Powers holiday envelopes

It's interesting to observe my daughter (a first born, strong-wiled person) as she raises her own first born, strong-willed daughter. For a couple years, I coordinated and produced holiday cards for the family. Then, with covid, etc, we didn't get any sent. This year, 11 year old Alex made it her mission to pester her mom to have a holiday card. They weren't sure that Nanna was up for addressing, but I assured them that if they planned. ahead so that I had a month to address them, it would be fine. 

They did not consult with me on the color of the envelope - and we all wished that we could have purchased full sheets of the owls and bunnies - which were also on a black background. We ended up using a lot of the snowflakes because. 3 of the colors looked nice on the green. 

I have 20 teal snowflakes leftover and they will probably show up on my January exchange envelopes. The lower one is that style that *Anonymous* found on an ancient post and asked for numbers. I posted them on Dec 17 - and did a pencil version of exchanger's names. 

I rather like the two weights on Tome's envelope - but it seems like both names having 4 letters is part of why I like it..... hopefully I have fun (and a bit of success) if I actually try that style on the Jan envelopes.

 

The Add&Pass Project - JeanW's envelope

 Brace yourself - this is long - but, I have no idea how to shorten it. If you are wildly excited about the project - please do not send me an email asking to participate in the next one. I have not decided where this whole *thing* is headed.

On Sept 24th, our blog post included an invitation to participate in an Add&Pass project. I do not recall why I even made the offer - it must have come out of some email conversation with someone. I have never participated in one. All I knew was that it was some kind of *thing* that people did. It had some kind of *art* that someone would start and then send to the next person, who would ADD to it and then PASS it along to the next person on the list. I think the finished piece would end up back with the person who started it. So, if 6 people each started something, they would all end up with something that had been added to, by the other 5 people on the list. 

I just Googled - Add and pass art - and this was the first hit - I might do a little more searching - if I ever run out of things to do. A link - for the curious who have a lot of spare time. https://mailartbyjayne.weebly.com/blog/add-pass-creations

Having done my version of an envelope-based-Add&Pass -- I'm guessing it has never been done with envelopes. I think it is usually a piece of art that is mailed from one person to the next. 

I think *we* have invented something that was wildly complicated - and yet the results were quite nice.

Five people responded that they were interested, so I put the 6 of us in alphabetical order: Amy, JeanR, JeanW, Juliana, Mary and Susan. I created a list of instructions and emailed the list and instruction to the other five people.

My first mistake.....I did not ask for confirmation that the list and instructions arrived. One person did not get the first email, so that took a while to figure out. Then JeanR and I realized that she would be relocating to her winter address so we needed to insure that we let Amy know when to start passing envelopes to Texas instead of Iowa.

To further complicate things - I got JeanR's envelope first and I put her W Des Moines address on it - and then promptly forgot that - and didn't think to tell Amy to mail it in an outer envelope when she returned it to JeanR - so it got sent to W Des Moines and JeanR is in Texas - so - we're waiting to see if it ever shows up. Her station appears to be very behind in forwarding mail.

When the envelope starts its journey - it needs to be enclosed in an outer envelope and when the 6th person receives it - and adds something....then they drop it in the mail. I also suggested that we put a piece of note paper inside the envelope so that each person who was adding something could leave a comment.

My original idea was that the last person would send the finished *art* in an outer envelope - but some of the exchangers wanted their envelope to have the patina of an actual piece of mail with a postmark. When I had Juliana's in hand, ready to return it to her - I put a very clear address on the back with another stamp - because the address on the front was black lettering on red - which I already know is not scanner friendly - and wanted to make sure it made it back to Juliana. The design was wonderful - but - I just didn't want to take any chances. I took it to the post office and had a pretty hand cancel on the front. I hoped that the machine would just scan the back and put the bar code, etc on the back - and leave the front alone. I'll ask Juliana for a photo - so we can see how it looked when it arrived at her house.

There was no instruction about what to contribute to the envelope. The person who started the envelope could put the stamp on the envelope that they started or they could just send it along and let the next person decide where to place the stamp. 

There was no deadline for adding to the envelope. I figured I would just do my ADDing - on the day it arrived and PASS it along the next day. And then I fell into the trap of pondering. Sometimes it took me over a week to figure out what I wanted to do. 

I sent the list on Sept 30th --- and it's Dec 31st as I write this and I have not heard from JeanR if she has gotten her envelope back -- so -- it was interesting to see that it took us 3 months to circulate the envelopes. I think 5 of us got our envelopes back in December.

Because we had some confusion in the beginning, I started to feel like this was too complicated and not that much fun and I doubted I would ever want to do it again. But... when the end results arrived - I started to feel like it might be worthwhile to do it again. I'll have to ponder and hear from those who participated on how we could improve the procedure.

I know that having anything like this going on in December is not a good idea. And I'm not sure we need 6 people - 5 people might be enough. But - that's hard to tell - on one of them - the last person did a great job of pulling things together.

Here is the envelope that I started with the Underground Railroad stamp. 

SIDE NOTE: Get a load of that cancel. I have never seen anything so bold. I wonder if that is a new machine. If it is --- I am very curious about what kinds of new cancels we might be seeing. It's SO BOLD. It's beyond perfect for this envelope. Can you imagine how silly it would have been to have the happy little snowman that was all over most of the December mail. 

Here is what each person wrote on the note that was inside the envelope as it was passed along:

I wrote:
I went with an A6 envelope so that it will fit in an A7. Happy Adding and Passing

Juliana (who added the name and address) wrote:

I think the hardest part of this is not being able to finish the envelope. There were so many ideas and I only got to choose one! I’m excited to see how these develop.

Mary wrote: Howdy! Juliana is right, it’s difficult to know where or when to stop. I added the lantern as a symbol of hope and light for the Underground Railroad. I’m looking forward to the next one. (JeanW says: Mary's use of a bold marker was an excellent choice to go with a bold stamp and the bold name and address. Juliana had such a clever way to compliment the lettering on the stamp)

Susan wrote:
When the envelope arrived, I thought it was finished, plain, simple and elegant - with much regret I added the flame, colored the candle and lined the envelope. I hope I haven’t ruined it. 

Susan added apologies for dropping the Add&Pass envelope into her pallet and leaving a little blob on the back side. (JeanW says: I had not even thought about lining the envelopes - good idea)

Amy wrote that she tried to make the amber glow inside the lantern.

And finally, JeanR wrote: It’s a beautiful envelope. I made the accidental red blob into a ladybug. 

JeanW's final comment: Amy and JeanR made minor additions which was a good call - and illustrates how we might not need 6 people - but - it's hard to tell how any project will go. As I have already noted - some envelopes were pulled together at the end. 

I'm guessing that if we all did more of this kind of collaborative project we might generate some good ideas on what works best. 

Here is the liner and JeanR's lady bug. I suggested we all put a very clear address on the back of each envelope in case the final design was hard to read. That's another whole issue to consider..... That looks like my writing - so I must have done that.

I was happy that there was a *blop* to fix. Part of a project like this is to embrace the idea that we might have some regrets. I know we will get to one where JeanR had done some testing of inks and then when she got to the actual envelope - it bamboozled her. She was not pleased - but - I thought it turned out just fine. 

Maybe we should do a Make-a-Mess-Add&Pass - where certain people are assigned griffonage or scribbling. We could mask off an area for the address. Or maybe put the address on a mailing label - that the last person puts on the envelope.

Sadly - I am lapsing into that zone of ideas (too many ideas) that prevents me from doing the stuff that is urgent....

And here is the pretty liner that was added by Susan.

Nov from Nanski (not Mary) - Cursive opportunity

11 am - today - I had an email from Mary - letting me know that this is not from her -- and I see that the postmark is Boston - do it must be from Nanski?? Sorry about that.

Mary specializes in cute drawings....although tomorrow there will be a drawing from her that's very nice - but not necessarily in the *cute* family. I like the way she used the turkey and those two strips of *foot prints* form the card - on the envelope. This how to start, if you are interested in decorated envelopes. 

At some point - probably in February - we will see an envelope from Liz. She is a new exchanger who  found the exchange through Feedly and signed up for the January exchange. I have no idea what Feedly is and no time to do research. So many people have found me through Pinterest. I was excited to have a new exchanger named Liz. It's a bold graphic set of letters. It's also a common nickname for Elizabeth - so if I confirm that she is an official Elizabeth and not allergic to seeing that name spelled out, I will be able to send her the extra Elizabeth mail that is in my stash of stuff from the olden days.

I always thought that Elizabeth and Christopher were the two best names for calligraphic treatment. But, I'm fond of nearly every name. I try to make friends with the names that challenge me.

***

This is very interesting - The National Archive is looking for people who can read cursive and transcribe old documents. You just pick a document and transcribe. You don't even have to apply and be accepted. You just sign up and start transcribing. If anyone does this, I hope they file a report with me so that I can post it to the blog. 

This links to the whole article.

https://www.aol.com/read-cursive-superpower-national-archives-100612982.html

This is a link to the National archive - with all the details and how to get started.

https://www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist/missions/revolutionary-war-pension-files

Here's an example of part of a document - I like how they carefully crossed out the mistake with a bold wavy line.

 

Nov from Meg in Australia

Real time add on - a couple days ago, I said that the Nov envelope had not arrived - I was wrong. It's right here. My new plan is to refrain from back-tracking and correcting mis-information. Unless it is consequential.

***

Meg was a newcomer to the exchange in November. When she received my envelope she emailed - and said something about her penmanship not being calligraphy. I assured her that my exchange is open to people who are not calligraphers. Then, when her envelope arrived - I emailed again - assuring her that her envelope is wonderful - and nobody would be disappointed with her penmanship. Time spent on a drawing is equivalent to fancy penmanship.

Meg included a bookmark and a nice notecard - which was designed by her - which is lovely. It's nice to have enclosures - but some people (including me) don't always have time to put anything inside. So it's fine to send an empty envelope. It has been working for nearly 15 years to have as few *rules* as possible.

The one place I have been inserting suggestions is about the legibility of the address. I do think it's better to make the address scanner friendly. If you make it hard to read - it will still probably make it to its destination but it may take longer. 

And finally - there is the matter of red, black or very dark envelopes. Some of them are taking a long time to arrive. The postal system is complicated - but they probably appreciate our business....and no, I have not scheduled a visit to the main PO to discuss all these matters with someone who might be able to shed some light on them...yet.

 

Nov from Mia - Holiday Joy stamps

This is a small envelope from Mia in Canada. The photograph does. not do it justice. Those stamps are gorgeous and she found the right colors to go with the stamp. Her enclosed note had a *grrrr* at the dot on the i, but it does not bother me at all. 

The note was written on the back of this.

Shout out to the Canadian pen pals - I hope your postal workers are catching up after the strike. 

***

Nobody needs to hear me having a holiday rant during the holidays. The middle of January is a perfect time to reflect on how *the season* went. It started out fine. I only have one envelope addressing client left and I wasn't worried about getting her holiday envelopes done because I wasn't going anywhere. Then my plans changed and I was going to be gone Dec 23-29. So I let her know that we had a worrisome deadline. I said I'd pick up the stamps. And then I kept forgetting. 

She brought her envelopes early on Thursday the 19th. I started addressing, assuming that I could get the Holiday Joy stamps so I was addressing in red/dark green/gold. When I headed out to the PO to get the stamps - there was a sign on the door that they were out of holiday stamps at that station. I was in no mood to drive all over town looking for them, so I called my son at his station and luckily his station had what I needed. Crisis averted. But the anxiety that I experienced, knowing I had about 30 envelopes in gold/red/green - and if I couldn't get those stamps - I was going to be up-the-proverbial-creek.

But there was another crisis going on at the same time - the gold Sharpie marker crisis that I have Every.Dang.Year. It's not worth going into the details. I told the client that next year we are going to order the envelopes in November....and she agreed that we didn't need this yearly stress....not that she even knew all the details about what I had done to myself.....grrrr

 

Nov from Irene

 Irene's November envelope is stunning. Beautiful colors. It looks like she did the leaf shapes first - with one of the metallic watercolors - let them dry - did veins over the top with white gel pen and then zig zag edges with a gold metallic gel pen. 

In case anyone is paying attention, the November envelopes started out in alphabetical order and then that plan went sideways. The good news is, it looks like I am going to load every single November envelope that arrived in one afternoon - so I won't get mixed up. I think there is one missing. from Canada, but they had a postal workers strike - and I think I'm missing one from Australia - so those might be lost to the ages - even if they make it to my house. [Real time update - Australian envelope arrived and was agreeable to being lumped in with the Dec envelopes]

I'll finish up the incoming for Nov and then we'll probably do the Dec incoming envelopes since I already posted the outgoing Dec envelopes.

Irene's enclosure is something done with her new Procreate after only one lesson. 

***

Second real time update:

Some *lost* October envelopes will appear prior to Dec's envelopes.

Then there is the Dec mail that is not part of the exchange --- I'm not sure when to include those. Shout out to JanetW -- I was wildly excited to hear a couple things you wrote. I've always wondered if anyone who actually knows me reads the blog. 

***

Third real-real time update - it's Sunday morning and this blog post was not here at 5:30 am - I forgot to click 1:00 am - embrace the chaos.

 

Nov from Rachael -- Griffonage

This envelope from Rachael came with a very clear warning about trying that style of writing. Her accompanying message included:

... carpal tunnel and crossed eyes..... and even madness.

Nuf said --- I will not be doing anything even remotely like this....

and this one will go in the special folder of envelopes that come with warnings.

Her envelope was lined with some very cool paper - both sides --- not original work - from something *artsy*

 ***

Today's add-on in on-topic and came to us from my BigHelpfulBrother. I might find the time to retype this - or I might not. It is from this website LINK to RobWords.com 

VOCABULARY EXPANDER Impress your pals with a new word. GRIFFONAGE gri-FON-aaj MEANING: Terrible handwriting You're lucky this is a typed newsletter, otherwise it would be incomprehensible. You would have little hope of deciphering my griffonage. This word was borrowed from French in the 1800s to haughtily decry poor penmanship.

QUOTE

"There was a heap of little crumpled bills which, with Felicie's griffonage, Helen had thrown into her table-drawer."

Maria Edgeworth, Helen (1834)

The French verb griffoner means "to scribble". However, une griffe is a claw or talon, so the verb evokes the idea of clawing at the page with little dexterity.

Next time you want to politely draw attention to someone's dodgy handwriting, you could perhaps try complimenting them on their idiosyncratic griffonage. 

***

Jean's 2-cents. I'm guessing that graffiti came from griffon, too.

Nov from Susan - kitchen report

 

Susan's little watercolor turkeys are adorable. I love the white space. Perfect stamp. Scanner friendly address. Very nice. It goes perfectly with my add-on - which was written a couple weeks ago.

***

I had to come up with a new term to use in the kitchen a while back. Pie-rage. It's like Road-rage - except it's when no matter how organized I am in the kitchen, I manage to leave one ingredient out - and only discover it 30 seconds after the pie is in the oven. I usually pull it out and salvage things.

On the pie for the Thanksgiving dinner, there were nuts sprinkled on half, so that my son could have the other half. His favorite pie is Toll House pie. Basically a chocolate chip cookie in a crust - but no nuts. I forgot the butter - so it was going to be a Toll House hockey puck. I managed to scrape the nuts off - stir in the butter and reassemble things - and it turned out ok. 

The best part was that I am so consistent in the making of mistakes that I no longer go into full blown pie-rage. I just shrug it off. I guess that's progress. My BigHelpfulBrother suggested a check list - but he didn't explain how to remember to refer to the checklist. It was sitting right next to the butter. I suppose I could tape it to the edge of the oven door so that I see it before I put the pie in the oven. 

I'm happy to report that this is a photo off the internet and not one of my own.

Nov from Patty - jeweled sculpture

 

Here's a fun turkey from Patty. I forgot to open Patty's envelope until *now* which is Dec 13 - the day I photographed all the Nov envelopes. She had been on a trip to Slovenia and described a couple fun stops at the local post office. I don't travel much, but if I did, I'd be sure to hit the post offices. The only one I can remember going to was the one in Hawaii - and it was closed in the middle of the day. Apparently, in Hawaii, when the surf's up - they just go surf. Maybe that's a tall tale. But it was definitely closed - in the middle of a normal week day. 

***

It's wonderful to open my emails and find links from readers/exchangers who have a very good feel for the  things I enjoy. Here is a fabulous look at someone who provides those more expensive art materials to some of his little buddies who are fulfilling their dreams. It's more than dreams. The urge to make something is deeper than dreaming.

Today, the coffee is telling me that an appropriate balance in life - is to provide for the need for food/clothing/shelter - and if there is time leftover, you can engage in something creative. For some people, that might be a trip to the gym, or a tavern, or the library, or a walk in the woods/desert/seashore -- for a lot of us, it's postage stamps and markers.

Here's a guy who's found his tribe. The image might not appeal to you - but trust me - when you see the full story, you'll be impressed (or you might not).  If you have time, the 5 minute video in the link - of him discussing his work -  is very good. He does other work (large scale) besides this.

LINK to artist Herbert Depart

***

Here's a sweet video that's gone viral - but if you haven't seem it and you adore letter carriers - you'll like this one about a girl and her *mailman* - have a hanky on hand if you are a crier.

https://www.tiktok.com/@sauceaccount06/video/7453211897098439982

Nov from Lynne - prodip0000

 

The photo does not pick up the detail of whatever Lynne used for the leaves - it's so pretty.  Nice layout - scanner friendly address. I'm going to be sad if it's too late to buy those stamps. There are several on the Nov envelopes that arrived - and they are so pretty.

***

I still allow myself a little surf time. This guy doesn't have any personal info. One non-English post was in Hindi.

This might not appeal to the people who have studied traditional calligraphy. I'm drawn to it because it's something I've never seen before. It's super quirky - but charming. You can see how his style has evolved over the past 4 years - if you click on his YouTube channel. 

I'm impressed with how exacting he is at making all the x-height letters very even, without a guideline. It looks like his style is something he figured out by seeing other writing that appealed to him. The video has been sped up - so it's hard to tell what speed he's going as he writes.

That's a screen shot. You'll have to click the link to see it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCYg0Xvvj1G/

This is a link to the main page.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DChECaXoGU9/

October from Patty

Slightly out of order. For those of you who wondered where the rest of the October envelopes were - I found them - they will appear in February. My continued efforts to keep track of things are continuing.

Patty was inspired by mandalas. She came up with a good solution for that chunked out part - which is the little row of dots and a heart. It's nice how the mandala references the ferris wheel. I also like the way the N and A curve around in a very unusual way to connect with the next letter  - did you find that style of lettering or make them up, Patty?

Below is a card she inserted. I covered up the note and then figured out how to write over the top since the blank space might have been confusing.

The way she cropped out her watercolor maple leaf is a good idea for what to do with those practice pieces that turned out nice enough to use for something. Or maybe she made a bunch of watercolors to use for cards. Either way, I'm always inspired by the people who take time to make a nice insert and add a personal note. I'm a little sad that I don't take the time to do that - but then I remind myself - there is *take time* and also *have time* - and I'd definitely have the time - if I didn't take the time to write these blog posts --- and if we did not have the blog - I probably wouldn't be corresponding with so many people. Plus - the *so many people* seem to enjoy having the exchanges to fill the right amount of time that needs filling with a dollop of creativity. 

 

Nov from Kate - my people.

 

Kate has a nice sampling of American heritage stamps across the top. Her last name sounds Irish. I wonder if she has any good Irish heritage stories for us. As I recall, that's how I got off on this series of add-ons - with my mom not appreciating that the Irish day of celebration is a bigger* celebration than any of the other heritage celebration days. Which reminds me - John Hancock's birthday is coming up. That's the day I always forget to celebrate - but in some ways --- every day is penmanship day.

*By bigger, I mean that Hallmark issues greeting cards. Maybe there are other heritage celebration days that get their own Hallmark cards - but, I do not recall seeing any. Maybe Cinco de Mayo?

***

The third and final story about Mediterraneans. One of the other moms in the neighborhood who had kids and activities that overlapped with mine was raised by a single mom. She never knew her dad until she reconnected with some cousins around the time we were in our mom-years (40s). I always enjoyed her, but noticed that she was way more animated than a lot of my friends. I didn't think about her heritage, I just chalked it up to having teenagers and a challenging career - working with teenagers.

Then, she went to a gathering with all the relatives that she had never met. She was positively glowing when she got home. The relatives were Mediterraneans. "I found my people!" she exclaimed. They were just like her. She was so comforted to know why she was so animated compared to all the generic midwesterners in our neighborhood. 

Nov from Juliana - ok, let's take it outside

 

It looks like Juliana treated herself to some brush markers. This is a delightful design. Whatever set of markers she bought - it certainly has enough for a beautiful range of colors. Yummy.

***

Here's another Mediterranean story. When my daughter was in high school, she worked at a Mediterranean restaurant. She mentioned from time to time how intense the owner and his two sons could be. There was another older guy (T) who worked there and both the owner and T had come from the old country with less than $20 in their pockets. They had both worked hard and been able to start families and send their  kids to college. [Side note - after college, the boys tried other careers - but both returned to the restaurant world]

One time, I pulled into the restaurant and witnessed one of those scenes that up until then I had only seen in the movies. One of the sons and another person who worked there were out in the parking lot screaming at each other. I figured when I parked and got out of the car, they'd come to their senses and stop the public display. 

Nope. They just kept yelling. I went in, found my daughter, and we left. I was a bit concerned by what I had seen. She just shrugged it off....says it was not that unusual. I guess it prepared her for life in the big city. She certainly crossed paths with some animated people after she moved away from Des Moines.

One final story tomorrow - and I have to include it because it is the heartwarming balance to the first two stories. I don't like to stereotype people and I totally appreciate that every culture has a wide range of characteristics. I'm sure I look reserved and a bit chilly to a lot of people.

Nov from JeanR - observations

 

JeanR does the nicest coordinated cards and envelopes. I should ask for an update on how many she sends each month. I've known Jean since 2010 - she's one of the students who inspired me to start the blog so that I could stay in touch with students. I remember her mentioning how many cards she sends each. month - but, I have forgotten. It's a lot. Maybe she'll see this and shoot me an email.

***

I know, I know. The readers who love a good rant want to know why I suggested that I should not *get started* on the Mediterraneans. I need to make a chart on whether my writing is different when the cold brew coffee extract is fresh. I just made a new batch and feel extra chatty. This is not a rant. It's just an observation.

So, here's the thing - most of my formative years were spent in the Twin Cities with a ton of Scandinavians. Being half Scandinavian, I felt at home. In college, and beyond, I crossed paths with people from all over the world. It was enlightening and interesting. For a year, I lived in a Mediterranean  neighborhood and Oh.My.Gosh. I had never experienced anything like that.

Scandinavians are reserved and Mediterraneans are not. I know that's a broad statement - but I don't think it was an exaggeration. I'm sure if you're Mediterranean and you show up in a Scandinavian neighborhood, you wonder why everyone is half asleep. Or maybe you notice the sub-zero temps and figure they are half frozen and you leave.

Nov from Mary - blue jean + heritage

 

Here's a fun envelope from Mary. She enclosed a note wondering if I had received any other * blue jean* designs. I remembered one that I can't find - and then I found one that I had forgotten - from Leslie.

I think I will put the name *Blue Jean* on the exchange list for January.

In middle school, a few of my friends called me Greenie Jeannie, because they noticed that I wore a lot of green. In February, if I remember, I will put Greenie Jeanie on the exchange list - or maybe save it for March in case there are St Patrick's day themes. Keep in mind, my mom would get all uppity in March and declare that it was self centered of the Irish to think that they deserved their own day. I'm neutral about the whole thing. I identify most closely with my Finnish/Swedish/Norwegian heritage and we are too busy staying warm to get worked up about those people who have the luxury of temperate climates and time to party and celebrate. 

And don't get me started on the Mediterraneans. 

Nov from Janet - resolutions and motivation

By the way - my trusty co-pilot has compiled a list of birthdays. Some of the regular exchangers like to know about birthdays so they can send a greeting if they do not end up on the same list during a birthday month. IT IS ENTIRELY OPTIONAL to be on the list. If you would like to be on the list and have the list - email me [ ptenvelopes(at)aol(dot)com ] and the co-pilot will send you the list of birthdays. This does not guarantee that you will get anything and it does not obligate you to send anything. It's just a list for people who like to send birthday mail. Note to co-pilot: remind me to run this announcement next January

These are beautiful stamps - I had never seen them - but was happy to find them online. They were issued in 1994. I'm honored to be the recipient. I wonder if Janet knows that those 4 stamps, in mint condition are selling for $9-$10. It was nice to have the stamps a little bit low on the envelope so that they were not obliterated by the cancel.

Link below if you want to read more about the stamps.

https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/american-art-on-postage-stamps-ordinary-citizens-norman-rockwells-art/rockwells-four

***

I hesitate to join the ranks of people who make New Year's resolutions. Technically, my year is a series of 12 mini-years. I'm just a perpetual resolution-making-machine. The blog evolved into a 15 year project that has been wildly educational for me and hopefully entertaining for my readers. 

I'm writing this on the day before the official Thanksgiving, so, I'm awash in thankfulness and wanted to thank the readers and exchangers one more time. 

We are all weary travelers on our paths into the unknown. We hardly ever get do-overs. A lot of us are in the deterioration phase of our lives. Old people can be so annoying with their advice to the youngsters. You'll be happy to know that I do not have any advice. If you want to take that photo as a little heads up that's fine with me. 

My resolution for today is to clear a bunch of photos off my phone - because my phone told me it doesn't have enough storage for the newest update. Nothing like your phone being the primary motivational entity in your life.

Happy New Year - January exchange sign-up

Well - 2025 is off to a strange start. It's 5:36 AM

I forgot to do a post - 

Sign up the regular way for the January exchange --- and I'll add something after I finish my coffee. 

***Here is the usual format for sign-up - I'll find an envelope in a minute (5:40 AM)

Time for the January exchange sign-up.

Today through January 4th is the window to sign-up. Lists are sent on the 5th.

If you participated in the December exchange - just shoot me an email that says: SIGN ME UP - you do not need to retype your address and info.

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

If you were not on the November list - or only sign up occasionally - or are a new exchanger - please send your information in the following format:

Jane Doe

123 Oak Street

Ames, IA 50010

janedoe@aol.com

[Birthday]  [2 Lists]

Send to PTEnvelopes-at-aol-dot-com

***

OK - here's an envelope. I found it by Googling *mail art* which I have not done for a long time.

It came from this blog:

http://alittlecoloreveryday.blogspot.com/2011/04/three-muses-mail-art.html

The blog ends with a post from 2018. 

Nov from Hadley -- Full of hope or full of despair? migrant mother

 

This envelope is from Hadley - a new exchanger. When I took my stack of envelopes to the PO, I handed them to a clerk that I see quite often - and his name is Hadley. As I walked out, I remembered that I had a *Hadley envelope* in the stack and I should have put it on the top of the pile. I'm sure he would have noticed. This one looks like it went through a lot. The swirl pattern in the background is very pretty and did not photograph very well. 

***

Well, we made it through another year. Some people are full of hope for 2025. Others are full of despair. Are we in complicated times? Yeah, we are. Have people asked me where I stand? Yes they have. Do I have a slightly kooky response? Yes, I do. But maybe some of you had parents who grew up during the depression and maybe you remember how the people who toughed it out were able to enjoy some better times. 

I will not list all the things that this country has been through since the depression.  There were some rough times. If we are currently in a rough patch, remember what Mr Rogers said: When things are scary, look for the helpers. 

That's what you say to children. Since we are grown ups, it is our responsibility to BE the helpers. It's time for people to step up and be helpers where they see those who need help. We aren't going to solve world problems - but IMHO, it never hurts to devote time and energy where there is a need.

There are two more parts to this. Hopefully it will be an uplifting beginning to the new year - and then I can go back to being silly.

***

Remember this sheet of postage stamps...

And see that stamp right in the center...

When my kids were little, I had a photocopy of that image stuck on the bulletin board above my desk. My daughter would insist I take it down. And I would, but then I'd run across it and put it back up. To her, it was too depressing. Even though she had plenty of conversations with her grandma (my mom) about life during the depression - she didn't want to be reminded of it. To me, it was a reminder of how easy my life has always been.

From time to time, I would research the photo and even pondered ordering an actual print, Link to digital archive. All of the photos taken that day are available on the website.  There are several good books about the photographer, Dorothea Lange - as well as articles you can find online...her story is very interesting.

For some reason, YouTube has access to the deep recesses of my brain and they decided to dangle an ancient (1979) clip from the NBC Nightly News in front of me. I almost didn't click on it - and then I did. The migrant mother was alive and living in California. It's 4 minutes and includes some comments from a couple of her kids. 

For me, it was inspiring to hear the story and how things turned out.

So, whether you feel the coming year(s) will be difficult and depressing or if you thought the path we were on was going very badly... we're still stuck on the same planet - living next to each other in various neighborhoods and a variety of states. Is anyone interested in finding even a shred of common ground?

For what it's worth - here it is:

LINK to news clip about migrant mother photograph

Nov from Christy - T-day on Sunday

 

Christy's envelope dovetails nicely with my add-on of the day which is just mindless jabbering that is a consequence of putting a bunch of work into a meal. 

***

As I write this, it is the Monday before Thanksgiving. We had our official Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I had to do it on Sunday so that my local son, Hunter, could help. He's the one who requested the traditional dinner with all the trimmings and not the *easy* versions.

We made turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce - all from scratch. I found elevated recipes for a  sweet potato casserole and a green bean casserole. The only *lazy* side dish was the Stove Top dressing. I do love a good dressing, but, decided to add a surprise pie into the mix - so I had to cut one corner. It was a ridiculous amount of food for 3 people, but I sent some of it over to my brother and sister-in-law and the three of us love leftovers.

Everything was tasty - and the only glitch was that after dinner (we eat early) - Hunter looked at the clock and saw that he was right on time to watch *the football game* and then he realized that it was not Thursday. The dinner had fooled him into thinking it was actually T-day. So, he ended up doing the bulk of clean up in the kitchen. That's reason enough to move our T-days to Sunday, permanently.

Hunter added that he would like to do the T-Day dinner more than once a year - so I guess we can do another one in Feb - both Hunter and MrWilson have Feb birthdays.

***

One more holiday - and then we can settle into winter. Unless we observe John Hancock's birthday. I tend to forget it every single year....  or as someone pointed out - only 7 weeks until Valentine's Day....

Nov from Cathy - Visigoth versals

 

I'm guessing Cathy used the technique where she wrote in walnut ink and then dropped some kind of gold fluid on top of it while it was still wet. She enclosed a note saying it was homework from a John Stevens' class where students were instructed to make the thin strokes thick - and the thick strokes thin. The Ben Shahn letters do that, too. This is definitely something I should put on my to-do list for when I pull out the ink and nibs. The style below looks like loads of fun - but also more challenging.

*** 

This is a snippet from The Morgan Library's website where they have soooo many things to see.

I found it by following a path from info about a class to be taught by Risa Gettler through the San Diego chapter of the Society of Scribes - a California calligraphy guild. It's a Zoom class in March. Details are here:

https://societyforcalligraphy.org/event-5797444 

You need to be a member of the guild - and there are only 20 in the class - so - most of us will just have to cobble together our own interpretations of the style. I'm up for channeling my inner Visigoth :-) Google added that capitalization. Interesting. No time to research Visigoths - maybe later.

If you just want to look at hi-res images of the book - here's a link:

LINK to the page featured above

LINK to thumbnails of the whole book

Here is an image from the invitation to the class: