Thursday, December 5, 2019

Happy Mail


Blog buddy, Bastelmania, told me she was sending a package from Germany. She said she thought I would like it. The package arrived marked "documents" What could that be?


Inside, one of her delicious tags made with her hand-carved apple stamp and a cute scratch pad. 
The documents were old legal documents written in round hand on vellum. Vellum is animal skin usually sheep, calf, or goat. Parchment is pig skin, just in case you are on the game show, Jeopardy.


An 1880 mortgage and 1896 transfer of mortgage


The document was so large I had to spread it out on the floor.


a seal


Oops, I'm not the only one that spills ink.



This document sewed together with a pamphlet stitch


This one secured the pages in the corner



An embossed seal

Vielen dank, Valerie. The documents are interesting to peruse and will make a good show and tell in class for students studying Copperplate.

25 comments:

  1. Such a thoughtful gift-a real treasure-hugs and I love the tag with her handmade stamp too enjoy Kathy

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  2. How thoughtful! And a gorgeous tag, too:)

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  3. Glad you like them. I have a lot of old documents here, and I'm happy if I have made you happy with some of them. Valerie

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    1. They are just beautiful. Not only the writing, but how clever pages were attached and the cool seals and embossing. They will make great pieces for study. Again, thank you so much

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  4. Wow quite a package - fun to see what was there. Wondering what got you interested in calligraphy. it's such a beautiful way to write and I have always enjoyed seeing it. I even bought a calligraphy book years ago and still have it. It was a book where the writing was done in colorful inks.

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    1. Oh, that would make a good blog topic since I need to schedule some posts. Stay tuned.

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    2. yes I would enjoy more posts about your calligraphy

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  5. What a fantastic treasure to receive! I love these old documents. Valerie is always so thoughtful. Her tag is lovely too. And I think I spot an adorable cat and dog on the notepad.

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    1. The old documents are really interesting. The animals on the notepad are adorbs especially the kitty.

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  6. Those are mighty cool documents. What a great package to receive. It is like Christmas coming early! Hugs-Erika

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  7. Valerie is a GEM. She's so thoughtful and caring. I'm glad she shared these with you. They are perfect for you. For me, I'd cut them up and use them as backgrounds (OH THE HORROR)!!!

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  8. Wow, what amazing happy mail! Such a kind and thoughtful gift and great to use with your students too 😁. Happy wishes! Hugs, Jo x

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    1. Yes, I can't wait to share because many of us have never seen hand-written documents before the days of the typewriter and computer.

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  9. CJ; what a wonderful gift !!! I am blown away that people actually wrote like this; the "T' on photo 4 and 8 are beautiful. it had to have taken HOURS to write something ☺☺♥♥

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    1. I love how two different hands were used on the documents. The large titles in a Gothic hand and the round hand of the text. Yes, it would have taken a long time to prepare these documents.

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  10. Oh my what a wonderful package to receive.
    Love the tag and the documents look amazing.

    All the best Jan

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  11. That is so cool! How beautiful!!! A precious gift!

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