One of my favorite things to do is get the mail. The hope that something in that box is more than a bill or junk mail. I used to get the mail every day. No matter what, even when I was home on maternity leave, I would make time to walk to the end to of the driveway and get the mail every afternoon.
This year, my children have expressed an interest in picking up the mail each day. They switch off every other day. Who am I to deny them the fun of walking to the mailbox, opening the door and hoping to find something fun on the other side? It’s never for them. Heck, it’s rarely for me. But they love it so I’ve given up the task.
My love for mail isn’t relegated to just receiving. I also love to send mail. Well, maybe not when they require a check or form of payment from me. However, I love to send something to other people, possibly brightening their day when they open the mailbox door and find something out of the ordinary.
That’s why I’m participating in National Letter Writing Month again this year. If you recall, I sent 30 letters to different people over 30 days last year, following the writing prompts from Write On. This year, I’m coming up with several of my own writing prompts, providing you with reviews of some of my favorite letter writing tools and giving you some helpful tips for succeeding in getting 30 letters mailed in 30 days.
Today, I’m taking a look at the Lettermate, an envelope addressing tool.
When it comes to addressing envelopes, I’m lucky if the address comes out balanced on the page, even in a relatively straight line. The Lettermate is a ruler with lines in it that helps keep lines straight and balanced.
The plastic tool is a 5″ x 4″ rectangle with hash marks to indicate center and space to write the address in many different fonts.
The Lettermate comes with a sheet of tips and tricks, which proves useful. It provides information about how to write and suggestions for thinking outside the box when it comes to addressing an envelope.
After I used it, I came up with a few tips of my own.
- Leave space for letters that drop below the base line such as y, j, p, g and a cursive z. I forgot about this and was using all the space for tall letters and realized I was going to have to go back and do the drop down letters.
- Take your time. If you want to center the text, you will have to do a little pre-planning. This isn’t a super quick process until you get used to it.
- Experiment with different writing styles. The Lettermate can just be moved down the page if you run out of room. Use wide letters, use tall letters, use cursive or calligraphy. No matter what, the text will be in a straight line.
Pinterest has some really great ideas for ways to address envelopes. Most of the time, I was am afraid to try them for fear of screwing up the alignment or sizing. I’m definitely going to give these a try now that I have a Lettermate to keep my text straight.
Do you want a Lettermate before National Letter Writing Month begins? You know you do! You can pick one up from $9.95 from the Lettermate website. From the site, you can also find tips, watch the Lettermate in action and learn more about this simple tool that makes such a big impact.
I was provided a Lettermate free of charge from The Lettermate. While I was provide this tool and try and use, the thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are my own.