I ran out of stationery a few weeks ago. I write a few letters from time to time -- by hand. I went back to Papyrus to buy another box or two of stationery and they had none. There were cutesy cards and cards for writing quick notes, but no letter sheets. Not one single set.
Since then I have run search after search and found nothing to my taste. All I want is 100 sheets and 50 envelopes without embossing or fancy/silly/comic designs. A deckle edge would be nice, but not absolutely necessary. And I do not want pink. White or ivory or even lavender would be perfect. I'd even settle for a pale powder blue, but no pink. I don't want animals or sayings or personalization. I want a box of plain stationery with plain envelopes that doesn't end up costing over $200. Even if I had the money, I wouldn't pay that much and $416 is out of the question.
I have checked everywhere, even manufactures in China and the Middle East, and nowhere can I find what I want. Does no one make plain boxed stationery any more?
I have a few foldover notes with designs in a mint green, and I have used them (I have one left), but I wouldn't use them at all if they hadn't been free and I was out of stationery. There's plenty of ink jet printer paper, but I want something with a linen feel to it, something that has a touch of class and the feel of something that will last for years. I don't want to type and print out a letter, but write it by hand with my fountain pen.
When I talked to my cousin Ellen on the phone this afternoon, I mentioned that I had written her sister, Bobbi Jean, a note. Ellen said everyone likes getting letters in the mail. I didn't realize she felt that way, even though I do and always have. There's something personal and friendly in a handwritten letter on quality stationery that gives even the most mundane news a sense of quality and class.
Email is easy and quick. Typed and printed letters seem colder and more businesslike than a handwritten letter, so why is it so difficult to get what I want? I'm not hard to please, except for not wanting pink stationery, so why does not one make what I need any more? Barnes & Noble had almost what I wanted, and I could've lived with the scalloped edges that scream "girly girl". They had a picture of the set, but no stock, except for an ugly blue and an even uglier pink. Ivory would have been nice, even with the girly scalloped edges, but no joy.
It's true. I'm old fashioned. I'm a dinosaur sinking ever faster into the tar pit. But as long as I have ink and my fingers work, I will continue to write letters in longhand and need linen or at least quality recycled stationery in a neutral color, preferably with a deckle edge, but definitely simple, plain quality stationery. If anyone knows where I can find my correspondence crack, please let me know before I sink forever into the tar pit of lost correspondence for dinosaurs.
Addendum: A couple of wise friends sent suggestions and they turned out to be good ones, so this, this and this (as a last resort) have solved my problem. I knew I could count on them. Thank you.
That is all. Disperse.
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