The idea of getting mail to and from military personnel stationed overseas dates back many years. To establish this activity, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the Department of Defense (DoD) negotiated an agreement called Overseas Military Mail, which exist to this day. In this agreement addressing schemes. delivery mechanisms and process were hammered out. The USPS has established a standard addressing plan for all domestic mail. Many will of course recognize this as: Name Name Name Street Number P.O. Box Rural Delivery City, State  Zip Code City, State  Zip Code City, State  Zip Code In order to make Military Mail conform to this standard, several thing were created. These were: Three Military “States”: AA stands for Armed Forces (the) Americas AE stands for Armed Forces Europe AP stands for Armed Forces Pacific Two “City” equivalents: APO stands for Army Post Office FPO stands for Fleet Post Office A typical Overseas Military address looks like this: Name Postal Service Center – Identifier APO, AE ZIP Or Name Postal Service Center – Identifier FPO, AP ZIP Now when you receive that overseas Military address from you son, daughter, grandchild. niece. nephew or friend you will understand what the abbreviations stand for...Read More
Colors are used by therapists as part of their healing regimes to assist in the shifting process of ones frame of mind, for those who suffer from brain disorders or who are emotionally distressed. For example the color green is used for comforting those who have anxiety, depression or are just down in the dumps. The color yellow can be helpful to those who need to be energized, and violet can be helpful for migraine sufferers. The following is a list of colors and the feelings associated with them: Blue: Tranquility, Tenderness, Sensitivity, Love and Affection Green: Persistence, Self-Esteem, Possessiveness and Obstinacy Red: Desire, Domination, Sexuality and Aggression Yellow: Spontaneity, Originality, Expectancy and Exhilaration Violet: Thoughts and Desires Brown: Bodily senses, mental comfort. Black: Expression of Nothingness Grey: Refusal to be involved So think about your what your favorite colors say about you, and start to use them to express more of yourself and your personality in your clothing, home décor, auto, and when selecting your next correspondence card, wedding invitation, birth announcement, thank you note. Go ahead and express a little more of the “real you” to those you interact with. Have fun and color your life! Read:  Part...Read More
Have you ever wondered why you seem to gravitate to a certain color time and time again? Whether you are selecting an order of personalized stationery or creating a wedding invitation, there are certain colors that seem to be most attractive. There is in fact a lot of scientific research revolving around color, and how different personalities interact with its’ influence. With all of that in mind, what kind of Personality are you? Did you know that the color you surround yourself with day in and day out has a lot of influence on who you are? Our personality single-handedly consists of the many characteristics that make others classify us; thus we have a lot of underling colors that interact and are reflected in our lives on a daily basis. The following is a brief summary of color and its’ usefulness in our daily lives. There are a multitude of different colors on this Earth, and in addition each and every one of these hues have some sort of an effect on those encountering them. They can influence one’s point of view and even the way one conceptualizes things within their lives. Although the majority of us may react to...Read More
Have you ever wanted to write a letter that will make a difference, but not sure who to write it to? Here are a few ideas for letters that can literally change someone’s life. Write a letter to a soldier. Why not do your patriotic duty and play a part in history? Why not become a pen pal to a military person overseas. A letter from you may be the only mail they get to remind them of home and who knows, you’re letter might be the only thing keeping them going in the dark world they’re in. There are websites you can join like Soldier’s Angels that will set you up with your pen pal. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Have you ever read a newspaper article that just really caught your attention? Don’t keep your feelings to yourself anymore. Write a letter expressing how the article made you feel and it could end up in the paper, too. There is some required information though when writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your full name, home address and telephone number for verification purposes. Visit your newspaper’s website to get the...Read More
Every family may have different family traditions they perform each year for Easter. If there are small children, this can change the tone of things. For example, small children will want to do things with eggs….whether it be assisting with the boiling and decorating, or shopping for plastic colored eggs to load with candy, coins or something else for fun…anything they do related to Easter and eggs is fun and exciting for them! So, the adults in attendance have their work cut out…they need to be responsible for making sure that everything is prepared, hidden and ready for the children to find. They also need to be in charge of procuring the items to be included in Easter baskets…toys, candy and other surprising treats! Children of all ages find hunting for Easter Eggs irresistible! Whether they hunt for eggs with their friends, their cousins, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandmas, it doesn’t matter! Having your own Easter egg hunt may be ideal way to assure everyone is out of harm’s way and enjoying their time safely! Once you have decided to proceed, you should keep the following in mind. Weather, no matter what part of the country...Read More
If you have spent any time on our site or curled up with our catalog, you no doubt have noticed there are a lot of stationery styles to choose from. We sell correspondence cards, fold notes, letter sheets, memos, postcards and ensembles. We have had many people ask us over the years why we need so many different types of paper and how are you supposed to use it all. Well, we’ll tell you… Correspondence Cards are designed to be used as a quick note for business or personal reasons. We’ve been told that the heavy weight of the stock and the 4 ½ x 6 ¼ size make them perfect for mailing photos. We offer a selection of correspondence cards that have a colored hand-bordered edge. Whether prim and proper or spunky and creative, there’s bound to be a correspondence card that fits your personal style. Fold Notes are used for a longer note. Like a card, they also can be used for business or personal purposes, with styles ranging from the more formal embossed note to some very creative printed designs. Embossed notes are very popular as thank you notes. Our wide variety of printed designs range from...Read More
Etiquette may sound like a bunch of rules that you’re supposed to follow, though at the end of the day, etiquette is simply guidelines for making our personal and professional relationships more relaxed and successful. We are far more likely to feel at ease when we know what others are expecting from us. The use of etiquette when writing a letter, like the etiquette used in other areas, centers around three essential ideas: common sense, civility and practice. Common Sense Common sense is the basis of etiquette. For example, when you’re writing an invitation you need to include the essential information if your want your guests to actually come to the party. They need to know the specifics, like time, date, and location. An invitation, if worded properly, includes all that information and announces it in a way that is to the point and easy to understand. The rules of etiquette are there to help you accomplish just that. Civility When civility is used, relationships are strengthened and become more rewarding. It requires us to be more understanding of others. The guidelines of etiquette might not always seem proper. If the guidelines you’re trying to use seem like they might...Read More
At American Stationery, we’ve been printing quality stationery since 1919, so we understand the terminology and use it freely in our product descriptions and elsewhere in our site and even in this blog. For those of you who aren’t printing experts or industry professionals, we’d like to take a step back and explain what we do in broad strokes, process by process. Embossed Stationery Embossing is a process in which your stationery is placed between two heated textured plates containing your name, initials, design or monogram that are squeezed together. As a result of this process, your personalization is raised from the surface of the paper. American Stationery offers embossed personalization on many different styles of stationery. Raised Printing “Thermography” Thermography is the process in which a fine powder is placed on the printed image or personalization before the ink is dry. Once the powder has been applied, the stationery is ran through an oven, applying heat consistently over the stationery and ink. The heat causes the ink and powder to fuse and the result is a slight raise in the personalization. Not only does the raised type give your stationery an elegant feel, the slight shine on your personalization...Read More
The embossing process makes for beautiful stationery designs all on its own. Over the years, however, embossing has been combined with other printing effects to get specialized custom stationery. As such, there are many different styles of custom embossing used in the industry today. Registered Emboss Registered embossing places the embossed image in line with another design element created with ink, foil or another embossed image, such as embossing a sculptured logo inside a printed circle of color. Combination Emboss The combination of foil stamping and embossing can create a unique and lovely effect. Both processes are done at the same time using a dye with sharp edges to cut away the excess foil around the design elements that are to be foiled. The effect is especially striking for company logos. Pastelling The process is also sometimes called tint leaf embossing. Like combination embossing, it uses a combination die to enhance a foil-stamped and embossed image with subtle color. It can employ a pearl finish, gloss finish or other foil finish to give a two-tone antique look to the embossed image. It works best with lighter colored stocks. Scorching When an embossing uses high heat, the resulting image has a...Read More
Thank you notes seem to be something we use during every stage of our lives.  They start with bridal shower, then baby shower.  After that, there are birthdays, graduation, weddings or just everyday occurrences.  Writing a thank you note not only shows good manners, but it also makes the giver feel appreciated. Thank you notes aren’t necessary for every kind gesture, like when your husband picks up some groceries, but there are certain circumstances that require a written acknowledgement.  If you received a gift from someone out of the blue, were a guest of honor at a dinner party, or stayed overnight in someone’s home, then you should definitely send a thank you note.  The best thing to remember about thank you notes is if you’re not sure whether to send one or not, it’s a good idea to go ahead and send it.  Here are few simple tips to help you when you write your next thank you note. Time Etiquette It doesn’t matter how you choose to say thank you, be sure to do it in a timely fashion.  Thank you notes for showers, weddings, birthdays or other special occasions should be sent out within two to three weeks,...Read More
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