Good Things, Small Packages

Sixpence is a stationery line I started during Quarantine made out of old books and vintage postage stamps. I am a prop stylist and I live in Brooklyn, New York.

I was fortunate during COVID. The large warehouse I share with 12 other artists gave me both space to create and people to connect with. Each evening I would take a long walk, snaking my way down brownstone-lined blocks, up and around to Fort Greene Park and back again. Occasionally, people would set things outside on their steps they no longer wanted in hopes to give them a new home. Legos, dish sets, old magazines, and big boxes of books sat waiting, many times untouched due to COVID. A book here, a few books there; it became routine to sort through and bring home curb candy for collage material and new things to read.

When a friend in LA started a PO Box to connect with other people through snail mail, I dug through my book stash to find an interesting picture-filled page, made an envelope, and sent it using old stamps my grandparents collected. It was meditative and simple to do; the only supplies I needed were the scissors, ruler, and glue I kept in my prop kit.

As April stretched into June and quarantine continued, my one-off envelope project became a welcome distraction. Limiting myself to using just the books I found around my neighborhood meant stretching my creative muscle- you never knew what you were going to get, and I liked the concept of turning something discarded into something new and unexpected.

My roommates started bringing books they found home for me and my stack of envelopes began to grow. I had toyed briefly with the idea of selling them, but continued to just make them to send to friends. One morning I came home from an early bike ride to find an epson scanner sitting on my front door step with a note that said “Free” so I took it as my sign. I scanned each envelope, built a website, and Sixpence came to be.

My distraction from last summer has now become a stationery line, a source of income, and a gift that keeps on giving. It created connection for both myself and others during the pandemic and opened the door to many new opportunities. While Sixpence has grown, much has stayed the same. I still cut out and fold each envelope by hand using the measurements from the first one I scribbled down on a piece of scrap paper last summer. I have sourced books and materials both around my neighborhood and across the country from small towns along the Central Coast of California, to thrift stores and estate sales in Connecticut. The stamps are mostly still from the big manila envelope my grandparents filled.

I think a lot about how the circumstances of the last year made life challenging, but also formed the perfect environment for Sixpence and other creative projects like mine to grow. The best things in life are the things that feel really aligned; The ones that come together slowly, piece by piece, and keep working out over and over. The universe has gifted me a project that puts together all my pieces and ties the strings of my life together- from my home in New York, my professional skills, my fine art practice, and my love of vintage. Moving forward, my goal is to continue to grow Sixpence as a stationery line and personal creative platform that celebrates intentional consumption, communication, and connection with one another. As they say, good things come in small packages.