Dreamy pointed pen from GraceE

This has to be one of my favorites from Grace E. I'm not sure I have ever used walnut ink on a very pale pink, but I know I will be using that combo. It's gorgeous. Obviously the addition of the flowers is what contributes to the spectacularity. Or is that spectaculariousness? One of you offered to be my editor. Feel free to weigh in.

Grids and loops from Janet

A fun front and back and vintage card from Janet.

Nice contrast between the geometric and the loop-de-loos.

It was hard to photograph the card, I couldn't get it to stand up on its own.

Janet always does such nice flip sides on her envelopes.

I can't quite make out the little figure. It looks a bit like drummer boy with two drums, or a postal worker. Maybe a drumming postal worker. That would be fun - if you could hear the mailman coming.

Feb from Gina

The next couple of weeks are going to be more hopping around and posting of things that piled up in Feb, Mar, and Apr.

Grrrr at the ballpoint scribble. The heart on a hand motif has always been one of my favorites. I doubt Gina knows that my skier-son, Skip has been itching to go ski in one of the __kstans. Maybe all of them. I cringe at some of the places he is interested in. But then I pull myself together and wish him well on his adventures.

Very pretty colors and I like the texture on the heart.

***

BigHelpfulBrother sent me this video.

It is the history of the font Cooper Black.

Anyone interested in fonts will enjoy it.

Thanks BHB.

Cooper Black video

Carole's patterned chicken-themed birthday greeting

I had a heck of a time - and never did figure out if Carole did that whole pattern on the envelope by hand. THe same pattern appears on the card - but it looks different on the envelope. THe back of the envelope is patterned. It is unusual to have just the back of an envelope patterned.

Maybe Carole will see this and tell us.

Carole signs her cards on a little removable tag so that I can reuse the cards.

Very good idea.

You can see the tag - removed - off to the side.

Design tip. The 5-petal larger flowers complement the little abstract 4-petal flowers. Different scales of the same thing is pleasing to the eye.

Birthday greetings from JeanR - Comments about comments

More pretty birthday greetings - this one from JeanR.

and then - wow -

what a beautiful azalea.

I keep forgetting to ask Jean if she is taking any classes. 

It seems like there are so many opportunities online these days. (mid-April)

***

Monday, June 15, 2020

Admin notes:

1.

I forgot to check my spam and there were some comments in the spam awaiting moderation.

I will try to remember to look in the spam more often.

2.

I hear from people that they have trouble leaving comments.

I am 99% sure that you have to have a gmail account to leave comments.

There may be another way to leave comments, but, I do not know what it is.

So -- if you would like to leave a comment, but do not want a gmail account, just send it to me and I will post it on the blog. We all love comments.

3.

In addition to having the gmail account to leave comments, I think you might need to be on Chrome.

I am not 99% sure about that - but, I think it helps. 

There have been a few things over the past few months where being on Chrome made things work better.

So, if you are not a big fan of Google - I hear ya.

However, they are providing endless space for free - for me to keep the blog going -

so, I feel OK letting them have their way.

4.

I will continue to delete any previously scheduled remarks (of my own) about current events.

Ignore any that may slip through.

While I am not oblivious to the importance of being an educated and responsible person, the point of the blog is to have a tiny oasis and ponder art - and maintaining that focus seems to be the right thing to do.

Chuck's flowers on kraft paper

Another pretty design from Chuck. That's one of the best stamps for kraft paper envelopes. We are not thrilled with the way the PO sent it through the machines. But, we're all struggling a little so we'll have to let it go.

I wish I had a video of my son doing a scene from life at the post office where he plays the role of himself and also the role of a lady who has been waiting for a book. He delivers in the suburbs where people either have a mailbox at the end of their driveway or cluster boxes. I think he was at a cluster box when a lady approached him, i.r.a.t.e. and ready to vent all her frustrations. He patiently listened to her and tried to respond appropriately. They actually have training where they give postal workers sentences to use. He tried one where he said something like, "I understand how you feel."

Oh,oh.

That was gasoline on the fire. Clearly a person who is out of the house, leading his normal life, does NOT understand how it feels.

"NO, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT FEELS."

He spent a good 10 minutes, maintaining composure and assured her he would look into the matter as long as she could come up with the tracking number.

By the end, she had calmed down enough to say that if she ever did get a chance to talk to someone she would recommend that he get a gold star.

Whew.

This is April 15 as I write - just for my own frame of reference when this pops up.

Sunday with John Stevens

I'm 99% sure this is something off John Stevens' IG. It would be a cool envelope if you wanted to send someone an exemplar.

He has the KL in red - to reflect that it is for a couple with those initials. I am so tempted to see if there is anyone on the exchange list who has a first and last name side-by-side in the alphabet. If anyone does, please let me know.

I can picture this on an envelope, with a stamp in the upper right corner. Where the names Kari & Leif are - either the town or state would look nice. Or a big zip code with the other info to the left and right.

Quick check -- yes, I see this image on John's IG
along with more stealworthy stuff -- not that any of us can even approach his level -- but we can have fun puttering in that direction.

https://www.instagram.com/calligraphile/

Flag+script from NancyL

White and colors on kraft paper from Nancy. Yes, the Nancy who remembered that I bad mouth flag stamps. This one doesn't bother me because the white in the stamp compliments the white lettering. It looks like colored pencil.

I always like using a variety of fonts, sizes, and variations on the address.

The information is very clear - but all that variety makes it a much more interesting design.

Vine cartouche from Maggie

Maggie included a note apologizing for filling up all the space because she knows I like white space. Actually, I like this a lot and I would have been fine if the vine work had gone all the way around the rectangle. But, it is fine just the way it is.

Nice vintage stamps.

Maggie usually has really nice details in shimmery ink and this time she has some 3D dots that look almost like puffy paints, but they are pretty small. Maybe she will tell us what she used.

John Lennon from Janet

Ahhhh. John Lennon. So much to like about him. Actually, I found some of his music to be a little "???." I can't put into words what it was about some of his music. Maybe I liked the collaboration with Paul better than his solo stuff. Ignore anything and everything that I say about music. I am woefully ignorant about music. 

This is a nice design.

I know a bit about design.

The black line anchors the layout.

The black line would not be as successful if it was exactly in the middle.

Better to have a "horizon" a little above or below the center.

Most of the time. 

There ARE exceptions.

The centering of the colorful subject matter is nice.

It's balanced.

The echoing of the ombre is nice.

Echoing is good.

Celebration circles from Lynne

This is a nice idea to go with the celebrate stamp. It looks like rubber stamps with gel pen details. Picking up on the round theme and nicely coordinated colors.
I wonder if Lynne did all of the them the same - or if there were variations.
I'd be itching to dig out my round rubber stamps and do something like this but I am still stuck in the world of sewing.

Also blogging.

It's Sunday, which is my traditional day to work on the blog.

Maybe after 5 weeks under house arrest, I am finding my way back to some kind of routine.

Sad mailman from Janet

Janet knew it was my birthday in April and sent this sad little mailman. His letter says:

Another cancelled birthday party on April 11, 2020.

You can say that again. I was supposed to be in Chicago celebrating with the grandkids. They sent me a care package from Chicago. Two Lou Malnatti's pizzas and a Portillo's hot dog kit.

My guilty pleasures which are usually off limits.

The front of the envelope and the card.
That's a stealworthy idea for the card.

Words on the card:

They come on one of April's most brilliant days...

a day as sparkling as a newly washed lemon...

a day when even the shadows were a melange of blue and orange and jade like the shadows that poured from the tipsy brush of Monet.

from A Thatched Roof by Beverly Nichols

Apr Ex from Rita to Nancy (Rivkah's quilt)

Rita had fun with versals and the Year of the Rat stamp. If you have never tried versals, they are so versatile. I mention that every time I see them and then forget to actually use them myself. Why is that? 

****

On June 5th I remembered to check what kind of drivel I had written in the posts that were going to pop up. Oh.My.Gosh. I had to delete most of what I had written on this one.

I have 100 posts all ready to go -- and now I have to re-do all of them - because what I was talking about in April sounds ridiculous.

I'm not sure I can go back and rewrite all 100 -- so, we might just have to live with goofy posts.

***

Some photos I found and I can't figure out if they are already posted.

It was fun and also sad to use up my quilts.

I thought it needed something in those Os.

As I look at it now, I really wish I had added a second color.

That yellowish ochre color would have been perfect.

Flourished dress - The Mail-themed Film

It is not surprising that this would catch the eye of a calligrapher. 

Especially one who has veered off into sewing.

Below is a link to the image on Pinterest and you can scroll down and see all kinds of other examples that are very similar. No, I will not be doing anything like this. 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/332633122462002341/

I am writing on April 16th. Maybe I will add an envelope.

****

Now it is May 25 - and I found a reason to add an envelope.

Back in 2016, there was a call for mail to be used as props in a mail-themed film. There was also an option to donate to the project and you would get a DVD of the film. It takes forever to make films and I had given up ever getting my DVD - and then - voila - it arrived in the mail. It was pretty exciting. Although, the video I really want to watch is the video of the evening when they opened all of the mail. It is supposed to be on the website, but I can't find it. If anyone else can find it, let me know.

Here is the link to the original post:

https://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/2016/04/eduardo-munez-project.html#comment-form

I think I sent more than one envelope.

I also sent a postcard that was postmarked from Antarctica as the director of the film was hoping to get mail from all 7 continents.

****

Thanks to Clover -- who sent a link to a short video about the opening of the envelopes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=OAsqLxWFeqc&app=desktop

Rabbit hole / Donna's bday / other grid patterns

I do not recall if I posted this, but it's probably a good idea to repost it.

http://brienne.org/exhibit-6

It's one of the best rabbit holes I've found in a while.
That's absurd.
I find good rabbit holes every day.

***
Adding some random photos in mid May

Hopelessly confused on which envelopes have been posted.

I might have to pull out that little template thingy I use to do these gridded designs.

Grids are so pleasing to my eye.

Oh dear - this is super scary -- Blogger has revamped a bunch of stuff and I can't figure out where the toggle is to make the images larger. Yikes. Keep your fingers crossed that I figure this out.

Good news. I figured it out. There were two icons and they seem to be flipped. The one that looks like a little pencil, which you would think is the one to add a caption - takes you to the re-size options. and the other ambiguous icon takes you to adding a caption. I'm not complaining. I am just noting that when things do not seem to be working, just try the opposite of what you thought you wanted. That seems radical and dangerous.
Maybe the lesson here is that we have morphed into a radical and dangerous era.
Or is is an epoch.
I don't even know what an epoch is.
The amount of stuff I have forgotten is on it's way to outweighing the things I remember.

Bonus Post - from Lauren

Lauren comes up with all kinds of good ideas in her mailings. 
I, on the other hand, have not had any good ideas in a long time.

Whenever I am short on creative juice, I switch gears to organizing.

In theory, it is a perfect balance.

Sadly, all my efforts to organize have just created more chaos.

I'm sure I have worn out the phrase *embrace the chaos*

and none of this jabbering is of any use to anyone - 

except the little break we have when we read the daily post.

Yup.

I read it every morning.

And then I start my commute......

it's a lot like Lauren's -- only without the dog.

Today's daily post - right below.

A reminder from ME (no envelopes)

I follow Mary Engelbreit [ME] on Instagram. She posts frequently and does not hold back with her opinions. I feel sorry for her because her first grandchild is less than a year old.  So Mary is missing out on spending time with little Lola. Those first two years are so precious.

Mary shares a lot of work in progress and I noticed her wording on this drawing:

"...the layouts will be based on vintage book covers."

"Based on" is another way of saying -- adapting ideas from other artists. So, once again, if you are just staring into space, trying to come up with an idea. STOP IT! Go look at something. 

That is where ideas come from.

It is April 15, 2020 as I write this. It's Wednesday. I've noted some serious mental impairment in other people and also noticing it in myself. Nothing dangerous. But, yowza. 

We are not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

Here are some images I found on my desktop. They were going to inspire me to do something similar but I have completely lost interest in any kind of writing. Still hooked on sewing.

This one is from John Stevens.

Maroon has been one of my favorite word to use when I don't want to say the specific word.

From Nancy L to Jill - Apr

Another big thank you to NancyL for sending me an image for the blog.

After thinking I might retire from envelopes, it occurs to me that I could just stop trying to come up with ideas and just do my own versions of the ones I post.

That's pretty much all I've said for the past 5 years - steal ideas from the blog.

Sometimes the most obvious things are sitting right in front of us.

And here is an idea -- if you want to exchange, you have to send an envelope to me even though I am not on the list. Do you think anyone would NOT-sign-up because they did not want to send an envelope for which they would not get one in return?

****

On Tuesday, I was wishing I had a way to scroll back and find a particular envelope - and wondered how many posts I had -- and when I clicked on the stats -- the number 4500 popped up.

So, I missed the celebration for 4500. Maybe I will remember to celebrate 5000.

H.A. Mr Wilson - Sesame St to Patty

I'm not blonde, but this IS me.
And that could be him.

This was my original happy birthday post for Mr Wilson, but it is more of an anniversary sentiment. I'm pretty sure Mr Wilson does not check the blog. Maybe I'll make this into an anniversary card for him.

If you are reading this, Mr. W, thanks for the 41 years and I'm really sorry about my passenger-lunacy.

******

May 23

The level of chaos is overwhelming.

I have no idea if this envelope to Patty is a repeat or is already posted - in the future.

Originally, I was not that interested in the Sesame Street stamps -- and now they are my new favorites. 

But, I still have quite a few orphan stamps to use up.

Not as many as Patty - inside joke with Patty -- although, if I has every reader send me a photo of their stamp stash it would be fun to see who has the biggest stash.

Uh-nuther bonus post - a new feature on Pinterest

Maybe it is not new - but I just noticed it. 

Pinterest drops images onto my screen that they think I might be interested in. 

Sometimes it is an envelope that has been pinned on my blog. 

Today (Sunday, May 31) they dropped this envelope onto my screen.

I'm 99.9% sure it is from RachaelT.

So here is the new feature on Pinterest.

If people try the idea, then they can post their attempt.

Ten people posted images that are fairly similar.

This is just one.

Hopefully, this link will take you to the others.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/75294625007713356/activity/tried

I'm thinking of doing my own version for the exchange that started yesterday.

I am going to have to really control myself from looking for other envelopes from my blog where people have tried the idea.

Today's regular post is right below.

Shimmer messes to Trish and JeanR - Link to a floral alphabet

Wow. The chaos is so far ahead of me, I have my doubts that it will ever be resolved. So, I'll stop talking about it.

Sometimes I do something simple. I scribble a little and then I turn it into a letter. It's nothing special but sometimes we have to revert to things like scribbling to just get things done.

The idea for this one was really cool, but it needed to be done with something other than markers. After the chunky base letters were not looking that hot - I added the script over the top. While I probably won't do any more of this - I think it has potential.

http://www.antiquepatternlibrary.org/html/warm/B-YS025.htm

Here are some copyright free letters. They did not include an I or a W but you could probably figure those two letters out.

I think these were for embroidery.
There are more than these 3 pages - just click on them and then save to your downloads.

Bonus post - easy script and easy caps

Scroll down to sign up for the June exchange.

Nancy from Canada (not to be confused with all the other Nancys) emailed asking if there were exemplars that went with a couple envelopes on the tab that has samples of wedding envelopes. Both of the styles she asked about were styles that I use when I need something fast and casual. They are blends of all the different fonts that I have copied over the years.

I quickly write her two letters - and included tips on the two styles of writing. She says she is going to use them in her journaling.

I've had other conversations with people about everyday penmanship. These two samples show options if you want to improve your everyday penmanship. The first thing you need to do is SLOW DOWN. Then, as you get the shapes and proportions memorized - you speed up a little bit. If I get going too fast - it gets sloppy.

June Envelope Exchange - Sign-up (to Janet -Kline stamp)

 That top stamp is one of my all time favorites. 

I wonder if Franz Kline will ever get a whole sheet of commemoratives to himself.

I love Diebenkorn equally. So many artists deserve their own full sheets.

Time to sign up for the envelope exchange.

Please send your info in this format, indicating if you wish to exchange handmade cards, if your birthday is in June and/or if you are agreeable to being on 2 lists, if I need to even out the lists.

Jane Doe (CARDS)

123 Oak Street

Ames, Iowa 50010

jane.doe@gmail.com

(birthday)  (2 lists)

Send the info in that order with no extra line spaces to:

jmwilson411 -at- yahoo -dot- com

Sign up is June 1-4

I will send lists out on June 5 (or the 6th at the latest)

Beginners are welcome, no theme, any medium.

See details in the tab - envelope EXCHANGE *rules*

or

email me with questions