I am obviously a big supporter of the handwritten note (how can I not be when I sort of make cards for a living?). I've developed a true appreciation for a rough piece of scrap paper with ink smudges decorating the edges and corners. It has character. And even better, it has a heart. Remember.. A phone call is nice, but you can reread a letter.
I have recently diagnosed myself with meandering letter syndrome. Emily Post (queen of all things etiquette) calls a meandering letter one that dawdles through disconnected subjects lie a trolley car run off the track, through fences and fields and flower beds indiscriminately. This is me to a T. BUT in what my letters lack in organization, they gain in personality. I tend to doodle, add a few serifs to my favorites letters and words, and sometimes throw in a chart or diagram here and there.
Sometimes while writing my letter, I like to think of how the person receiving it would read it. Where they would be sitting, what time of day it would be, if they would skim first then go back and read the fine print. I wonder these things while writing. So I try my darndest to put so much of me in my letter that it feel like I am actually present when reading it. I want to be looking over their shoulder, watching them smile.
Ok so envelopes liners, to me, taste like feet. I prefer to use decorative seals or alphabet stickers to seal my envelope. Next I pull out my handy address book and slap an address on it. I like to write in all lowercase letters, despite the elementary rules of capitalizing proper nouns. And depending on my mood, I'll either put the return address on the front or the back (beneath my decorative seal). When written on the back, there is that slight moment of anticipation since they don't know who it's from yet. I like that. And finally, I save the best for last. Slap on that stamp and let her fly.
