The Art Of The Handwritten Note
By Carmela Heintzelman
When my husband and I were dating in college, I would often receive the sweetest notes in the mail from my future mother-in-law. Whether it was just to say hello or to see how I was feeling after finals were over (which often included a small gift for a job well done), I always noticed how thoughtful her notes were. When my husband and I got married, I thought I’d have to nag him about helping me write our thank you notes for wedding gifts.
I was pleasantly surprised (and a little shocked if I’m being totally honest) when he happily took the stack of notes and wrote a thoughtful thank you for the gifts we had received. I asked him about it one day, and he told me that when he was little (as soon as he was able to write his name) the rule in his family was that he and his sisters had to write a thank you note for gifts received before they were allowed to play with or use them. It instilled in him the importance of showing gratitude, even if the only words he wrote in his five-year-old handwriting were “Thank you, Jonathan.”
It shouldn’t surprise you to know that now he regularly asks me to print stationery for him, as he always likes to have a stack of notecards just in case, and we’ve established that same rule for our own children when they receive gifts.
How many times have you thought of someone and said to yourself, “I wonder how they’re doing?” or learned that someone is pregnant, sick, or suffered a loss and thought, “I should send them a note,” but never get around to it?
Having a set of notes (and postage stamps!) at the ready is the best way to act on that thought. It takes five minutes to write a quick note and drop it in the mail. It may not seem like a huge act on your part, but the recipient will be overjoyed when they come home to see a note from a friend instead of a bill in the mail!
Any type of note card is better than nothing; however, as a letterpress printer, I always recommend personalized stationery with either your name or monogram printed at the top. If you opt for letterpress, your cards will be handcrafted with ink mixed by hand and pulled one by one on an antique printing press. The result is a luxurious card with the image pressed into the paper that is sure to make an impression (literally!) on your recipient. Lovers of letterpress value the tactile qualities and handmade nature of the process, which only adds to the feeling one gets when the recipient opens the envelope.
If you’d like to know more about the letterpress process or inquire about ordering custom stationery, business cards, or invitations, please visit www.fiorepress.com or contact Carmela Heintzelman at ciao@fiorepress.com. Current projects and process videos can be found on Fiore Press’s Instagram @fiorepress
