If there’s one downside to the digital world, it is a serious lack of decent stationery. Try finding a good looking notebook that won’t break the bank (Smythson) but won’t leave you embarrassed during a meeting (anything from an office supply store).

That’s why we are excited about the recent opening of the Ordning & Reda shop in shop at The Bay. The Swedish stationer sells colourful notebooks, chic magazine holders, and simple diaries that get us in the mood to put pen to paper. Think Moleskin quality combined with Ikea simplicity and colour. If only you could buy a hot dog on the way out. —Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

Ordning & Reda, notebooks range from $20-$40, The Bay Queen Street, 176 Yonge St., Toronto, www.hbc.com

There’s nothing lovelier than discovering a postmarked handwritten note in amongst a pile of bills and fliers.

We’re reviving old-fashioned manners and pledging to put pen to paper more. With good, thick stationary, a traditional fountain paper and these charming mint vintage Canadian stamps, our correspondence drawer is officially well stocked. Each pack ($2) contains enough postage to mail a standard sized letter within Canada.

Now, we just need to perfect our loop de loops. —Athena Tsavliris

www.sendmoremail.blogspot.com

The best cards are handmade, everyone knows. But who says they have to be made by your hands?

Deadweight, a.k.a. local artist Sandi Falconer, handpaints geometric prints and simple scribbles on highly individual cards. One says "good luck" over a horseshoe; another is just sugary pink triangles and licorice-black lines. The unfanciness of her work makes sentiment feel fresh again.

A card by Falconer beats some factory-made feeling—hands down. —SNP

$3-$4 each on Etsy.

Take the Cake
Instead of multi-tiers of white frosting indulge in Bobbette and Belle’s aubergine and gold macaron towers or hand-painted gateaux inspired by your invitations. Also en vogue: royal-inspired designs, sweet tables, and metallic sugar work.  416-466-8800, www.bobbetteandbelle.com

Go Bold or Go Home
We simply adore designer Christine Flynn’s vintage-themed invites that mix old-school fonts with modern type. Hot this season? Yellow and grey hues, postcard-style RSVP cards, and Chevalier lettering paired with classic Helvetica Neue. Love the Card, 647-955-1916, www.lovethecard.com

Thanks for the Memories
Snapz '60s-style curtained photo booths print black-and-white strips posted in an album where pals can jot cheeky messages. It’s a fun twist on the traditional guest book (especially after a few cocktails) and, after the party, use one of you and hubby as thank-you cards. 1-877-412-6684, www.snapzphotobooth.ca

Flower Power
No one wants to be tightly wound on her big day; that goes for the flowers too. Riverside’s Stemz creates gorgeous looser-styled bouquets framed with berried ivy and local passion vines.  And while white buds are classic, this season’s forward-thinking brides are branching out into spectacular corals and soft yellow tones. 416-686-8526, www.stemz.ca

True to You
At each table display vases of peonies on stacks of your favorite books. Instead of expensive wedding favours (that end up in a drawer), fill mini mason jars with jellybeans or make a donation to the charity of your choice. Toronto contributor Marianne Wisenthal chose to make her chuppah out of her hot pink saris from Little India. Mazel Tov!

Between thank you cards, birth announcements, and the holidays, you might as well be running a small publishing business from your dining room.

And the golden rule of small business? Outsource!

The gals at Vancouver's Haute Note offer new photo cards for Christmas (we love this subtly retro Collage design) with your precious family snaps ($55/25 cards).  

Because Facebook can't be propped on the mantle. 

View styles and place orders at www.hautenote.ca

Whatever happened to the handwritten note? We’re not talking Griffin and Sabine-style correspondence, just a simple “Hello, I miss you and thanks for taking care of my goldfish,” will do.

Start with a well-stocked stationery drawer and your penmanship will flow from there.

Snap and Tumble is a lovely local letterpress that makes all sorts of paper goods printed by hand on thick 100 per cent cotton stock.

Tanya Roberts uses antique hand-levered table top presses and vintage letterpress blocks that she sources at shops and markets in and around the city. The result is simple, elegant and full of charm.

Write it, stamp it and seal it with a smooch.

Snap & Tumble is available online and at Kid Icarus, 75 Nassau St., Toronto, 416-977-7236, www.kidicarus.ca

Social networking is hard work for toddlers these days.

But we found these clever play date cards by Felix Doolittle so your little one can make friends faster than Facebook while working the playground.

Customize the high-quality cards and choose from 100 fun images, and both of you will make a great first impression.

My place or yours?

US$30 at www.felixdoolittle.com

Maybe it’s a bridal shower or maybe it’s a birthday, but before you resort to that impersonal voucher why not take a peek into new Yorkville prezzie boîte Red Letter Store.

Packed with pretty candles, soaps, stationery and china, you’ll find more than enough things to tickle your fancy.

Spoil the bride-to-be with some Lothantique lavender linen water ($32), a Voluspa scented candle ($32) and a cute Cath Kidston notebook ($10.95) to scribble down her endless to-do-lists in. And for the birthday girl, what about some yummy Dufflet hot chocolate ($12) and a Marimekko mug ($12)?

For yourself (because it’s always your birthday) an elegant scalloped pedestal for teacakes and macaroons might do nicely.

Red Letter Store, 128 Cumberland St., Toronto, 647-340-7294, www.redletterstore.ca

If the thought of trawling through stall upon stall of knitted, silk-screened, glass-blown, and hand turned wares at the One of a Kind Show makes you dizzy, why not turn to Canadian webshop goodEGG Industries?

In the comfort of your own home you can explore an eclectic assortment of home accessories, art objects and papergoods made by the cream of Canada’s crafting crop.

Take a peek at Valéry Goulet’s dainty wall decals ($50) or Sandra Ciganic-McKinney’s hand-painted plywood dollhouse ($145).

Talk about easy-peasy Christmas shopping.

www.goodeggshop.com

In the 18th Century ladies of leisure would pass the time quilling. “It was one of the few things ladies could do that was thought not too taxing for their minds or gentle dispositions,” states Wikepedia.

Fast forward and meet local craftisan Jennifer Pinsent, who is quilling herself a popular greeting card business.

Whimsical and unique, her handmade cards feature tiny tulips, elephants and bumble bees all made from rolling, shaping and gluing strips of coloured paper together.

A self-taught quiller, Pinsent crafts from her one-bedroom apartment in downtown Toronto.

See her whimsical creations at www.allthingsjenuine.com