| THE EPISTOLARIAN |
This week, Kathryn Hastings pressed her first wax seal.
How is that possible?
Kathryn Hastings is me, but it’s also my mom, and somehow she had never pressed a seal.
I’m named after my mother, Kathryn Hastings. So technically, she’s Kathryn Hastings I and I’m Kathryn Hastings II, which we have only called ourselves in jest. But I find it very funny that she had never made a seal, considering I’ve spent the last decade running our shared name all about town in the name of wax seals and letters.
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Yesterday, I was about to go live from the deck of my childhood home in Tahoe when she asked if she could watch. She didn’t know how a wax seal was made.
So I showed her. There we were, two Kathryn Hastingses, the younger generation teaching the older.
She melted the wax. She pressed the seal. Then I showed her how to paint it.
If you haven’t seen it yet, you can watch it here on Instagram. I did it in two parts, one with her learning to make seals and another showing her how to paint them. This is a great intro video as well for people who are totally new to wax seals.
And now it’s official: Kathryn Hastings I has made a wax seal.
| Watch the Live Session |
| Part 2: Painting |
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Are you a rich Auntie?
I love the idea of the Rich Auntie.
She knows things. She has excellent taste. She gives the presents you remember. And, most importantly, she passes things on.
This month, the Hastings Helix Étui has become our most popular gift. Spouses have given them. Grandmothers have given them. And, naturally, aunties have given them.
I recently decided to carry the tradition into my own family and gave Étuis to two of my nieces.
Because I think one of the great privileges of being a grown woman is getting to introduce the next generation to the things that have made your own life richer.
Letter writing is one of those things for me.
I want my nieces to know the joy of sitting down with beautiful paper and having nowhere else to be for a few minutes or an hour or two. To discover the spaciousness of writing by hand. To know what it feels like to make something beautiful for another person simply because they thought of them.
These traditions only survive when someone decides they are worth passing on.
Is that the real job of the Rich Auntie?
We recently began offering gift wrapping and handwritten calligraphy notes, so your Étui can arrive ready to give to the next letter writer in your family.
| The Hastings Étui |
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A few new releases...
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| Lion (Nobility & Guardianship) |
| Magnolia (Dignity) |
| Scriptura Blue Heron |
| Scriptura Fleur De Lis |
Preorder The Handwritten Life
In two weeks, The Handwritten Life will go to print and it is now available for preorder. Thank you to everyone who has already reserved a copy. Your encouragement has carried me through this long process, and I can't wait to finally share it with you!
This book is very much a lifelong manuscript, one I will rewrite throughout my life.
| The Handwritten Life Pre-Order |
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Back in Stock: Favorite Sealing Waxes
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With love,
Kathryn
