Blues and greens from Leslie

Leslie sent this during one of our coldest spells in February. She said the Hello piece was just *filler* to keep the envelope from being floppy. She certainly has some lovely stuff on hand for *filler.*

The frosty look reminds me of the Frozen movie. Elsa would love this.

The *filler* looks like bubbles of tropical water. The shimmery inks or paints are so pretty - and might not show up in the photos.

For the calligraphers who follow this blog - this was posted on CyberScribes, an ancient list-serve that still has a little action.

You'd need a FaceBook account and then you would need to join - but I bet there are a lot of nice things popping up daily.

I don't think you can link to it from this post. I think you have to go to FB ad do a search for Quarantined Calligraphers.

1a.

Post your stuff! From: Sandy Schaadt Date: Thu, 07 May 2020 06:36:52 PDT There is a FB page titled Quarantined Calligraphers  with 1200 + members. It was created about 2 months ago. If you haven't joined, please do. Calligraphers around the world are posting their work. So fun to see what people are doing out there.  Please feel free to post your work to share with us in the Photos section.  And share any events you find, like online classes, tours of museums, tours of factories and how our supplies may be made. If it interests you, it will probably interest us! --   Sandy Schaadt Westerville, Ohio

To Viola from KateR and Maggie

KateR's envelope

I've forgotten if I have posted any of the birthday mail for the 100 year old birthday girl.

With a Feb 22nd birthday - several people stuck with the valentine motif. Balloons are fun. 

Below is Maggie's card and envelope. 

Maggie and Kate both used versals on their envelopes. 

Maggie's collaged card is hand made.

Kate's card

Maggie's envelope

Maggie's card

Happy 10th Anniversary from Janet

This tour de force was tricky to photograph because of the sparkle ink. The blog is always excited when it receives its own mail.

The card is clever to the nth degree. That Janet has an endless supply of cool ideas.

She gave credit to American Greetings for their part. So clever. Thanks for observing the anniversary.

Here is what the card says, in case it is hard to read from the photo:

I love your memories, the inspiration and the envelope dreams for the future, and all the everyday little things -- just exploring, practicing and evaluating, learning, wondering and making new mail art friends! I can't imagine anything more wonderful than what you've created for us! I love you PTEX! Today, tomorrow and always. Happy Anniversary. Here's to many more! Janet & American Greetings

I received so many kinds words from readers and exchangers. It's a group experience. Thanks Janet for adding to the anniversary.

From GraceE + How to Handle Return Addresses

GraceE's happy, mail themed design.

We need to discuss an issue with the post office.

Several of us have had envelopes returned to us - envelopes that have a very clear outgoing address - and also a return address.

Because we like to put the return address on the back - this confuses the scanning machines.

If the scanning machine picks up the return address and applies a barcode based on the return address, the envelope can come right back to the sender - the day after it is mailed.

This has happened to me - and several others.

The most obvious thought when we see our mail returned to us is:

What is wrong with those people? Why can't they see the perfectly clear address on the envelope?

After lengthy discussion with my son, Hunter, who has only been working at the PO since October, I have learned all kinds of things.

Recently, I have learned that there are quite a few really angry people who will start raging at him over a variety of issues.

He patiently listens to them and tries to remedy the situation and let them know that he truly cares.

When he says, "I understand how you feel," the response may be an angry, "NO, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL."

He soldiers on and at the end of one conversation with an extremely irate customer, the lady said, "You deserve a gold star for patience." He was able to hang in there and she eventually realized that one human being is not responsible for the entire system.

Another customer's comment was, "DO YOU EVEN LOOK AT THE MAIL."

As he was relating this particular conversation to me, he chuckled and did a pantomime of himself with his eyes closed, stuffing imaginary mail into boxes - in a wild haphazard manner - to indicate the absurdity of the question.

During the actual conversation, Hunter remained calm and by the end of the conversation, the person did thank him for taking time to discuss things.

Technically, none of the carriers have time to double check each piece of mail that they handle. Some of it is presorted and they do not flip through all of those pieces.

So - no - they do not look at each individual piece of mail. Sometimes they spot mistakes and they do correct things when they see them.

For most carriers, they have 2 to 4 hours of organizing the mail and fitting it into the truck- and then they "go to the streets."

The PO calculates how long it should take to deliver each route and they are all given enough time -theoretically- to get back to the station by the time the truck with outgoing mail is scheduled for pick up.

Most of us are unaware of the picking up of mail that our delivery guys are doing. Making it back in time for the pick-up truck is a big deal.

Often times, they return to the station with the outgoing mail and then they go back to the streets to finish delivering packages. It is rare for him to work an 8 hour day and he usually just eats on the go.

Hunter assures me that if he double-checked each piece of mail, it would take him 8 hours, just to flip though each piece of mail - on a normal day.

As I see it, the biggest problem is that there is no way to anticipate how much mail is going to arrive each day. Each day is a surprise and they have to deal with it. Slow days or light days are rare.

So what do mail artists do - to avoid having the scanner send our mail back to us?

1

Put our return address at the top in the left corner and keep it very small.

That's fine with me if exchangers choose to do that. It is aesthetically un-pleasing, but it is probably the most foolproof - if that's the way you want to go.

2

This has been suggested and usually works - put the return address sideways on the back so that it is not accidentally read.

Writing it in one line at the very top edge of the envelope is also a good way to keep it from being accidentally scanned.

Very weird script that a machine scanner could not figure out would be another option.

3

My latest solution, that was Leslie's innovation, is to forget about the correct return address - and when writing an address on the back, just use the recipient's address as the return address.

This is actually a good idea - especially when we know for sure that the recipient's address is correct.

I don't think there is any law that says you have to put your return address on the mail.

I'm pretty sure you can just trust that it will arrive.

So -- if the address is very clear on the front - you can just leave the back blank.

Recently, if the address on the front is not large and clear, I have been using the back as my *Hey, scanning machine, look at this* side

I put the recipient's address, very large - in the middle - like a regular address.

I also write *the stamp is on the other side* up in the corner.

So, each of us will have to decide how we handle the return address.

Mostly, I do not want to see any of my mail after it goes out.

I have been working to make the addresses very clear.

But -- often times, I lapse into - hard to read designs. 

So -- it's a challenging situation.

I do love the concept of mail art and I do want to send it - but I do not want to add to the stress on workers at the post office.

Putting a piece of mail into the correct mailbox seems like a very easy thing to do  - but the quantity of mail -plus- the need to deliver large quantities, quickly

is complicated.

It is also tempting to rant and rave that they need to improve the system.

Technically, they have made improvements. They do a lot of scanning and recording. They started scanning each envelope in 2013 and by 2017 they were able to offer us the option to see those scans via email.

So, they do adapt. But the whole system is very large and it's like the difference between changing the course of your canoe vs. changing the course of an ocean liner.

Bottom line: The postal system is full of a complete range of people. Some of them are wonderful and others are struggling. Please do not hold the one in front of you responsible for the way the entire system works. I have had more than one conversation  about postal service with a person who originally lived in another country and they say things like this:  I do not know why people in American complain about the post office. If they had to live in (insert name of another country - most often any place south of the USA, and sometimes Asian or island) they would not complain. The service here is very good. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

 

***
Here is a link to an article about how more  people are turning to Mail Art.

Mail Art Article

From KathleenH

From KathleenH

 It is April 1, 2020 - I am lining up a bunch of posts - but not in the mood to write the blurbs. Plus, we are in the thick of the pandemic and every day things change. So, if things settle down, I might be able to replace this with some fun words. Otherwise -- just enjoy the envelope(s) of the day.

This is another one that is so pretty I can't imagine why I did not have words to go with it when I was scheduling posts. Maybe it's because I get so many pretty envelopes and I was never gifted at writing. Also, I'm not a gushy person and gushy-ness usually rubs me the wrong way. It goes against that minimalist thing that is more comfortable to me.

Two things pop out at me. I like the contrast between the delicate lines and the bold chunk of color on the stamps. And then the elegant way she dropped the spot of color into the flowers.

From Kate

KateR

 It is April 1, 2020 - I am lining up a bunch of posts - but not in the mood to write the blurbs. Plus, we are in the thick of the pandemic and every day things change. So, if things settle down, I might be able to replace this with some fun words. Otherwise -- just enjoy the envelope(s) of the day.

May 2 - I have three more to fix -- and I am back into -- I just love this.

I do not want to lapse into personal stories. Except maybe this one relates a little bit. The only reason this blog exists is because of Cheryl Adams. She was teaching calligraphy in the early 90s when I first stumbled into the arena. We had maybe 4 or 5 years of contact where I took classes from her in pretty much every style there is. And when she decided to fold up her studio and home school her 4  kids, I was the one to pick up the teaching and the wedding addressing and other callig-jobs. Our paths really didn't cross much for 20 years.

Then -- right before the pandemic, a mutual friend got the 3 of us together for coffee and we brought stuff for show and tell. I brought my wedding mailings, since I figured Cheryl's daughter might be of marriageable age. And sure enough, about a month later, Cheryl emails and asks to borrow my stack of wedding mailings to show her daughter. I gave them a whole list of tips on wedding stuff. But, I forgot to ask when the wedding was. I assumed it was a 2021 wedding since it is rare for people to marry within 6 months of an engagement.

When I found out that it is an early Aug wedding, my eyes popped out of my head and I had to amend all of my suggestions. The reality of getting invitations printed and mailed for an Aug wedding was not on their radar. So they got a Jean-wake-up-call. And Cheryl thanked me. Here is the part of the story I liked.

All along, I had been talking about the options for lining the envelope. And then Cheryl asks me why exactly the envelope needed to be lined. Now keep in mind, Cheryl was a full blown lettering artist and paper aficionado --- 20 years ago. After her daughter, she had 3 boys -- so you can imagine how atrophied her paper and ink addiction has become.

I do not recall what I said to her about the lining of the envelopes. She laughed and she said her daughter got a kick out of it. And the exact words don't matter -- I'm sure my face said it all. The shock and horror of an unlined envelope.

OK - for those of you who do not  have the addiction - I know this sounds nuts. I'm fine with unlined envelopes. But, that's my story for the day.

From Janet -

Janet

 It is April 1, 2020 - I am lining up a bunch of posts - but not in the mood to write the blurbs. Plus, we are in the thick of the pandemic and every day things change. So, if things settle down, I might be able to replace this with some fun words. Otherwise -- just enjoy the envelope(s) of the day.

May 2 - Here is another opportunity to just gush over how much I like this one. It's probably better to just go off-topic. Yesterday I was going to write about how it was my daughter's 9th wedding anniversary. Gosh, that was a wonderful adventure. Every single thing about the planning and the weekend was exactly what we had envisioned. The only glitch was nothing done by family members or guests. The lady who was supposed to direct the ceremony was not there. She came down with a  serious illness, and they brought in a new person who did not have the benefit of being mentored - she was just thrown into the pool. Yikes.

Nothing that had been rehearsed happened - the girls were sent down the aisle before the boys came out. They just stood there for a while. I was ready to go hunt down the guys. Eventually they came out and stood in a line, as they had been told to do. They were oblivious to the fact that the girls were already standing there. So, the bride and Mr Wilson were thinking it was time to march down the aisle, but instead of the groom - all they saw was the last groomsman. Finally I did one of those whisper-yells to the guys, with hand motions like those guys use at the airport - and the guys moved over so the groom could see his bride walked down the aisle. It was comical - but sooooo appropriate. Every wedding needs at least one glitch. I'm grateful when I'm not the responsible party.

From GraceH

GraceH

 It is April 1, 2020 - I am lining up a bunch of posts - but not in the mood to write the blurbs. Plus, we are in the thick of the pandemic and every day things change. So, if things settle down, I might be able to replace this with some fun words. Otherwise -- just enjoy the envelope(s) of the day.

Dang - that was some kind of slump I was in. I can't imagine not coming up with words for this one. I love it. I guess it left me speechless. I frequently doodle stars and these are wonderful. Maybe I hesitated to write because I knew it would be just a whole bunch of gushing, which isn't the most interesting reading. But, I am not a writer. I admire writers. I even read Stephen King's book, On Writing. Most of what he said was appropriate to all kinds of artistic/creative output.

From Smash and Marie

I had some confusion sending the lists yesterday.

Some were sent early and others quite late in the day.

You might have gotten two emails.

If you did not get your list, let me know.

Sue Mashman - lovely little printing on navy - above - and gorgeous letterspacing.

 It is April 1, 2020 - I am lining up a bunch of posts - but not in the mood to write the blurbs. Plus, we are in the thick of the pandemic and every day things change. So, if things settle down, I might be able to replace this with some fun words. Otherwise -- just enjoy the envelope(s) of the day.

On May 5th - I am deleting drivel from early May and giving the Sam-fans a link to see some more envelopes. Right after she joined my exchange, she joined the International Union of Mail Artist (IUOMA). It's a fun group and she enjoyed exchanging with them. I was thinking that someone needed to post the news about Sam to IUOMA - and Finnbadger had the same idea. Thank you, Finn, for reaching out to our colleagues. There are some really fun envelopes that people have posted. 

Sam-IUOMA

I like the one comment where someone thinks Sam's penmanship looks like printing. Sam and I had several discussions about penmanship. For anyone who loves perfect printing - it is just like everything else in life. You might be gifted or you might have to SLOW DOWN and work on it. Get some graph paper. Google *architectural writing* - there are so many gorgeous styles of printing. And use guidelines. There is something magical about having two lines to contain most of your strokes. A few will want to pop out just a bit.

Below is Marie's - it's a perfect example of how you can play around with the letters. Maybe she had an exemplar - or maybe she was just experimenting. That style of S is one of my favorite ways to manage the S-problem. The S does not really fit in with any of the other letters. It's not round or square or diagonal. It's all three at the same time. I love that lower case a.

From Leslie - 2020

 Leslie

 It is April 1, 2020 - I am lining up a bunch of posts - but not in the mood to write the blurbs. Plus, we are in the thick of the pandemic and every day things change. So, if things settle down, I might be able to replace this with some fun words. Otherwise -- just enjoy the envelope(s) of the day.

Now it is May 2 and I am trying to figure out all the changes to Blogger, our host. They changed the way I go in and edit things. Not bad changes, just requiring some figuring out. We should be grateful to Blogger (a division of Google) that they offer all of this for free. Ten years of me jabbering and making friends. It is a.m.a.z.i.n.g.  So many people send personal notes about how they enjoy the blog or the exchange or both. It is a wonderful thing to have this connection.

From Lauren (Rat) - Sam's words 1

Lauren's envelope. I love it.

 It is April 1, 2020 - I am lining up a bunch of posts - but not in the mood to write the blurbs. Plus, we are in the thick of the pandemic and every day things change. So, if things settle down, I might be able to replace this with some fun words. Otherwise -- just enjoy the envelope(s) of the day.

There was a different update on the 24th of Apr - but it was just jabbering.

May 3, 2020
Several people shared very kind words about Sam yesterday. If you read the post early in the day and missed the comments that were posted later in the day, you can go back and read Sam's own personal account of her situation. Sam found the blog and exchange about a year ago. I think her first exchange was May of 2019. We did a fair amount of emailing in between times and I have a number of emails from Sam that offer insights into coping. I am sure that Sam would be fine with me sharing her thoughts. She was so generous in sharing pictures of her non-PTEX mail to help me fill the daily posts.

Here is a Dec 26, 2019 email from Sam - the bold type is my own highlighting:

again i swear I'm not bragging here..but i just added up my end of the year total mail art sent from the last 6 months which is when i joined both PTEX (1st) & then IOUMA a month later:

wait 4 it.......

264 pcs sent! holy crap. I'm a bit blown away, actually. 

i did mean it when i said mail art is my life. i pushed myself & times,which i paid 4, but i must create as long as i can. its just in me 2 do so. this has by far been the most creatively prolific time in my life & it's ephemeral art , which in really not in my wheelhouse-- functional 3D design was always my thing. 

if i weren't in the health sitch [situation] I'm in, i would have never been doing this-- its crazy i have a huge box filled with mail art...that's  more paper stuff than i ever had saved/accumulated of important things & keepsake from my last 46 yrs of my life (not including photos).   & so there it is.

****
I spelled out situation - because sometimes I had to work at grasping her abbreviations.
I'll add more of her comments to her envelopes as they pop up.
To me, this is a little gift - left for us. Somebody who clearly had a tough situation - who will inspire us to forge ahead even though we are hunkered down.
Forging whilst hunkering.
That's our current dilemma in a nutshell.
It's like dieting whilst feasting.
Or swimming whilst skateboarding.
Coming together whilst staying apart.

I will not be updating all the posts. Some days will be the usual drivel. But, there will be some wonderful nuggets from Samantha that pop up from time to time. They will last all the way to December because there are some gorgeous holiday envelopes already scheduled for December.

Clearly a Celebration from Sam (the original title)

This was my birthday greeting from Sam in early April - it was so much fun, I am including a video.

I posted another envelope from Sam on April 29th and asked her a question - and when I did not hear from her, I thought, "That's strange." She always signs up for the exchange the day before I post the sign- up. But, I did not hear from her on Thursday or Friday. You know where this is going.

Yesterday, after asking one of the exchangers if she had heard from Sam, we learned that Sam died on April 20th. Here is the link to her obituary. I'm sure her family would appreciate mail. Many of you have her address from the exchange lists. She had been living with her dad.

There are several envelopes by Sam that will be popping up in the coming months and there is more to say about Sam.

We will miss her.

Sam's obituary

This envelope was scheduled to pop up later this month. I rescheduled it for today - but left the original title - because it reminded me of a celebration of life.

From Finn - Jan PTEX

The year of the rat. It is March 11 as I write this -- and I have been going back to posts that have the photos and a note -- NEEDS WORDS -- I just finished up Nov and Dec posts and have worked back to May. Later this year, there will be a bunch of posts with me mentioning March 11th.

This is useless information. I receive lots of cute fun mail - and I run out of ways to say how much I like my mail. Maybe, I'll come back later and have something more creative to say.

Maybe Finn will tell me what kind of bag this is from. I'm curious.

May Exchange Sign-up

It's time to sign up for the May exchange.
Please send your information (following the format) to me by May 4th and lists will be sent on the 5th or 6th.

Send to
jmwilson411-at-yahoo-dot-com

(CARDS) means you will exchange hand made cards.
Bday means your birthday is in May.
2 lists - means you are willing to be on two lists if I need to make the lists come out even.

Jane Doe (CARDS)
123 Oak Street
Ames, Iowa 50312 USA
jane.doe@gmail.com
Bday / 2 lists

New people are welcome to join. Beginners are welcome. Email me with questions. Details may be found at the tab labeled  -- exchange *rules*

The envelope pictured was something I did in February and I had so much fun, I did more in March.
I was concerned that it was too hard to read, so I put the actual address on the back - and a note to the PO that I had a stamp on the other side. The address on the back was very clear - so hopefully the envelope went through and was read by the scanners. I forgot to ask Sam if there was any bar coding or cancels on either side.

Leapin' Lizards from Lauren

OK. It's a frog. But, I like the leapin' lizards expression. Leapin' people on the stamps.

The card is so cute  and the frog actually leaps - see the video at the end.

Lauren regularly knocks our socks off with her clever ideas.

She included important leap year information on the inside of the frog and also acknowledged that it might be over my head. Yes, it is. But the BHB will probably enjoy reading it. Not that he doesn't already know all of it -- but he likes to read the fine print.

Yes -- he reads all that info that comes with prescriptions that is 2 pt type. If he flew, he would have been that person who saw the line of copy that said you would win a prize if you read the fine print and responded.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/woman-reads-fine-print-on-insurance-policy-wins-10000-in-hidden-contest/

Bonus Post - Thank you, Mailman

This is a nice tie-in with Sam's envelope that is in the daily post, right below.

Sam and I both like all things postal and we both like kid-art. So, this is double fun. My son, the postman received it on his route a few days ago. 

I'm very curious to know why the top line is in u&lc and the bottom line is caps.

Stealworthy from Sam

Yup. I'm totally doing this.

There are two ideas - both involve collage. I might do something different because I'm not drawn to collage.

On the top one, I like how she knows which route the address is on. I might need to ask my little postman how a person could find out their route number. Or maybe Sam can tell us.

The second one - with the note about using up the vintage stamps would be perfect for me as I near the end of my stack.

Once again - big thank you to Sam for sharing her non-PTE mail art.

HB to Curious George from CaroleV

Remember the fun pop up card video I posted on Feb 6? This is what it looked like folded up with a belly band. I love Curious George decorating his cake. It is exactly what it would look like if Mr W tried to ice a cake. I am so tempted to have him give it a try and record his attempt. Hunter, our son, was telling me about how there are *gamers* who charge $5 per month to people who want to watch them play video games. Hunter was thinking we needed to come up with something along those lines as there is one guy who has 35,000 subscribers. That's $175,000 per month. Surely watching me coach Mr Wilson as he attempts to make stuff would be as entertaining as some guy playing a video game.

Sadly, I suspect there are thousands, if not millions of people who are already trying to get attention on the internet. I wisely told Hunter that we are not that kind of people. We will stick with our own level of media attention seeking: spend 3 minutes reading the blog and then go make stuff on your own.

Here's the envelope. Thanks CaroleV -- Curious George is a perfect theme for Mr Wilson - he is curious in both the verby way as well as the adjectival way, if you get my drift.

HB to Mr W from Leslie

This second one came from Leslie. She must have decided to do a second one since she wasn't that thrilled with the first one. This is very pretty, too. Ruling writers are so much fun and I think it's hard to mess up - once you are proficient. Her small writing is very nice. I'm a huge fan of upright italics.

***

Real time P.S.

All of these Mr. Wilson posts were written before the pandemic. It's been a few days since I inserted anything current. I am somewhat overwhelmed by everything that is on the internet. There is the news. Then there are the creative things that people are doing. Serious stuff, silly stuff, deeply depressing stuff. There is nothing profound to add.

A possible bright spot - that I might be able to complete--- 

I finally thought of a famous painting that I can recreate.

I have all my props figured out and just need to find the energy to set it up and shoot it.

By announcing it here - I am thinking that will nudge me into actually doing it.

I tried doing a few envelopes and they were pukeworthy.

New word for the blog.

I've always loved dots -- and now they just look like viruses - so I'm really stumped.

HB to Mr W from CathyO and Alex

George commented that he liked this lettering. I really like how Cathy found the perfect shade of pinkish-orangish-peachish to go with the stamp. I had forgotten that Geo was a rat guy. Or maybe he isn't. No, he is a rabbit. I am a dragon. Doesn't sound like a very good combo. I shall refrain from further research. Nearly 41 years into it is probably not the time to start pondering whether or not it was a good idea.

And here is the pretty card from Cathy, followed by adorable writing by the granddaughter, Alex. The second panel must have been to the two of us. I think it says:

you to r the best - meaning - you two are the best.

I grouped these two because the colors look nice together.

HB to Mr W from Gina

This is from Gina. I first heard from Gina back during the total eclipse era. And she finally decided it was time to give the exchange a try. I'm so glad she did. She even signed up for a second month.

Fond memories of those triangle stamps from a while ago. This was a really nice way to arrange them and she did a good job of combining geometric with organic. I don't think I would have thought of this.

The PO did a good job on the cancel - and on not adding any more. Thank you PO.

HB to Mr W from Leslie

Leslie included a note that this one had not turned out as she had hoped. George and I thought it was lovely. But, we don't know what she had in mind. I have really enjoyed all the different ideas Leslie has had with the Have a Ball stamps. They're fun - and might be available through the mail.

usps.com

HB to Mr W from JeanR

I love JeanR's tall skinny lettering. It is on my list of ideas to steal. The wavy lined postmark looks nice. There is a bar code under the card. In this case it did not add to the design.

Design lesson: It is nice to pick up shapes and repeat them. Repeating the portrait rectangle of the stamp for the address is an excellent idea. And just because you have a multitude of bright colors on the stamp, do not feel obligated to use them on the address. I doubt I have done any all black addressed with this stamp, but I will do so in the future. Another stealworthy idea.

HB MrW from Lauren

As you may recall, Lauren sent the beloved Cheerio card as well as the blueberry card. And there is at least one other Mr Wilson card and envelope. I should go back and tag them so they may be viewed as a series.

The funny story that goes with this one is that when Mr Wilson pulled the card out of the envelope, he was looking at the back. He was admiring it and commenting on how cool it was, when I said, "That's the back." There was probably a tinge of *you moron* in my tone of voice. He replied, "But, it is cool." Obviously, when he turned it over and saw the front, he was wowed.

Versal and little house to Nicole

Debacle might be the right word to describe this one. I wanted to do a letter in a style similar to Benoit Furet. I featured him a few weeks ago. I though the placement of the N was nice. I spent a ridiculous amount of time on the letter. Then I turned the envelope over and saw that it was upside down. That shouldn't matter - but that irrational side of me got all irrational and put the envelope in a stack.

It should have gone out in January - and I did not get it mailed until Feb 4. And Nicole was a new exchanger. Plum pitiful of me to be so slow in sending mail to a new person. It finally dawned on me that there was no way I was going to come up with a solution - so I should just do an outer envelope and use this as the insert.

Note to self: if you decide to do any more of these versals - figure out a stamp and layout first.

Then, I had the issue of that last lonely wreath stamp. I did not want to use it. But, it was the only international stamp left and it was going to annoy me if it hung around until next year - so I found a cute idea on Pinterest. The house had a little row of hearts coming out of the chimney. I left those off. It's OK - but I would only give my version a C+.

Does anyone want to discuss the use of the word plum in - plum pitiful? I found very little when I went looking to see whether it was plum or plumb. Neither of them seemed more likely than the other. Bonus points if you can recall which TV sit-com character used to say, "Pitiful. Plum pitiful."

Or was it, "Pitiful. Plumb pitiful."