Dear People of the World…

Isn’t it sad that, as our email inboxes creak under the weight of a flood of spam and detritus, our letterboxes grow rusty with neglect? Where once the postman whistled a happy tune as he shoved bundles of cards, invitations and packages through our doors, now technological advances, post office queues and stamp prices mean that calligraphy is reserved for online and the only witticisms we receive by mail are stern final demands. And there’s a definite chance they aren’t meant to be funny. But all this is about to change with the discovery of Sapling Press and their wonderful hand printed cards. Dear People of the World… Loved by Laura Bradley has both made us laugh and reinvigorated our writing spirit, winning the Loves vote and hopefully inspiring a few postcards to be sent from the AnOther offices today.

"Letters and cards are treasured forever, and Sapling Press makes ones that we want to send every day"

There is truly nothing better than a great letter. Whether a scrawled postcard or a multi-paged screed, exquisitely written out or marred with spelling mistakes or tearstains, the hand (or type) written word is always illustrative of a state of mind in a way that a many times edited email never can be. The blog Letters of Note is the perfect representation of that, sharing the correspondence of the famous and the eloquent from over the years, such as the passionate words of Henry Miller to Anais Nin – “Don’t expect me to be sane anymore…” – and Tom Hanks’s wonderful response to a press request, to the poignant words written by Ted Hughes to his son after Sylvia Plath’s death – “Live like a mighty river…” – and the Great Sex Letter by Neal Cassady to Jack Kerouac. Of course these words would be just as beautiful if sent by email, and of course far easier to disseminate around the world, but it is the fact that they were written for one person alone, considered, scribed, the envelope licked and stamped, that makes them so special. Letters and cards are treasured forever, and Sapling Press makes ones that we want to send every day.

So, in celebration of a great card, we ask Bradley who she'd send it to, and what bits of grammar she likes to use as sluttily as possible.

Why did you love this card?
I was looking for a chic selection of greetings cards. I have a number of birthdays and celebrations coming up. This ticked all my boxes: funny; elegant; handmade. 

Who would you send it to, and why?
The woman who taught me the art of pedantry, Penny Martin. 

What is your favourite font?
Comic Sans.  

Who has the best handwriting you know?
My sister. She's a cop. 

Do you have a grammatical Achilles heel or bugbear?
Misuse of apostrophes. And missing accents on fashion designer's names in fashion magazines. 

Tell us a joke?
I don't really like jokes. Just LOLs. I like to have at least three LOLs a day. 

What are you looking forward to about Spring?
Warmer weather. Bring. It. On. 

What was the last thing you bought?
A Comme des Garçons velvet bomber jacket. A friend said I look like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in it.

Text by Tish Wrigley