Love your Handwriting
I have heard from many of our customers that they love beautiful stationery and cards but really don't love their own handwriting. We do so very little handwriting these days that for many of us our handwriting muscles are truly out of shape. Like any skill you can get back into shape and improve your handwriting with a few tips and practice!
Penmanship is a real art form and there is a real "International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting (IAMPETH). While joining this club may not be on your bucket list, they can offer us a few tips to put us on the road to better penmanship.
- Assess your handwriting. Write out a sample and scrutinize each letter looking for what can be improved.
- Find a sample of a style that you would like to emulate. Check out the limitless handwriting fonts online and print out the alphabet.
- Visualize the letter shapes as you write.
- Practice writing each letter in the air. Write great big "air letters" visualizing each shape.
- Warm up. On a sheet of lined paper make a series of squiggles, loops and shapes similar to the letters without having to concentrate on the details of each letter. Just let your fingers warm up through the repetition of moving through letter-like shapes over and over.
- Pay some attention to posture and paper position. Sit in a comfortable upright chair. Keep your paper in from of you at an angle. You will also want to practice moving your hand across the page as you write.
- Slow Down! This will likely make the biggest difference at first. Keep your sample lettering in front of you and carefully "draw" each letter at first.
- Practice, practice, practice! Before long you'll discover your true inner penman (penwoman)! Also a little wine doesn't hurt - just to relax a bit :).
Window Shopping
It looks like many of us won't be able to give our grandkids a big hug on Easter Sunday :(. Consider sending an unbelievably cuddly Jellycat stuffed bunny to do the job for you!
This is just one of the items we have available in our new "Window Shop". We've transformed our windows along 152nd and on 9th Ave. into a (very) low-tech "catalog" of sorts! We've tried to include a variety of items. Each is labeled with an item number, name and price. We couldn't put candles in the window because of the sun but if there is a candle scent that you have been craving we are happy to get that to you as well.
So, how does it work? Just send us an email at info@paperdelights.com with your name, address and phone number. Include the item numbers and names of the goodies you want. If you want something that is not in the window, describe it in the email and we will do our best to get that to you as well!. We will call you with a total and you can give us your credit card over the phone. If you live in the Burien/Normandy park area we will arrange to drop off your treasures outside your home in one day for free (what else do we have to do?). We can also arrange for a pick up outside our shop or (for a shipping fee) we can drop it in the mail.
We miss you! We miss being in our little shop and like everyone we miss normalcy! At the same time we are grateful that the COVID-19 has not struck anyone that we know and we hope the same it true for you. On the upside we love the creativity that these new circumstances have inspired. We love the lack of traffic, we love ZOOM, and we love jigsaw puzzles (who new they were addictive?).
Drop by and take a peek! We hope to hear from you soon! Take care :)
We miss you already!
Feels sad to shut our doors and move into this abyss of unknown. We feel healthy, you all look healthy to us and yet we need to ignore these observations and take the advice of our leaders. We've seen what can happen in other countries and we know this is the right approach.
So hang in there, hopefully we will find some silver linings. I know many of you are teaching kids at home. No doubt you'll develop some creative new ways of doing this and learn some things you may not have known about your kids' learning skills along the way!
I am determined to use this new-found time to learn something new...macrame? drawing? new work-out routine (at home)... I have a feeling we will all be a bit different when we resume our lives. Certainly we will have gained a new feeling of camaraderie and an appreciation of life without boundaries!
A big thank you to all of our wonderful, kind, concerned customers/friends. We can't wait to celebrate with you when we are all at the healthy end of this!! Take care! See you then!