Dear Everyone ~
Stationery Store Day is a scant 24 shopping hours away, and I’m putting the finishing touches on my BZSSSD gift-with-purchase for everyone who stops in to shop, or shops online (between the hours of noon and 5:00 CDT), tomorrow. I’ve received numerous phone calls from customers wanting to shop in person, and I’m thrilled! Nota bene: My stash of Letterwriting stamps is limited, but fret not. Later shoppers will receive a sixsome of the 10¢ Letters Mingle Souls stamps in their BZSSSDGWP (enough to mail a first class letter).
Tomorrow’s in-person shoppers will be the first to touch new & noteworthy arrivals in the shop, and online shoppers will be able to see them all.
Velke Losiny handmade papers look & feel luscious in every colour. One of these colours—chamois—has recently been retired from the repertoire. I find its shade particularly pleasing, and I enjoy pronouncing it sham-moi. It looks as if the paper has been dipped in English Breakfast tea, elegantly evocative of vintage correspondence. If you like the shade as much as I do, dally not—as I have literally cornered the market, thanks to Pavel, my fine paper purveyor extraordinaire.
I have two splendid sizes of envelopes with matching 4 x 6 and 6 x 8 single notecards. The envelope flap is generous and deckled all the way around. The stock takes all manner of media beautifully: watercolour, graphite, coloured pencil, and even glue for collage.
Seaweed for yourself! Molesworth & Bird have recently introduced postcard set Nº 3! I’ve also replenished sets Nº 1 & Nº 2, and Nº 3 is in relatively ample supply. (I encourage you to shop while the tide is high.)
Feast your eyes (and your brush) on this lovely set of 12 sumi-e watercolours in a single sleek box. The box measures 3½ x 7¾, and the individual containers of colour measure 1 x 1¾. The colour names are listed on the lid interior in Japanese and transliterated English. The label on the lid says “kisshou,” which means: lucky, happy, auspicious. How auspicious!
Three superbly shimmery metallics are available individually: Gold, Rose Gold, and Silver. You can brush on a thick layer to achieve a sublime opacity, or use more water for a lighter shimmer. These come in a round ceramic dish measuring 2⅞ in diameter.
All the sumi-e colours, including the metallics, blend together to create an almost infinite palette. Painting colour swatches is one of my favourite pastimes. I used two Pentallic accordion books to document my colour-mixing delirium. I started with the colour at the upper left, mixing it with each of the other eleven colours. My next panel shows the second color, mixed with each of the other eleven, and so forth. This exercise provided endless amounts of calm. The combinations and permutations defy chromatic arithmetic!
But wait, there’s washi! I have added a limited-edition pattern of booksellers’ vintage labels (which used to be affixed inside a book, in the Grand Old Days). The width is ⅝", so the labels are quite petite! Their diminutive dimensions do not detract from their charm one dot.
The dreamy theme-y postage stamps scattered in my photos are from the epistolary collection of my postal muse, Alyson Kuhn. What a dandy way to convey my stamp of approval to my new offerings!
Velke Losiny notecards & envelopes
British seaweed postcard set Nº3
Set of sumi-e watercolours
Shimmery sumi-e watercolours
Booksellers’ label washi tape
Stationery, never stationary, Bari