner envelope was hand-folded by Alyson with paper provided by Audrey. I love the idea of using a slightly larger presentation envelope to enclose another envelope, in this case a gorgeous hand-folded one. It’s like a gift inside a gift. 

Note that Alyson’s envelope flap performed a feat of seamless serendipity. This is one of the delights of hand-folding patterned papers, the moment when you have folded two parts of your envelope to meet each other… and discover that the back of your envelope is its own thing of beauty! Hand-folding without a template allows you to finesse & finagle these felicities. Our MORE Art of the Hand-folded Envelope kit provides inspirations, instructions—16 pages worth—and charming illustrations by our in-house watercolourist Janet Bouldin. And if you’d like a luscious sampler in seasonal hues, may we suggest Ruby & Rosy assorted sheets for folding & beholding?

Audrey’s note was particularly heartfelt. She wrote that Valentines is one of her favourite occasions to send mail because it reminds her of her mom. My mother also loved making Valentines. By the time my nieces arrived (so to speak), my mom’s Valentines had become works of art. My sister in-law has them stored safely away & Audrey’s note has reminded me to ask my sister-in-law for an audience with them so I may photo-document. And the heart sticker the ARKs used to seal their outer envelope flap was reminiscent of heart stickers my mom gifted me back in the day. Palm on my heart, ARKs!

Alyson & Audrey also enclosed a Valentine acronym they had collaborated on: Valentinear Accessories Luxe little Enclosures, Neatly Tucked In. Now it’s your turn! Embellish away! Spread the (heart sticker). They invite you to use their acronym in your valentines, to inspire your correspondents! Seen above is my version.

Last week, I received an in-shop visit from Denise, proprietress of the Letters Mingle Souls postcard sending service that I mentioned in my Amplitude of Gratitude blog post last autumn. She presented me with a bouquet of hyacinths and a charming handwritten note. I love the opportunity to [insert adjective of your choice]! Whilst she was visiting, Will—our beloved mail carrier—happened to stop by to deliver mail & pick up parcels. Denise recognized him and exclaimed, “You’re the mailman from the blog posts!” Will’s face lit up and he said, “That's me!”… and Denise told him that she had been in a previous BZS blog post as well. Heartwarming all ’round.

 Until February 14, Ruby is including a little love with every online and in-shop pick-up order, by attaching a petite Cambridge Imprint origami heart to the BZS postcard she writes. 

Rivoli Rose Envelopes
 
S.W.A.K, Bari
 
PS:
Last week, the Bird Valentine by PasteSF flew out of the shop in formation. More are flying in and we expect them to land early next week. The online shop is updated for pre-sales and we will ship them post haste.

BuZzeS: Valentinear supplies & inspirations

Dear Everyone ~

Valentine’s Day is around the calendar corner, and we are at the ready with a hearty array of Valentinear supplies and inspirations. We hope these papery pleasures will make your heart sing as much as your recipients’. Here are a few of our favourite things to do with the supplies we love.

Front & Center: Cambridge Imprint’s Origami Heart Bunting kits, whether you’re making an entire garland or merely in the mood to fold a myriad of hearts to give out—to your heart’s content. CI recently refreshed the box’s covering with their Bean Summer Pudding pattern; the kit also includes four sheets of that design.

Ruby decided to garland our in-shop counter with Cambridge Imprint origami hearts… and as she began to fold… inspiration knocked, or whispered. “I improvised an additional, optional way to give the heart a subtle and sweet extra roundedness. I folded down the small points at the top middle of the heart—on either side of the middle fold—onto the back, just a touch, to align with the horizontal fold on the back of the heart. Whether you prefer your heart to be more acute or obtuse is up to you!” We say V for virtuosity and voluptuo’sity! 

Also from Cambridge Imprint are ruby-rosy-blushy small labels that look lovely on almost any surface, from an envelope to a Glue Jr. jar, from a gift-tag to a notebook.

 Scene below is one of my Origami-esque gusset envelopes from our Hand-folding Envelope Happiness  workshop, pouring forth tiny origami hearts. May we say charmola?

Bird Valentine is our freshest design from Denise Fiedler at Paste, and we had a chance to ask her about it. She started by saying, “I work so intuitively, I don’t actually think about what I’m making in a way I can express.” Maybe that’s partly why we like her work so much… but can’t exactly say why!

Denise spontaneously shared her philosophy of Valentine’s Day in general, “We all have love inside us, and we manifest it by our presence as well as by our actions. Valentine’s Day is all about the other person. I use animals to ‘deliver’ love. Birds to me symbolize spirit, so a small bird delivering an oversized Valentine seemed natural to me. I used a vintage label and selected a soft, romantic font.” So, we had to ask Denise about a big animal, her elephant. She said, “The elephant’s eye conveys emotion—if I were to illustrate a person, it would be less universal, the wrong gender, the wrong age, etc.—and the elephant is presenting the flowers through his trunk, which is how he breathes. So, it’s a breath of love, even if you don’t analyze it and just enjoy the image.”

As for Denise’s floral cards, we always love them… and we happen to know that her studio is in a former florist’s shop.
 
Two of my beloved paper-iest correspondents have sent me a joint valentine. Alyson, a.k.a. My Postal Muse, and her niece Audrey each wrote me a little love note, enveloped with a  multitude of LOVE stamps, and my name in Audrey’s signature stripes. In stationery serendipity, they share the same initials, ARK. A mutual correspondent has taken to addressing them as ARK I and ARK II. Their envelope to me is the debut of ARK x 2! In our forthcoming Valentinear post, I'll decant their envelope for you in delightful detail.

And last but nary least, the latest addition to our Pencil Shaving greeting card repertoire is sure to make a recipient’s heart smile from ear to ear, as we love to say. And Ruby is going to hand embellish one to enchant & entice, as you will see.

 
We wish you many heart-filled & inspired moments whilst assembling & sending your warmest wishes to your nearests and dearests.

Origami Heart Bunting kits
PasteSF collage cards
Pencil Shaving greeting cards
Valentinian labels
 
Share the love freely, Bari

BuZzeS: A post mostly about mail

Dear Everyone ~

For me, last year ended on a high note in terms of incoming mail, and 2025 is off to an auspicious start.

Many people—other than me— send greeting cards or annual letters to friends & family over the holidays. For some, it’s their major written communiqué of the year, their way of keeping in touch. I know that some people actually make huge lists; others channel a specific intention or ritual around assembling their cards. In contrast, my epistolary endeavours are episodic, which is not to say totally random. When inspiration knocks, or pops into my head, I aim to act on that… before I get distracted. My missives—much as I love the word—tend to be on the shortish side. I like to think that what they lack in length… they make up for in enveloping & embellishing, and franking & feeling.

One notable piece of incoming mail was a holiday card from Deborah R. in Monterey—even though it was not for me. This was the second time Deborah had written to Will, my beloved mail carrier, c/o of BZS. He opened it with Ruby & me, and read it aloud to us. It was so heartwarming to get to see his expression… and then he gave me the huge hug that Deborah would have loved. I truly love that Will is part of the BZS community.

I told Deborah all this and asked her if I could share some of the “postal love” she radiates. She wrote back, expanding on the sentiment: “When our power was out for 2 days, our mail carrier pulled up with our mail as if nothing was going on, and it was so good to see him. Remember how especially precious it was to receive mail during the pandemic? I kept socially distant, but always thanked any delivery person—and particularly our postal carrier for keeping me sane by delivering art supplies and kits for classes. I ordered several items from Awagami in Japan, too, and when they arrived I sent them a photo of the opened box on my table and all the items when they were unwrapped. My message was one of thanksgiving, for sending me a treasure chest of nicely wrapped items.”

Maili, my neighbour at Soutache, the ribbon & button shop down the block, always takes herself to California to visit friends, after the holiday rush settles. It is her tradition to send a postcard for my postcard wall, and I’m always smitten by her selection. I love that she finds the time, in the short time she is there, to find a postcard, and send it! She declares she always travels with postage stamps. (Nota bene: Maili’s name is not pronounced “mail-y”—it’s mile-y, rhymes with smiley.)

Armel, a customer for almost a decade now, is a world traveler. He has become a friend, and he always sends a postcard no matter where he is in the world. Once it was from the depths of Russia, once it was from Kazakhstan. The postcard I received most recently—literally on New Year’s Eve Day—was posted right here in Chicago—though it was a card Armel had picked up in Nova Scotia over a year ago. He wrote that it was one of the most peaceful places he’d ever been. His sign-off was ‘off to get my morning tea’. 

Mary, a friend & avid correspondent from the West Coast, was recently in Amsterdam. She opted to send me a ladybug care package upon her return to the States. She wrote, “It turns out that Amsterdam is full of card shops … and no post offices … Really! You buy stamps at the grocery store and send packages from local retailers…”

Gabriele from Innsbruck sent me a beguiling holiday card she had made only using scraps from her bookbinding projects past. When I e’d her to thank her for thinking of me, she said, “I had the idea to use the many beautiful scraps from my bookbinding endeavors to make cards when you posted a card with a coffee pot by one of the many great artists you feature in your blog.” (That would be Janet Bouldin, our resident watercolourist, whose non-collage domestic illustrations are available here.)

Cat B. sent one of her cheery botanical collages made from painted papers, and I spy a few tiny Cambridge Imprint bits. Her P.S. ‘This card is a little reminder that spring always comes after winter!’ 
 
All this has me percolating about Valentine’s Day as it draws near. It's a lovely occasion for sending endearments & embellishments. A little love, or appreciation, or admiration, goes a long way to brighten someone’s day. Next week, we will showcase an array of Valentinear supplies & inspirations, including a quartet of cards from Denise Fiedler at Paste, Ruby’s origami-heart folding innovation, and ruby-rosy-blushy labels from Cambridge Imprint.
 
Plan to make your Feb. fab, Bari
 
PS:
Mini-merch mention: If you’ve been mulling about purchasing a Hahnemühle pad, as of today our new supply is more than half gone. It will be several months before we pad the next batch.

BuZzeS: Fresh Hahnemühle pads, finale of vintage Kodai, flight of Paper Bird cards

Dear Everyone ~

For those of you who have been longing for a re-stock of our bespoke & beloved Hahnemühle pads: your wait is over. Kevin, who’d first called way back in September to enquire, had requested updates on the pads’ progress. Last week, he was the first customer to see the voluminous stacks. He purchased two pads, choosing a duo of Janet Bouldin’s postcards to accompany each. He declared with a smile, So. Worth. The. Wait!

Later that afternoon, another customer, who hadn’t shopped in some time, gravitated to the pads, placed his new pad on the counter, in addition to the notebooks he’d come in specifically for, and said, Oh, this makes me so happy. And it was quite a pleasure to ship Ann, who’d emailed back in December, optimistically enquiring, her three pads, each one wrapped individually (as scene below). So, six pads have already gone to their new homes. As often, supplies are limited, so pad on in (or over to your phone) to avoid disappointment. 

 I’ve decided to part with my final assortment of vintage Japanese crinkly Kodai papers from my Aiko’s reserve. Sheet sizes range from 8" x 12" to 19" x 34.5". With your purchase, you will also receive a link to my recording, How-to-glue Kodai papers. In this video, I demonstrate how to glue a case-bound cover with a cloth spine + crinkly Kodai front & back covers, as well as a case-bound cover with the Kodai wrapping around from front to back. 

AND: Paper Bird bookmark cards—which flew out of stock in December—have flown back in and are amply restocked. We’ve added two dreamy new designs, Stormy Sunset by Tjitske Kamphuis and Jekyll Garden Lindisfarne by Janine Burrows.

Kit for a Bookful of Travel

Dear Everyone ~

At BZS, the new year began with a buzz of kit assembly for Bookful of Travel (Nº 15). The four-week session starts on Saturday, January 18—barely a fortnight from today. 

The kits themselves are traveling far and wide. We’ve already dispatched an international parcel to our first-ever student in Hong Kong, where it is 14 hours ahead of Chicago. We would love for this student to join the workshop live, and we’ll see (we hope!). If so, we’ll have students from seven time zones virtually together simultaneously!

Another parcel is en route to Austria, and two will be on their way to Canada mid-week. Even though the Canadian postal strike ended a couple of weeks ago, the USPS will only begin accepting parcels for Canada this coming Wednesday (the 8th). The two Canadian students are both Bookful all-timers, and they’ve been less anxious than I about the situation. In the U.S., parcels are winging their way to destinations from the middle of the Pacific to the Atlantic seaboard.

When I travel, as you might imagine, I consider for hours on end, not what clothes I’ll pack… but which sketchbook I will travel with. On many trips, I’ve taken more sketchbooks than I could possibly fill. On our most recent trip to the UK, I settled on taking a hinged bookcover + butterfly-clip I had taught in my Introduction to Glueing Happiness (Season 3) workshop. It was perfect for travelling with loose papers that I love to draw and write on. I then added an accordion to the inside of the back cover and attached hand-folded envelopes from Cambridge Imprint papers for each of my destinations to enclose bits and bobs of whatever papery delights I’d collected, from business cards to bookmarks, from receipts to coffee rewards cards from the different cafes we’d visited. This “system” turned out to be incredibly and perfectly useful on my trip. See below! 

 Cat recently shared with me an entertaining story about a trip she had taken many years ago: “When I think about my own travels, it’s rarely the perfect hotel I remember or the sights. I remember the adventure. Once we went to a Greek island. We were excited to experience what we’d often read about. Think Leonard Cohen on the island of Hydra—love, writing books, long days sipping wine in the sun! But in our place, we ended up sleeping in a bamboo hut with a leaking roof and a starving donkey braying outside all night. And it was so hot we could barely walk! My mother nailed it when I related our adventure. ‘That’s a trip you’ll never forget!’ she said. ‘You’d soon forget a nice hotel!’ So true. On that trip, we learned to just flow with it. We survived! And we still laugh about it!”

Maybe you traveled in 2024 and would like to look back on, or commemorate, your trip(s) using ephemera you’ve collected—rather than tucking them away somewhere. Or maybe you’d like the inspiration of anticipation as you prepare for an upcoming trip, so you plan how to document it in a meaningful way. And even if it’s armchair travel you’re musing about, we would love for you to join us for another Bookful adventure! Cat & I look forward to sharing stories and making books with you in this four-session workshop via Zoom, soon! And if you haven’t yet registered but would like to, book your Bookful and I’ll book-y to the Post Office to expedite your kit!

Bookful of Travel
 
Bound for a Bookful of adventure, Bari
 
PS:
We will be debuting a new blog post format for the new year. We’re calling it BuZzeS, and our goal will be More musing, more merch, more often. Stay tuned for BuZzeS No. 1 next week.

Very Merry Merch Moments

Dear Everyone ~

We are delighted to announce a fresh assortment of Bundle of Stationery Joy à la Japonaiserie, a binder’s dozen of them to be exact. A bundle is a super gift for anyone resolved to become a more frequent (or dressier) correspondent in 2025. We’ve assembled each one with a new array of envelopes & notecards from artists & designers around the globe: from James Winrow (UK) to Marimekko (Sweden), from Wms & Co (Brooklyn!) to Art Press (UK), plus a single envelope hand-folded by me from Shizen (India) or Cambridge Imprint paper (UK) or a calendar page! All ’shikied in a large piece of vintage Japanese decorative paper from my reserves, beribboned with vintage Japanese cording. The thirteen wraps are all different, and each is paired with a Jumbeau pencil hand-wrapped in complementary Japanese paper. 

Backtracking a few weeks: Whilst in the UK last month, I was motoring around one afternoon with my sister-in-law, exploring a recommended destination in northern Wales. While on our mission, I spied a beguiling selection of cards by Paper Bird Publishers. Two artists caught my immediate attention: Tjitske Kamphuis and Janine Burrows. Yes, I purchased several cards on the spot, and can confirm that the lusciously thick stock they are printed on takes ink beautifully. I reached right out to PBP to ask if they’d ship to the US. They would indeed, and they did! I am beyond delighted to welcome these charming cards to BZS. And I am doubly delighted to be their very first US stockist.

N.B. (Nota Bene and Neatly Brilliant): a 2-inch strip of the front image is printed on the backside of the card, which you could slice off to use as a bookmark (or gift tag). A dotted line & tiny scissors icon offer encouragement, with a little caption that reads ‘for the bookworm’. We love that!

In other paper-related news, we’ve added a handsome sketch pad from Hahnemühle. Both Ruby and Janet have already tested the paper with their favoured medium (seen here or below). The paper is 100% cotton, warm-ish white, with a toothy finish. A lovely touch: a single sheet of unprinted translucent paper lies inside the cover, as the top sheet of the pad. You can certainly re-use it for your own creative purposes. Lovely detail: in the lower left corner of the cover, the word Drawing is foil-stamped in silver, as are Hahnemühle and their logo at top.

Ruby observed, “The sheets have such a pleasant, toothy texture for a lighter weight paper. There is much excitement at the thought of experimenting with other mediums on this paper, for doodling, or more intricate projects.”

Janet affirmed, “The tablet is the perfect size for small sketches—or to fill the pages with larger works! The paper has some tooth to it, but not enough to interfere with the sketch. The paper will also take a light wash of watercolour with little buckling, and easily handles drier watercolour. It is Hahnemühle’s usual fine quality, pure cotton paper. That company never disappoints.”

If you’d like any of your purchases wrapped more seasonally than our snowy white tissue, let me know, and I’ll see what I can come up with for you!

An amplitude of gratitude

Dear Everyone ~

I’m typing to you on Thanksgiving whilst I have an ovenful of turkey, with a heartful of warmth and gratitude. I am grateful for the BZS community, for the technology that connects us, for the correspondence we exchange, and for actual visitors from near and far. Before I started writing this, I took a look at my previous Thanksgiving posts… and I confess that when rereading them, my heart floweth over again. They all reminded me of the magnitude of my gratitude! Here’s my Binder’s Dozen of Gratitude from 2021, and my Display of Gratitude from 2022. 

Fast forward to this year’s cornucopia and several very fresh BZS memorable moments. I always love when someone comes into the shop and announces, I’m visiting from such & such, or I’ve been following you on IG for some time, or I’m a big fan, or I was in Chicago for one reason or another and had to come see BZS.  Well, this past week, it happened twice!

On Tuesday, I happened to be in the shop, wrapping and packing up Studio Sale orders. (We were technically closed, per our new hours.) An IG follower, and maker of beautiful books, dropped in, all the way from California. He said he was a big fan, and that he’d made a special detour to visit BZS. He added that the only other place he wanted to see was Wrigley Field! 
 
Last Saturday morning, I admit to reeling a bit & reveling a lot from the kick-off of Studio Sale 2024… when I received an email from Sarah R.—also a Californian. Sarah has taken several Bookfuls via Zoom. She wrote, I’m in Chicago and will be stopping by your store today, hope I get to see you!! Sarah. She materialized shortly thereafter, we chatted, she shopped... and then she was gone. Hugs coming and going, of course, and an hour later Sarah emailed to bemoan that we hadn’t gotten a photo together! I attributed it to being swept up in the moment. This has inspired me to begin a guestbook for 2025, with room for visitors to write their comments—and for me to write my recollections in the moment-ish.

Three-ish weeks ago when I returned home from our trip to the UK, a small stack of mail was awaiting me. An envelope from Alyson (my postal muse) & Audrey (her niece) was a Hallowe’en hallo à la collaboration. They made their “spooky mail” (Audrey’s term) together, from styling the envelope, to selecting theme postage, to both penning a message on the card. This is a somewhat new-ish to me form of missive writing, sharing a card. I realize it’s a double happiness of sorts, both for the senders (who are commemorating an interlude together) and for the receiver.

I also had a joint postcard from Alyson and Karen E., a native Chicagoan transplanted to California. Karen is an avid correspondent, whose missives typically include her wonderful watercolours. She contributed to my Après–Thanksgiving gratitude post from last year. Her illustration of watercolour art was Coffee is a kind of magic you can drink, and when they were together in San Francisco last month, Karen showed Alyson the incredible illustrated (with companion quotes) book collaboration she had made with another watercolourist friend, also named Karen! Karen penned her message at the top of the postcard, Alyson penned the finale, and had it hand-cancelled at the Sutter St. Station in downtown SF.

Also in my mail-mix was a postcard from Denise, from Chicago, in her signature style. Her postcard subscription service is aptly named Letters Mingle Souls, and featured one of her postcards in our A toast to anniversary post, which you can see here. I have a lovely collection of Denise’s postcards, many of which grace my postcard wall in the studio. Her cards always include well-hyphoned placed captions and lovely bits of decorative paper. The quote she used this time is particularly profound, and apropos of the moment. 

Even if you don’t have a postcard wall, I encourage you to put your incoming correspondence somewhere that you can enjoy it. Alyson recently sent me this charming photo of how she’s displaying her incoming correspondence (and envelopes, of course!). At left is my recent envelope to Alyson— with a pair of stamps, both showing other stamps! And below is Alyson dressed to match the card (with a mug I had given her years ago).

On my recent  trip, I took along my envelope-making supplies, hoping I could get caught up with my correspondence, even though that would be a tall order. I managed to fold a large handful of envelopes. I didn’t have a proper cutting surface, so improvised with a piece of corrugated from a shipping box. It was quite satisfying nonetheless to hand-fold envelopes outside of the studio! Additionally, I used the off-cuts from the corners of the envelopes to make a few collages. Seen here is the little table I managed to fill to the brim with all things paper and correspondence.

My deepest bow to Everyone who continues to appreciate, connect, and support Bari Zaki Studio. I would not be here without you!

And to Everyone who helps me bring the BZS love to you: Alyson (seen above), Ruby (top left below), Cat & Janet (top right below), Emmy (mid-left below), Tammy (not seen here), my beloved Zak in his gardening garb (mid-right below), and, not at all least, Will, my dependable & soulful mail carrier (holding up a letter that a customer had sent him c/o BZS).

 Heart of hearts at tippy top: Robb Morgan's handiwork (February 2022). Hand: at top is Audrey Kuhn's H illustration from the Abecedary (May 2024).

Wishing you a Thanksgiving filled with light, love, and many delicious leftovers!

XO, Bari