For the love of hand-folded envelopes!

Dear Everyone ~

Today is a confluence of things we love: Valentine's Day and the second birthday of MORE Art of the Hand-folded Envelope, which debuted on February 14, 2021, which you can read about here. In honour of the occasion, Alyson Kuhn (my postal muse, envelope mentor, and creative collaborator) and I have refreshed & plumped the companion kit.

The updated kit includes supplies from several newish-to-me sources. I’ve selected cover stocks from French Paper (a wonderful all-American papermaker in Niles, Michigan; “French” is the family name) in four earthy colours: brickish red, blue butcher, krafty orange & deepest blue. There are also address labels from Portland Stamp Co., in Oregon, that are not only red bordered, but also perforated. They are assorted size-wise, from petite (for initials or a return address) to spacious. They welcome all manner of writing implements, including typewriters. If you order your MORE Art of the Hand-folded Envelope kit with tools, your official pencil (No. 2B) will be wrapped in a Tassotti paper pattern, from Bassano del Grappa in the Veneto region of Italy. 

 I am aswoon when my daily mail includes a hand-folded envelope (or two!). And even when I’m not the recipient, I am still always curious to see photos & hear more about the envelope folder’s inspiration & process. Speaking of which & whom, I recently received a handful of lovely envelopes—details and inspiration  below—and a visit from Pat Kilduff, a longtime customer who took one of my very first envelope hand-folding workshops in the studio back in 2016. The timing of her visit was auspicious.

Pat sends out Valentines instead of Holiday cards. She has been doing so for the past 10 years. And after learning to hand-fold envelopes, Pat now ensconces her handmade Valentine cards in a one-of-a-kind handmade envelope. This year she sent out 70! I would have loved to see & share with you her tabletop whilst she was in the midst of folding, scoring and cutting, but by the time we met last week, she said, “I have already swept up the evidence”. But she did send me a few photos of her envelopes and cards, and expressed, “Here is a sample of this year’s cards. Thank you for setting me on this path!”

I recently received two envelopes hand-folded by Alyson, in honour of the Year of the Rabbit. Her petite 5 x 5 envelope held a notecard showcasing the Canadian Lunar New Year stamp design from 2011. Alyson made her envelopes for this series from either an 8½ x 11 or an A4 sheet. Her “big bunny” envelope is made from the rabbit page of the 1993 Pentagram calendar, featuring designer/artist Alan Fletcher’s representations of all 12 animals, composed of ephemera collected on his travels. This envelope is a center-ish seam, to show off the Years of the Rabbit and the calendar’s spiral-trim. The 5 x 5 envelopes are announcement-style, with a deep seal flap.

Here is an array of hand-folded envelopes I’ve received from various correspondents, made from delightfully diverse materials (starting at 12:00): a book page; wrapping paper; painted paper; New Yorker cover; a personal doodle; sheet music; and a page from Katie Scott’s Botanicum. An embarrassment of epistolary riches? Never!