Guide: to Pen Palling & Swapping!

A Simple Guide to Pen Palling & Swapping

 

Deneale K. Williams, Yahoo Contributor Network
Aug 29, 2009

Have you ever went to the mailbox and wished there was something there other bills?

 

The other thing pen pal groups are also good for: FBs that you cannot get sent to their proper owner. Sometimes another individual may know where the person moved to, or even if they were now deceased.

 

 

There is a great way to make getting mail, and your life a little more entertaining. But! There are some things you need to know first....
 

Pen palling is a great way to meet new people, and learn about different states, as well as countries. It is also a good way to get more interesting mail!

To be a pen paller, I personally advise learning a few key factors first. You see, I personally jumped right into it, without advise, without the know how, and later learned. And it was over something as small as an FB.

Now you are wondering what "FB" means. Let me start by saying, "No, it doesn't mean 'facebook' in this case!" LOL

 
"FB" stands for "Friendship book." So what is a friendship book? It is a little booklet, sometimes made out of scraps of paper, sometimes out of notepads, or cards. They are made by individuals who want to see this little booklet travel from person to person, to show where all it has been. Once this FB is filled, it becomes like a souvenir. Individuals pass them from pal to pal, and attach their address label, or write their info on a small section. After doing that, they usually write more codes.

With these codes, they are making it known if they want more pen pals, or not; and what they are looking for- if anything at all. You do not need to be wanting more pals to sign this booklet. And it is best to date your entry, so that people can see where the booklet went and when. Many pallers, who have made these little booklets, may also put "return to maker, or to the person they made it for by such and such a date, or once the two year time frame is up."

Friendship booklets can be made for anyone, including yourself. I have known of a few people who even made them for cancer stricken children. It is up to the creator of the booklet. Just try not to make the booklets too thick, so they CAN be returned in a timely manner. If you print in the booklets, print so your writing can be read by others.
Once the booklet becomes full, simply send the booklet back to the individual it was made for. If the booklet ends up sent back to you because the person moved, simply send it to its maker. The reason and way you know who the booklet was made for and by is because you are "supposed" to put this information in the booklet when you make it. Here let me show you an example:

FB Made for:

Jane Doe
123 Number St.
Washington, DC
00123
NPW Female only please

Made by:

Jillian Smith
9090 W. Nothing Street
Nothing, Alabama
12345
SNNP

Now, as you can see,

I added some abbreviations.

Here are some of those continuously changing pen pal abbreviations:

NPW= New Pals Wanted
SNNP= Sorry No New Pals
SAHM= Stay at home Mom
No Cons= No Prisoners or inmates
A/A= Answers all
A/M= Answers Most
W/W= World Wide
LLP=Long letter Pals
DOB= Date of Birth
EPals only= Online pals only
Moms Only=This is where the swapper only wants other Mothers and no one else.
ICR= I can return (meaning the FBs, etc.)
US Only= Seeking pals/swappers in USA only

Now if the person states no men, no cons, or even no women; your best bet is to the respect that. And the reason people put no cons or prisoners, is because prisoners are bored with nothing to do, and they have wants and needs, and that's where a pen pal comes in. Please be cautious if you are willing or wanting to pal with prisoners and inmates.

Now as you see, I mentioned "Swappers." That is a person who swaps FBs back and forth; sometimes they will even mention they do so- in bulk. This means they will accept a large sum of them at one time, no problem. Some even accept boxes!

However, there are other things pen pallers swap. These include Deco's, slams, crams, label/sticker bags, and even stickers, rubber stamps, and coupons!

A Deco is a decorative FB where as people usually take a whole page to themselves and decorate it. They might stamp pictures onto it, and then color them. They may even use stickers. It all depends on the individual. This is where you can get creative. And these are much more awesome to receive back, because not only has the booklet traveled usually world wide, but everyone adds their own special touch to it!

A Slam is a question answer thing, usually. It has numerous pages, with a question or comment atop of each page. Then below it are usually numbers or alphas, where you as the receiver respond. Again, please write neatly. These are entertaining. And what is even more creative, is if each person uses a different color pen. They are fun to read once completely filled out and sent home. It also helps you learn about the individuals who filled them out!

A Cram is a very small FB. Usually people only attach a label, and send it on its way. If you write in it, remember it is small, so there isn't a lot of room. And most people make the crams to get a label attached and sent on its merry way faster!

A label or sticker bag, is something you ask others to put their labels and stickers into. If you are requesting labels, it is so once it is returned to you; you will in turn make FBs, slams or whatever- for those people. The stickers are to help you build up a collection. And sometimes they will say to take a sticker and add two more. Kind of like trading.

So as you may well enough see, pen palling is a bit more entertaining than just a simple letter. Or at least it can be, if you want it to be, the choice is completely and totally up to you.

There are groups online that can help you in ascertaining new pals, and "education" on the pen pal community. Sometimes they can tell you in advance if they think an individual is a good pen paller or swapper or not.

And most pen pallers are descent people who can give you advice and point you in the right direction, when you have wants and needs. I have even seen a baby shower VIA the pen pal community. It was a huge success, as well as a shocker to the expecting Mommy!

Pen palling is a lot of fun, educational, and definitely something you might want to consider if you are stuck at home, bored and watching too much TV! There are always people in need of a new pal, and a new long time friend!

Published by Deneale K. Williams

For E-Pals or Snail Mail or Whatever!  

Creating Unique Stationery for Anything!

Deneale K. Williams, Yahoo Contributor Network
Jun 25, 2010

Letter writing has became a thing of the past lately, least wise through snail mail. And just in case you are wondering what snail mail is- that is the old fashioned way, with the mail man.

 

 

 

However, if you are into the Internet and emailing, you may still consider yourself a letter writer, and still keeping in contact with friends and family; just like it with the easier way- type, point and click!

Either way, did you know that there are still reasons to make and create your own unique designs of stationery, that can make your letters stand out just a little bit more? Not to mention, you can also use your stationery for other things such as letter heads and notes when slipping a note into the kids book bag, or whatever else you may deem necessary? Maybe even a fax cover letter, there's a thought!

And these unique designs can be scanned and saved into your computer and even used in your email!  There are so many things you can do now of days with technology, you would be amazed, if you aren't already!

For instance, if you have a favorite photo of you and your family, you can take it into a photo shop editor and fade it to a very faint, almost not even there picture, and use it as the background on the paper, or even fade it, and black and white it. Maybe not even the whole sheet, but maybe just the bottom corner. Trust me, it will get noticed and complimented.

Now if you don't want to fade your favorite photo, or even black and white it, you can shrink it and put it in the bottom corner, top or whatever. You can even design yourself some matching labels. Several photo shop programs have that option, and so does the Microsoft works word processor program.

Better still, here is a fun idea, that involves craft and your children. How about giving the kids some crayola paints and letting them do their own hand prints. (This requires washable paints, water, and doesn't even require paint brushes!) If you have several kids, give them each their own color, and let them do one print each, one after another, laying a hand, over atop of one another, letting the other hand show through by moving it over an inch or two depending on how many children you have. You can decide the width. Let this dry, thoroughly.
After it has dried completely lay it on the scanner, and scan it. This, you can also with whatever program you use, fade it and use as stationery. You can also print it, using "fast draft" which will use a lot less ink and appear lighter and you can write on it with a dark sharpie. Providing you used colors like yellow and pinks, and light blues. Something that is able to be seen through with a dark color and maybe a thicker marker.

This project is fun for your children, and they will enjoy using this project as paper to write "you" a note on. Every time they write you a note they might decide to say, "Hey Mom remember when we did this?" Especially if you save it to your hard drive, and later down the road when they are older, they can use it again.
Another fun project with stationery, is rubber stamping. And this to, you can scan and save to your hard drive on your computer. One advantage to rubber stamping, is you can also color them in after inking them onto paper first. There is even another step, where people emboss with rubber stamps, that however is something that cannot be saved to your hard drive, because embossing is textures and raised surfaces, with the stamps. (I however, have not yet learned how to do it, I want to. But have not yet been fortunate enough.)

 

Rubber stamps require ink pads, which come in a variety of colors, and sometimes even scents. You can get colored pencils or crayons too, and like I suggested color them after stamping, and letting the stamped section dry. Otherwise the ink will smear.

Imagine what all of your email friends and family will then think when they see all of your new stationery. They will be amazed, and in awe. You will be getting compliments for days! The kids will pull notes from their backpacks, and their friends will look at it, "Wow your Mom is cool." Just because the note looks like you put a lot of time and effort into it.

It's the little things that make the difference! Why not take the time to be different?

Published by Deneale K. Williams