Oct from Nicky - Hit a goal/eat/set a new goal (Messy desk/studio links)

 Here's an Oct exchange envelope that arrived in early Nov. I no longer try to keep the months together. I just bundle them once I have a bundle - usually 12-15. Then I photograph them. Then I sit down and try to post all of them in one sitting so that I don't lose track of what's posted.

Of course, today is a little different because we are in a series where I am trying to fill December during a snow storm and I am hungry. I set the incremental goal of filling up this week. Ta-da!!! I made it. I can now reward myself with some food.

However, alert readers will note that I have not said who this is from. It's from St. Louis so that narrows it down. After I eat I will find the bundle and insert a name here when I come back for the next increment. I think it works best to go with a week at a time. It's 9:03 am. How many side trips will there be before I get back to the computer. I know there is a load of laundry to fold.

***

9:33 ate fast, folded fast, panicked when I couldn't find the envelope. 

Found it. It's from Nicky. And there are goodies inside. I had questions for Nicky on the blog and she responded by telling me she is a printmaker. That's the kind of info I love to find out about exchangers. Little things that we share that will enhance our exchanges.

Once I found the envelope, I had to decide - do I (A) Write another weeks worth of blog posts or (B) go work on that huge hoard reduction project. It's the one that has had hundreds of starts - but this time we've got a whole new level of perseverance and persistence because we have the *Accountability Posse.* 

Inspiration photo:

That's Alexander Caulder's desk above. 

Below is Frances Bacon's studio and a nice article about it.

Bacon's studio

If you need further places to wander to avoid chores - here is the article where I found the photo of Caulder's desk. I have not read the article - but noted this intro:

There’s an actual book about procrastination entitled: A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits Of Disorder http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=A+perfect+Mess a perfect title both for this blog post and my office desk I avoid working from on most days.

LINK to article about messy desks

Nov from Lynne - clear lettering for scanning

 

Here is another leafy design. I'm pretty sure it is from Lynne. Her choice of style for the lettering looks like something that the scanners can read. The article that Clover sent was talking about the new scanners in 1993.  I imagine the scanners have improved a lot over the years.

I think my address is pretty easy for scanners because it is all about the numbers. If you write only this on an envelope, I already know it will get to my house. It's been done - see below.

420 - 44

50312 

I think the scanner just looks at those numbers and knows where it goes. The issues are when it needs to understand the names of street. I'm pretty sure that the machines are not that interested in the city and state unless the street/zip combination does not register as a known address.

I think this lettering is legible. I wonder if there is any way to test the machines. I know that December is not a good time to go visit my main post office and ask to send a stack of mail through the machines. But, I might get that on my to-do list for 2026.

***

I imagine I've posted this previously. I forgot that it has -- th St --- so it's not just the numbers. Now I have to experiment with just the numbers - and see if that is enough.

The address is 430 - 44th (and not the usual 420) because at the time (2004) we owned a duplex 2 doors from our house and I used half of the duplex for a studio - so I had my mail sent there.

This envelope arrived with no problem. It was from Carol - but I don't remember her last name. I met her when I was teaching a class in NYC....many moons ago.

Nov from Mary - goals and scanners

So cute. Mary is the queen of cute. I feel like that mouse is giving me *the look.* Since I have announced that I'd like to fill up all of December today I will set some incremental goals. Can anyone guess how long I had to stare at the screen to come up with the word incremental? Too long. Ooops, maybe that's whining. An additional goal will be to refrain from whining.

Here's the incremental goal. It is 8:46 am. I am hungry. How about I fill up the week and then I get to eat something. That's only 2 more posts.

Here is a sneak peek about a topic that is going to be a rant. I am going to complement Mary on her nice address that is scanner friendly. I've been hinting about making addresses scanner friendly. I don't want to get crosswise with people about address legibility. However, I think there is a valid reason to make our addresses scanner friendly.

 

Nov from Patty - accountability in the snow

I think it was the Tuesday post where I mentioned that there were lots of leafy designs in the Nov exchange. Patty did this one and she used another stamp from the series that we saw on Jessica's envelope. She also used a style that she learned from a class with The Postman's Knock. It reminds me of some others that have been around for a while. A basic Roman monoline with doo-dads. Doo-dads are my love language. I'm tempted to come up with all the letters that are not on this envelope and then invite myself over to Patty's and see how the two exemplars compare.

It is 8:40 am on the Sat after T-day when we are expecting 8"-14". Maybe the Dec posts will be an exercise where I announce what I am going to do and then I log on and do posts that report on whether or not I have followed my plan. 

I am turning my readers into my accountability people. What's the word for the person who agrees to be available to hold you accountable when you are needing help in the self-discipline department? I think it is a sponsor in AA. Is there another term? 

 

Nov from Jessica - spatial reasoning - truly the last ofrenda post

 

This USPS postmark has been doing a good job at fitting in with the various designs. I like Jessica's choice of gold with the stamp and who doesn't love leaves. I'm writing this on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. There were a bumper crop of leafy designs in November. It's snowing with a prediction of 8"-14". Perhaps I will have a marathon of loading posts. Perhaps I will fill December. Maybe the next few days of posts will be a cliffhanger.

***

This is absolutely the final ofrenda post. Maybe I had to drag it out until I had some new topics swirling around in my head.

At the very beginning of my ofrenda project when I needed an idea for something that looked like a shadow box but would have to be made out of cardboard and the first attempts to recycle cardboard boxes were disappointing I had to come up with an alternative.

Here we are (Keith and Jean) in 2003 on the original plywood ofrenda.

Below is 2025 version - much larger. Not taller - but the footprint is at least twice the size.

This following part is too long - but, I am determined to wrap up this topic so I can resume the purge project and the style/tool project.

***

The materials took a good chunk of the budget, but it made sense to invest in this structure to provide future committees with something more exciting than stacks of banquet tables. When I asked Keith how much I could use for supplies he said I could start with $100. Most people would have pitched a fit at that number. I took it as an opportunity to get creative and see how many recycled materials we could use. 

After the disappointing results reusing random cardboard boxes I figured out a way to make a shadow box out of a piece of railroad board. That's a popular material for kid's classes because it can be cut with scissors but is sturdier than card stock. WE only used one carton of railroad board. I think it was $25. Then there was a $30 roll of Tyvek tape - the best tape ever. I also had a $10 pack of double face tape in various widths. The tissue paper for the 1,000 flowers was $175. The print out for the big skull was $35. It's hard to tell how much I donated from my stockpile.

I knew that my 12 artist-friends would all have a stockpile of art supplies and none of them even asked if I was going to provide any materials. I did provide a basic railroad board shadow box for about twelve of the nichos. None of the helpers asked to be reimbursed so I'm guessing they didn't spend much and were OK with sharing things from their stockpiles.

One helper asked me for a pattern to build a shadowbox which I will provide at some point and post somewhere. Maybe we can make a video of me showing how to make one and then see how good the instructions are. I do have a YouTube channel....

Figuring out the shadowbox construction was the very first time that I felt like I put my one amazing gift to use. I did fine in school but there were always a lot of people who I could tell were way more gifted than I was. There was one skill that I was really good at when it came to testing and that was spacial reasoning. People would admire my scores but it annoyed the heck out of me because I could not see any practical use for skills that were basically puzzles.

Fast forward to 2025 and I finally found a use for spacial reasoning. If you do not know what spatial reasoning is, there is a link to a test below. If you score 100% feel free to email me and I will note that I have kindred spirits on the blog. Or perhaps everyone can score 100% - in which case we can be happy that we found each other and have a common skill.

The test questions that apply to my shadow box design are the ones where you look at a 3D shape and then have to discern which of the flattened out shapes would fold together to make the 3D shape.

https://www.123test.com/spatial-reasoning-test/

Nov from JeanR - almost the last ofrenda post

 

This poor envelope had quite a trip through the USPS machines. The insides are unscathed. While it is sad to see the mangled envelope, in some ways it has a certain charm. It reminds us of the wabi-sabi perspective. (From WIKI: Wabi-sabi is a traditional Japanese aesthetic that emphasizes the beauty of imperfection, transience, and simplicity. It combines two concepts: "wabi," which refers to a rustic or austere beauty, and "sabi," which signifies the beauty that comes with age and the passage of time.

The inner (above) and outer (below) of a very nice card from Jean.

Learning lessons (or reminders) from my ofrenda project.

No. 1

Taking on a big project works best if you have many experienced artists with some free time. 

No. 2

Don't expect things to be easy. Artwork is work.

Projects without problems to solve can be boring and predictable.

No. 3

If you make a bunch of something - you keep getting better. 

The later nichos were a lot better than the first ones

 and if they weren't better, they were at least faster.

This can be applied to anything.

Practice may not make perfect - but it will nudge you along on the proficiency scale.

Perfection isn't the goal but proficiency is.

No. 4

If you have to start work every morning at 6 am your screen time disappears. 

Although the screens are still a good place to do specific research when you need a fresh idea.

No. 5

If you get obsessed with details and lose track of time you also lose 5 pounds.

There is one more thing I've been saving for the very end.

See you tomorrow.

Dec to Clover - 2nd to last ofrenda rambling

 

My Dec and Jan exchange envelopes will be the ultimate hodge podge as I launch the this-time-it's-going-to-get-done purge and consolidation of the stacks. It has begun. It might be boring, but it is going to be the topic of discussion until it's done.

I found this envelope with the panel of marker testing. There will be more marker testing. Clover sent me a very interesting article from a very old magazine. To mix variety with the ultimate purge project I will insert rants about people who have unrealistic expectations of the USPS.

***

The past four days covered the 24 nichos. There is a ridiculous amount of detail about each nicho and the inspiration behind the designs on the Page where I put additional photos and information. There is also more about the one thousand flowers and the large skull at the top of the ofrenda. Ignore this as well as the links if you were understandably exhausted by the topic way back in October. While the topic might have become wearisome I do have some final thoughts about what is to be gained by slogging through a huge nine-month project. 

While I was in the midst of the project, there were quite a few people expressing thoughts like:

Boy, I bet you'll be glad when this is over.

And... Boy, I'll bet you'll never get involved in something like this again.

And the popular... Is this your swan song? 

That last comment implies that I had come out of retirement to do one last event and that it was certain to be my last event.

To be honest, there were moments of frustration, but my response to frustration is to ask: What can we change to alleviate or resolve the frustration? There's always something that can be done. Identifying that *something* is the issue. 

On Sept 1st, telling MrW that I was not going to cook for the next 2 months was an easy fix for me and freed up a ton of time. He simply said, OK. The normally quiet house was a beehive of activity with people coming and going and piles of stuff in the three rooms that he avoids. He saw a lot of things going on but it did not involve him and at 74 he knows how to find food on his own. He did not lose any weight during those two months -- while I lost 5 pounds.

Tomorrow will be the final-final post on the ofrenda project.

Nov to Lisa - Fourth side of the ofrenda

I'm guessing this is my first envelope with the new holiday stamps. This one is not a favorite because of the way the name is only a little off at first and then way off at the end. Poor planning. However, the color is good. and there will be some more examples of layering. Looking at it this way, I wonder why I didn't write any of the names in a circle. Some of the best ideas are the most obvious. I'll have to buy more stamps and try writing names in wreath shapes.

Several of my November exchange envelopes are very Christmasy - which seemed like an OK idea since they went out very late.

The fourth side of the ofrenda, above, and the six nichos that were displayed on that side, below.

2019

This smaller skull wearing a mask was used to represent 2020 because the event was cancelled due to covid.

2021

2022

2023

2024

 One last LINK to full report if you want details.

There will be a closing comment tomorrow.

More Lombardic versals from Christi - Third side of the ofrenda

 

The envelope from Christi has already been posted. I often forget to shoot the things inside envelopes. This time, when I realized I had missed this very nice card, I also noticed there are 3 distinct styles of Christi's Lombardic versals. 

The greeting above is sketchy and looks like she did them quickly.

I'm going to give this version a try.

Below is something that looks like it wants to be a bookmark or it could be a little framed piece. I can't tell if the whole thing is done by hand. It is so tiny that I'm thinking she might have done the art, then scanned it and printed it out multiple times - possibly reducing it. The gold is handpainted. And then there is the little red signature. Hopefully Christi will tell me what she used on that signature - it's sooooo tiny.

I love tiny.

Here is the envelope again so you can see the third version. Also, I neglected to point out that she did her own version of the Goodnight Moon stamp and put her own little *character* in the setting. It's adorable.

 

enlarged image of the stamp

***

Photo by Erik Brockmeyer

This is the third side of the ofrenda. The six nichos that were on this side are below.

2013

2015

2016

2017

LINK to the TMI post  which is way too much information unless you are looking to kill a lot of time or want to see the whole story in one place.

Oct from Lynne - Second side of the ofrenda

Spiders popped up on many of the October exchange envelopes including this one from Lynne. That's a very nice spider web. It captures the feel of how they are symmetrical without being perfect. 

***

Here are the 6 nichos on the second side of the 2025 ofrenda. Each nicho was inspired by the ofrenda that was built in the corresponding year. 

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Those 6 nichos were displayed on the second side of the 2025 ofrenda.

LINK to the full story  -- 

Photo by Erik Brockmeyer

 

Oct from Grace - First side of the ofrenda

Grace had at least one actual popcorn bag that she turned into an envelope. The fun continued with an assemblage of cute stickers and USPS stamps. I'm pretty sure I can return this idea with a paper bag although it will be a generic brown bag.

***

This final series about the ofrenda project will feature an actual photo of each nicho. They will be in groups of 6. Each nicho is roughly 20" tall and 15-20" wide. These six nichos were on the first side on the ofrenda. Each one was inspired by an original ofrendas. These six represent ofrendas from 2001 through 2006. Photos of those ofrendas are posted on the long, tedious post - linked below.

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

LINK to the full story

The photo of the honoree, Gary is in the middle and mementos from Gary's life are displayed below the photograph of Gary. Pan de muerto (in the basket just below the denim jacket) is the traditional bread used on ofrendas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_de_muerto