May from Juliana - Good Writing - a few rules

 

Juliana went with rubber stamps in May. My rubber stamps have been calling to me. Also borders catch my eye - I see them everywhere. Even the OG borders that were used on airmail letters are still around. And who doesn't love little animals posing as letters. Adorable. I have a whole collection of alphabets that are based on animals, including humans, who are posing as letters.

***

Well, the next train that pulled up to the platform is going to the library. Remember how I checked out that book called Good Writing, by Anne Lamott and her husband Neal Allen? I've been too consumed with pulling weeds to read it and it's due today.

The book has 36 Rules that Neal collected over the years and he uses his list in his teaching. I scanned through the list of rules and there are several that seem very self explanatory. Rule 7: Sound Natural. That's the one I probably don't need because all of my writing is conversational. Rule 22: Short Sells. That's my main thing when I edit - is finding every opportunity to use fewer words. 

Then we get to Rule 34: Break the Rules -and- Rule 35: Finish the Damn Thing. I don't think I need to read those. I'm good at breaking rules - I'll check the book out again and read it - and see if the book says to be careful about how many rules you break - breaking too many at the same time is a very bad idea. 

I don't need to read anything about finishing - because I have managed to finish a daily post Every Damn Day for 16 years. I think that's amazing. Just the part where I didn't miss a day - but - the writing still needs help. The writing is full of issues - but, I never claimed to be a writer.

Someone has the book on hold - so I will return it and put another hold on it - and hopefully next time I'll have time to actually read it.

May from Riley - housewives and train stations

 

<sigh> Rates are going up..... again.

This is from Riley and I might have to steal this idea. And I just realized that I have never purchased the breast cancer awareness stamps - which I need to do at least once during my envelope journey. Have you noticed how everything is *a journey* these days? It's an expression that pops up everywhere. I rather  like it. At least it makes more sense than *six-seven* - although I liked that one because it was 100% devoid of meaning. That was the meaning - meaninglessness.

***

Ten days ago Janet's little booklet popped up and I said I would return to the topic of housewives and how I am a kindred spirit of all housewives. During a conversation with a fellow scribe we were talking about the rock stars in calligraphy and noting how many of them did not have children. I won't list them - just suffice it to say - there are a lot. So, to me, the term housewife is more about the mothering than it is about the upkeep of a house. 

I also want to clarify that all the exchangers I have met in person are cut off the same bolt as Janet. They all amaze me at how much they get done. They are multi-talented. They all look very put together. I think I went through a phase of enjoying hair/clothes/makeup - but somehow I have devolved into wearing frayed hand-me-downs. 

I lost my train of thought. Guess I'll have to stand here on the platform at the train station and catch the next train. 

May from Amy - Margaret Atwood

 

Amy tried a font that has caught my eye several times - but I've never tried it. It's very clever - and I hope she enjoyed trying a font. Or maybe it was frustrating. Whether or not a person will enjoy a new font is so unpredictable. There's something mysterious about which *new* things grab our attention....and which send us running away.

***

I haven't recommended a book for a while. This one is only recommended for people who like Margaret Atwood's work. She wrote the Handmaid's Tale which I have not read or watched. I know nothing about her or her work. If you like her work, you might enjoy all the stories that go along with how she discovered that she was a writer. She is 86 - 12 years ahead me - but there are lots of interesting stories from eras that I remember well. It's fun to hear someone of her age being very frank about her youthful shenanegans. My memoir would only cover the various stages of my penmanship evolution. She talks
about dropping acid. Yikes.

I am listening to the book and it took a while to warm up to her voice - but now it sounds like she's just telling me stories in person. It's conversational. I'll be looking for more of her non-fiction. I try every new memoir that comes out on my library's free app and most of the time I enjoy them. It's interesting to hear the stories about how people discovered their *thing* and the various paths they take to establish successful careers. Very few people have a quick and easy journey. 

As always - I never recommend buying any book - if you can't get it from the library - just skip it - they'll have lots of other options. If you have a problem with buying too many books, I don't want to contribute to that problem.

This is the cover of the book. She wrote about the photography session for the book cover and this is one of three shots - the other two are *see no evil* and *hear no evil.* I like the layout and how her name is stacked and the first name is gray. 

May from Lynne - wearing USPS uniforms

 

This envelope was not oversized. It seemed like a normal envelope. I don't know why it got the rubber stamp. Here it is on its own. This is the first of the May envelopes that arrived. More flowers that I would love to try. I think Lynne just liked the butterfly - and splurged on a non-machinable stamp even though the envelope is machinable. 

***

While putting away some winter clothes for the summer, I found an official USPS sweater - the kind that the postal clerks wear. I appropriated it from my son because it looked too small for him. When postal workers retire, they give their official clothes away to other postal workers. They know that they are only supposed to wear their USPS clothes at work. They are not supposed to stop at a bar and have a drink - the way Cliff Claven did in the TV show Cheers. It's OK to stop and fill your gas tank or do your grocery shopping. 

Now that I have it - I wondered - is it illegal for me to wear it?

Under U.S. federal law, it is illegal to wear official USPS uniforms or badges if you do not work for the Postal Service. The law is in place to prevent fraud, maintain security, and protect the public.

The Law (18 U.S. Code § 1730)

• The Rule: Anyone not connected to the letter-carrier branch of the Postal Service who wears a prescribed postal uniform or badge can be fined or imprisoned for up to six months, or both.
• The Consequences: Impersonating a postal worker (whether to commit a crime, access restricted areas, or just as a joke) is taken very seriously. Even wearing one as a Halloween costume is a violation.
• Exceptions: The only legal exception carved out in the statute is for actors or actresses in a theatrical, television, or motion-picture production.

Official Uniforms: Postal guidelines strictly regulate who can wear authorized work clothes and badge items, and mandate that retired or separated employees remove all official insignia.

Retail Swag: Many fashion brands (like Forever 21 or BAPE) have done official licensing collaborations with the USPS to produce branded streetwear. Wearing officially licensed USPS-themed shirts, hats, or hoodies available to the general public is perfectly legal, as they are not the actual carrier uniforms.

***

LINK to the USPS official manual

The bottom line - I will not be posting a photograph of me in my USPS sweater. The caffeinated portion of my brain is imagining me at the visitation for the departed me and I am wearing it.

May to JeanR and Liz - layers upon layers

This one needed something else - but I couldn't figure out what and looking at it a couple weeks after it was mailed, I still have no idea what it needs. Maybe a circle? I need to complete my series of round stamps for JeanR all at once. It's too hard to switch gears to circular stamps after doing 20 rectangulars.

I'm very curious what Liz thinks when she sees this version of her May envelope. I was so tempted to send it along like this because I loved it just the way it was. Liz's envelopes are very bold and she fills up the space so I thought this might be too radical for her. I mailed all the other envelopes and let this one sit on my desk and stare at me. Eventually I decided to add some squares on the left. 

The biggest problem was that the envelope is pale pink and even though there is a little pink in the stamp - the big pink name was not right with the stamps. I found some stamps in my stash that went with pink as well as the brighter colors in the stamp. But it was still very disjointed.

I squared off the corners on her name.

I set it aside - and happened to set it on the backing sheet from all the quilt stamps was on my desk.

I saw a black border and realized that more black might tie things together. - but I didn't have enough to layer a black border on the envelope.

So, I bordered the stamps and added a few random bars.

At this point, it was getting close but needed one more thing.

Of course, I thought of dots.

But they had to be square dots.

So, I cut squares from the edging of the selvedge from the backing of the quilt stamps.

Considering how much time I spent trying to figure out how to resolve all the issues, I am pretty happy with how it worked out. It's still a dud - but it is a happy dud.

 

May to Troy, Kerry, Mia and Lisa

 

As I endure the pain of sending the last of a favorite stamp off into the world, I always hope I come up with a good idea for the final mailing. If I had time, I would go back and look at what my ideas were for this stamp. Maybe they weren't very good. Maybe this was one of those stamps that I just loved - but only did ho-hum envelopes. We'll never know.

The good news is that I like this idea. Troy's was done first and I like it even though that red O in BROOKS is pitiful.

I was happy with Kerry's - although her longer last name does not allow for a design that is as good as Troy's. I should have done PETER larger and then done a small MAN, stacked or sideways. Or, better yet, a little stick-figure-man. Spoiler alert - if Kerry sticks with the exchange - I have lots of fun ideas.

Mia got left for last and I was pretty happy with how it came out. It's not very skillful in the lettering but we are pretending that I am completely untrained in lettering and calligraphy. It's perfectly fine for someone who just likes the alphabet.

There was one stamp left so I used it on a non-exchanger, non-lettering artist, non-artist.

I have mixed feelings about those black bars. There's a reason for them - but not a rational one.

May to Kate and Jeannette

OK - We are back on track - but we have to put up without anything interesting to read. Remember on the 4th when a post popped up that was supposed to wait - well now I have another post that I'd like to schedule, but I am afraid Blogger will do the same thing. So I will wait a few days and see if I can get this one to do what it's supposed to do.

These are some more variations of Judi's envelope. I love the colors. I loved those stamps. The one below might be the closest to Judi's. I ended up liking her layout and proportions a lot more after I tried my own and didn't find anything that was a huge improvement.

I was in the mood to show how I got sharp edges on her name. Those are the little barcode strips that the USPS puts on envelopes that are easy to remove. I save all of mine and they are very handy for masking things off.

Sorry I didn't crop those photos - but I'm writing this on the day I need to figure out the exchange lists....

Then I masked off JEANNETTE 

but I don't know why.

It would have been fine to overlap.

 

Is anyone else freaking out that June is half over? 

June 14 - Blogger confusion

 I think I figured out the problem with Blogger - this is a test to see if it goes back to scheduling properly.

Here are a couple envelopes made by Mary. Sometimes she sends me the images of her envelopes. I put them in a different folder every time. Then I lose them. Then I find them. This time they came out of hiding when I needed something for a test post. 

This one reminds me of the idea I lifted off Juliana's envelope with a cartouche - only Juliana's was the oval. But it had the itty bitty somethings scattered about.

***

This is a test to see if I can go back and copy and paste something off the blog.

And now I am going to try scheduling the problem post.

Hopefully it doesn't show up until tomorrow.

Sorry about the boring task of sorting out Blogger issues and subjecting you to me talking to myself.

May to Mary - no add-on

At first, I thought these women looked like they were being held up at gunpoint. Then I thought they might be dancing. This was the last stamp left and it was the same design used in the border - so it was fun to use the big *free* sticker on this envelope - and Mary's name is nicely balanced when stacked.

It's been a fun series - there are four more days of my May envelopes and then we get to look at the ones I received in May.

By the way - I do between 20-25 envelopes per month. That's one way to get a lot of practice at being both loose and neat. I can't imagine anyone wanting to do that many envelopes. I'm only motivated because I have this blog thing going on. It's a treat to meet new people - and share a fondness for mail and a no-pressure art-making experience. 

No add on today - unless something unexpected comes up.

 

May to Jessica - loosening up

I was happy with this one. The stamp provided so many details. Rather than struggle with those figures that look like they are being held up at gunpoint - I went with the itty-bitty details of the house and little sunbursts - a popular motif in quilting. 

Yesterday, I wrote for the umpteenth time - that loosening up is a function of putting in a ton of time. The question I like to ask people is this: Can you think of something that you spent a lot of time becoming very proficient at doing and once you mastered it, you could toss it off easily - and add a little flair. Something that you just love doing - and you lose track of time while you are engaged in the activity. 

Lots of people have a skill like that. They know how much joy it brings them and they tend to forget how much time it took to master the skill. They often take it for granted that they have the skill. But every single one of us appeared out of nowhere - with no skills. We were little blobs and then we were feral children and it took a long to time to figure things out. Except for the very occasional prodigy, nothing comes easy. We all have to work at our skills.

Penmanship is deceiving. Pretty much everyone can write - but it takes time to turn it into something special. Juliana said :  Nearly 30 years of drafting have ruined me and I doubt anyone would describe anything about me as "loose."  

I don't think Juliana is *ruined* - all that skill at precision is fabulous. That's where she ended up. She's like a ballerina who wants to break dance. It's not that ballet has *ruined* the ballerina - she just has to decide how motivated she is to learn something different.

Here's the kicker -- do Juliana and the ballerina really have time to learn something wildly different. Maybe not right now - but - maybe someday....

 

May to Nicky - loosening up

 

I was going to have a word bubble on this one, The lady is pointing to the one scallop that I did last and it is squished in. I was annoyed with myself for not doing a tiny pencil dot to space the scallops nicely. Notice how I did not say *perfectly*? I do not aim for perfection. I aim for precise or nice. I did a little bit better with the items that were on the stamp. I like the shadows. That really helps ground the three things that are standing. I see more ovals in my future. That oval is starting to look like a RBG lace collar on her robe.

Here is Juliana's comment - after I wrote that my interpretation of her envelope with details wasn't very good.

I did not scrutinize the little animals. They were too cute to nitpick. I loved the color scheme also. Usually with your envelopes I just try to figure out how you stay so loose while still being so neat. Nearly 30 years of drafting have ruined me and I doubt anyone would describe anything about me as "loose."

If I can remember to do this - we might have some tips and tricks for loosening up. The longing to be loose and still neat is something I hear quite often.

On the other hand - it might be a lost cause - because I think *loose* is the main thing that people need to find when they want to flourish....and the only way to get into the groove with flourishing is to spend a ridiculous amount of time going through the motions. Easy motions at first and once you get the easy ones flowing, you gradually start working on variations and eventually. work your way into more complicated designs.

More tomorrow.

Janet knocks it out of the ballpark

 I chose that sports reference because Janet is one of those people who churns out a ton of creativity and still has time for a ton of sporting events. And she's a good cook/baker and well groomed. She's some sort of superwoman. 

Janet observed my birthday with all kinds of goodies. The envelope is much brighter in person and goes very well with the stamp. Inside is this card - with a fold on the top.

The image on the front wrapsaround to the back

Inside is a small envelope. Inside that envelope is a little booklet with J-for-Jean on the front.

That out-of-date term on the USPS stamp was issued on October 12, 1974 when it cost 10-cents to mail 1 ounce. Here is a link to see all the other 10-cent stamps.

https://postagestampguide.com/united_states/stamps/years/1974#google_vignette

I love how Janet has assembled my philosophy of life into this tiny booklet. I might have to publish it. Janet will have to send me the name of her agent to hash out the details. I suggest a straight 50-50 split.

I'm also curious about that personal favorite - Just channel your inner Mexican housewife. I did a search on the blog and I only used the word *housewife* three times and none of them are this quote. So, I suspect that quote came from something that happened last year when I tricked my 12 favorite people into devoting a ridiculous amount of time making tissue paper flowers for the Day of the Dead ofrenda. I hope the comment does not offend any Mexican housewives because at my very core, I am a housewife. It doesn't matter to me what your nationality is - if you are a housewife, we are kindred spirits. I'll be jabbering about this in a future post.

Unless I forget.

April from Frances and Troy

Frances was new to the exchange in April - but then she didn't have time to sign up in May. Maybe she'll be back someday. The greenery is so nice - clearly NOT weeds. I paired Frances with Troy - and his happy green HELLO! with a kite-string-name. That one is going in my idea file.

***

Yesterday's posted mentioned the olden days of graphic design where everything was done by hand. I was free lancing when the whole world was switching over to computers and it was at that point that I retired. I was in my late 20s - early 30s - newly married, starting a family. I did not have the inclination to learn how computers worked nor did I want to invest the money in a computer. The old school art supplies were not expensive at all. Then, when my youngest was 7 and I was 43, that's when I fell down the calligraphy/penmanship hole. I never regretted that I did not make the transition to computers. The tactile sense of working on paper with inks, paints, markers, pencils, whatever is so satisfying.

Recently, an article about the many activities people are using to keep their brains vital - pointed out that people are spending a lot of time on computer programs that challenge the brain. Puzzles and whatnot. The article also pointed out that it is silly that people are going to the computer for brain activities - and paying for programs - when they could just go out and use their brain FOR FREE.... doing things that *work* the brain. 

Duh.

 

April from Patty - graphic design olden days

A double-dog-stamp envelope from Patty - who has an adorable dog. I need to remember to ask my exchangers to tell me if they are dog-people, cat-people or both or something else.

Plus Patty made a very pretty birthday card for me. It's crazy how we are in June already and I'm just now posting my birthday mailings.

Patty left a comment on my post about *oddballs* telling us that while she enjoys both sports and penmanship - she prefers sports for spectating - not participating. That makes the Venn diagram more complicated. To me - there is a huge difference in spectating and participating - although they are both group activities. The fans and the teams. That's probably the part where I'm not inclined to join up.

My train of thought just took off on a side-track - remembering when I was an old school graphic designer. We had to do everything by hand - cutting and pasting artwork and copy that came from a typesetter - that would be photographed to make plates and  be printed. There was also a lot of tape involved. We drew things by hand on a drawing board with a T-square and technical pens.

One day I imagined the Graphic Design Olympics. Events included the T-square throw, inspired by the javelin throw. There was speed-taping - where you had to tape the lanes on the track. X-acto knives were the pointy item used with a target, similar to archery. There was an event with the kneaded eraser, but I do not recall what it was.

Ah, the good old days...working in an office....dreaming up stuff.

 

April from Renee - RBG stamps

Renee was inspired by Georgia O'Keefe. Whenever I see poppies growing in people's yards I feel inspired to try planting them. Maybe that will happen someday. I don't want to jinx things and say that I feel like I'm ahead in the battle with the weeds. They are so sneaky. My son brought home some fabulous cardboard so I'm working on some paths. I will smother the weeds with cardboard and then figure out what kind of paths to put in next spring. 

***

I'm not doing any free lance work these days - unless you are that one person who sends invitations once in a while and is so much fun to work with. She's turning 40 and a friend of hers emailed asking me if I would be willing to address invitations for Abby's birthday party. Since Abby is a lawyer, I suggested the Ruth Bader Ginsberg stamp and the person who emailed me was very excited for that stamp. 

I had a route all planned out to see if I could find them locally. After I went to three places, I gave up and ordered them online. Then my son texted me that he found someone at a substation who knew how to look up what each of the substations have in stock. That was super helpful because it gave me an excuse to drive around to one of my favorite post offices as well as one I had never been to. I was so happy to finally see that one. It's very nice.

The punchline of this story is that I found them locally and I still have the ones I ordered online that will arrive - so I'll have a ton of RBG stamps to use up. I had not purchased any when they came out - so I'll have fun with them.

While I stood in line, I took photos of greeting cards that they sell at the USPS. This one is adorable. They have it filed under *Sympathy.* It seems a little whimsical for a sympathy card. I didn't check to see what it says on the inside.

This might be my new *thing* - just taking pictures of greeting cards.

April from JeanR

It's time for JeanR and I to have our annual get together. Even though we live close - she goes to Texas for the winter - and we are both so busy when she's in DSM that we only get one visit in per season. If you are reading this Jean - text me. This is going to be a much less busy summer for me. Also - I like that style of writing on my name - what is it?

And I love the flower on your card. Did you do the drawing first and then the line - or the other way around?

I'm a little skeptical about that comment. I like the concept - but - it loses me because I just saw a guy who supposedly had the best and clearest explanation of what quantum physics is - and he sounded very believable that reality can't be pinned down to just one thing. Maybe Picasso already knew that so - he was  just covering all the bases - knowing that whatever you can imagine might be real.

Or maybe everything is real and unreal at the same time. This is convoluted and not interesting. I apologize. I will end my post writing for the day and return when I have some good topics.

 

April from Amy and Jessica - drawing balloons

Blogger made a mistake yesterday - and instead of scheduling my post for the future - it just posted it. 

The date is wrong. I don't get it.

Bear with me if we have some chaos in our future.

Balloons are harder to draw than one would think. Or at least they are for me. As you can see, both Amy (above) and Jessica (below) chose to overlap their balloons. That might be the secret to drawing balloons. I think I avoid overlapping. I wonder if I will remember to try overlapping the next time I feel like drawing balloons. Or perhaps I have had so many disappointing balloons that I don't even think of balloons any more.

I Googled *balloon line art* to see if they were mostly overlapping and they are.

Let's see what I can find on Pinterest.

Yup - they are all overlapping except this one from Getty Images - so don't be using it - it's under copyright.

The other thing that's hard for me when drawing balloons is making them symmetrical. 

Jessica's are small enough that the symmetry is hard to see.

Amy's avoid the problem because of the way she drew the lines. They are done slow enough that the asymmetry becomes part of the style of the drawing - it's veering into the world of stylized. That's another option I should consider if I feel the need to draw balloons.