Good Heavy Paper For Love Letters

[alm716]

I'm looking for a good heavy paper for writing love letters. I'll be using the following:

 

Noodler's Ahab Flex Pen

Noodler's Nikita Red Ink

 

Any suggestions will be helpful! Thanks in advance!

 

-Adam

[pinkbulldog]

Nice profile picture. I'm watching the game right now. I like white Original Crown Mill cotton. It's a nice weight, smooth and takes fountain pen ink well. It looks great with Nikita, and even better with Iroshizuku Tsutsuji - a wonderful dark pink - if you're man enough to use it.

[physicsgirl]

Maybe G. Lalo in the champagne color?

[Blade Runner]

Crane''s 100% cotton 32lb kid finish. World class paper.

[BBU]

This review shows the G. Lalo laid paper paper used with a flex nib and red ink, albeit different items than yours:

 

http://wonderpens.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/g-lalo-verge-de-france-paper-review/

 

 

Maybe G. Lalo in the champagne color?

 

Is there some reason that you would prefer the champagne colour above ivory? Do you feel that the ivory is still too fair in tone for this purpose?

 

Also, I believe that Crane's papers are not only watermarked, but also PRINTED with "Crane & Co." on the back of every sheet. You may feel that there being ink already on your letter somehow detracts from your message. I personally do think I would feel that way.

[kiavonne]

Expensive stuff, seems like it wouldn't make it through the mails, but it does. It feels almost like a delicate fabric instead of a paper. Lovely deckled edge. Needs a nice, wet line to gush a good love story. Mine didn't feather or have bleed through, but I'm not likely to use it often. Amalfi. Get the angel watermark for love letters (you get the choice of angel or crest). Got mine at European Paper Company. I'd also be sure to secure the envelope flap with a lovely red supple wax seal (or a traditional wax seal that will break open if not sending through the mail). They also have the Crown Mill.

Nostalgic Impressions has lots of inexpensive wax seals, and wax.

[Aurko]

Sometimes I use understated Peter Pauper Press Black and Cream stationery. I find it appealing, though only one side is usable (not due to bleed through, the border design is only on one side of the paper) It's relatively cheap, and it handles fountain pen ink very, very, very well from my experience, including all my flex pens and pilot parallel pens. If you would like pictures let me know, I can pull out a sheet and take some.

 

It's available on amazon and most Barnes and Nobles.

Edited February 17, 2014 by Aurko

[ScottT]

I like G. Lalo, but there is also the question of the look of the paper... Papyrus had this deckle-edged lettersheet that handled ink quite well, and it looked like an 'older' paper, though if memory serves, it was not as robust as the G. Lalo. Also, if your intended has a sensitive sniffer, there are scented inks out there.

[Aurko]

From my experience, scented inks never seem to last long enough on paper but linger on the pen. The scent will probably fade before you can give anyone the letter. Of course, maybe a very sensitive sniffer would be able to detect it but I have yet to encounter anyone who could detect the scent after a day, or even a few hours.

[migo984]

Sometimes I use understated Peter Pauper Press Black and Cream stationery. I find it appealing, though only one side is usable (not due to bleed through, the border design is only on one side of the paper) It's relatively cheap, and it handles fountain pen ink very, very, very well from my experience, including all my flex pens and pilot parallel pens. If you would like pictures let me know, I can pull out a sheet and take some.

 

It's available on amazon and most Barnes and Nobles.

 

The Black & Cream stationery is very classy; the only trouble is that it was traditional to use paper with a black border to write death/funeral announcements in the Victorian/Edwardian era (mid 19th - early 20th C) . It may still be done in some parts of "society".

 

Ever since I was told that, years ago, I can't use this design/colourway without thinking about that. And I definitely wouldn't use it for love letters.

[physicsgirl]

This review shows the G. Lalo laid paper paper used with a flex nib and red ink, albeit different items than yours:

 

http://wonderpens.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/g-lalo-verge-de-france-paper-review/

 

 

 

 

Is there some reason that you would prefer the champagne colour above ivory? Do you feel that the ivory is still too fair in tone for this purpose?

 

Also, I believe that Crane's papers are not only watermarked, but also PRINTED with "Crane & Co." on the back of every sheet. You may feel that there being ink already on your letter somehow detracts from your message. I personally do think I would feel that way.

I just really like the champagne color. I think it looks more vintage and more unique.

[henkm]

it was traditional to use paper with a black border to write death/funeral announcements in the Victorian/Edwardian era (mid 19th - early 20th C) . It may still be done in some parts of "society".

 

Pretty much still the case in the Netherlands.

 

I bought crown mill vellum last year for santaclaus/St Nicholas poetry. Nice paper but the ink took about forever to dry (PRDCSSB, so yeah)

[PacificCoastPen]

How about Papyrus plain letter sheets? It's very affordable and very pen friendly.

 

Can send you a sample if you want.

 

w

[WirsPlm]

HP 32 lb paper is a lovely, thick, white paper that takes ink very well and isn't too expensive ($16 for 500 pages), it isn't lined but you can print lines on it or use a guide sheet.

[mrcharlie]

Also, I believe that Crane's papers are not only watermarked, but also PRINTED with "Crane & Co." on the back of every sheet.

 

I bought a "set" of Crane's "half sheets" and envelopes with 20 or 25 of each in a box from a store in 2005 or 2005. It was expensive but on sale and not too bad (I believe I paid in the $12 to 15 dollar range), and I wanted to see what "fancy" writing paper was like. It is very nice paper. It does not have their company name printed on it. I still haven't used it all, since I use it only for very short short letters to people who might care about nice paper.

 

They like/want to sell you "personalized" stationery on their website, with your name or company name and an optional border printed on the sheets. Possibly the paper you saw with Crane & Co was just a different product than what I have, but possibly it is something to demonstrate how the personalized version would look using their own name.

 

Crane's is very nice but very expensive. IE it divides out to around $1 or $1.25 per sheet for plain sheets and around $4 per sheet for personalized stationery. They are totally marketing to people who want to buy the "I can afford the most expensive products possible" market segment.

 

So basically, that might be exactly what you want for short and impressive love letters.

[Aurko]

I was completely unaware of this; I just found it to be very classy and I use the paper for casual correspondence. I am fairly sure that the paper was not designed with this in mind, since that would lead to a very niche market, and I personally think that in today's context it is still suited for a love letter (the lovely cream colour compliments inks).

 

That being said, I'll use it with a bit of caution from now on, especially if I ever have a pen pal in the Netherlands. Furthermore, based on what I could find via google (admittedly not the best and most reliable source), the traditional black borders used tended to be much thicker than what is present on the Peter Pauper Press paper.

 

Those are just my two cents on it, since I'm so fond of the paper.

 

Another paper that I use for stationery now is Tomoe River Paper. That may be a bit hard to get, but it's lovely, thin, and though it comes blank, I like to decorate it with doodles and such. You can cut it to whatever size you may need of course (since the standard sheets I have are larger than average printer paper).

 

The Black & Cream stationery is very classy; the only trouble is that it was traditional to use paper with a black border to write death/funeral announcements in the Victorian/Edwardian era (mid 19th - early 20th C) . It may still be done in some parts of "society".

 

Ever since I was told that, years ago, I can't use this design/colourway without thinking about that. And I definitely wouldn't use it for love letters.

 

 

 

Pretty much still the case in the Netherlands.

 

I bought crown mill vellum last year for santaclaus/St Nicholas poetry. Nice paper but the ink took about forever to dry (PRDCSSB, so yeah)

[BBU]

I just really like the champagne color. I think it looks more vintage and more unique.

 

Well darn. I only have white and ivory available to me locally, and I was going to choose the ivory for a vintage look. I am now going to lose sleep over this. I hope you're happy!

 

 

 

I bought a "set" of Crane's "half sheets" and envelopes with 20 or 25 of each in a box from a store in 2005 or 2005. It was expensive but on sale and not too bad (I believe I paid in the $12 to 15 dollar range), and I wanted to see what "fancy" writing paper was like. It is very nice paper. It does not have their company name printed on it. I still haven't used it all, since I use it only for very short short letters to people who might care about nice paper.

 

They like/want to sell you "personalized" stationery on their website, with your name or company name and an optional border printed on the sheets. Possibly the paper you saw with Crane & Co was just a different product than what I have, but possibly it is something to demonstrate how the personalized version would look using their own name.

 

Crane's is very nice but very expensive. IE it divides out to around $1 or $1.25 per sheet for plain sheets and around $4 per sheet for personalized stationery. They are totally marketing to people who want to buy the "I can afford the most expensive products possible" market segment.

 

So basically, that might be exactly what you want for short and impressive love letters.

 

My apologies if I was mistaken. But a review (submitted last year) on Crane's website says that the blank half sheets have the name printed on them, and all or most of the Crane letter sheets that I saw at Papyrus last week had a logo printed on them, so I just assumed that it applied to everything they make. Maybe they changed their approach recently, or it depends on the specific product.

[mrcharlie]

My apologies if I was mistaken. But a review (submitted last year) on Crane's website says that the blank half sheets have the name printed on them, and all or most of the Crane letter sheets that I saw at Papyrus last week had a logo printed on them, so I just assumed that it applied to everything they make. Maybe they changed their approach recently, or it depends on the specific product.

 

I bought my one little box almost 10 years ago so if they've changed it is more likely to the way you saw it away from the paper I have.

 

However, the box of "ecruwhite half sheets" (which actually isn't so crazy expensive once you find it without envelopes) doesn't look like it has any printing on it. I see the review that mentions it though. For that price, I don't want any even tiny printing of the paper brand on it.

Edited February 18, 2014 by mrcharlie

[Blade Runner]

I've tried much more expensive papers out there than Crane's, Some make Crane's prices look inexpensive. But I don't think they're better.

[physicsgirl]

 

Well darn. I only have white and ivory available to me locally, and I was going to choose the ivory for a vintage look. I am now going to lose sleep over this. I hope you're happy!

 

 

 

If you want a sample PM me and I will send you a couple of sheets.