Aug from Amy - Stitching words

 

Amy had a clever way of repeating the butterfly. The J is lovely - but to be honest - that split butterfly made me wince. Amy doesn't seem like the type to rip butterflies in half.  Then I realized that it was two butterflies in the position where the wings are folded together and the viewer sees them in profile. Whew. Crisis averted. I'm curious about the large drawing and how it evolved. It's interesting the way the butterfly morphs into a plant or maybe it's the other way around. The plant reminds me of my battle to the death with morning glory weeds. Grrrrrrrr. And then - another weed inside. I guess Amy is one of those open minded people who finds beauty in weeds. I won't hold it against her. Although, I have her address and if I am ever out her her way - I might drive by and check out her yard. 

***

From my bookmarked folder - something for those of you who are interested in stitching and/or straight-jackets.

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2018/04/19th-century-embroidered-straightjacket/

The description raises so many questions, but time does not allow for further research into Agnes. 

August to JeanR and Irene - Cursive

 

Here are two more Chuckerish designs. Or should that be Chuckeresque? I like how Chuck gets credit for the entire Arts and Crafts movement. There's another name used for that style and I can never remember what it is. I'm sure someone will remember and send me an email. 

I like comparing the two variations and can't say that I prefer one over the other. I'm annoyed that I forgot to add the squares to Irene's - but, I like the colors a lot. Maybe I didn't add the squares because the flowers are a bit larger and there really isn't enough space for them. I think Jean's squares should have been a little lighter. I could have lightened them with white colored pencil.

***

I apologize if this is not interesting. It's an article - How the ballpoint pen killed cursive -  from 2015 and I have no idea when I bookmarked it.

I did not re-read it when I found it in my folder of items to share on the blog. This year the Des Moines public schools are going to teach cursive again - which makes me happy. I don't put too much stock in any of the opinions about cursive. It's one of those topics that is deeply personal and there are so many different ways to teach reading and writing that cursive is bound to be controversial. Nuf said.

How the ballpoint pen killed cursive 

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-the-ballpoint-pen-killed-cursive?utm_source=pocket-newtab

August from Leslie - Paper cutter

We are jumping ahead to an envelope that arrived in August because it features some masterful paper cutting. Leslie cut those little circles by hand - she did not have a long arm paper punch. I will repost this one when I do all the envelopes that arrived in August (there's fun stuff inside the envelope) - but, I really love this one and thought it would be fun to post it with the adorable paper cutting add-on. 

Leslie's come up with some really good ideas since I have added my middle name. I'm wondering if anyone else would like to add their middle name to the exchange - just to see what happens.

***

More masterful paper cutting. The little people are just the tip of the iceberg.

LINK to Laura K Sayers

August to Janet - Paula Kovarik

 

This looks like something that Chuck might have done - or maybe I found it on Pinterest. Obviously, I did not have a stamp in mind. I'm writing this on Sept 4th and will start my Sept envelopes tomorrow. I'm going to be vigilant about coordinating the envelope design with the stamp. 

***

From my stash of bookmarked items - this is just one image off the site and I did not re-surf to see what else she has posted. I'm itching to try something like this. Hopefully there are some stamps that want to join forces.

LINK to paula's website

August to Cathy, Christy, Leslie & Mia - yawning

Below is the inspiration envelope that I posted in December of 2014. It is from Alyce. I need to email Alyce and find out how she is doing. If you want to see how much I have deteriorated, you can go to the post via the link I have provided. I used to have all kinds of things to say about design. Maybe I feel like I am being redundant after so many years of saying the same things. It's not like anyone is going to come up with new elements and principles of design. Maybe once in a while - but they are like the tools in your tool box. Clearly I strayed pretty far from Alyce's design. Cathy's seems better with more curve. I'm tempted to do a few more of these and keep them closer to Alyce's.

http://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/2014/12/alyces-exchange-envelope.html

I got a kick out of reading the comments that people left.

Alyce's bold black on the name is better - but I'm not sure it would have been better with longer names.

Leslie's - with a larger name is better - but it might have looked better to pick up the blue in the stamp.

I can live with the *Leslie* because the shapes refer to the shape of the petals. I deeply regret the way I wrote KANE. Pitiful.

Mia's might be my favorite - because it looks nice with the three stamps. I also prefer the paler pink.

It does not need a bolder name because the stamps take up so much space.

It's a steal worthy idea - maybe someone will do one on an exchange envelope to me.

***

I found a second folder with random items I had bookmarked to maybe add to the blog. Here's a short video with yawning (1 minute and 27 seconds) The babies are great - then the older people are less interesting, but the animals at the end are wonderful - and the punchline is cool.

LINK to yawning video

August to Lynne - Naive art

 So-so idea. So-so flowers. Sometimes I can toss off little drawings that look naive. Other times they are just clunky. These are clunky. So clunky, I only did one of these.

From my stash of links - here is someone who had nailed the *naive* style. She even has a ton of patterns for people to buy to copy her style. I wonder if people who buy patterns because they can't draw know that they could do really nice naive art if they just drew their own stuff. I wonder where I could get some non-drawers to try some experimenting. 

While I like this person's style - sometimes it gets too busy for me. Jessie Chorley - 44, lives in London.

https://www.jessiechorley.com

Her work in her studio

Items from her shop

Aug to Mary and Sharen

Two ho-hummers. As I recall, I did all the envelopes before sign up and then filled in names. Maybe that's what's caused all the ho-hummy-ness. Maybe I do better when the names are the feature.

Brace yourselves, there are only 7 posts scheduled - so I need to write 15-20 today and they might be complete duds. Or maybe this is the universe telling me that I should be writing posts that are more current. Does the universe talk to us? What do they call that voice in your head that asks questions?

Too many questions. At least we can switch to the August incoming mail tomorrow.
 

August to Kate and the K challenge

There will be more of these - and hopefully I'll find the inspiration envelope. I'm happy with the colors and the stamp. A non-streaky marker probably would have been better. Warming up so that the lettering did not look so labored would have been a good idea.

I LOVE this page I found on a website that I found in my stash. I LOVE the whole concept. If the website has 26 challenges - one for each letter - I might have to delve into it and see if it would provide some ideas that I would like better. I dug a little and did not find any other letters.

http://www.lettercult.com/archives/2050

It looks like the website has withered away -- but there's a ton of stuff if you want to excavate.

Just one of many:

 

Aug to Patty - Halloween ideas

Meh. Fun to do - but pretty ho-hum. I'm on my second round of envelopes using those stamps and they are beautiful - but, it's challenging to find good ideas when there is only one each of the designs. 

I think I've mentioned that it's time to come up with some Halloween ideas if you want to stay ahead of the curve. Here's a link from that stockpile of links I discovered. It looks like a plethora of ideas for elementary school teachers - with free downloads. Many categories. I clicked on Halloween - so feel free to surf around in other areas.

I think those stamps would be a good match with Halloween motifs.

https://pariscorp.com/product-category/printworks-papers/free-project-downloads/?s=halloween&action=search

 

Aug to Jessica - 2020 USPS thank you

I know I said yesterday that I was not going to do any surfing at the Cowboy Kimono website - but a USPS thank you caught my eye - so I clicked on it. It's a post from Oct 2020 - back in the olden days when we were coping with the pandemic. I say that as if 2024 is a walk in the park. Probably not - but 2020 gave us a little perspective.

Below is one of my ideas for August. I thought I did two of these - but only found one in my folder of photos. I was appropriating an idea and did not have a stamp in mind - it would have been a lot better if I had used something off the stamp instead of those little square designs. I think I added something to indicate birthday wishes. 

***

Rest in peace, Ward Dunham. 

The readers who are calligraphers will probably recognize his name. 

He was a big teddybear of a man - known for his blackletter. 

I met him at a couple conferences many years ago. 

More of his work pops up if you Google his name.

Aug to Grace and Juliana - Cactus Patch Mail Art

This is the first of the envelopes I sent in August. I think there are only about 5 ideas. This one was so much fun to do. I used the new Sharpie markers that are opaque and acrylic but not paint pens. I did not have a stamp in mind and both of these look good with the black edge on the stamp - but both are just crying for some color and I was not sure where to add color - so I just dropped them in the mail. 

I found a folder with a label that says [For PTE] which sounds like places I found during surfing and saved them for later. It will be amusing to see what kind of stuff I find. The first one has a darling envelope. I'm not going to spend any time re-looking at the site. All y'all are on your own to decide whether or not it's of any interest to you.

Cactus Patch Mail Art - from Cowboy Kimono - sounds like some fun cross-pollination of ideas

https://cowboykimono.com/cactus-patch-mail-art/

 

July from Maggie - Angelina from Portland

Maggie's pointed pen work is on point. Is that a pun? There is a cactus envelope coming up that I wish I had added to this post .... but, I'm disorganized.

The add on today is from my stockpile I'll mention tomorrow. I'm still struggling to write my posts in chronological order. It looks like a calligrapher who has not added anything since 2016. There is some nice work - and I appreciate the sentiment of her last post. 

When I started teaching art classes for kids, I noticed that quite a few kids hum or sing while they work. It can be very distracting. My three kids did not hum or sing - but my poor daughter is blessed with two hummers. It's sooooo distracting. Once in a while she just has to ask them to stop. I have not done any research into that background humming that kids do. 

Here's the link to the website - Angelina - who was in Portland OR at some point. Maybe she is still there.

https://jotsfromafar.wordpress.com

 

July from Patty - September Exchange Sign-up

99% sure this is from Patty - as I finish up the July envelopes while on my trip to Chicago. These stamps have generated so many good ideas. I even bought another sheet of them. Patty did a fun card and if I was home, I would tell you about her inspiration for the card. Maybe I'll figure out an update. Somehow, when I return from trips it is like starting over with a clean slate. Or sometimes it's like I ended up in an alternate universe. Chicago is almost seeming more familiar to me. 

Anyhow - we can all experience the wake-up call that we are two thirds of the way through the year and those of us who want to stay on the organized side of life are going to be working on Halloween ideas. 

***

Today through Sept 4th is the window to sign-up. 

If you participated in the August exchange - just shoot me an email that says: SIGN ME UP - 

and you will get your list on Sept 5th. 

Let me know if it is your [Birthday] month or if you are willing to be on [2 Lists].

This streamlined sign-up is only for people who signed up in July - as I will not dig back through old lists to find your information.

If you are an occasional exchanger - or a new exchanger - or took August off - then send the following info in this format:

Jane Doe

123 Oak Street

Ames, IA 50010

janedoe@aol.com

[Birthday]  [2 Lists]

If you are new to the exchange - here is a LINK to tips on how the exchange works

 

July from Susan - The Tiger (book)

Beautifully coordinated colors and Susan's italic done two ways - looser and expressive for me and careful and legible for the USPS. The tiger stamps are so pretty - they should be on my shopping list.

 ...and speaking of tigers, boy do I have a book for anyone looking for a book to read. 

The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant

From Goodreads: Beautifully written and deeply informative, The Tiger circles around three main characters: Vladimir Markov, a poacher killed by the tiger; Yuri Trush, the lead tracker; and the tiger himself. It is an absolutely gripping tale of man and nature that leads inexorably to a final showdown in a clearing deep in the taiga.

To say it is "deeply informative" is an understatement. There is so much about a part of the world, the history and the people that is so interesting. I would recommend keeping a list of the people's names as they appear in the book. I really struggled with the foreign names - and rather than keep a list - I just bumbled through - being somewhat confused. The story is so compelling that I didn't lose that much by not always knowing who was saying or doing what. 

July from Mia - Monopoly

This envelope from Mia seems to be handmade using some interesting paper and maybe ink or paint or both. The colors are very nice with the stamps. 

Our unrelated add-on today is good news for anyone who dislikes the game of Monopoly as much as I do. I understand there is strategy but it's not the kind of strategy that I enjoy. My grandkids like to play and I agreed to play. I noticed that the Monopoly company has added a third die that is supposed to speed up the game. Older grandkid did not want to try it. I pulled rank - and while it took us a while to figure out all the options, I am a huge fan. I still don't like the game - but at least it moves faster. 

I also made two Nanna-rules that enhanced the game on a couple levels. I got rid of the jail. I can't stand the agony (whining) of players who have to deal with jail - so why bother. The other thing that annoys me is how little money players get at the beginning. So we start with twice the recommended amount of money. So much more fun. 

I suppose there are people who are shocked and horrified that I would take all the challenges out of the game. Sorry - Nanna's like to spread joy. And I know the parents would never alter the rules. 

 

July from Leslie -

Leslie sent two envelope in July. The top one has very cool embossing. Leslie has a set of stencils - I'm not sure if you call them stencils - to me - embossing happens with a *plate* - but stencil probably works. 

And the second one is a handmade envelope. She found the perfect image to go with that stamp. 

Below is an insert - with another lovely example of Leslie's ruling writer work.

More artwork from our walk to the park.

 

July from Kate and Sharen - whispering bench

Similar color schemes from Kate (top) and Sharen (below). 

Italics and copperplate -  from real calligraphers.

On our way to the park, I noticed this bench and asked if it was new. Ben assured me that it has always been there - so, I'm confused as to why I never noticed it. If you look over at the other end of the bench, you can see another funnel where I sat and whispered to him. It's very cool. I should have taken a photo of the little nameplate thing. And it probably had a QR code thing too.

When the kids were little we made daily trips to parks. Since Ben is now 8, pushing 9 - he tends to go to the school yard to play baseball and basketball - so we had not been to the *kiddie park* in a couple years.  Ben did some climbing and then decided to run laps around the perimeter - and I timed him. Everyone else at the park was very much a toddler....with either a nanny or grandparents. I am a little verklempt that this was probably my last trip to that particular park. I'm glad I took note of the whispering bench.

 

July from Troy - teapots

I'm still in Chicago, so I can't pull this out and refresh my memory on what Troy wrote. I think it was about weather grams which I've mentioned previously. They are so much fun to make. If you have never heard of them you could do a search on the blog. I also did a quick search online and there are many hits. I really like the abstraction of the letters in my name and how he repeated some basic shapes. The infinity sign on top of the J is fun -- and good old Andy - happy to see those stamps again.

Yesterday I posted the post with the ceramics attachments. Today we have a long video - 40 minutes - with all the very detailed steps to making a ceramic teapot. I've spent enough time in a ceramic studio to have a good idea of how many steps there are to making a pot or a bowl - or maybe even a mug with a handle -- but this video adds sooooo.mannnnnnny.steppppppps. 

The spout, the handle and a lid that fits perfectly. It seemed like $1,000 worth of work to me. So I checked into his website and learned that his work sells out within minutes of posting. As I recall, the teapots are around $350 - but my memory is foggy. Anyhow - he looks like he really enjoys his work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nNexrGxpG8

 

July from Irene - Chicago telephone poles

I'm pretty sure Irene said she took a class in the ruling writer. As I recall, there is info on a note that she inclosed - but, I am in Chicago - and scrambling like mad to catch up. Normally, posts are scheduled at least 4 weeks ahead. So, the next few posts will be a glimpse into real time. I think Irene said she had made several attempts to figure out the ruling pen - and was finally having some success. It's an interesting tool which I have enjoyed, but, I found it difficult to teach people how to use it. 

Chicago has offered the most perfect weather which is appreciated. I've taken a few photos of interesting things in the neighborhood. On a walk to a park, we passed a couple telephone poles that were no longer being used. The tops were cut off and they had these attachments. I can't figure out if they are just decorative or perhaps they are climbing walls for squirrels. 

The attached items seem like they are handmade ceramic items. 

This is a mile north of Wrigley Field and that is the Metra train track above the vine covered wall. There are many industrial buildings in the neighborhood that have been converted into studios and spaces for creative people to offer classes for kids in pretty much anything you can imagine. For the adults, there are craft beer breweries.... it's Chicago <eye-rolling>.

 

July from Grace - Graceful Envelope winners

This one from Grace made me long for a glass of real lemonade. I'll resist the temptation. If I am going to indulge in some sugar, I think a lemon meringue pie or a lemon pound cake sounds like a better choice. 

I forgot to post a link to the winners of the Graceful Envelope. So here you go:

LINK to Graceful Envelope winners
 

I love maps - and this one is a winner for sure - it's 1st place in the adult category. 3rd place is another map and there is a darling map in the kids' category.