June to Irene, JeanR and Janet - TRAP, not WPA

These are the other half of the ones I started with just lettering - and tried to come up with something else. I like the border on Irene's. Overall, it's fairly simple - which is usually fine with me. Although I've been filling up a little more space recently.

Jean gets a round stamp every month and I think there are 4 or 5 still to come. As I say every time one of these pops up, I should have done all of them at once - since the roundness is a very strong and fun design element to lead the way.

Once again, Janet ends up with a ho-hum, bordering on dud. I need to establish a rating system for envelopes. Also a system where Janet doesn't keep getting duds. 

***

This is the end of the outgoing June mail. Also the end of me talking about post office murals from the 1930s. The person who took these photos - but doesn't have her name on her Flickr account had this to say - which clarifies that thing I wrote a couple days ago about wondering if I had the name correct - and I did not. 

She wrote:

Although it's often assumed that the New Deal-era Post Office murals were WPA art projects, they were actually painted by artists working for the Section of Fine Arts that was administered by the Treasury Department. The main goal of "The Section" was to make art accessible to all people by funding high quality art to decorate public buildings. More than eleven hundred post office murals and sculptures for federal buildings were created under the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP).

The oil painting on canvas is "Time Out" by Joseph P. Vorst (1942). It is the Bethany, MO post office

***

So, now we know and I am not going to go back and correct my earlier posts. Or maybe I will add a disclaimer when I do a final edit right before this pops up.

I'm not going to search for info on the artist, Joseph P. Vorst. I noticed that he has the farm wife wearing heels. That seems a little odd. 

 

June to Jeannette, Judi and Juliana

First I found a style of writing that I liked and had forgotten about. Then I decided to try some borders.

That vintage air mail border appeals to me. I need to try it with bolder markers.

This one needed more - but what? I still can't think of anything.

Same opinion on the one below.

Ho-hummers. 

At least I have a good story - or a story that I like.

As I was scanning through all the little post offices around Iowa, I spotted another shot of an interior with a 1930s era mural. When I clicked on it, it led to a person with a Flickr account. 

This is her blurb that went with the photo:

More of my latest interest: Depression-era post offices with murals! The Bloomfield Post Office on West Jefferson Street was built in 1937. Its New Deal mural, “Autumn in Iowa,” is oil on canvas, painted by John Sharp in 1939. He also painted murals for the post offices in Rockwell City and Hawarden, Iowa.

 

 When I looked up John Sharp, I discovered he was from Eldon, Iowa and - you won't believe this fun, fascinating fact - he happened to be the young man who volunteered when artist Grant Wood requested a tour of the town of Eldon. It was John Sharp who made the decision to drive by and show Wood the little house that ended up being the backdrop for the world famous painting, American Gothic. Aren't you glad you know this!! :o)

***

Here is a link to the photographer's info - I can't find her name - I don't know that much about Flickr other than that it's a place where people can post photographs - and it attracts some really good photographers.

https://www.flickr.com/people/34086110@N06/  

 

June to Grace and Riley - another PO in Iowa

Grace deserves way better than this. I thought I had some good ideas and had done a couple roughs. I didn't have time to start over - so I enclosed the roughs as well as the first attempt that was so bad I had to ditch it.

I was working out that curly banner that's on the stamp.

Riley has sent a couple envelopes that surprised me that they had made it to Iowa.

One was the tiny one - and I have forgotten what the other one was. 

Since I had run out of RuthBG ideas - but I had photocopied the sheet of stamps - I thought I'd use the photocopy in a vellum envelope. It seemed like it was not going to be scanner friendly. I hope it arrived.

I sure hope I come up with some good ideas for July.

Here's another Iowa post office. Lots of them popped up when I did the search for the one in Leon.

Here's the one in Beaver, Iowa - population 44 in 2020. 

Oh, WOW! I clicked on another post office and found a really good story... for tomorrow.

 

June to Leslie and Sharen - lackluster

I actually liked these. But, I'm not sure they have broad appeal. They just look like what I like...and I think my taste is not mainstream. What's the opposite of mainstream? Google says: fringe, unconventional and alternative. Yup. Those three describe me to a T or is it tea or tee. I am too lazy to do the research on that one.

 

I think there are only four more posts to fill up during this session that is late in the day with my lackluster writing. Should I look for synonyms for lackluster since I used that word yesterday? 

boringflatho-hummuteduninspired

WEAK

blahblindcolorlessdarkdeaddimdrabdraggydrylaid-backleadenlusterlessmattenothingobscurepabulumprosaicsombreunimaginativevanillavapidzero

June to Mary - Mary's June envelopes

 

Vellum envelopes do not photograph very well. I have quite a few of them to use up. Maybe I'll figure out something that looks better. 

Mary kindly sent me some envelopes - so I'll add a couple here since my jabbering is so lack-luster.

I'm pretty sure I am going to steal these two ideas for my July envelopes. I have some black and Kraft envelopes to use up and I have paint pens. The only stumbling block will be stamps.....

June to Kate- Leon post office

 

I loved the envelope that Kate sent in June and felt bad that this is what she received in the exchange. I had a card that went inside - and I guess it was more than an ounce so I had to add the school bus. The silly little stickers were left over from the Monster stamps. I made the mistake of taking it in to a post office and handed it to a clerk who I have met up with previously. She seems like she is trying to do a good job - but she also seems like she doesn't really understand what's going on. 

Here is a post office story. My son was out doing whatever he does for the USPS at the post office in Leon, Iowa - and heard a sad little kitten meowing. He fed it and then it looked pathetic so he brought it to a vet in Des Moines - and now it's at the place that cares for stray kittens before putting them up for adoption....and he can have it if he wants it. Since he had a cat that died - he's been wanting another one....so.... I thought I would illustrate the story with a photo of the Leon, Iowa post office - and I think I already featured it in a blog post. It was built in 1936 and still has an original WPA mural. I think WPA is the right name - I'm too lazy to research.

***There is a correction that will be posted on Wed, July 15th. It was TRAP, not WPA.

Then I found this - is the study for the mural. 

The study is tempera paint on panel and it is at the Smithsonian.

If you look at the details - the study is so much better.

I wonder if the person who did the study did the actual painting.

It looks like they sent someone else to paint the mural.

Or - perhaps the person who did the study wasn't skilled at transferring a study onto a wall.

June to Lynne and Liz

 

I've seen some very fun envelopes where people add a body to a portrait stamp. Many of them are very clever. These are moderately cute. I didn't do any surfing to find good images or ideas. I just drew out of my head. Drawing out of one's head is probably better if one does a lot of drawing. I don't draw any more. I've taken another break from working on the blog posts and as I write this (on June 28th) I see that I'm a little bit behind - plus I should be thinking of what I'm going to do for my July envelopes. I found some very old Xmas stickers - and was thinking of doing Xmas in July. That sounds like a terrible idea. Also it is 5 pm - not a time of day when the jabbering flows easily.

***

"Other people go to pilates or take meditation classes. I like making soup."

That is a line from a video about a woman who loves color. There are plenty of unconventional features in her home. It's a ten minute tour around her home in the Cotswolds. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gjhQwewT8w

June to Renee and Jessica - store windows

I had this one penciled in prior to stamp pondering. Then when I had so many RBG stamps, I thought the oval was enough of a connection to her lace collar. I was wrong. Perhaps I will revisit this border. Perhaps it should be larger. Perhaps I will find some better ideas.

Below is the first idea to go with the stamp. It's a warm up. Jessica gets a lot of warm ups. Certain names pop into my head because they never miss an exchange. I always feel bad about them getting warm ups - but last month Jessica got one of my favorites - so I hope that evens things out.

I already know that she will get a warm up for July and it's pretty good.

The window display guy that I posted yesterday reminded me of how much I loved the annual trek to downtown Minneapolis every year to see the Christmas windows at the Dayton's department store when I was a kid. They were spectacular. I also remembered seeing pictures of Tiffany windows over the years that were gorgeous. As the video mentioned, window decorating is becoming a lost art. It's still fun to see what small local shops do. Once in while there will be something fabulous.

A few days ago I saw a blurb about a big company that had ripped off a very specific style of *totem pole* sculpture that an artist has been producing for many years. It was outrageous what they had done. But, I do not recall the name of the artist or the store that ripped him off. Maybe it will pop up again and I can add a link. 

***

Well, that was easy - 2 clicks and I found the artist - Dustin Gimbel - and the store who had copied his totems was Nordstroms - and they have taken all of them down. My guess is that some youngster on staff was just surfing around for ideas - and some of these young people are clueless about the ownership of ideas. It's especially hard for people in the world of fashion because there are many components of fashion that do not fall under copyrights. 

Ironically - Nordstroms did all their knockoffs in cardboard - my favorite medium. 

LINK to Dustin's IG

LINK to totems for sale

$3,505 for the trio - they are ceramic. That seems like a very reasonable price considering how expensive it would be for the materials plus all the time it would take to build them - and how large they are. 

LINK to landscape design. Well, since he is a landscape designer - maybe that's how he makes a living and this is a sideline - and he has a studio where several people are producing the components. But it is still a lot of work. They appeal to me because they are not plants - but look like plants. I like sculpture yards because it takes care of itself. I have a few ideas percolating for my son's yard.

If you like yard art made out of junk - and want to see more - just Google *yard art made out of junk*

 

June to Kerry and Jackie - window display guy

I just wrote the blurb yesterday with the wire sculpture - and I thought I would be inspired to write names and fill in some colors - and then these two popped up and they are soooooo boring compared to the idea I had on the previous post. I wonder if I always do better with more colorful stamps. It probably depends on if I have markers and pens in the right colors. I'm a big fan of monochrome and muted color palettes. 

These two are so-so - veering into dudsville.

***

If you have 23 minutes to fill up and if you were ever wowed by window displays. The blurb that goes with the video is a good description.

In a story from The Current, legendary design editor Robert Rufino revisits his early career designing windows for iconic New York institutions—from Henri Bendel to Tiffany & Co.—helping pioneer the evocative display style known as “street theater.” Set across a series of 10th Street storefronts, the year-long project culminated in a week-long celebration. Captured in a short film by Joshua Charow, the result is both an ode to a lost art form and a portrait of a creative force still shaping culture nearly 50 years on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVUUg0UmC80

 

June to Troy and Patty - wire sculpture

Last month Troy sent an envelope with a kite and my name written in *string.* I did a variation and it's so-so. Then I did a second variation because I was using up all the RBG stamps. Another so-so.

Patty sent me a photo of what it looked like with its cancel because she knew I would like it. Very nice addition to the composition.

***

Here's a fun guy who is doing very well with his wire sculptures. I'll link to his website and if you scroll down there is a nice 15 minute video showing how his current style evolved.

https://www.jdpaterson.com/

The pice above is $22,000 and the one below is $4,000. They have moving parts.

I can feel myself being inspired to make envelopes - write names and color in some spaces

 

May from Jackie - Kutchinsky's Egg

I'm pretty sure Jackie carves linocut blocks for printing. I think there is info in this envelope. Sadly, I have chained myself to my desk and am not allowing any digression to research. I'm cracking down on myself with this system for exchanging and blogging. 

Rule number one has been to only write in the morning and the only way I can stay ahead of the weeds is to head out at the crack of dawn and attack them. Then it takes a while to clean up and get on with my day.  

I've also started a new meal plan where I only allow myself 2 or 3 minutes to make a meal. Poor MrWilson has to make his own salads. So far, he is not complaining. 

It's 4:30 pm and I am falling asleep. I think it's because I woke up at 3 am and I thought I had an audiobook that would put me to sleep - but it was the end of the story and it ended up keeping me awake because the author made it into a cliffhanger. 

The book is Kutchinsky's Egg by Serena Kutchinsky. It's a true story that covers the 3-4 generations of a family of jewelers leading up to Serena's dad who wanted to create an egg to rival the Fabrege eggs. His idea was to make a really big one. I think that's where he went way off track. Bigger isn't always better. It might impress some people - but it loses the preciousness. 

Through the process of making it - he lost everything. His family, his company - and even the egg disappeared. I don't think the book would have interested me except that I tried working with gold and silver in college jewelry classes. I found out that I am a paper person. Metal is too tough and you can mess up your hands. 

 Here is the author's IG https://www.instagram.com/serenakutchinsky/

May from Riley - Debby's graduation gig

 

Riley, Riley, Riley - you were very lucky that this envelope made it to me. It's much smaller than the minimum size requirement. Some of the rogue mail will make its way to the destination....but, I recommend sticking with the sizes that they prefer.

***

CyberScribes is a very old list-serve from before the turn of the century (or are we supposed to say the turn of the millennium?) that still has a few calligraphers posting things. I thought this was fun and asked the person who posted it if I could repost. She said -yes- and sent some additional photos. In addition to writing names they would write sayings or words requested by the graduates. I used to do gigs like this and it was So.Much.Fun.

Here is Debby's post from CyberScribes:

Merri Klar and I had a fun late(!) evening doing calligraphy for a local Safe Grad party after their high school graduation. This is my third year doing it and it is such a treat to see how much the teens appreciate receiving a custom piece of calligraphy done with their choice of words. My favorite moment last night was when a group of young men picked up their calligraphy and I heard an appreciative, "That's sick!" Brings joy to this calligrapher's heart LOL!

 

Have a great day,

debby reelitz

North Granby CT

letteringdesign.com   <that is her website if you would like to look at more of her work.

May from Mary - return addresses and flimsiness

 

Mary's style of lettering reminds me a little bit of a recent one from JeanR. I'm not sure what the extra postage sticker is. I have a theory that is at the very end of this very long post. 

Sometimes postal clerks create some issues that IMHO are not actual issues. 

There has been one episode of a postal clerk saying something ridiculous - and not just saying it....insisting that mail is required to have a return address..... and that's ridiculous - because anything you drop in a mailbox is going to go on its merry way whether there is a return address or not. A local friend (not an exchanger) was trying to mail a letter without a return address and the clerk was adamant that she had to put her return address on the envelope. 

My friend said - OK - and walked away with her envelope and dropped it in a mail box. After I heard about this, I went in to a PO and asked a different clerk - one I have known for a while - and was told that plenty of mail is handled without a return address. The reassuring clerk and I were also able to figure out exactly who it was who had been spouting the ridiculous opinion. I've had previous run-ins with that clerk. That clerk has a reputation for being ____?____.  I'm not sure what word to use. I guess we'll just go with opinionated. 

Here is another situation of an opinionated USPS clerk. It appears in the comment section which I have reposted below. It was the envelope from Lynne which had a rubber stamp (non-machinable) that did not make sense.

https://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/2026/06/may-from-lynne-wearing-usps-uniforms.html#comment-form

LYNNE'S COMMENT: 

When I brought the envelope to the PO, they said it was non-machinable because the paper inside wasn’t the exact size I’d the envelope. The space between what was inside and the top of the envelope would cause it to get stuck in their machine. I find every postal worker tells me something different!

CJ's COMMENT:

Is it possible that it was non-machinable due to the artwork? Or whoever saw it can't read cursive? Or the zip code is not in the position that the machines recognize?

Jean's comment: After discussing this with Patty, I think there is good reason to pay attention. to the *heft* of any given envelope. Patty knows someone whose invitations were not reaching their destinations. The invitation was just a folded letterhead that was secured with tape. In the past - that type of invitation went through the machines. Patty and I suspect that the newer machines are chewing up flimsy mail. 

I will keep reminding the exchangers to put *enough* in their envelopes to make them sail through the machines without being chewed up.

I'm wondering if the envelope from Mary was too rigid. I know the USPS machines will charge extra for mail that is too rigid.

See - if you go to the website to calculate a price, they ask if the envelope is rigid.

When I clicked on rigid - after clicking on a standard size and 1 ounce 

this is what came up as the price - $1.27

So - 49-cents + 78-cents = $1.27

There is more to the topic of envelopes surviving the machines - which will appear at a later date.

May from Patty and Troy - NORBAG

 

Patty and Troy both went with a flower theme in May. I'm still sitting in the automotive waiting room.  

I guess it's time to return to the stack of links. That cardboard one was so fun. For me. Maybe not for anyone else.

***

Bingo again.

There was a link to NORBAG - North Redwoods Book Arts Guild. I belonged to NORBAG for a while and had so much fun making and exchanging handmade books. Here's a link to the books that were exchanged in May. If you love handmade books - you could probably spend an entire day looking at all the photos. NORBAG began in 1997.

The theme for the month was Stamps. They have a different theme every month. You send them a book and they exchange the books by drawing names - so you never know what you will get. There is a range of skill levels. I do not recall how they handle the cost of shipping or if they have membership dues. Also - I have not found their list of rules.  If anyone is interested, shoot me an email and I will find the details.

It looks like they exchange cards in December - and maybe valentines in February.

LINK to photos of May books This is at Flickr and you may find all the books that have been exchanged since 2010.

LINK to their blog

In March the theme was piano hinge books. 

This one is by Mary Elizabeth Nelson.