Let’s start with the your foundation, the basics: your social stationery.

Social stationery is made up of correspondence cards, sheets (similar to letterhead), informal (fold-over “tent” cards), and calling cards.

Correspondence Cards. Perhaps the most versatile piece for notes of all kinds, the Correspondence Card comes in a variety of sizes. These cards are usually cut from 3-ply stock, which means they are three times as thick as single sheets, but come in various thicknesses.

Depending on how you plan to use your Correspondence Cards, you may choose to engrave your name, your monogram, or a family crest. You may choose to have a border on your cards, which is more informal. Your choices of typestyle and of the colors for the paper, border and engraving ink can help make your Correspondence Cards better reflect your own personal style.

Sheets. No stationery wardrobe is complete without sheets for longer letters.  Sheets typically come in 4 sizes sometimes referred to as (from smallest to largest) the Petite Sheet, the Note Sheet, the Monarch (sometimes called Executive) Sheet, and the Standard Letter Sheet. The size you select is largely a matter of preference, but these sheets become more formal, generally speaking, as they move up in size, the Note and Monarch sizes being most common for non-business letters.

Because there is more room on a sheet than on a card, you may want to engrave your address at the top, underneath your name.  Though some sheets may be fed through a printer if you wish, you should be careful about typestyle you have used (engraved text does not melt in a laser printer, while thermographed text does.) For personal correspondence, however, we always recommend hand-writing your letters and notes.

Because one generally does not write on the reverse of an engraved sheet, you may consider ordering a number of blank sheets to use as additional pages.

Informals. The term “Informal” refers to a fold-over note. Your name or monogram is engraved on the front of the note, and your message is written on the inside. These typically come in 2 sizes. When folded, Informals measure the same as a Correspondence Card.

Informals are traditionally used as thank-you notes for wedding gifts and are otherwise a staple in many women’s stationery wardrobes. Because its writing space is a bit smaller, the elegant Informal is best for short notes.

Calling Cards. A Calling Card is similar to a business card, except that it contains only non-business information and may contain very little information at that. In fact, most Calling Cards are engraved with only a name. Calling Cards can be made from your choice of cardstock thicknesses.

Calling Cards can certainly have any additional information you would normally give to a new social acquaintance, including your e-mail address, telephone number and home address. However minimal your Calling Card, though, you can always hand-write additional information on your card when you give it to someone – this, in fact, may make it more personal.

The Calling Card is a fun way to be remembered and a real opportunity to do something clever. Calling Cards can come in different sizes, so even the size of your Calling Card can signal that it’s more unusual than a standard business card. You can also choose a more unusual ink or typeface for a Calling Card that you wouldn’t necessarily use for your correspondence stationery – though, as part of a stationery wardrobe, you may want to match your Calling Card to the rest of your stationery, in paper color, ink color, typeface and, particularly, in tone.

Wardrobe Sets. To create a consistent look across Correspondence Cards, Sheets, Informals and Calling Cards, we recommend building a Stationery Wardrobe in a single size family so that they fit in the same envelope size

Calling Cards do not use envelopes, but their proportions can make them particularly appropriate as companions to certain sizes.