Personalized Stationary & Letterhead

[rickcharles606]

Gents, since I've rediscovered the joy of pen to paper, I've found that I want to write more frequent letters and use email less. So, have any of you found a place to purchase high quality stationery and letterhead that is good with fountain pens?

I Googled it and found a few places, but would rather buy from a shop that one of you has used with success. Any help would be appreciated :001_smile Thanks in advance.

EDIT: I just realized that I've been spelling the word 'stationery' incorrectly, as stationary. I'm smrt...I mean smart ;-)

[mollzo-dk]

Do not get it pre-printed from some company...

Buy high quality paper and envelopes (Clairfontaine is one..) and print it on yourself!!!

Morten

[The Nid Hog]

Good questions! It's been a while since I had any made. I used to go to a local printer, who made an engraved plate for me. He had a number of choices of high-quality stationary available, and he kept my preferences on file. When I ran low, I'd call him and he's print more. Might be a nice local option, if you can find a printer who still does that kind of work. If you have a particular paper in mind that they don't offer, you can probably work out something to bring the paper yourself and have him print it.

[strop]

Good question as I've been thinking about that myself. It's been years since I've had customized stationery, but it had almost raised printing. Very elegant, but I'm not sure any home printer could do that.

My grandfather was a printer. His press was the custom press, for all the stationery, cards, etc. Seemed huge (to a 7 year old!) when I went there with him to visit as a kid

[rickcharles606]

Do not get it pre-printed from some company...

Buy high quality paper and envelopes (Clairfontaine is one..) and print it on yourself!!!

Morten

Well, that's a great idea, and I do that for my 'company' letterhead already. However, for my personal letterhead, and thank you cards, etc...I'm thinking something a little more high end, that a home printer cannot accomplish.

I'll contact my printer today, have a job for her anyway. Seems like a logical place to start...don't know why I didn't think of it. Thanks guys, and if anyone knows of a trustworthy internet vendor that does quality work, please let me know.

[devorenm]

My opinion is that the only way to go with stationary is engraving. It is however the most expensive (initially) but if the choice is between preprinted (Thermal/Laser/etc) letterhead and plain I'd go with the plain stuff.

As for engraved stationary I have calling cards from Picolo Press in the UK and after the exchange rate and shipping still found them to be cost competitive. The other big name option is Dempsey and Carrol which is an American company but VERY VERY expensive and Crane - but you have to like their paper for it to make sense.

Also - be sure to pick a company who can address all of your needs because once the die is engraved your cost goes way down and typically one die can be used for a variety of types of stationary.

[Sparafucile]

Cranes. Engraved. Very expensive, but gorgeous. And classy.

[rickcharles606]

Ohhh my, Piccolo in the UK is very nice. I've sent them an email with some artwork and design ideas, waiting for some paper options and a quote. Thanks for the tip devorenm!

[D.Gray]

Rickcharles606,

It depends on the quality of the 'home printer' to do your letter heads (i.e. I use an Epson Stylus Photo 1400) which is a photo printer and make my own greeting/thank you cards. I have used a Gartner invitation kit (100 5.5 x 8.5 sheets of card stock with envelopes) and print a photo on one side and write on the other side (however I do get some feathering), and I have used an Avery White Half Fold Greeting card kit (textured paper similar to a water color paper of old texture wise, but not alot of feathering with a variety of fountain pens and inks) of 30 cards and envelopes. I am also thinking for the cost of ink, my time, and the card stock (the Gartner was $23.00 at Staples, and the Avery was $14.00 at Office Max) that I should maybe have a custom photo print business (like MPIX.com, or WHCC.com) print out a pack of cards for roughly $38.00 per 25 cards with envelopes (hopefully this gets me a nicer paper to write on, but the two card kits I mentioned above aren't bad to write on and I prefer the textured card stock from Avery as I get less feathering from it than I do from the Gartner cardstock when using the Music nib on my Platinum or the bold nib on my TWSBI) I find a medium or fine tip pen works best when writing on these two card stock samples.

I have looked into having a local print shop print my cards as a "Press printed" item but the lowest bid I have recieved is $50.00 per bundle of 25 cards with no envelopes.k

I would be interested in any information you find on this project as I am trying to find a way to print cards for resale purposes as well as my own personal use.


Dave

[invizable]

I recently did an exhaustive search for reasonably priced stationary and especially Correspondence Cards which I use for work. I ended up ordering from Vista Print and upgrading to their heavier recycled paper (works Great with my fountain pens).
I got to design exactly what I wanted and after testing several paper and design samples, ordered in bulk to get the price way down.
Make sure to search online for a deal as VistaPrint always has big coupons floating around online.

[rickcharles606]

Rickcharles606,

It depends on the quality of the 'home printer' to do your letter heads (i.e. I use an Epson Stylus Photo 1400) which is a photo printer and make my own greeting/thank you cards. I have used a Gartner invitation kit (100 5.5 x 8.5 sheets of card stock with envelopes) and print a photo on one side and write on the other side (however I do get some feathering), and I have used an Avery White Half Fold Greeting card kit (textured paper similar to a water color paper of old texture wise, but not alot of feathering with a variety of fountain pens and inks) of 30 cards and envelopes. I am also thinking for the cost of ink, my time, and the card stock (the Gartner was $23.00 at Staples, and the Avery was $14.00 at Office Max) that I should maybe have a custom photo print business (like MPIX.com, or WHCC.com) print out a pack of cards for roughly $38.00 per 25 cards with envelopes (hopefully this gets me a nicer paper to write on, but the two card kits I mentioned above aren't bad to write on and I prefer the textured card stock from Avery as I get less feathering from it than I do from the Gartner cardstock when using the Music nib on my Platinum or the bold nib on my TWSBI) I find a medium or fine tip pen works best when writing on these two card stock samples.

I have looked into having a local print shop print my cards as a "Press printed" item but the lowest bid I have recieved is $50.00 per bundle of 25 cards with no envelopes.k

I would be interested in any information you find on this project as I am trying to find a way to print cards for resale purposes as well as my own personal use.


Dave

Dave,

I'll keep you posted on what I find out from my printer and from Piccolo. See, for me personally, with friends and family...I could use my printer to do some card and letterhead. I'm in the tobacco business and deal with owners and CEO's of Cigar manufacturing companies, and want to buy small amounts of very high end Thank you cards and letterhead to use only for my 'professional' life ;-) I talked to my printer today, and she assures me that she can come up with some things that I'll like, we'll see. She mentioned embossing, foil and offset printing.

Dave, if you haven't already done so...I'd check out Piccolo in the UK, they have some very nice stuff and it's not 'that' pricey. Depends on your needs. If I were just looking for something for me to write to my uncle, or sister....I'd just whip out some nice paper and go to it, lol. Keep me posted on your progress as well. I'm still learning what papers will work well with FP's. That was something that I made abundantly clear with my printer today...I do not want some heavily textured paper. Just something nice that the ink won't bleed through...so, heavy paper and possibly a light texture.

[rickcharles606]

I recently did an exhaustive search for reasonably priced stationary and especially Correspondence Cards which I use for work. I ended up ordering from Vista Print and upgrading to their heavier recycled paper (works Great with my fountain pens).
I got to design exactly what I wanted and after testing several paper and design samples, ordered in bulk to get the price way down.
Make sure to search online for a deal as VistaPrint always has big coupons floating around online.

Did they offer any type of embossing or foil work?? I haven't ever looked at their site, thanks for the lead...I'll check them out.

[devorenm]

Ohhh my, Piccolo in the UK is very nice. I've sent them an email with some artwork and design ideas, waiting for some paper options and a quote. Thanks for the tip devorenm!

No problem - you can get nice stuff other places but there is nothing like a quality engraving job to scream class.

[rickcharles606]

Also Gents...I've never had the opportunity to write on heavy, high quality paper with my fountain pens. So, my next question is what type of paper should I request when they are producing the letterhead and stationery? The problem I have is my printer is not local, so it's going to be hit or miss on what paper we choose. I like textured paper, but I'd think using a fountain pen on something like that will cause bleeding, or feathering..wouldn't it?

[watch_art]

Um. I make letterhead. Custom art and all printed by hand - on either my own HP Laserjet 32lb or whatever paper you send me.
www.coffeegrinderpress.com

Cheers!

[Alacrity59]

I didn't realize how nice it was to have a local stationery store. Back some time in the twentieth century . . . when I graduated from University . . . I went to the local stationer and explained that I wanted to have some nice paper to use for my resume. (as a side note . . . when I graduated college I had to hand type resumes to have them look acceptable . . . by the time I was finished University photocopiers were up to the job of copying to paper you provided) Sorry for the digression.

The stationer brought out no less that 6 boxes of 500 pages of different papers that I could use. White, cream, ivory, laid, and so on. I picked a pure white that had texture that looked a bit like a hand made paper, and those 500 pages were well used over the next 7 to 10 years. I'm sure you can get this sort of service some places still . . . but now it is for downtown in major cities . . . which I tend to avoid. These days everything is available online but it was nice to see some samples up close and personal . . . a French curve, engineer's scales, ledger paper, samples of business cards, and personalized stationery.

Ok old dude rant off. No hang in for a second. Here I am in Canada . . . the pulp and paper supplier to the whole wide world . . . and I've got an addiction to paper made in France. . . . what the heck is that about??? . . . So I look up Canadian paper makers . . and heck yes they do make premium products . . . cotton rag. . . 20%, 80%, 100%. Ok click on who retails this paper . . . nobody in Ontario.

There is so much I enjoy about life in 2011 . . . but I do wish we could have figured out how to keep a few things around from the past.

Ack I can't stop . . . remember when you could go to the hardware store and buy seven or eight or nine 1 1/2" wood screws? They would put them in a small paper bag . . . now you go to the big box store and buy the blister pack of 50?

Take care.

[maxman]

I didn't realize how nice it was to have a local stationery store. Back some time in the twentieth century . . . when I graduated from University . . . I went to the local stationer and explained that I wanted to have some nice paper to use for my resume. (as a side note . . . when I graduated college I had to hand type resumes to have them look acceptable . . . by the time I was finished University photocopiers were up to the job of copying to paper you provided) Sorry for the digression.

The stationer brought out no less that 6 boxes of 500 pages of different papers that I could use. White, cream, ivory, laid, and so on. I picked a pure white that had texture that looked a bit like a hand made paper, and those 500 pages were well used over the next 7 to 10 years. I'm sure you can get this sort of service some places still . . . but now it is for downtown in major cities . . . which I tend to avoid. These days everything is available online but it was nice to see some samples up close and personal . . . a French curve, engineer's scales, ledger paper, samples of business cards, and personalized stationery.

Ok old dude rant off. No hang in for a second. Here I am in Canada . . . the pulp and paper supplier to the whole wide world . . . and I've got an addiction to paper made in France. . . . what the heck is that about??? . . . So I look up Canadian paper makers . . and heck yes they do make premium products . . . cotton rag. . . 20%, 80%, 100%. Ok click on who retails this paper . . . nobody in Ontario.

There is so much I enjoy about life in 2011 . . . but I do wish we could have figured out how to keep a few things around from the past.

Ack I can't stop . . . remember when you could go to the hardware store and buy seven or eight or nine 1 1/2" wood screws? They would put them in a small paper bag . . . now you go to the big box store and buy the blister pack of 50?

Take care.

I don't have a clue why we (as Canadians) don't make more products and retail our products in our own country. I live in close proximity to some of the biggest paper mills in the world (There's an AbitibiBowater mill right in Tbay).

I can't buy decent paper here at all. Nowhere. The only store that sells anything is Staples and it's all junk.

[csmorris]

If either of you find a Canadian paper with the quality of either a Clairfontaine or Rhodia (I know, same thing), please share! I'd love to support a Canadian producer/supplier!

[Rossmeister]

I don't have a clue why we (as Canadians) don't make more products and retail our products in our own country. I live in close proximity to some of the biggest paper mills in the world (There's an AbitibiBowater mill right in Tbay).

I can't buy decent paper here at all. Nowhere. The only store that sells anything is Staples and it's all junk.

I think Norway and Canada are similar in many respects when it comes to imports/exports and the like. The one and only place that sells Rhodia here in the whole of Norway is a Staples shop, however =P

Surprisingly, the prices on gouletpens.com were pretty similar, though.

[maxman]

I think Norway and Canada are similar in many respects when it comes to imports/exports and the like. The one and only place that sells Rhodia here in the whole of Norway is a Staples shop, however =P

Surprisingly, the prices on gouletpens.com were pretty similar, though.

Natural resources here are shipped out just as quick as they can be.
There's good money in all that oil and those trees.

Too bad for all that we can't get some good paper.