Wondrous Wanderlust Papers

Dear Everyone ~

I’m delighted to debut a lust-worthy range of decorative papers by Wanderlust Paper from England. I discovered this line thanks to Emery Kennett, my nimble shop assistant & paper pal plenipotentiary, who brought me a lone, lovely sheet of the Pink Flora pattern from her trip to the UK last summer. Yes, I swooned, and then I immediately made a buttonhole-stitch book using the BZS paper sandwich technique! (See below.)

Recently, I have glued a constellation of Navy Stars to two book covers in process. The results are, well, stellar.

The Wanderlust Papers score, fold, and glue beautifully! They also crease almost magically. They are perfect for bookbinding, boxmaking, wrapping & envelope making. Sheets measure 19¾ x 27½, and they are heavy yet supple (100 gsm). The paper itself has a charming name—Callisto Pearl—and it is indeed perfectly pearly: warm in tone and super-smooth to the touch. The inks sit vibrantly atop the matte finish.

I have stocked an array of seven patterns, identified by their wanderluscious names. I will comment that the Gingham pattern is mildly mesmerizing—the Blue could be called Indigo Plaid.

Wanderlust Papers

Bookward (my new favourite word) — Bari

P.S.S.
Preview Studio Sale!

Friday, November 18, at 8 p.m. (CST) marks the beginning moment of this year’s virtual studio sale. The studio sale preview page is now live. We hope you will be wreathed in smiles. BZS books and accessories on offer include several screw-post binders, several buttoned-up envelope booklet sets, a duo of deluxe large pamphlet-stitched books, a trio of envelope-cases, one long-stitch-link-stitch book with a pair of bound-in handmade envelopes; a concertina (accordion) album whose panels span 5½ ft, and a pencil caddy & noteholder in a pear tree.

Mighty fine sketchbook musings & perusings!

Dear Everyone ~

This past summer I debuted the Mighty-fine-nine-signature-spine-book (MFNSSB) workshop via group Zoom. I had taught it in person pre-pandemic, and then Gabriele in Austria was my first Zoom student. You can read her delightful “report”, and see her beaming with her book, here.

In the group Zoom, we started by preparing our signatures, cover, stitching template, and spine…and then began to stitch our first three rows. Everyone stitched the remaining six rows on their own, with my video for reference. Some students completed their books that very evening, some a little later, and all were incredible to see! Yes, as usual, I requested photos of the finished books. What I really would have loved to see would be all the books lined up in a row! The five books at the top of this post were made by me, before, during & after the workshops.

Several students wrote to say how much they had enjoyed the process…and that they wanted to make more! Indeed, a couple of students had purchased extra kits before the workshop. Maria ordered two extra kits when she registered…and an additional four kits shortly after the workshop. She wrote: “The five books I’ve made have ended up in Northern England, Norfolk VA, Philadelphia, Florida, and Michigan. One friend has said she will use her book to write her favorite poems in. I am happy as long as they are used—grocery lists and to-do lists, the poetry of my life, are just as ok as poetry and drawings and calligraphy.” Maria’s aerial view gives me double Double Happiness!

Michelle e’d me to say: “I finally ‘finished’ my mighty fine nine signature book this morning. I had worked on the stitching and finished it the weekend of the workshop, but didn’t get it totally tidied up and pencil marks erased, etc, til this morn. I loved the class, and I found this binding challenging and cathartic at once. I enjoyed it so much. I really loved the complexity of the stitching aspect…and I love the color scheme. Exactly what I wanted!” Michelle’s shot of her spine is more than fine, it's divine!

Carla is perhaps The Ultimate BZS Workshop Enthusiast. She recently joked that she wished I had an Automatic Sign Me Up button she could just click on. She was in Chicago visiting her daughter at the beginning of September, and came to visit me at the studio on my birthday. She arrived bearing not only French macarons in a pastry box that she’d embellished with Cambridge Imprint scraps, but also her MFNSSB she had begun in the group Zoom, to show me. Here you see her at Bari Zaki Studio displaying her work-in-progress. She has now finished that book and made a second book! I asked her what she was doing with her MFNSSB #1, and she wrote back:

“ Yes, I’ve started using my first MFNSSB for daily, weekly watercolor practice. I’ve not filled many pages but decided I needed to dive with Cat’s voice in my mind! Since making the journal was such a learning process, I decided they were perfect books to use for practice and to experiment with watercolor. ”

My mantra for any book is that once you begin using it…it actually gets more beautiful! Yes, the book itself is a lovely object, but it is what’s inside that makes it engaging to flip through, and therefore memorable.

Emery, my nimble shop assistant & prolific artist, made her first MFNSSB back in 2018, and enjoyed using her book with reckless abandon—which I love!

Emery always has a sketchbook in her bag, and I’m perpetually curious to see what she's been musing about. She came to visit the shop recently, bearing two books she was at the beginning of stitching. She asked my opinion…and that reminded me that she had previously written me—with righteous abandon!—her musings about her process of using her many sketchbooks. In keeping with our theme, here are nine of her encouraging thoughts:

1.
Not every page needs to be a work of art. Especially not the first page. This, I know, is easy to say but a very difficult mental battle for some.

2.
If your biggest concern is accidentally drawing something ugly on the first page—you can solve that problem. You don't have to draw anything, and you can put something there that you already think is lovely.

When I do want to get started and don't have anything I really want to do, I sometimes just write on the first page that this book belongs to (your name here) as of xx date, and then I might do some squiggly border and call it a day.


4.
Or I just tape/glue in a bunch of things that I had been collecting for inspiration, like postcards, napkins, scraps of paper, a leaf, etc. If nothing else, it gets rid of the pile of pretty clutter taking up valuable real estate on my countertop.

It's ok that you don’t make everything. It may inspire or connect to whatever you choose to draw later. If this book was a gallery: you are the curator. It will all go together because the papers and leaves and postcards and doodles all have the same thing in common—you!


6.
I know it intrigues Bari that my sketchbooks tend to get very beat up. This is because I carry them around for a long time before they make their way to my sketchbook bookshelf.

I am usually carrying around 1-2 sketchbooks, the one I am working in now, and the one I just finished.

8.
Even when a sketchbook eventually finds a spot on a bookshelf, it will never stay in the same place. I am constantly flipping through them.

And the frosting on the Emmy cake:

9.
If I was drawing a bunch of cakes a month ago, and want to try it again today, I can go back and look at what I did before. I will pull all the parts I liked and try to see if I can do something I like better. Maybe I liked the cherries from one cake and the shape of a different cake, so let’s see what it looks like if I put those two together.

A mighty fine range of the MFNSSB’s I’ve made are now available in the online shop.

Bookish, Bari

Packing up parcels at the Palette Palace

Dear Everyone ~

I continue to be in the thrilling throes of assembling kits & shipping parcels for my two upcoming group workshops via Zoom: Screw-post binder with see-through window and Triptych of Coptic-stitch Bindings. As of today I have shipped several armfuls of kits (and tools) for students who will be making screw-post binders and/or trios of Coptic-stitch books. Several students are taking both workshops, so their parcels are well on their way. I felt truly intercontinental as I prepared shipping labels for Canada, Austria, Arctic Norway, and…Singapore! I don’t even know how many time zones are involved here, but I love that we will all be together for our papery pursuits.

In the Triptych of Coptic-stitch Bindings, we will make a trio of books, all the same size, each with its own stitching variation—and different needles for everywhich stitch! So that the books make a lovely set, we will cover them in three colour-coordinated Cambridge Imprint patterns. I had a wonderful time devising the first three palettes: Daydream, Seascape, and Sorbets. I’ve just come up with two new palettes, Gray-dations and Giverny, because Seascape and Sorbets have sold out. Yet again, I reveled to realize that the Cambridge combinations of papery permutations…are marvels of mix-and-matchmaking. The Gray-dations palette strikes me as autumnal, and the Giverny as summery. (Nota bene: A handful of Daydream kits are still available.) You can read more about the workshop, the book structure, and the kitful of materials here. And if you’ve been dillying or dallying about signing up, you are not too late to receive your very own kit forthwith, in time for November 5!

I'm looking forward to making books with you soonish!

Triptych of Coptic-stitch Bindings

Coptically but not cryptically, Bari

R&R&R at BZS

Dear Everyone ~

This week I have been in the throes—and thrills— of assembling and shipping kits for the upcoming debut of Screw-post album with see-through window. And I’ve had the almost indescribable pleasure of doing this in My Visual Happy Place, my beautifully refreshed shop. My dear merchandising angel came in to work her magic right after my return from the U.K. She had numerous new items to decant and install on her R&R&R (Restock, Rearrange, Revel) manoeuvres. Let me show you around the shop-shop and the workshop-shop.

Kit assembly for the screw-post binder workshop involved quite a bit of measuring, trimming, cutting, and colour coordinating the assortment of decorative Japanese papers & linen bookcloth that is included in each kit. I began, as always, with choosing the papers for the covers & interior panels, then moved on to mixing & matching them with a range of bookcloths. For the interior panels, I’ve selected very vintage papers from my Aiko’s archive. They are monochromatic, showcasing classic Japanese motifs: stars, maple leaves, and checkerboards. Each kit is one-of-a-kind, and as I organized the sets, the center table became illuminated!

The half-day workshop will take place via Zoom on Saturday, October 29, and it is not too late to sign up and still receive your kit in time. (You can read about the workshop, the book structure, and the kitful of materials here.)

My merchandising angel prefers that I not perch on her shoulder while she works, but she does allow me to peek & coo. For me, it is such a joy to watch her create pairings & vignettes: waxed-linen threads with washi-tapes & Hahnemühle accordion books; my colour swatch books alongside the Japanese sumi-e watercolour sets; and, the papery pièce de résistance, the “desk of pads” cozying up to the table freshly stocked with stacks of Saint-Armand (6" x 6") pads—in classic white and superb stripes.

Screw-post album with see-through window

I look forward to seeing you in the shop and via Zoom soon!

Really excited, Bari

Trip report: Papery & postal pleasures in the U.K.

Dear Everyone ~

I’ve just returned home from two dreamy weeks in the U.K. Our last visit had been in September 2019 for our nephew’s wedding … It had been three years since we’d seen family, and this visit felt like a bookend to the pandemic. As it happened, our arrival coincided with the end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign.

As you might imagine, one of the first things I like to do when I arrive is head to the nearest post office to see what the current mailing rates are and to purchase stamps. In the U.K. many post offices are located inside co-ops. This is handy for picking up a range of items in one stop—vegetables, bread, jam, eggs, beverages, chocolate, newspapers, and of course mailing supplies. The first post office I located was just a short walk down the road and around the corner from where we were lodging. As I approached, I discovered that the post office co-op was in a building that had been someone’s home!

Assuming that postal rates had increased since my previous trip, I enquired about the costs to send (a) a postcard, or (b) a postcard ensconced inside an envelope, or (c) an envelope bearing a notecard plus a blank postcard. I requested enough postage for 20 envelopes, but the clerk hesitated, explaining that he was running low on stamps! My guess is that there was a run on Queen Elizabeth stamps. The clerk was able to sell me exactly what I needed by offering me some single stamps with the requisite denomination and some pairs of stamps totalling that same amount. Typically, I like to use several stamps, including some special issues, but this time I was happy to go classic (and monochromatic) and honour Queen Elizabeth.

A paper purveyor priority had presented itself before the trip! Once I knew we’d be spending time in Dorset, I sent word to Melanie & Julia of Molesworth & Bird (The Seaweed Queens) to see if we could meet up … which we did! Their shop is adjacent to (or perhaps somehow even attached to) The Town Mill, which is a working water mill with a courtyard, shared by several artisans, art galleries, and a cafe. I met Melanie around lunch time and we sat by the sea, on the very beach where they gather their seaweed to press for their specimens. We had tea and a chat, and it was like a dream! Another day, I revisited the shore and collected a few seaweed specimens for myself, and have brought them home, unpressed, in a small airtight box.

As we motored from town to town along the southwest coast, I spied several charming post offices, one in a town called Broadwindsor that was no longer a working post office. Because of the town’s stringent building codes and historic facades, the shopfront remained a post office…while its imminent occupant renovates the space to become … his new home. Can you imagine? Across the road was a decommissioned phone booth that the town had turned into a free library. So inviting!

Later in the week I visited a hand papermaking mill, and am delighted to report that I’ve ordered two types of paper to stock in the shop. My order will be on its way soon, and I’m saving glorious details of that visit to share with you once I have the paper in hand. For now, I can’t resist showing the wrapping of the “souvenir” I was graciously presented with. Can you guess?

Speaking of mailing & papers, because I was so close to France, I decided to have my shipment of Season Paper notebooks—which have been out of stock for too long— shipped to me in the U.K. for air transport home. The patterns are, as always, délicieux!

Bari’s Birthday Bounty (belatedly)

Dear Everyone ~

Earlier this month was my birthday, and I was overjoyed to receive such a bounty of papery gifts & real mail from workshop students, other customers & friends! From hand-folded envelopes to assorted bonbons, both to eat and to display, here are just a few delicious details.

My postal muse, a.k.a. AK, sent me a suite of surprises, all wrapped in a chorus of Cambridge Imprint patterns. The largest item is a book (Fresh Water for Flowers, which I’m so looking forward to) and the card atop it is the handiwork of our mutual friend Maralee Kielborn, who is more than masterful with a micron pen. Alyson had received this card penned by Maralee (blank on the back) a couple of years ago, and kept it for the perfect occasion, which turned out to be my birthday! The smaller bonbons contained to be wood type, including a big BZS, a tiny u, and an extra Z, so I can spell BuZZ.

Robb, who is BZS’ Cambridge Imprint origami folder & arranger, sent a festive envelope that enveloped me with delight. He fashioned a protective “portfolio” bearing part of a Japanese paper fan, with the inscription From a big fan. He enclosed elegant ephemera he hoped I’d enjoy, most notably several sheets of personal stationery from Charing Cross Road—but not the eponymous London bookshop at No. 84! This was from the Playboy Mansion on Charing Cross Road in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. So, this treasure is tangential to my collection of hotel stationery, because when I was young, my parents took my brothers and me to the Playboy Hotel in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Robb also bestowed upon me five vintage Chicago postcards, including a particularly lovely one of the interior of the Garfield Park Conservatory.

One of my newest correspondents, Audrey Kuhn (Alyson’s niece), sent a magnificent handmade card that also arrived exactly on my birthday. Her theme was a bouquet of beautiful B’s, and it was beyond bon, a mix of hand-lettering and collage. The back was brimming with B-words, including her sign-off: Brightly Beguiled by Bari. Audrey was a lettering artist for Trader Joe’s before becoming a photographer and gourmet correspondent. Her birthday envelope to me is at the top of the post.

Carla Jacob, Bookful all-timer, bookbinding enthusiast, and avid correspondent, happened to be in Chicago and brought me a selection of delectable confections. She embellished the clear container with Cambridge Imprint shards & scraps!

A few weeks ago, chocolatier & paperista Wendy Sherwood was travelling through Chicago and stopped in the shop to chat & to wrap. She gifted me an incredible assortment of her hand-marbled papers, pristinely presented in an envelope she had hand-folded from food-grade glassine. After her visit, Wendy sent me this delicious envelope she had made from a Cavallini calendar page that she had hand-cancelled.

Last and littlest, but not least, look at my card from my friend Melanie’s granddaughter Ellie! She hand-folded the envelope—with a bit of help from Melanie, of course—and she chose the page from a 1980s Martha Stewart magazine. I love how she’s colour coordinated her endearing collage with the ink she wrote her greeting in… And I’m beyond delighted to have an “early Ellie” work of art.

I am ever so grateful to be the recipient of such thoughtful & creative birthday keepsakes—and tickled to see “BZS” materials & inspirations boomeranging back to me!

Boundless joy, Bari

In praise of painted paper collage

Dear Everyone ~

Bookful of Painted Paper Collage will debut in a little over three weeks, on Saturday, October 1. Students will make an 8" x 8" accordion book with a small recessed panel on the front cover. Last week I began to organize & assemble all the materials for the Bookful kits. The extra-long (8" x 40") sheets of Stonehenge paper for the accordioned pages, were rolled into party poppers for shipping purposes. The cover papers are a selection of Cambridge Imprint papers, paired with Japanese bookcloth. The center table looked increasingly like a patchwork quilt as I organized the materials for each one-of-a-kind colour combo. This inspired an additional embellishment to complete the ensemble: I hand-lettered each student’s initials on a Cambridge Imprint small label, affixed to the Cambridge Imprint envelope that enveloped a handful of Cambridge Imprint scraps (for collaging)!

As I type this, five overseas parcels are now en route to their destinations, one to Austria and four to Canada. Some of the parcels also include kits for my upcoming bookbinding workshops: Triptych of Coptic-stitch books and Screw-post binder with see-through window. One of the parcels includes a duo of Bookful kits; and another includes a trio of Bookful kits. It was a feat—neat, but not petite—of kit-assembly engineering.

I am typically eager for each of our Bookful adventures to begin, and this series is no exception. I personally love to paint papers for creating collage. And I first learned about this process from Cat when she taught this technique in-person on her maiden voyage to Bari Zaki Studio back in 2018. It immediately grabbed my attention and curiosity. The mixing of paint colours as you are swashing them on a sheet of paper to create your very own palette is a process I find immensely & endlessly mesmerizing. I asked Cat to share what she enjoys about this medium and why this is a favourite process for her:

“ One of the reasons I love doing painted paper collage is I get to paint papers! It’s very relaxing and always a pleasure. And I love the way I can explore color. Sometimes I’ll paint blues and add a little brown or green or purple. No matter how many blues I paint, no two are ever the same, which makes it interesting. The depth of color depends on how much water we use. It's an intuitive process, and I find having a good selection of colors really opens up possibilities when I make art. ”

Three Bookful all-timers have already signed up for Bookful No. 8, in addition to several students who have completed several previous Bookfuls, and a handful of first-timers. As always, Cat & I like to emphasize, especially if you are a Bookful newcomer, that absolutely no drawing, painting, collaging, or bookbinding experience is necessary. The pace and camaraderie are truly zen. (Plus you will have the videos to watch and rewatch—12 hours-ful!) If you are still considering joining us, there is plenty of time to ship your kit(s).

Bookful of Painted Paper Collage

Autumnally, Bari

Heavenly Hahnemühle Happiness In-house!

Dear Everyone ~

Last week I received a fresh shipment of Hahnemühle Bugra in all 21 colours to replenish the Hahnemühle Ultimate Palette Housemade Pads. I loved decanting (the process and the word itself) the quartet of cartons. I piled all the wrapped stacks on my center table. Each colour arrived in its own Euro-kraft wrapper, hand-labelled by my supplier. Then I began to unwrap and arrange, and re-arrange, the colours.

The stacking, or stackletting, of the sheets for the Hahnemühle Ultimate Palette Housemade Pads is a big undertaking. For this new batch, I had the nimble fingers of Bex and Tammy to count and divide and re-stack with me. Ten sheets x 21 colours = 3 inches of paddable perfection.

The pads will be finished padding the week after next and they will be ready to ship pronto-ly thereafter. Be still your heart, and you will hear the pitter-pad of a delightful discount: If you order two pads, you will save $6; if you order three, you will save $14. Might we suggest using them as a pair of bookends, for your very own handmade books, for example? Wunderbar!

Let the Hahnemühlemania continue! I have just created a sumptuous set of notesheets, one each of all 21 Bugra colours. The sheets measure 6¼ x 9 and are hand-folded to 4½ x 6¼. They fit perfectly inside the Suite of 17 Hahnemühle A-6 envelopes (4¾ x 6½). This über Hannemühle wardrobe is the ultimate in mix-und-match chromatic correspondence.

As I’ve remarked on more than one occasion: Hannemühle’s felty finish offers a superbly stable surface for graphite, coloured pencil, pen & ink, gouache, markers, and even typewriters! And on the several deeper shades, a metallic gel pen or Lyra metallic pencil looks lively (and legible). The set of notesheets is available on its own, or paired with the Suite of 17 Hahnemühle envelopes.

Also in the Hahnemühle department, Postcards in Their Tin are back in stock in both finishes: cold press or rough. And I am also now stocking the Cappuccino pad in A5 (5¾ x 8¼) as well as A6 (4⅛ x 5¾).

A new duo of BZS workshops via Zoom

Dear Everyone ~

I’m delighted to announce two new group workshops via Zoom, Triptych of Coptic-stitch Bindings and Screw-post album with see-through window.

Triptych of Coptic-stitch Bindings is a two-part workshop to make three Coptic-stitch books using four needles. And, of course, we will all share a High Five when we are finished!

The three stitching variations you will learn are: a traditional hard-cover binding using one curved needle; a multi-needle hard-cover binding using four curved needles; and a soft-cover binding using one curved needle. All three of your books will measure 8½" x 5¼" x 1", each with 48 pages/96 serendipitous sides, with deckled edges on the top & fore edge of each page. The structure itself is terrific for a travelogue, fabulous for a photo album, and stylish for a sketchbook.

Over many years of teaching this style of binding, I have heard from quite a few students that they find attaching their covers to be challenging. This is because the stitching “rotates” as it progresses. In this workshop, I will share my tips & techniques for executing your stitching with confidence & ease.

The papers I’ve chosen for this kit are inspired by the endless mix-&-match combinations with Cambridge Imprint parent sheets. Each kit’s “cover sheets” are colour coordinated, and you will have your choice of three palettes: Seascape, Daydream & Sorbets.

* * * * *
In the Screw-post album with see-through window workshop you will make a screw-post binder that measures 8" x 8" x 1" with a 2" x 2" see-through window in the front cover. You will learn how to wrap your window for a seamless finish inside and out. (This treatment can indeed be used on other binding styles.) The screw-post binder is a great binding style for single-sheet—meaning unfolded—pages, whether they are pre-printed (with photos, a story, correspondence, or artwork) or blank, to use as a sketchbook. Pages are held in place by the screw-post spine piece. It is easy to resequence, remove, or replace pages as you wish. We will make one book during the workshop, and you'll have all the materials to make a second book on your own at your leisure.

The materials I’ve chosen for this kit are a selection of my favourite Japanese papers & bookcloths. Each kit will be lovingly assembled with a complementary combo. If a particular colour or pattern catches your fancy, please e me and I will do my best to accommodate.

As always, I will live record both workshops, and the recordings will be available to you later the same afternoon to watch and rewatch at your leisure. No previous bookbinding experience is necessary; a bit of glueing experience is a plus. There will be plenty of 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!

Triptych of Coptic-stitch Bindings
Screw-post album with see-through window

Zooming towards autumn, Bari

A stationery salon day at Bari Zaki Studio

Dear Everyone ~

Saturday, August 6, was the first-ever Stationery Store Day across the country and around the English-speaking globe. I am incredibly grateful for the enthusiasm and camaraderie that BZS shoppers shared in person, online, and via Real Mail. It was a day of stationery serendipity.

Kristen Hermanny was the earliest bird, which is to say, the very first in-shop shopper. Back in the spring of 2020 I featured her “shop by colour” strategy on the blog, which you can read about here. Kristen lives outside the city and comes to visit every so often. When she isn’t able to visit, she will call and ask me to assemble an ensemble in a particular palette. Her latest hue was teal, and you can read about that here. I was thrilled when she texted me to make an appointment for “Stationery Saturday.”

Kristen is a calligrapher and an avid correspondent. When she arrived, she immediately presented me with an envelope she had hand-folded, sealed with washi tape. It had some bulk and some “give” to it, so I was intensely curious to see what was inside. Behold and be dazzled! It’s a miniature Bari Zaki Studio pop-up! When I caught my breath, I asked Kristen if she’d made other pop-ups and she acknowledged, “I have made people’s pets, school themed, sport team themed, mail, birthday, and engagement ones among the regular holidays.” I have installed Kristen’s Ode to the Studio on an elevated eye-level shelf.

Next in: Karen Eisenstadt, who arrived bearing papery gifts as well. Karen has been a customer since I opened the shop in 2015. In 2020 I discovered by happenstance that she had recently become penpals with my postal muse, Alyson Kuhn! I love that kismet. Last year when Karen came to visit, she brought me an envelope that she had watercoloured on the theme of the Heritage Breed Forever stamps, destined for Alyson. The envelope was still open, and she asked me to add to it and then send it off. This visit, her missive to Alyson was a complement, even an homage, to a recent blog post, Karen left half of the card blank for me to add to and then send off. And the colour swatch theme continues! Karen brought in her swatch-keeping sketchbook, so we could ooh & aah over each other’s colour swatches.

And then: Susan Golland lives close by and stopped by unannounced. Her timing was very serendipitous! She came bearing a beautiful bouquet from the farmers market and was eager to see the newest addition to the Velke Losiny repertoire. Susan’s heritage is Slovakian, and we’ve spoken previously about Velke Losiny.

It was also a red-letter day for Real Mail! I received a note from George Jacobson. We’ve been penpals since 2016—I could say fountain penpals. Below are some of the missives I've received from him over the years.

George lives in Wisconsin, and we played phone tag one day when he was in Chicago and happened to be on a quest for fountain pen ink. We didn’t manage to connect, and we’ve still never met. George’s most recent envelope was from a hotel in Jerusalem, featuring Hebrew, English, and a logo-graphic that in fact might be Hebrew letters. I have a hotel stationery collection that dates back to my childhood, so when I saw this envelope, and recognized George’s handwriting, I was over the moon!

I have some post-Stationery Day post to look forward to: a pair of envelopes are en route to me via USPS, from the AK-duo of Alyson Kuhn, my postal muse, and Audrey Kuhn, her very epistolary niece. I anticipate that both will be photogenic, and I will share them with everyone once they arrive. Looking farther into the future, Stationery Store Day 2023 has already been “proclaimed” for Saturday, August 5!

A toast to post-SSD post, Bari