Dwell: Nicely Noted Stationery Service

We’ve penned paeans to letterpressed cards and hand-written notes before—just check out this indie stationery store in Chicago we featured—but the new service Nicely Noted out of Austin, Texas has a solution for every time you thought “Gee I oughta write that guy a thank you card” but didn’t. Founded by Perry Nelson, Nicely Noted is a subscription service that delivers a curated trio of letterpressed cards and stamps each month for $18. Actually putting pencil to card is up to you. And no, we don’t know Aunt Bertha’s address. Call your mother.

What gave you the idea for the service?

The idea to create Nicely Noted came to me while walking my newly-acquired puppy, Charlie. Growing up, I was an avid pen pal and collected drawers full of stationery to fuel my letter writing habit. But as an adult, my stationery bin wasn’t nearly as stocked, and I always found myself trying to squeeze in a desperate trip to the gift store for every birthday party or baby shower. I thought sending a few handpicked, letterpressed cards each month, complete with the stamps to send them, might be just they way to get folks practicing the wonderful art of letter writing again.
I’m happy to say that Nicely Noted helps people discover new designers and enjoy the convenience of having the perfect card on hand. You get to look forward to receiving a sweet care package each month, and you’ll pass that joy along to the recipients of all of your letters!

So how do you select the cards?

I am always on the lookout for unique cards and designers—whether I’m scouting at the National Stationery Show in New York, browsing Etsy, or checking out what’s new at my favorite card shops. I select the cards with the seasons or holidays in mind, and I aim to find cards for that are off the beaten path. I want my subscribers to receive something truly special, and I love supporting small, independent letterpress designers and printers at the same time.

To me the genius idea is including stamps with the cards. How often do you hunt around for a stamp? All the time. This is frictionless card sending.

Since my goal is to revive the wonderful art of letter writing, I provide everything you need—including stamps! Most people don’t have a good supply of stamps laying around, and especially not interesting stamps. By including the stamp, I hope to remove one more tiny obstacle and to help personalize the correspondence.

Each month Nicely Noted delivers just what you need to get three personal, handwritten notes in the mail. To find the stamps, I comb through the United States Postal Service designs compulsively to see what stamps will coordinate well with my selection of cards. They have a surprising variety of designs and are always turning out new ones—from muscle cars (yes, muscle cars) to Pixar characters to Rosa Parks.

Read the original post on Dwell.com.

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