Hello Lovelies, Just a reminder that your opportunity to opt-in for this current July-August Exchange is closing soon. Closes July 19th!💌📫 You still opt-in (if you are already a registered user) or upgrade via the below link to signup on the portal and opt-in to this beautiful mid-year check-in letter exchange with another wonderful woman. https://app.thisgirlshines.com.au/penpal/signup We have 21 beautiful souls registered so far, but I know there are mor of you here that signed up to write, but have yet not had the opportunity. Things will be changing around here soon, so I am going to tag some of you lovely ladies in the comments below just to see if you are still around and seeing these emails and notifications. It would help me greatly to hear from you, just to know who of the 73 members are still around and active. More info can be found on this exchange in the classroom, just follow this link : #July-August Theme: Letters in Bloom 🌿

If you've joined Pen Pal Cafe but haven't signed up for one of our main letter exchanges yet... I'd genuinely love to know why. No judgement. No pressure. Just curiosity. Is it... ✉️ "I'm a bit nervous." ⏰ "Life's just been busy." 🤷 "I wasn't sure how it worked." 💌 "I'm waiting for the right exchange." ✍️ "I don't know what to write." 📮 Something else? I'd really love to hear from you because Pen Pal Cafe was created to make handwritten connection feel easy, not intimidating. Your honest answer might help me make the experience even better—for you and for future members. 💛

Blue ink became the preferred colour for letter writing because it was easier to distinguish from printed black text and tended to fade less over time. That's one reason so many treasured old letters are still beautifully readable today. 🤔 Question: What's your go-to pen colour when writing a letter?

Some early “invisible inks” weren’t chemicals at all — just 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗸, 𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 🍋 Writers would carefully write their secret message between the lines of an ordinary letter… Then gently heat the paper near a flame or candle to reveal what was hidden underneath ✉️✨ It turned an ordinary letter into something part message, part magic. 💛 Imagine receiving a letter like that in the post… A message only you were meant to see. 💬 Would you try this? 𝗩𝗼𝘁𝗲 Invisible ink using lemon juice or milk… then revealing it with heat ✉️🔥

The world’s first postcard was sent in 𝟭𝟴𝟲𝟵, and it was considered quite scandalous at the time because it had 𝚗𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚙𝚎 ✉️😳 People thought it was far too “public” to send personal messages that way… Now we send love across the world on postcards all the time 💛 ========💫 And you can recreate this magic this month by opting into our Mini January Exchange that only asks you to send one small notecard and / or an A5 sheet to your new pen pal. All printables and prompts are included Headed to the classroom and choose how to participate by clicking here! If you are already registered on the Pen Pal Portal as a premium member you can simply register through there Registrations close midnight Sunday (Brisbane time) June 14th