Missive Maven round-up: 2014 in review

Happy 2015, readers and letter writers! A lot of momentous stuff happened in Missive-Maven-land in 2014. I just had fun perusing through some old blog posts, and thought I'd share some of the year's highlights here. (The photo above shows some of the mail I wrote for the Letter Writers Alliance virtual social on December 13, which was an absolute blast!)



One of the most exciting events of 2014 was personal in our family, but I blogged about it a fair bit: the January 2014 publication of "Revolutionary," my best beloved Alex Myers' first novel. It is "a fascinating retelling of the story of America’s first female soldier, Deborah Samson Gannett, who ran away from home in 1782, successfully disguised herself as a man, and fought valiantly in the Revolutionary War." The novel does have a significant epistolary element, so it does fit into the letter-writing theme of my blog! After the release of the novel, Alex did quite a bit of speaking and book touring, and in a later blog post, I gave an update on some excellent press and thanked you all for your support. On another note, "Revolutionary" will be released in paperback later this month, on January 20, 2015.



There was much heartbreak in the summer of 2014, when we lost our deeply beloved 17-year-old cats, Soda and Magic, within roughly two weeks of each other.

In Memory of Soda: April 1997 - July 7, 2014

In Memory of Magic: March 1997 - July 25, 2014

The move from Rhode Island to DC was a very difficult one for them, but they lived good lives of joy and mostly good health, and I'm so thankful for all the years we shared.



We could not live without cats, and later that summer we adopted two kittens who we named Oberon and Stella. They brought us much joy in our grief, and it has been sweet beyond words to watch them grow up. The photo above was taken on New Year's Eve 2014, where Stella and Oberon and I spent a lot of time hanging out on the couch together. (Truthfully, Stella and Oberon spend a lot of time hanging out on the couch together in general, with or without me.) They are now 9 months old, but still very much acting like kittens!



And now back to more blog-appropriate news. I completed a project I'd been meaning to do for a long time: adding a page to my blog called Stationery Sources. I'm often asked where I buy my stationery, and this page lists links to all my favorite vendors, and each link has a little blurb about why I like their wares.



Another wonderful mail milestone in 2014: I finally went to a mail social! I wrote a huge blog post about The October Mail Social Club at the National Postal Museum, which took place on World Post Day! These Mail Social Club events are coordinated by Melissa of Craftgasm (pictured above, showing us how to make handmade envelopes), and she does a really fine job with these events. I hope to attend at least one more in 2015! If you are able to attend one of them, held monthly at the National Postal Museum, I highly recommend it.



Also in the department of "blog posts I meant to write for ages," I shared a post called Habits: How I keep my letter log, about my system for recording incoming and outgoing mail. That's one of my more popular posts, and I'm glad letter-writers have enjoyed reading it.



And finally, a round-up of some of my favorite posts of 2014:

Fabulous mail to kick off 2014

Legal tender sender

Postcard signed by Inge Löök

3D Dinosaur Stamp from South Africa

Essay by Alex Myers on Salon.com this week

Postcrossing stamp from Belarus

Meeting a pen pal + mobile Letterpress

Mozart stamp from the Czech Republic

October 11 is National Coming Out Day

Who's excited for Halloween?!?

Russian Rainbow Circus Stamp

Best Hanukkah Card EVER

Happy New Year, in a Russian winter postcard

One of my resolutions for 2015: more blog posts! My blogging was a bit more sparse than I'd like in 2014, and I hope to be more regular in 2015. Thanks to all my readers for your continued readership and comments, and Happy New Year!

Silver lining: kittens Oberon and Stella

In July I lost my two amazing and wonderful cats, Soda and Magic. Both were 17 years old and I had them since they were kittens. They were about a month apart in age, I got them both when they were somewhere between 6-10 weeks old, and they died two weeks apart.

July was a devastating month.

We thought we would want to wait before bringing new cats into our lives, but in fact Alex and I were both inconsolable without cats. An empty apartment, devoid of felines, was more grim than I could ever have imagined. I hope it is a tribute to the memory of the love we shared with Magic and Soda that we have brought two 4-month-old kittens into our family and our hearts.



Oberon is a deep and total glossy black...



...and Stella is a "Torbie," a tortoiseshell/tabby mix.

Both are about 4 months old. They are not littermates, Oberon is about one week older than Stella, but they were fostered together and are a deeply bonded pair. They adore each other, groom each other, and even eat and drink out of the same bowls (at the same time!).

It's too soon to say whether or not they'll be mail cats, but I suspect one if not both will be future members of the Feline Postal Brigade. You can count on me for updates on that front!

I haven't been doing much mail lately, in part because of grief over Magic and Soda, and in part because these two adorable kittens have kept my hands full. (Kittens! I'd forgotten how wonderful and time-consuming they are.)

Thanks to everyone for all the cards and words of comfort over the losses of dear Soda and Magic... I can't even express the grief so I will stop trying, but I appreciate the kind expression from animal lovers and caring souls from all corners of the world. I apologize if this sounds maudlin, but it's been a very intense time... and I am so grateful to the new kitten love that Oberon and Stella have brought into our lives.

A life without Magic

Magic P. Katt
March 1997 - July 25, 2014
Sweet stripey wonder-cat, kitty of my heart, rest in peace

We lost our dear, sweet cat Magic on Friday night. She had some seizures earlier in the week, and on Friday she seemed not to recover fully. After an evening of labored breathing when it was clear she was in pain, we once again made that awful final decision to end her suffering.



Her dear companion for 17 years, Soda, died just two and a half weeks earlier. I think Magic wasn't too interested in living life without Soda.

I am just devastated, without my two cat-babies who were with me for 17 years. This apartment without cats is grim indeed. I am still in shock, and can't believe they're both gone.

On grief, loss, and missing Soda

Last week I broke the news that Soda, the cat of my heart, was gone. (Today I lost the best cat who ever lived.) Above is one of the last decent photos of her I took, or at least one of the last ones I really love, from late May. Here on this blog I usually posted photos of her on my writing desk or with stationery, but of course she was all over the place so I'm going to share a few of those views now.

Friends, I am grieving very, very hard. I knew I would be devastated when I lost Soda - I have loved all my cats, but she was just that extra-special one, the one who followed me around like a puppy and was my closest furry companion - and indeed I am a wreck. I keep thinking she should be there. Why is she gone? I keep seeing her out of the corner of my eye. I miss her terribly, achingly, constantly. In less conscious moments, I forget she is gone and then I remember. I expect her to be at the door to greet me when I come home. I expect to see her sleeping in her favorite spots.



I expect to hear her meowing! She was an excessively vocal cat, and the apartment is so silent now without her (okay, occasionally very obnoxious) sounds.

One of the very hardest places for me is, in fact, my writing desk. Soda loved to be on my writing desk with me, sprawled out across whatever letter I was trying to read or write. As often as not, whenever I settled myself there, Soda would hop up and join me. I am so touched by the letters of condolence I have received from pen pals who didn't even know her, and I find tears running down my face as I read them at my writing desk and feel Soda's absence most poignantly.



Last week we had a very rough patch with our remaining beloved cat, Magic. Magic and Soda were not littermates, but I got them as kittens within weeks of one another. Magic came first, by just a couple of weeks. Other than those first weeks, Magic and Soda were together for their entire lives, 17 years. Although they didn't sleep together in their adult years, they would occasionally lick each others' heads; if not the best of buddies, at least the only other cat companions they had known (besides dear wonderful Memo, who was with them from 2001-2011). Who can say whether or not a cat grieves, but Magic did not show much interest in food, water, or the litterbox for a week or so, and was very mopey. She is coming back into herself and showing a bit more liveliness now, which cheers us greatly also.



I guess this post doesn't have much to do with letters or mail, and I hope you can forgive me that -- and bear with me as I am pretty low on the mail output (and pretty low in general). I do still have a lot of photo stickers, and a few photo stamps, with Soda's image, and I'm using them in her memory now. I miss my best Feline Postal Brigadier, and grief is a slow and heavy process. Thanks for bearing with me as I share that with you.

It's that time of year again...

It's the appropriate time of year to go ahead and direct folks to my oft-viewed "A word on holiday cards, or, why I don't do Christmas" post.

If you're really interested, there's some fairly in-depth dialogue in the comments section.

The short bit: don't send me a Christmas card, please.

The long bit: read why.

Magical Creatures Postcard swap

Do you like fairies? Dragons? Unicorns? Elves? I do! And I love fantasy artwork. I feel like I could use a little magic in my life right now, so I created the Magical Creatures Postcard Swap on Swap-bot. If you're interested in swapping a magical creature postcard, do check it out!

It's an international swap, with only one partner, so you only need one of those magical postcards on hand. The sign-up deadline is on August 13, and the send deadline is a week later on August 21. I hope to see lots of interested folks joining in the swapping of magical creatures!

Happy Hanu-Kat 2011!

As you may have seen in years past, our shy kitty Magic is very fond of the Hanukkah menorah. She and I both wish all of our Jewish blog readers a Happy Hanukkah (this was from last night's candles, but she's sitting by 'em again tonight!), and a happy holiday season to everyone.

Happy Hanu-Kat!

My very shy tabby cat Magic would like to join me in wishing a Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish blog readers.

Our menorah is popular with all three cats - they stare at the flickering candles with odd expressions. Soda has learned the hard way that getting too close to candles results in burned whiskers, but Magic has always kept a wiser distance.

Blastoff

This is one of my favorite envelopes I've made. Not sure why, I think I just love the old-school space-style illustration. Here we have two of the other recent Zazzle photo stamps I've ordered: Soda guarding a Curb your Dog postcard, and Magic yawning on a porch. Had to throw in a Skylab space stamp to complete the theme.



Mmm... starry.

Cat butt stamps

Here's an outgoing letter that features two of my recent self-made photo stamps from Zazzle. We see Magic delving into a food bag (does this make my butt look fat?) on the left, and Memo's girth arrayed on a table, from the MOST flattering angle, on the right. I must say that the WIDE LOAD stamp has been a tremendous hit with family and friends who actually know Memo in the flesh (or shall I say, in the flab). I added the International Women's Day stamp to tally up to the international letter rate.

Should you be so inclined, the original photos used to make the stamps can be found on Flickr:
A prize in every bag (Magic)
Wide Load (Memo)

Oh! I almost forgot - the stationery used is Wonder Woman fold & mail by Chronicle Books.

Catnip postcard for my cats

A wonderful, astute new blog reader send me this absolutely fabulous postcard for my cats! It is a handmade wonder "From Dr Purrington's Cat Toy Laboratory." This catnip-infused postcard has a catnip-infused piece of red yarn sticking out of it. That's what's underneath the piece of tape with the little paw/yarn drawing on it.



I don't know which I love more, the fact that his cats sent it to my cats, or that his cats are named Fleabane and Danderfluff. Best cat names EVER!



Some of my correspondents who read my blog mention that they didn't even know I HAD a tabby cat named Magic, because she appears on this blog the least. She is rather shy, and she also does not insert herself into my letter-writing process as Soda and Memo often do. So it was great that Magic was the first one to approach this postcard. (Her track record as a total catnip addict helps. I'm sure she smelled this one coming.)



I made a whole photo set of her first encounter with this postcard because the series of shots is just so darn cute, but I had to post the two cutest ones here. Dr. Purrington, your postcard has generated much feline fun in this household!

My letter helpers

Soda is my bestest letter helper. Here she is sitting on top of a letter to keep it warm. (Letters don't like to be cold.)



Here's a view of my two kitty girls - Magic is the tabby curled up on the left corner of the couch, and Soda is sitting on my lap desk.

This couch view is a typical one in the winter - it's where I sit when I write by the fire. The loud paisley throw is ostensibly to keep the cat fur off the couch, but we only remove it for special guests, so generally I just sit right on top of it. The black case holds my fountain pens.

Just a winter letter-writing view of life in my living room...

Halloweeny decorated letter

This one went to Bianca of Goodnight Little Spoon, who got extra Halloween decorations to help compensate for the fact that they don't get Halloween in Australia.

Of course she blogged about it already, and she scanned the back of the envelope, too, which I didn't think to photograph before sending.

Oh - and I'll mention this because she is my cat who appears on this blog least - the tabby cat on the far right postage stamp is my kitty Magic. She enjoys pumpkins and often manages to get herself photographed near them. I'll leave you with the original photo (taken in October 2007) from whence that photo stamp was made:



(Magic is so named partly because of the M on her forehead, which I gather is quite common for tabby cats, but she's super-special because she's Magic. But she's also very shy and doesn't hang out on top of my letters like Soda and Memo do, so that's why she doesn't pop up on this blog very often.)

Two letters on Dark Horse stationery

This week saw a lot of letter action on Dark Horse stationery. Shown here are Rachel Williams' Miss Anne Thrope (top) and Shag Cats (bottom). I love this fun stuff - very wild and colorful designs, on the envelopes as well as the inside paper.



And now for a totally random side note: this is my 100th post! Yippee!
(Anybody wanna follow my blog to help me celebrate?)
Tee hee.

Victorian Papers stationery

I've been using this stuff since I was in high school. The designs are lovely and the prices are quite reasonable, and most of the papers take fountain pen ink fairly well. The design shown here is called Antebellum.

The design sweetly wraps around the flap of the envelope to the back:



I've sealed this one with a sticker featuring my cat Magic, from moo.com.