Sealed with ribbon and wax

This letter came to me wrapped in ribbon, sealed with wax - all inside the envelope. That was might smart, as it made it through the mail beautifully intact.

I stupidly forgot to photograph the envelope, too, so I've now forgotten exactly who sent this. My humble and embarrassed apologies to the creative sender! It looks a lot like the work of the mighty Catwrangler, though.



I hope this closeup photo shows not only the detail of the wax seal and the beautiful ribbon, but also the texture of the paper in which the letter was wrapped. It was like unwrapping a present when I opened this envelope. What a treat!

Sometimes wax seals don't even survive inside the envelope

This letter made a rattling sound when I took it out of my mailbox. It sounded like it was filled with little sprinkles, or large confetti. So I used caution when I opened it (note: I LOATHE loose glitter that goes all over everywhere! My cats try to eat it and that's really bad for them), and discovered that the wax seal inside the envelope had crumbled.



In case you can't tell, in these photos I'm holding open the envelope after just opening it. I wanted to photograph the little wax bits before I dumped them down the trash. I guess this seal was of the more brittle sort of wax. I'm sure it was very pretty there on the ribbon... but sadly ironic that a seal put inside the envelope, to keep it safe during mailing, still didn't make it intact.

Wax seals don't make it, sometimes

I don't use sealing wax myself, but a lot of my correspondents and fellow letter-writers do. I've posted many times about beautiful wax seals I've received, but sometimes they don't make it through the mail. I gather there are more modern, supple kinds that are made to be flexible in our modern mail sorting machines; sometimes the old-school stuff is fine and sometimes it isn't.



This time it didn't survive very well... just an FYI for what it can look like when it gets smooshed by the sorting machines.

Dragon seal

This fine wax seal - is it a dragon or a gryphon? - came to me from a wise correspondent who puts seals on the inside of an envelope, right on the page of the letter, so that they don't get mangled in the mail sorting machines. Love this one!

Astounding calligraphy + amusing comics

This very talented blog reader has written me in calligraphy before, and it was such a treat to hear from him again! I think I want to frame this envelope, it is so magnificent. And I love the feather flourish at the top.



The return address is beautiful, too, and the sealing wax matches the ink.

I know you want a closer look at that eagle seal:



Dazzling! Now, someone might be able to tell me why the crowned eagle is sticking out his tongue? That must have some interesting significance.



This kind blog reader's ostensible purpose was to send me these very amusing comics about letter-writing; they're fun, but I enjoyed his writing far more!



Indeed, the whole letter was that incredibly beautiful.

How can ANYONE think that an email could ever equal THIS?

A whale for a rooster

I got this fine handmade envelope featuring a cocky rooster. Very great colors and contrast.



It had a fine red wax seal on the back...



...which looks even cooler close up.



In return, I sent an envelope with a whale and an underwater theme.



I have this great old wildlife photography book that is the perfect size for making sure the animal and photographer's name appear right at the bottom of the flap.

Tied with a ribbon and sealed with wax

This beauty from the marvelous Catwrangler came inside the envelope like this - what a lovely idea! This way the ribbon and the wax stay perfectly intact. I had to photograph this one before I even read it, because I knew opening it would break the seal, and I could never get the ribbon back so pretty again.



I'd never seen this cat design on an envelope before - is the kitty holding a stick or chopsticks in its mouth?



I love this rubber stamp. It seems so obvious: "Send a letter, receive a letter," but it's one of those simple wisdom sort of things that's great to keep repeating, like a mantra.

This was a great letter to read as well as to unwrap.

Handmade Edward Gorey fold-and-mail

If you read this blog much, you know how much I love fold and mails. And you know I love Edward Gorey. Well, this fountain-pen-using letter-writer got creative and sent me a handmade Edward Gorey fold-and-mail! Not only that, but dig the metalicious mailness going on in the quote: "I hadn't anything to do, And so I'm sending this to you." (Extra credit points for any blog reader who can tell me from which Gorey book that comes - I don't actually know the answer myself.)

I love how the woman sort of blends in with the wallpaper (can you tell her hand is raised?) and of course I am exceedingly fond of any Gorey cats. This one is very smug on his cushion.



Here's what the front of the envelope looks like - so groovy that he used white sealing wax on the front of the envelope! The fold is very debonair coming over the top of the front at a jaunty angle like that.



Here we have the first layer of unfolding; anyone who wants to copy this awesome fold should be able to do so from these photos.



Voila: the letter side unfolded. He has very artsy handwriting, no?



Finally we have the front/back, depending on how you look at it - the non-letter side, shall we say. This was very well-executed, with the Gorey panel printed (looks to be laser printed, is my guess) just so on the paper.

Snail mail wax seal

I went "squeeeeeeee!", overwhelmed with the cuteness, when I saw this awesome wax seal on a letter. Lovely, meta, fabulous.

A calligraphy letter

I was so delighted and impressed to find this beauty in my mailbox! It looks to me like one of my blog readers is a professional calligrapher, because this work is just gorgeous. I love the sense of humor of orange ink matched to the Homer Simpson stamp.



In fact, the entire fine letter is in calligraphy, and he praises his wax seal from Atelier Gargoyle. Cool stuff.

Using sealing wax: a step-by-step photo tutorial

One of my wonderful fountain-pen correspondents sent me this 2-part letter, both envelopes sealed with sealing wax and a different seal. He warned me in an email that a letter was coming in 2 parts, and I'm glad he did, because of course part 1 arrived the day after part 2.



In his marvelous letter, he gave a detailed explanation of using sealing wax, along wit all these wonderful photos documenting the whole process. I have still never used sealing wax myself, but I took photos of his photos just so I could share them with you all. They're marvelous photos, and I'm not sure if my photos of the photos are doing them justice.

Step 1: lamp and melting spoon


Step 2: cutting the wax stick


Here I'll note that he said in his letter he was initially loathe to try J. Herbin sealing wax because it was exponentially more expensive than the other brands, but he went on to explain exactly why it's exponentially better in quality, too.

Step 3: melting the wax in the spoon


Step 4: melted wax in spoon


Step 5: stirring with a match


Step 6: the wax before the seal


Step 7: Voila!


My meta-fancy was tickled that I got a photo of my letter, in my letter. This is probably a big part of why it came in 2 parts/2 envelopes... though it was nice and fat!

Thanks so much to the wonderful guy who sent these photos. I'll keep him anonymous unless he asks to share.

Isn't all his fancy equipment COOL?? (Yes, I'm very, very tempted...)

Wax seal: gold sun on Crane envelope

My wax seal envy continues. Here's a really fine sun with a sharp, clear impression on beautiful gold sealing wax. I love the concentric circles of the wax, and am proud of myself for successfully capturing the embossed "Crane & Co" logo. I'm a great fan of Crane's 100% cotton papers.

On another note, thanks to all my viewers, new and returning, for making yesterday the highest-traffic day I've had yet. (Gee, I wonder if it was my review post on FPN?)

Finally, a mail nerd moment: I have planned a trip to the post office this afternoon to pick up my new Simpsons stamps!! Today is the release date. Don't forget: postage rates go up on Monday. First-class letter rate goes up to 44 cents.

Wax seal: quill pen and inkwell

Here is a charming wax seal for you all: a quill pen and an inkwell. Lovely little detail in it. It came on the letter of a fountain pen user, of course!

Brown paper packages tied up with string

I don't know which I love more, the package or what it contains. This came from India bearing fine Indian fountain pens. The package, emblematic of one of my favorite song lyrics, was so lovely I had to photograph it. (Haven't photographed the pens yet... too busy writing with them!)



It came all the way from India most expeditiously, and in fine condition.



The Pièce de résistance: this hard wax seal over the string.

Wax seals, how I love them...

This came from a correspondent in the UK. The photo doesn't do it justice - the wax is metallic, a swirl of copper and bronze - just gorgeous! By the smell and feel, I'd say this is real wax and not the imitation plastic stuff. What fun to receive a letter sealed with wax!



One of my more creative UK correspondents has a toucan wax seal, which he has named Eric. He wrote me a letter a while back in which Eric got mangled in the post, but his second attempt to send me an Eric seal was successful.

I don't know why I've never managed to get into using wax seals myself. My husband even has a seal and some sealing wax that he's offered to let me use. I guess I feel like I already have too many addictions around letter-writing (stationery, fountain pens, ink, rubber stamps, stickers...) that I don't want to set myself up with another one.