Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Grown-ups need Pen Pals, too!


letter writing is a dying art by Linda Cronin.
Remember when we were kids and everyone seemed to have a far-away pen-pal? Well, "far-away" is a relative term.... when you're under 10 that can mean anything from a neighboring city to across the world.

My pen pal happened to live in Pennsylvania. Me, Ohio. I know, Pennsylvania was not the distant land I had hoped for... but it was through a "sister" girl scout troop, so there you have it. I can't tell you that I learned about new cultures, languages or life styles.... but we did chat about boys and parents and school (ho-hum).

So flash forward to present day life.....
Recently I opened a shop on an artist's website called "ETSY". pronounced like Betsy without the "B". While I do enjoy a steady steam of sales there, I have to admit what really makes me grin ear-to-ear, is that my jewelry is popular in places I would have never dreamed of. I have a few ladies in Australia and Scotland who are quickly becoming Katcando collectors! But that's not all.... they have also become my new grown-up pen pals. From hearing my new-pal in Scotland's quirky sayings to receiving beautiful photographs from my new-pal in Australia.... I have to admit, pen pals are a great thing no matter what your age!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I knew there was a reason I enjoyed chatting to people on etsy. Who knew I was reliving my pen pal childhood?? It makes perfect sense :-)

carol said...

i loved this blog Kathy

i had a childhood penpal, then about 10 years ago penned with quite a few ladies from all over the world who shared my hobby

i'm a bit of a lazy bones now, but boy it is so much fun to have these long distance friends
i guess the internet and email makes it a lot easier, but i do remember the excitement back then of receiving a letter in the post with exotic stamps and usually with some fun stickers or sketches that were hand drawn. I knew on receipt of this letter that it was going to give me lots of pleasure.
The excitement was so similar to the excitement that i experience now when i receive a package from one of my fav etsy friends.

AND i hope i am one of those aussie girls you were referring.

Cheers
Carol

EmmaTM said...

This is so true, but I never thought of it this way!! ha ha

I think one of the most fun parts of etsy is the chatter too! Have you joined a team yet? That's the best.

Enjoy your penpals, hope to see you in the forums!

lisaroy said...

That's totally true! I think the most pen pals I had at one time as a kid was 18! I used to spend my allowance on stamps. I love etsy for this too - I speak to people more on etsy than i do my own family!

kanishk said...

It makes perfect sense
free internet jobs

Anonymous said...

Ahhh yes pen pals, so fun, at 43 I still have a few, and look forward to opening my mailbox in hopes I have a letter waiting for me. getting to know people in a different country, or just here in the good ol' USA, it's fun.
ALSO, I LOVE the photo of the pen, beautiful!! I love all the shtuff that goes along with penpaling, pens, stickers, stamps, mailart, it's all good.