Dear Penpal

Parker & Judit
  • 4.8 (8)
  • Society & Culture
  • Weekly

Dear Penpal is your guide to the world of letter writing and penpal connections. Hosted by Judit and Parker, each episode brings you practical tips, listener stories, and conversations with penpal enthusiasts. From finding your first penpal to creating tracking systems and building lasting friendships through the mail, we cover it all. Whether you're brand new to penpalling or a seasoned correspondent, this podcast is for you. Join our community of letter lovers and discover the joy of snail mail.

  1. 3d ago

    Episode 39: Happy Mail & the End of Season One

    For our Season One finale, Parker and Judit are looking back at how a little penpal hobby somehow turned into a podcast, a community, a very full stationery collection, and conversations with some of our favorite people in the analog world. We talk about the current state of our penpals, whether we need to find a few new ones, the stationery we’re still hoarding, what we actually used this year, and the San Francisco Pen Show goodies Parker still hasn’t unpacked. Judit also reveals our custom Dear Penpal embosser and start plotting what we want Season Two to look like. Basically: happy mail, stationery problems, penpal updates, season-one lore, and two crafty girls refusing to stop buying paper. See you in Season Two. 💌 FIND DEAR PENPALInstagram: @dearpenpalpodcastEmail: dearpenpalpodcast@gmail.com SEND US MAILDear PenpalPO Box 411061San Francisco, CA 94141 Keep writing, keep sending, and happy penpalling.

  2. Oct 25

    Episode 38: Moonbow Stickers, Trends & the Business of Cute 🌈✨

    For our last guest episode of Season One, Parker and Judit are joined by Steph, founder of Moonbow Creative Co., to talk about what actually goes into building a business around something as tiny and joyful as a sticker. Steph takes us back to Moonbow’s early days as Postix, the sticker club she originally thought would be for kids, and how it unexpectedly found a very enthusiastic audience of adult sticker people. We get into the stressful decision to completely rebrand, what happened to their Google ranking afterward, and how Moonbow has grown from sticker sheets into subscriptions, junk journal goodies, stationery and more. We also talk about the creative anxiety of following trends without accidentally copying them, why butter, pickles, gingham, geese and mushrooms keep showing up everywhere, how actual trend forecasting works, and why sometimes the weird sticker everyone doubts becomes the bestseller. Plus: sticker subscription secrets, wholesale surprises, using data to figure out what people really want, and the very real business decisions hiding behind all the cute stuff. Basically: stickers, trend predictions, creative risks, rebranding, spreadsheets and the business behind the whimsy. 💌 FIND MOONBOW 🌈Instagram: @moonbowcreativecoWebsite + Sticker Club: moonbowcreative.com FIND DEAR PENPAL 💌Instagram: @dearpenpalpodcastEmail: dearpenpalpodcast@gmail.com SEND US MAIL 📬Dear PenpalPO Box 411061San Francisco, CA 94141 Happy penpalling!

  3. Oct 18

    Episode 37: Penpal Crushes & Paper Love with Clàudia of Clouded Pages 💌☁️

    This week Parker is joined by Clàudia from @cloudedpages, a Barcelona-based snail mail and paper enthusiast who has been writing to penpals around the world since she was 14. We finally tackle two very important Dear Penpal investigations: where are we supposed to find actually good letter paper, and when has a slow penpal officially become a ghost? Clàudia shares her rules for finding trustworthy penpals, why she thinks it’s okay to message someone who disappears, and how many penpals is actually manageable. Plus: stocking up on stationery in Korea, the mystery of letter sets with way too many envelopes, handmade envelopes, Japanese stamps, penpal crushes, Traveler’s Notebooks, postpartum journaling, and why the connection matters so much more than having the prettiest mail. Basically: paper opinions, penpal etiquette, international mail, and the extremely specific problems you only develop once you become a real mail person. 💌 FIND CLÀUDIA ☁️📮Instagram: @cloudedpagesLinks: linktr.ee/cloudedpages FIND DEAR PENPAL 💌Instagram: @dearpenpalpodcastEmail: dearpenpalpodcast@gmail.com SEND US MAIL 📬Dear PenpalPO Box 411061San Francisco, CA 94141 Happy penpalling!

  4. Oct 11

    Episode 36: Cottage Mail, Royal Mail Lore & Building a Snail Mail Club

    This week Parker is joined by Daisy and Chloe from Country Cottage Correspondence, their very charming English cottage mail club filled with handwritten letters, original lino prints, stickers, seasonal stories, recipes and little pieces of everyday countryside life. We talk about how the club started, what they’ve learned only a few months in, and the less-romantic side of running a mail subscription: printing costs, postage, finding subscribers, figuring out how much handmade detail is actually sustainable, and why even seemingly successful mail clubs sometimes close. And because Daisy and Chloe previously sent us a letter that sent Parker down a Royal Mail rabbit hole, we get a full lesson in British postal history, Penny Blacks, iconic red postboxes, rising postage costs and why keeping people excited about sending physical mail still matters. Plus: pumpkin jam, double-sided letter paper, mailing random objects through the post, historic letters, cottage life and why something as simple as finding an envelope in your mailbox can still make you feel connected. 💌 Basically: cozy countryside mail, stickers, postal history, small-business reality and two people determined to keep us writing letters. FIND COUNTRY COTTAGE CORRESPONDENCE 🏡📮Instagram: @countrycottagecorrespondenceWebsite: www.countrycottagecorrespondence.com FIND DEAR PENPAL 💌Instagram: @dearpenpalpodcastEmail: dearpenpalpodcast@gmail.com SEND US MAIL 📬Dear PenpalPO Box 411061San Francisco, CA 94141 Happy penpalling!

  5. Oct 4

    Episode 35: Martina Calvi, the Queen of Junk Journaling 💌✂️

    Episode 35: Martina Calvi, the Queen of Junk Journaling 💌✂️ This week we somehow got Martina Calvi on Dear Penpal (!!), and this one is for every junk journal, stationery and snail mail girlie. Martina takes us all the way back to the journal she started at eight years old, through sharing her pages online and realizing people actually cared about this wonderfully scrappy way of saving memories. We also finally ask whether she knows people call her the queen of junk journaling. Spoiler: she does. 😂 We talk about the viral post that led to a DM from her future editor and eventually her first book deal, what publishing is actually like, building Martina’s Tiny Store from one sticker sheet, why her first sticker book wildly exceeded expectations, and the reality behind creative collaborations, including a little collaboration tea. And obviously we get into The Art of Snail Mail, Martina’s lifelong penpal history, why slower communication can sometimes be better communication, and the crafty community that has now become much bigger than she ever imagined. Basically: junk journals, penpals, publishing secrets, Tiny Store, collabs, tiny scraps of paper, and the woman responsible for a lot of us becoming sentimental little raccoons. 💌 FIND MARTINA 🎀Instagram: @martinamartianMartina Calvi’s links, books & socialsShop Martina’s Tiny Store Linktree FIND DEAR PENPAL 💌Instagram: @dearpenpalpodcastEmail: dearpenpalpodcast@gmail.com SEND US MAIL 📮Dear PenpalPO Box 411061San Francisco, CA 94141 Happy penpalling!

  6. Sep 28

    Episode 34: Building a Colorful Empire with Alex Mason

    This week Parker is joined by Australian artist Alex Mason, whose bright, textured florals have made their way onto everything from surfboards and bedding to phone cases, stationery and swimwear. 🌸🎨 Alex takes us behind the scenes of art licensing, how it works, what artists actually get paid, and why she’s now turning down licensing deals to build her own products instead. She also shares the messy side of that world, including discovering a new range using her artwork in stores that she hadn’t approved or been paid for. We also get into manufacturing samples gone horribly wrong, her upcoming clothing line, the floral surfboards that unexpectedly went viral, Bindi Irwin casually buying one of her paintings, celebrities sliding into the DMs, and the truly mysterious phenomenon of brides asking small businesses for free stuff. 😂 Basically: color, flowers, business chaos, big creative risks, and Alex’s plan to build her own very pink, very recognizable empire. FIND ALEX 🌸Instagram: @artbyalexmasonShop + artwork: artbyalexmason.comLinks: linktr.ee/artbyalexmason FIND DEAR PENPAL 💌Instagram: @dearpenpalpodcastEmail: dearpenpalpodcast@gmail.com SEND US MAIL 💌Dear PenpalPO Box 411061San Francisco, CA 94141 Happy penpalling!

  7. Sep 20

    Episode 33: Birthday Hauls, Pen Show Regrets & 8 Unanswered Letters

    It’s our last Parker + Judit duo episode of the year, so naturally we have a LOT to catch up on. Judit is back with a belated birthday stationery haul, a fancy new fountain pen, red shimmer ink on the way, and a casual little pile of eight penpal letters waiting for replies. Parker finally got her Martina Calvi sticker book in the mail, and we’re already plotting a Paper Source trip for the Martina Calvi freebies because obviously. We also revisit the pen show and admit that we were somehow too intimidated to actually touch the fancy pens, got tired way too fast, and didn’t even make it through the whole show. Judit shows off her three Hobonichi journals, gives her thoughts on the episode she missed, and we get into listener mail, the possibility of doing a live show, and all the little stationery things currently taking over our lives. Plus, a tiny reminder from us to actually take a little time for yourself during the day, even when there are eight letters staring at you from the desk. Basically: birthday goodies, penpal guilt, pretty paper, tired girl behavior, and a whole lot of catching up. 💌✨ want to write Judit a birthday note?! or just send us cute snail mail? write to us at: PO Box 411061, San Francisco, CA 94141

  8. Sep 13

    Episode 32: Shell Flower from Teenage Junk Journals to an Iconic Pouch

    This week Parker is joined by Elle from Shell Flower, who originally got our attention by asking who she needed to bribe with stickers to get on the podcast, which is, frankly, the correct strategy. We talk about Elle rediscovering her teenage journals filled with candy wrappers, menus, scraps and little memories, and how that eventually helped lead her back to creating and building Shell Flower. We also get into the making of her now-iconic journal pouch, taking the risk of ordering hundreds before knowing if anyone would actually want one, and growing a creative brand by trusting her own taste instead of chasing every trend. Plus: Sydney’s junk journal scene, leopard print, sticker hoarding, creative community, small-business chaos, and Parker’s many questions about why a small creative brand hires a PR firm and what PR actually does behind the scenes. Basically: junk journals, very good stickers, girl gangs, creative risks and the business behind all the cute stuff. ✂️💌✨ FIND SHELL FLOWER 🐚🌸Instagram: @shellflowerstoreShop: shellflowerstore.com FIND DEAR PENPAL 💌Instagram: @dearpenpalpodcastEmail: dearpenpalpodcast@gmail.com SEND US MAIL 💌Dear PenpalPO Box 411061San Francisco, CA 94141 Happy penpalling!

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Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Dear Penpal is your guide to the world of letter writing and penpal connections. Hosted by Judit and Parker, each episode brings you practical tips, listener stories, and conversations with penpal enthusiasts. From finding your first penpal to creating tracking systems and building lasting friendships through the mail, we cover it all. Whether you're brand new to penpalling or a seasoned correspondent, this podcast is for you. Join our community of letter lovers and discover the joy of snail mail.

Information

  • Creator
    Parker & Judit
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    39
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Parker & Judit
  • Show Website
    Dear Penpal

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