I hope all you nerds are enjoying a wonderful Thinking of You Week so far. Mine kicked off on a surprising note yesterday when I received a delivery not from the USPS, but the Royal Mail! A thousand thank-yous to Sharon at Redback Cards for sending me this utterly beautiful design from her range and completely making my day!
It is exciting to see such a national, intensive push to connect via snail mail, and I hope it leads to many, many prolific stationery practices being established. Thus this is the perfect week to profile Quill & Cue, as well as its founder Alyssa Toft.
This subscription service breaks down the often intimidating process into easy steps to allow the inherent magic of handwritten notes to shine. Once you start flexing that muscle, the sky is the epistolary limit!
Each letter-writing kit subscription includes a luxe greeting card, an envelope, a postage stamp — AKA, the quill — and a Cue Card. This inspires both “the who” and “the what:” that is, who to send your card to and what to say. All that’s left to do is craft the note, send it off, and surprise someone with your fantastic, unexpected snail mail missive!
Of course I had more questions for Alyssa.
SS: What was your original inspiration for Quill & Cue?
AT: I wanted to help people follow through on their good intentions. We often think about how much we appreciate someone, how impressive they are, how much they changed our life, the positive impact they have made. We have good intentions of telling them, but life is busy, the moment passes us by, and we never let that person know how much they mean.
Too much is left unsaid, and Quill & Cue tries to change that. With our monthly letter-writing kits, we give you the tools to follow through on your good intentions!
SS: What do you think holds folks back from connecting with others in this way? Bad handwriting, the fear of the blank page, something else …?
AT: Yes, yes, and yes!
1. People might be insecure about their handwriting, which can be a barrier.
2. Blank-page fear is real and, in my experience, is exacerbated by perfectionism. Sometimes I obsess over getting a message just right, wanting to convey my feelings perfectly, and I end up not sending the note at all! What a shame!
3. I think there’s a general self-consciousness that gets in the way. It can be nerve-racking to lay bare your thoughts and feelings. What if I say too much? Will this person think it’s odd that I reached out? Is it too gushy? Am I bad writer? If you’re feeling this way, read this or this and say goodbye to your worries!
SS: Do you have any additional tips for working through it?
AT: Once you’ve identified your card recipient, verbally describe this person to your spouse or a friend. You might be surprised at how effortlessly you articulate your admiration in conversation, compared to staring at a blank page. Translate your conversation into a handwritten note, and off you go!
2. Write a rough draft of your note. Knowing you can still review and edit your message may relieve some of the pressure and allow your thoughts to flow more freely.
3. Use the Cue Card in your Quill & Cue letter-writing kit! We really do put a lot of work into making the Cue Cards thought-provoking, encouraging, and useful.
SS: What is your favorite bit of feedback so far?
AT: That handwritten notes impact the card recipient and the card sender. Customers have shared stories about the impact on card recipients: a mother who called her daughter crying after receiving her card, a reignited relationship between old high school friends, someone brought to tears after reading “the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.” As for the impact on the card sender, customers have said things along the lines of: “You’re my chance to do better,” and “The person who sends this is the person I want to be.” I love that the benefits flow both ways!
SS: Is there anything else you want to share with my readers?
1. I adore the stationery community! One of my favorite parts of running Quill & Cue is getting to feature the work of independent stationery studios and small businesses, such as Big Wheel Press, Brown Parcel Press, Dahlia Press, Friendly Fire Paper, Iron Leaf Press, Love Through Letterpress, Meshwork Press, Moglea, Quail Lane Press, Sesame Letterpress, 2021 Co., and Wolf & Wren Press.
2. Quill & Cue is moving into B2B/company-based initiatives centered around the power of a handwritten note. It’s exciting to imagine a large-scale impact! We can work with companies to leverage handwritten notes in their relationship-building process, both external (clients, customers, vendors) and internal (culture, inclusion, engagement). Take a look at this Harvard Business Review article to read about the impact of personalized letters.
Finally, companies can gift Quill & Cue subscriptions to their own clients. Gifting Quill & Cue subscriptions shows what the company values (gratitude, kindness, connection). And because it’s recurring, the client gets the chance to think about the company that gifted the subscription each time they receive their monthly kit!
Thank you so much Alyssa for swinging by to take a deep dive into your Quill & Cue kits and the nearly endless benefits of snail mail. Start your stationery practice here; I just know you will make someone’s day!
