Nov to Christy, JeanR, Maggie, Rachael, Janet, Patty, Amy and Wayne

Merry Christmas. Here are 8 lumps of coal.

I'm perfectly happy with the sentiment of thanking my exchangers for exchanging.

It's hard to say why I am so disappointed in these. One would think I could find something nice to go with the gold. I like gold. Maybe it's the black that is throwing me off. I still have a lot of the gold envelopes left and I don't like to give up - so I fear there will be more yucky gold envelopes. 

Maybe the right stamp will appear. The stamps with white backgrounds are better than a lot of other one. Maybe I should try those stamps with the gold calligraphic *ThankYou*

These layered ones remind me of the pictures where you have to wear 3D glasses to see the image in 3D.

I wish I had done three stamp shapes on this one - and maybe that's the solution to the gold envelopes - lots and lots of stamps. Something really crazy. As I said, I'm not afraid of a challenge and I do like the idea of figuring out something wonderful. I just don't want to figure it out on the very last envelope...and then have no more gold envelopes....because the last thing I'm going to do is buy more gold envelopes. I did not buy these - they were left over from a job.

 

Nov to Lynne - the annual story which is just musing

 

Well, here we are. Christmas Eve. This envelope is the equivalent of getting a lump of coal. Or maybe it isn't that bad. There are a total of nine gold envelopes. I'll run the other eight tomorrow and hopefully I'll be back on track with good ideas. Or maybe not. Either way, I live by what I preach. It's not the content, it's the process. We still need to putter without getting all self-judgy.

***

Nothing popped up for a really good Annual Dec 24th story. I'm writing this on Thursday, Nov 27th which was Thanksgiving. It was also the 45th birthday of my daughter, my first born. In 1980, Thanksgiving fell on the 27th. Few things compare to the experience of 30-some hours of labor followed by hospital food on Thanksgiving. I was 28 years old. At 28 a person is still full of impressions about the path they are on and what they are planning to accomplish. At 28 you have not learned that *People plan. God laughs.*

Flash forward 45 years. None of what I was imagining came true. Not a single thing. My imagination was kooky, at best. Pie in the sky is another way of looking at it.

But not in a bad way. This isn't going to be a story - it's just musing.

The stork was either drunk or on drugs when he dropped my babies down the chimney. Tests would reveal that we share DNA, but, honestly, I feel like we are five people who came from 5 different planets. Again - that's not a bad thing. It's just not what I was expecting. But, I'm thankful that everyone is cordial and they have found paths that seem to be working out.

I am thankful for my pen pals. Some people send the sweetest notes in their envelopes. Other people send emails that warm my heart. And then there are those complete strangers who keep to themselves but I totally get it that we have some weird connection. I see you when I look at the numbers of page views. An unbelievable number.

Some of my Christmas Eve stories are funny and there were a few humorous incidents this year that I considered for Dec 24th. I feel like I already shared the truly absurd ones - like MrW offering to buy generic stamps. 

I can always do an add on if something bizarre happens.

To reiterate - my penpals/readers are a perfect balance to my actual day-to-day existence. It blows my mind a bit to have created this little corner of the WorldWideWeb and it keeps chugging along. Thank you for sending me the right amount of encouragement to keep the blog going and Happy Holidays.

***

OK -  a really good add-on popped up on Dec 23. My weaning off the internet has progressed nicely. In place of surfing, I read magazines. They are available for free online through my library - so technically - it's still screen time - but, it's more focused on topics.

The Dec 29th issue of The New Yorker (pg 13) had a review of the current Gagosian installation in Paris. The basement studio of Joseph Cornell has been reimagined in three storefront windows. This add-on is for people who already know and love the work of Joseph Cornell. I don't have time to say more - it's a quirky corner of the art world that a few of you might enjoy seeing.

Here is a

LINK to a review of the installation/exhibit

Nov to Grace, Jessica, Cindy, Juliana and Nanski

These are the very first ideas I tried with the holiday stamps. I did just the design part the first week of November before I left for my two weeks in Chicago and I knew they were dismal. When I got back, I pulled out that super chunky, dark green marker with the Neuland that ran yesterday and the day before.

I'm going to let you see some work that is not blog worthy. The whole point of the blog is to spend time puttering and see what happens. I'm sure some of these look just fine and I can't really articulate why I find them so disappointing. 

After the two weeks in Chicago, I tried some new things that turned out better. Then a few days after mailing them I realized that I should have written names in a circle to look like a wreath. I'll probably buy some more of these stamps and do some names in circles. 

It's still snowy day - and I already have the 24th written - so - I'll finish out the week with some ugly ducklings and then return to Oct and Nov incoming envelopes.

 Real time add-on. I can now articulate what's wrong with these. They are lacking finesse. They are warm ups. Sadly, I do not have time to discard all of my warm ups - some people just have to put up with them. There is no rhyme or reason to how I decide who gets a warm up and who gets something further down the line. There are times that I peak in the middle so - it's very very random how the lists get done.

Nov to Erika, Nicky, Renee, Riley, Sharen and Samantha

I'll just run the rest of the Neuland envelopes that went with this stamp. I don't think many people are interested in Neuland. I coordinated the details from the stamps. Yesterday I ran the holly stamps. Erika and Nicky have pine needle designs. I like that light green on Nicky's.

I wasn't sure what to do with the amaryllis stamps. I'm not too happy with how these turned out. Now that they have been gone for a while, maybe a red outline would have helped. Or gold?

I'm grrrring at myself for the way Samantha's turned out. That's egregious how the stamp is sideways. Then I had second thoughts about putting the address up top so put just the street and zip at the bottom. I hope Samanthat signs up again. She's a newer exchanger and I hope I get another chance to send her something nice. Of course, when she sees what's coming up tomorrow, she can feel better about what she did receive. 

Brace yourself - the duds are coming.

 

Nov to Lucy, Kate and Irene

Last week featured incoming Oct and Nov envelopes - and possibly some real time posting of incoming Dec envelopes - at least that's the plan I came up with when I loaded all the photos and decided to hold off on blurb writing. It's still that snowy Saturday right after T-day as I write this.

I ended up sending holiday themed envelopes for the November exchange. I tried to do some *thankful* themed envelopes but did not care for them so I switched to these stamps. I like the designs and colors and was pretty sure I'd have really good ideas.

They are not wildly inspired but the colors are nice. Neuland is one of those styles that *drips from my fingers.* That's the expression that Sheila Waters used for that feeling you get when you have practiced a style so much that you don't have to think very hard about all the subtle details. I love that expression.

The green marker is a little bleedy. I think it would have been nicer to have sharp, crisp edges. But I like the way these turned out. 

I don't remember what order I did these three. Kate's has all white. Lucy has the white in-line and multi colored holly leaves. Irene's has multi colored holly leaves. All three have various amounts of bounce. 

 

Nov from Jessica, Lynne and Kristine - Pella photo

From Jessica (above) and Lynne (below)

Both get that vote of approval for their clear penmanship on the addresses.

Lynne used WeaverWriting which is a little quirky. Hopefully the scanners can read the letters that fling or swoop.

Kristine's (below) has clear penmanship.

Hopefully the scanners can ignore stripes and patterns.

Janet sent me a fun photo from Pella, Iowa, which is a charming Dutch community about 45 minutes SE of Des Moines. They are famous for Pella windows, their baked goods and most of all the Tulip Festival. I've been to see the tulips and much prefer to watch the news for when the tulips are at their peak and hopefully it is a day or two before or after the actual festival. Thanks, Janet. The whole thing looks like a giant envelope - if there was an address in place of one of the stamps. Good idea for an envelope.

 

Nov from Riley and JeanR - last minute paper decorations

From Riley (above) and JeanR (below)

Nice clear addressing - I can't remember my shortened way of designating approval for clear addresses so we are letting that go.

The the three boxed letters are gold which did not photograph very well - so you have to imagine how pretty this is.

 Trust me - if you like to make things out of paper - there are some fun ideas at this website. I don't think you need to buy any of the templates. I think most of the items are pretty straightforward if you can work a ruler and a protractor. Part of me even thinks they could be very fun decorations if they were done free-hand. Too bad I am full of self-control to not test that theory. Or am I? Is this a cliff hanger?

LINK to fun stuff

Maggie and Nicky or Lucy - comic strip clothes

 

Maggie used watercolor pencils.

I have watercolor pencils and I need to add them to the list of tools to use in the Style/Tool project.

SRSA

Scanner Recognition Seal of Approval

No return name - Nicky or Lucy? SRSA.

It's still Dec 6th which is Saturday and I need to get these last three posts filled. 

Apologies for the shortness, but, I'm pretty pumped for how things are shaping up for my 2026 posts.

LINK to a shirt. and who knows what else. This would be the shirt to wear to one of those restaurants that is painted to look like a comic strip.

LINK to the comic strip restaurant  which is close to my daughter's home in Chicago - so I think I'm going to try to go next time I am in Chicago....if I remember.....

I think I like this sweater even better than the shirt

OCT/NOV from Kate and probably Lucy

I emailed Kate and said something about how much time she had spent on coloring in the ghosts. She responded that she had not intended to do it that way. Her initial attempt to imprint a white ghost was not what she wanted so she colored them in. She said the time went quickly because she had listened to something. 

[I deleted some idle chit chat that was here - because a new add-on presented itself.]

No return address - by the cancel, I can deduce it's either from Nicky or Lucy. 

These two get the SRSA designation. 

Scanner Readable Seal of Approval.

***

Here is a real time add-on.

Mike Moore sends mail with the most delicate Spencerian that is a delight to see in person. One of his envelopes was gold ink on red and it took many weeks to arrive. We can assume the scanners could not read it. I think Mike has seen my requests for clear block printing on mail, if you want it to move smoothly and swiftly through the USPS.

Voila.

He mailed this on Dec 11 from Atlanta GA and it arrived at the 420 on Dec 15. Four days. That is UH-MAZE-ING. Additional shout out to Mike for using a pen for the addressing that is bolder than a *hair's width* - which is what the typical Spencerian penmanship looks like.

I'm guessing this was a challenge for Mike - to embolden and block print the address. But, he did it - and I appreciate how it might have been an aesthetically challenging event. I wonder - has he done all his holiday mail like this - or did he just do mine like this because of my ranting?

 

Nov from Amy

Whenever I see a layout that has the artwork and stamp on opposite corners, leaving adequate space for a clear address, I ask myself why I never do that. I'm writing this on Dec 6th. I left five blog posts with just an envelope - thinking it would be easy to come back and fill in the blurbs.

That was a good idea at the time, but, the worst idea ever for any kind of continuity to my Master Plan. I have no idea when I came up with the Master Plan - so - I'll fill the next four days with things that are very random and get back to the Master Plan after the New Year starts. This is entirely a coincidence.

Maybe that's fine because this can be a busy time of year for a lot of people and they probably appreciate something short that reminds them they should get going with that to-do list.

Thank you to Amy for doing a clear address. I will be adopting this layout for a few of my Dec envelopes. [Real time update - that didn't happen, but I am wildly excited about how well the Master Plan is going.]
 

Oct from Samantha - Style/Tool (List of styles)

Samantha is a newer exchanger. At first glance I thought this was from Janet. but the Hartford CT postmark stood out - so I knew it wasn't from Janet. If Samantha sticks with the exchange that will make 4 CT exchangers. 

Yesterday's post said that I was going to fill up the last 6 days of Dec with envelopes and then come back and fill in the blurbs the following day which would have been Sunday. I took Sunday off and focused on the huge project involving the organizing of the things I save and exemplars - which needs to be done before I get serious about my Style/Tool Project.

There have been some additions to the lists of styles and tools - and I appreciate that Kate and Ruth responded. It's never too late to respond so if you think of more, let me know. I feel like there was a third person who responded - apologies if I've left someone out.

I have rearranged the styles into groups. One group lumps a lot of older broad edge styles together because they are a confusing group and I'm not sure I'll spend much time with any of them. They are confusing because nobody is in charge of names and for centuries the names have been random and there's no way to create a standardized naming system.

Blackletter, Gothic and Old English are the three names that are used all the time and they all mush together. Yes, we could look at details and see that some are rounder and some are more compressed and some are super simple and some are very complicated - but as a group - they are all pretty chunky. For our purposes, they are all going to get lumped together. I tend to use *blackletter* for all of them. 

Here's my new list:

Very basic shapes of standard alphabet shapes - Romans are just the caps and Foundational includes lower case.

Romans

Foundational

Very old and doesn't fit with any of the other styles but it's artsy

Runes

Mostly older styles - all done with BROAD EDGE - even though we can do variations with a monoline - many are from the pre-printing press era when books were written by hand

Uncial - old, all caps - roundish

Carolingian - like Uncial but with a lower case - roundish

Blackletter/Gothic/OldEnglish - Batarde, Gothisized Italic, Fractur - a gazillion different styles - mostly rectangular 

Italic - two-gazillion styles

Neuland - a very contemporary style but lumped in with the broad edged styles  - while mostly done with broad edge - we will try it with a monoline and see what happens

French Roundhand - very much like a script because the letters are joined but it's mostly done with a broad edge. 

Relatives of cursive - writing that is joined - came way after typesetting

Copperplate - pointed nib or monoline

Spencerian - pointed nib or monoline

Penmanship/Cursive/Handwriting - the sky's the limit

Versals - so many different styles in this category

Brush script - pointed brush

Brush script - flat brush

These are styles that were designed by specific people

Ben Shahn

Peter Thornton’s Button Alphabet

Jacqueline Svaren’s Bone

Gwen Weaver’s WeaverWriting +

Loredana Zaga’s Flame

Arts & Crafts styles - these get their own category because there are so many and they are very beginner friendly. They bridge hand lettering and typesetting.

Fonts - this category has an infinite number of styles - it will include all the styles where the letters are drawn eand there are many alternatives to how to make particular letters. This would include all the styles where the letters are actually little pictures. 

And then we have  

Asemic writing - which is scribbling that gives the impression that it's writing but it is not legible.

Nov from Janet - ho-hum hoard jabbering

Janet went with mice and a partial border. I frequently comment on Janet's borders because they are often a very eye-catching design element. This bottom border is in the space that I reserve for the bar code and it seemed to have worked out OK. 

It is still that snow storm day and it is now 12:45 p.m. A lot was accomplished in the sifting room. A sifting room is a spare room which is used as a holding tank as you clear out all the other rooms and closets as you are decluttering an entire house. Things in the holding tank can often be re-organized if you are prone to putting a particular item in various places. One of the things I found was a list of many different styles of lettering. 

One of the hardest things for me to part with are old greeting cards. Maybe I've already written that I intend to take photos of them and put them on a card blog so that I can enjoy them online and free up space. Before I start that project, I have to slog through all the photos of exchange envelopes and then delete them from the photos to free up space.

This is boring. I am going to load 6 more envelopes and save the blurb writing for tomorrow. Or I might have one more update on how much I'm getting done so that the Accountability Posse will know what a good job they are doing.

 

Oct from Nicky - 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 and once I have 12-15 envelopes 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 the name in the title. 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. Photos of what she sent will show up in a later post.

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/