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Happy Mail: Keep in touch with cool & stylish handmade snail mail!
It’s more than just writing, it’s an art! Hand-lettering is easy to dive into, even for new artists, and Happy Mail is here to take your DIY projects to the next level!
Guided by the lettering artists behind the Hello!Lucky letterpress greeting cards, you will learn the basics of how to create beautiful hand-lettered designs and how to apply your hand-lettering skills to creating beautiful cards, stationery, envelopes, and more. Happy Mail introduces a variety of lettering styles, including the basics of brush calligraphy, and the basics of writing and mailing letters the old-fashioned way. Once you learn and practice several different lettering styles, follow along with the simple step-by-step projects to create beautiful, personalized, and hand-written letters, cards, and envelopes to share with your loved ones.
Includes more than 40 perforated cards and stationery designs as a fun bonus! Simply tear out, decorate, and mail your masterpieces to family and friends.
Guided by the lettering artists behind the Hello!Lucky letterpress greeting cards, you will learn the basics of how to create beautiful hand-lettered designs and how to apply your hand-lettering skills to creating beautiful cards, stationery, envelopes, and more. Happy Mail introduces a variety of lettering styles, including the basics of brush calligraphy, and the basics of writing and mailing letters the old-fashioned way. Once you learn and practice several different lettering styles, follow along with the simple step-by-step projects to create beautiful, personalized, and hand-written letters, cards, and envelopes to share with your loved ones.
Includes more than 40 perforated cards and stationery designs as a fun bonus! Simply tear out, decorate, and mail your masterpieces to family and friends.
- GenresArtNonfictionHow To
128 pages, Paperback
Published September 12, 2017
51 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 13, 2017
Well, this is adorable! Yes, it's short - think of it as some sweet ideas and style inspiration just to get you started. Now I want to get some paper and marker pens, and send everyone cute post. Who wants a letter?
August 29, 2017
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
This was such a fun book and I am really happy I had a chance to read it.
The book is all about making fun letters, cards, envelopes. At times quite detailed on how to make the items, but at other times it is quite simple and easy. I liked the diversity. That way someone can pick if they want to make something big or something small. Also I quite like that they had various themes. From something for a friend to something for a stranger.
I had a big laugh that they needed to explain how a letter works and how you had to send it/put an address on it. Man, I feel old if that is truly needed to be added these days.
Of course the ebook/pdf has its disadvantages. The text is really tiny because instead of seeing one page, you see two pages. Zooming in works, but that makes the flipping of pages finicky. Plus all the nice extras at the end (or at the beginning)? That is worthless for an ebook.
But all in all, a very colourful and fun book, and I may try out a few of the examples as soon as I find some materials/pens/etc.. I would recommend it to everyone interested in crafts and/or wants to write letters to friends and family.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
This was such a fun book and I am really happy I had a chance to read it.
The book is all about making fun letters, cards, envelopes. At times quite detailed on how to make the items, but at other times it is quite simple and easy. I liked the diversity. That way someone can pick if they want to make something big or something small. Also I quite like that they had various themes. From something for a friend to something for a stranger.
I had a big laugh that they needed to explain how a letter works and how you had to send it/put an address on it. Man, I feel old if that is truly needed to be added these days.
Of course the ebook/pdf has its disadvantages. The text is really tiny because instead of seeing one page, you see two pages. Zooming in works, but that makes the flipping of pages finicky. Plus all the nice extras at the end (or at the beginning)? That is worthless for an ebook.
But all in all, a very colourful and fun book, and I may try out a few of the examples as soon as I find some materials/pens/etc.. I would recommend it to everyone interested in crafts and/or wants to write letters to friends and family.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
May 22, 2018
I received this for review via Edelweiss. This does not influence my opinions in any way.
This is a great book for anyone extremely new to the process of sending mail. Young children, older people who have never used the mail system... It has some great ideas for sending and decorating your mail, and contains a lot of information about how to address envelopes correctly and what kind of things to write about. It's perfect for children.
I enjoyed flipping it through it but there was nothing new in it for me. That is obviously not the book's purpose, but as a children's or newbie's guide to mail, it's perfect.
This is a great book for anyone extremely new to the process of sending mail. Young children, older people who have never used the mail system... It has some great ideas for sending and decorating your mail, and contains a lot of information about how to address envelopes correctly and what kind of things to write about. It's perfect for children.
I enjoyed flipping it through it but there was nothing new in it for me. That is obviously not the book's purpose, but as a children's or newbie's guide to mail, it's perfect.
April 26, 2018
I received this book as an e-arc from NetGalley, so thank you to the publisher for letting me read it early! All they asked was for my honest opinion, and that is what I gave them!
UHM OKAY.
Anyone who knows me knows I have a passion for stationary and letter writing. I have a board dedicated to it on Pinterest, have written MULTIPLE posts about writing letters on my blog, and have an entire drawer full of stationary. In short, I'm pretty sure this book was written for me.
Because it was an eArc, I didn't have the chance to do the lettering in the front of the book but I have plans to pull out some paper and the recommended pens and give the styles a try! Hand lettering seems unapproachable to people with little artistic talent but the directions to the lettering- and the handmade cards, for that matter- were clear and simple and I'm sure easy to follow.
The cards-- so cute, and totally doable. Though I haven't tried any of them yet, I am totally going to try a few, ESPECIALLY the one for random holidays. What a great idea for sending letters just because! The pictures are all high-quality and exactly the kind of style that appeals to me (again, did they read my mind or what?). Will totally be referring back to this when I'm feeling particularly crafty.
As for recommending/buying... I want this book in physical copy, especially for the stationary at the back! I really hope my local library where I work as an intern in the children's section (I sit desk for the most part!) gets this, because it's so cute and letter writing needs to live on!!!
UHM OKAY.
Anyone who knows me knows I have a passion for stationary and letter writing. I have a board dedicated to it on Pinterest, have written MULTIPLE posts about writing letters on my blog, and have an entire drawer full of stationary. In short, I'm pretty sure this book was written for me.
Because it was an eArc, I didn't have the chance to do the lettering in the front of the book but I have plans to pull out some paper and the recommended pens and give the styles a try! Hand lettering seems unapproachable to people with little artistic talent but the directions to the lettering- and the handmade cards, for that matter- were clear and simple and I'm sure easy to follow.
The cards-- so cute, and totally doable. Though I haven't tried any of them yet, I am totally going to try a few, ESPECIALLY the one for random holidays. What a great idea for sending letters just because! The pictures are all high-quality and exactly the kind of style that appeals to me (again, did they read my mind or what?). Will totally be referring back to this when I'm feeling particularly crafty.
As for recommending/buying... I want this book in physical copy, especially for the stationary at the back! I really hope my local library where I work as an intern in the children's section (I sit desk for the most part!) gets this, because it's so cute and letter writing needs to live on!!!
July 5, 2017
This book is a work of art, beautiful illustrations and plenty of tips and guides to have a go at creating your very own gorgeous handwritten happy mail!
Full of bright pastel colours popping against a pure write background to add colour the a page of text, images of letter designs are clear and simple with the guides for how to achieve them yourself.
There are loads of letter/card/envelope designs you can copy and print off yourself to use as well as colour in cards you could colour for someone or send plain to give them some fun too.
I'm going to get plenty of use from this book, there's something amazing about sending a letter the classic way not just an email!
Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!
Full of bright pastel colours popping against a pure write background to add colour the a page of text, images of letter designs are clear and simple with the guides for how to achieve them yourself.
There are loads of letter/card/envelope designs you can copy and print off yourself to use as well as colour in cards you could colour for someone or send plain to give them some fun too.
I'm going to get plenty of use from this book, there's something amazing about sending a letter the classic way not just an email!
Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!
July 16, 2017
This book would make a wonderful gift for any girl with an artsy bent, ages 8 and up. The directions for creating beautiful cards are clear and presented in text with accompanying photographs. There are a variety of fonts illustrated and plenty of practice spaces provided. Best of all, there are plenty of cards and stationary included to get the letter-writer started, some that are ready to go and others that allow the artist to color or paint to suit their own personal style. Parents and educators will be happy to note that the introduction contains the basics of letter-writing and the addressing of envelopes. (Review of digital ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline)
September 27, 2017
If you have a reluctant writer, you know that getting your child to get even a sentence down on paper can be an exercise in extreme frustration for you both! I explored lots of different ways to get the not-so-enthusiastic writer in my family to write, and one thing I found that worked was to have him write letters! I arranged for my son to write letters to everyone from the president, to family members, to restaurants. He worked hard to get his letters just right and was always excited to get a response tucked in our mailbox. Over the years we saved the letters he received back, and some of them will always be treasures, like the letters from his beloved grandfather who has since passed away.
While working on my up-and-coming language arts curriculum, I was looking for some books to get students writing in a creative way and stumbled across Happy Mail. I will be adding it to my curriculum schedule in the writing assignments. The writing portion of my curriculum is being designed to be a gentle, non-pressure introduction to writing for grades 2-6. I'm taking my experiences with students who both LOVE and HATE to write and incorporating these into my book and resource choices.
Happy Mail is the perfect book to get kids and young teens engaged in the old-fashioned art of letter writing and card making. It starts out with an introduction to letter writing tools - all the fun stuff the artist in me loves like felt-tip pens, card stock, and even the humble black crayon. Some of the supplies call for a craft knife, so an adult will need to supervise or assist with a few of the projects.
The next section covers letter writing basics: parts of a letter, salutations, how to address an envelope, and so on. After that there is a section of simple writing prompts (perfect for kids who would otherwise stare at a blank page for hours), as well as a 30 days challenge with plenty of letter writing activities and ideas for your budding writer.
The next section covers lettering styles. Each letter style shows a complete sample alphabet and is followed by a lined practice page.
There are 5 lettering styles:
Paper Cut Alphabet, Brush Lettering, Open Alphabet, Ribbon Alphabet, and a Storybook Alphabet
The book emphasizes that there is no need for perfection, and kids are encouraged to add their own touches and styles to their lettering.
After playing around with some hand lettering, there are several projects that are shown in detail with all of the needed supplies listed. Some of these projects are:
Cut Paper Love Notes, a Quote Note, Emoji Note, I Love You More Than..., a List Letter, Birthday Card, Wildly Grateful Thank You Card, Salty Pretzel Sorry Card, and plenty more for a variety of occasion like holidays, congratulations, etc. There are even simple instructions on now to make a homemade envelope. I like the Letter to Your Future Self idea. It's something I did when I was a kid, and it's fun to look back as an adult on some of my younger self's ideas and dreams!
The last section of the book has some pre-designed cards, notes, and templates with cute and full-color art, along with some black-and-white samples your child can color in.
Happy Mail is a good book to get your child off the computer and into the world of pens, pencils, and the excitement of sending off a letter or card the old-fashioned way!
While working on my up-and-coming language arts curriculum, I was looking for some books to get students writing in a creative way and stumbled across Happy Mail. I will be adding it to my curriculum schedule in the writing assignments. The writing portion of my curriculum is being designed to be a gentle, non-pressure introduction to writing for grades 2-6. I'm taking my experiences with students who both LOVE and HATE to write and incorporating these into my book and resource choices.
Happy Mail is the perfect book to get kids and young teens engaged in the old-fashioned art of letter writing and card making. It starts out with an introduction to letter writing tools - all the fun stuff the artist in me loves like felt-tip pens, card stock, and even the humble black crayon. Some of the supplies call for a craft knife, so an adult will need to supervise or assist with a few of the projects.
The next section covers letter writing basics: parts of a letter, salutations, how to address an envelope, and so on. After that there is a section of simple writing prompts (perfect for kids who would otherwise stare at a blank page for hours), as well as a 30 days challenge with plenty of letter writing activities and ideas for your budding writer.
The next section covers lettering styles. Each letter style shows a complete sample alphabet and is followed by a lined practice page.
There are 5 lettering styles:
Paper Cut Alphabet, Brush Lettering, Open Alphabet, Ribbon Alphabet, and a Storybook Alphabet
The book emphasizes that there is no need for perfection, and kids are encouraged to add their own touches and styles to their lettering.
After playing around with some hand lettering, there are several projects that are shown in detail with all of the needed supplies listed. Some of these projects are:
Cut Paper Love Notes, a Quote Note, Emoji Note, I Love You More Than..., a List Letter, Birthday Card, Wildly Grateful Thank You Card, Salty Pretzel Sorry Card, and plenty more for a variety of occasion like holidays, congratulations, etc. There are even simple instructions on now to make a homemade envelope. I like the Letter to Your Future Self idea. It's something I did when I was a kid, and it's fun to look back as an adult on some of my younger self's ideas and dreams!
The last section of the book has some pre-designed cards, notes, and templates with cute and full-color art, along with some black-and-white samples your child can color in.
Happy Mail is a good book to get your child off the computer and into the world of pens, pencils, and the excitement of sending off a letter or card the old-fashioned way!
August 28, 2017
I am a complete stationery nerd. I have always loved pens, gel pens, fountain pens, ink, glitter, paper (handmade paper makes me weak in the knees), washi tape, notebooks, etc etc. I absolutely love handwritten notes. I, in short, am a freak. Eunice and Sabrina get it.
The problem of course is that when most of us sit down in front of a blank piece of paper, we choke. We run out of ideas (if we had any to start with).
This book primes the pump. It is jam packed with great tips and ideas, including, yes, templates which one can follow slavishly if one needs a gentle push. It's a beautiful, colorful, exuberant book. Even though it's relatively short, it is full of everything necessary to get started really changing someone's day. Think how happy the recipient of your time and effort will be.
Although this book is aimed at younger readers, it's absolutely perfect for anyone with a sense of fun.
I loved this book.
Four stars with glitter on top!
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
The problem of course is that when most of us sit down in front of a blank piece of paper, we choke. We run out of ideas (if we had any to start with).
This book primes the pump. It is jam packed with great tips and ideas, including, yes, templates which one can follow slavishly if one needs a gentle push. It's a beautiful, colorful, exuberant book. Even though it's relatively short, it is full of everything necessary to get started really changing someone's day. Think how happy the recipient of your time and effort will be.
Although this book is aimed at younger readers, it's absolutely perfect for anyone with a sense of fun.
I loved this book.
Four stars with glitter on top!
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
December 5, 2017
So this book would be a great book for say a 10 year old interested in writing to a Pen Pal, maybe even a 13 year old. I would have ranked it higher but the description of the parts of a letter and envelope are skills taught to a second grader. The straw that broke the ratings back was yesterday. After completing this read, I removed one of the sheets of stationery from the back. It was cute enough. While I was driving I thought, "you know that return address is the same size as the destination address and it is RIGHT in the CENTER of the back of the sheet of paper. I wonder if the Post Office will accept this." Sure enough, the post office only would after I scratched through the return address on the back, put it on the front and submitted extra postage.
Sheesh. Do your homework, authors.
Sheesh. Do your homework, authors.
June 26, 2017
Happy Mail is a great idea for encouraging young people to indulge in the unfortunately often neglected art of letter-writing. It encourages sending letters to friends and family for no reason other than 'just because', which I love. I had expected there to be more tips about how to actually do lettering (as in basics of calligraphy and the weighting of pen strokes) rather than how to fake the lettering, but actually this works well as a starting point. There are lots of great ideas of how to embellish and decorate letters, ideas of what to send, and a few challenges. The physical copy of this book actually includes tear-out perforated cards which I think is a great touch. The book has plenty of ideas, and the illustrations are clear and fun. This is a great book for crafty types.
July 26, 2017
I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley. Since my granddaughter and I are doing art this summer, I thought working on some of these DIY projects would be fun, until I saw everyone used a craft knife. That’s not a good idea for younger kids. As I read farther into the book, I also noticed there were only one or two illustrations for each project. I and all the kids I know need an illustration for each step in the instructions. That leaves nothing to chance. The different alphabets are cute and clever. Plus the idea of sending handwritten notes should be emphasized as much as possible, which the authors accomplished here. The book would have been better had the author’s assumed their readers had zero knowledge of letter writing and stationery decorating.
July 27, 2017
I love it!!
I've always loved creative books, and books that look FABULOUS. This one totally amazed me.
Authors provided tips and ideas on creating handmade letters and envelopes, and even provided a few unbelievably adorable templates for readers to copy and cut out. The book itself is well designed, with colorful illustrations, attractive page design and a cover too fabulous to ignore, this book will definitely attract lots of girls when it's out on the shelf.
----------------------------------------------------
Overall: 4.8/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Creativeness: 4.5/5
Cover: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Appealing: 5/5
Will I buy it? Yeah, I will.
*I received an ARC copy from NetGalley.
I've always loved creative books, and books that look FABULOUS. This one totally amazed me.
Authors provided tips and ideas on creating handmade letters and envelopes, and even provided a few unbelievably adorable templates for readers to copy and cut out. The book itself is well designed, with colorful illustrations, attractive page design and a cover too fabulous to ignore, this book will definitely attract lots of girls when it's out on the shelf.
----------------------------------------------------
Overall: 4.8/5
Illustrations: 5/5
Creativeness: 4.5/5
Cover: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Appealing: 5/5
Will I buy it? Yeah, I will.
*I received an ARC copy from NetGalley.
August 24, 2017
I requested this one from Netgalley for my sheer nostalgic love of letter writing and all things stationery. Who knew one would need a how-to book on how to write letters in this day and age? I had so many penpals as a child, I loved writing and receiving letters in the mail. I really miss it. The book is cute, lovely, I love the pretty lettering tips, the beautiful office supplies. A nice book to give as a gift to children/teens who life crafts, and who knows, they can revive handwriting letters?
Thanks Netgalley for the advanced reader copy.
Thanks Netgalley for the advanced reader copy.
July 5, 2017
This book is great for kids, teenagers and anyone looking for some letter writing inspiration. There are art and craft projects, handwriting guides and hints and tips to encourage kids to write letters. It is beautifully presented and could keep kids busy for hours. Although I'm not the target audience, I enjoyed flicking through and ended up with a handful ideas of things to make and do myself.
[Free ARC from Net Galley]
[Free ARC from Net Galley]
July 21, 2017
This is such a cute and fun book. I love that it encourages letter writing, hand writing and creativity and DIY projects! It goes back to basics encouraging beginners as well as more experienced makers which is a great thing. Beautifully presented with lots of inspiration and projects to follow along, we will definitely be featuring this in the Sarah Hurley Book Club for a craft pick closer to publication date!
July 28, 2017
It’s sad to think that we might now need books that tell us how to mail letters, but it is becoming a lost art form. Well, this book is trying to bring that back. It not only has places to practice various types of hand lettering, it tell you how to write a letter in the first place, and then has some wildly fun cards and envelopes that you can make as well. With the uptick in pen pals, it’s time to dust off your stationary and give this a try.
July 14, 2017
I love any book that encourages people to write! This book is filled with fun ideas to prompt kids to write!I love snail mail, as do most of the people I know,. The post office is very good about sending our art envelopes and packages- fully decorated!- with no problems. Just make sure they can read th address!
August 28, 2017
Cute and fun gift for yourself or your tween, though some of the how -tos are more sophisticated and expensive than your standard kid budget. I thought the trick with the Molotow marker and ombre shaded card was a goodie. As for the art and card samples, I found them all 1 tone. It was clear it followed 1 artistic style and I would've loved more design variety.
June 19, 2018
I received a copy of this for a fair and honest review. I have loved writing and receiving letters. This showed me all kind of tricks and ideas for letters. I think everyone she write letters for they are all little treasure and keepsakes to be cherished. I like the envelope decorating ideas. The card making as well. It does not take a lot of things to make these creations.
June 27, 2017
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! I love paper and notecards, so I was excited to read this book. It gave me some great ideas for creating my own cards. I think that kids will like this book and it will inspire them! I think it would be a fun book for teachers to use when teaching letter writing!
July 29, 2017
This is a very cute book filled with fun ideas. I love all of the designs and the tutorials are easy to follow. This book is so inspiring to me. Very recommended!
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
December 16, 2017
I loved this book. The artwork is very simple and cute and the instructions are really clear and good for kids. As someone who works with kids, many of them haven't written letters other than thank you notes to family members so I think this will be a really good one that will get a lot of use.
January 11, 2018
Awfully charming, but I wish it had a bit more of 'how to do your own variation on a style using these techniques' and a little less 'copy our templates in the back.' (Also, craft knives are never as easy to cut with as they make it look.)
June 19, 2019
Lots of info for novices, but very little on how to achieve the style demonstrated throughout.
February 17, 2021
A few cute ideas, but a little too twee for my taste.
April 21, 2022
A great starter for those interested in learning to write cards and letters. It includes templates, prompts and starter lists to let you know the tools and ways to begin!
February 6, 2024
Some interesting ideas for writing letters the snail mail way.
July 22, 2022
Thank you to Edelweiss for this DRC. Very cute, and great for non-artists.
January 3, 2018
The introductory section of the book covers letter writing basics: How to write a letter, reasons you would want to write one, how to address an envelope — all things most of us take for granted but not something our newest instant communication generation is going to learn unless someone shows them.
The book then moves on to a series of hand-lettering projects and how to illustrate and construct your own cards and letters. The final section consists of 40 already designed cards and stationary that are ready to use.
This is a fun way to introduce youngsters to what used to be routine correspondence. And who doesn’t like to receive an original card, letter, or invitation in the mail? Although the book is aimed at ages 8 to 12, I bet adults and teens would enjoy it too.
The book then moves on to a series of hand-lettering projects and how to illustrate and construct your own cards and letters. The final section consists of 40 already designed cards and stationary that are ready to use.
This is a fun way to introduce youngsters to what used to be routine correspondence. And who doesn’t like to receive an original card, letter, or invitation in the mail? Although the book is aimed at ages 8 to 12, I bet adults and teens would enjoy it too.
March 16, 2018
A good book packed with ideas and suggestions for creating your very own greeting/invitation cards, letters and much more. Will take you back to a world where people connected through words, paper and mail. Very encouraging and creative!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews