May to Irene - Good Writing

 

This is a border appropriated from Amy's April envelope. I did a few envelopes with Amy's border and this one is my favorite. I tried bolder pens/markers on some others and they were pitiful. It was fun to find colors that work nicely with the stamp. Patty's comment about how much my envelopes have changed over the years popped into my head because this is so primitive. I keep thinking I'll try to do some better calligraphy - but the quilt stamps were demanding primitive lettering. That's my excuse. I'm sure Irene would make her beautiful copperplate look wonderful with these stamps.

***

Remember how I was hoping that my library would get a copy of Anne Lemott's new book, co-authored with her husband, called Good Writing - so that I could brush up on my writing for my readers? A day after I wrote that, voila, the library notified me that the book was ready for me to pick up. Apparently, I had put it on hold.... and forgotten about it. 

I have not started it yet. I saw a blurb on the back of the book that referred to one of the tips - which is to write like yourself. That's not how it was worded - it's something about how you already have a voice, so use it. I'll be interested in that tip because I already know that my writing is 100% conversational. 

So, it's 3 pm on Mother's Day and I am going to take a break from blog posts for a while. I'm also going to start my Judi-inspired envelopes. I have 22 to do in May. Ten of them are done and were done in one sitting of a couple hours. Maybe I can get 10 or 12 done today. Wish me luck.

*** It's 7 pm and I just finished the last 12. I've never kept track of time before. It looks like I spend an average of 15 minutes per envelope....

May to Juliana - content/process

 Somehow I scheduled two posts for today. 

Here is my version of Juliana's April design. I did a terrible job of replicating those little animals. Part of the reason was that I couldn't even figure out which animals the original ones represented. I shouldn't have looked so closely at them - and just guessed what they were and then done my own version. I doubt anyone is going to scrutinize how well I copied the stamp. Or - maybe Juliana will. Did you, Juliana?

I am not a fan of how the animals are in a perfect oval - concentric with the cartouche that goes around the name. Maybe I'll do more of these and get better at them. Maybe I'll refer back to Juliana's for a better selection of proportions.

***

Yippee. It's still Mother's Day and I have filled up two weeks of blog posts so I can take a break after I finish this one. I said I would have more to say about: it's not the content, it's the process. I have no idea where I first heard about that. Whoever dished it up made it into something that really stuck in my head. I used it so much in teaching. It was not an easy concept to teach because people show up with their own ideas and notions and hard core beliefs. Why would they listen to me?

Maybe there are people who are drawn to experimentation. Maybe some of us truly enjoy figuring out problems. All I know is that if people will just dive in and try something and give it a chance, they might enjoy the experience. They might decide that they do not want to do it again. But, at least they will have learned something about their preferences. 

And that brings us to the quitters. Some people hardly give it a chance. That's fine. I imagine there were things I tried where I could have done a better job, but I gave up. In all my years of teaching, I only had a couple people who dropped out. It made me sad because I could see they both had talent and skills. Maybe that's why they dropped out. If they had already had a bunch of really good teachers, I might have seemed too different from what they liked. I, too, have had teachers that were not to my liking. But, I always stuck with it - and managed to find just one little lesson that I could use.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Big news tomorrow about stories.

May to Amy - white gel pen hack

I'm breaking my rule and posting some of the outgoing May envelopes before finishing the incoming April  envelopes because I never learn my lesson about following my own rules. I almost didn't post this one because it is so crooked. But, I'm going to share that I am seriously annoyed with how my eyes refuse to register *level.* I know I could just stick to rulers and maybe I'll try that. But rulers have their own issues. 

I was wildly excited about the Harriet Powers quilt stamps. Not all of the envelopes get an A+. I was thinking of doing several envelopes with Gwen Weaver's Rascally Romans --- but after doing this one - I was done with Romans for the day.

***

Here is a remedy to make gel pens *rejuicy* that I have not yet tried. If someone tries it and has success, please let me know. 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/F4grHGjajtU

Here is the person's main page if you need to avoid chores. Sadly, I am still doing battle with the weeds. My goal is to get things shaped up so that I can spend less time out there....

https://www.youtube.com/@RebelUnicornCrafts/shorts

April from Juliana - synonyms for oddball

 

I appropriated this design on my May envelope to Juliana. I was happy with how it turned out. I'll probably do more in June. I am freaking out at how fast this month has gone. Thanks for the design idea, Juliana. And you are also invited to share with us your penmanship journey. We are clearly kindred spirits - although you strike me as NOT an odd ball. And yet - this doesn't sound like you either - (what Google gave me when I asked for definition of a non-oddball) someone or something that is conventional, typical, or conforms to expected standards. That sounds boring and not very creative. Perhaps Juliana is one of those delightfully well balanced people who does not go to extremes.

***

Synonyms for oddball: my favorite is nonconformist.

Others that I like are: original, maverick, bohemian.

I like quixote - but would probably never think to use it.

These are OK: character, zany, odd duck and piece of work

I do not like these at all. They are disparaging: 

weirdo, screwball, wacko, loony, oddity, crackpot, nut, kook, fruitcake, flake, nutcase, freak, loon and odd duck.

This is a labeling issue. There seems to be a need for labeling things or establishing categories - but it gets complicated. Not everyone likes to be labeled. There are so many different ways to categorize. We're into one of those topics where I know I have nothing to contribute because they are all ineffable. That might be my favorite word. It applies to everything. OK, that's an overstatement. It applies to almost everything. 

Here are the things that are not ineffable. Cold, hot, hungry. If I am any one of those things it's easy to put it into words. Many illness and injury related things can be put into words. 

I'm through with this topic. It's too wordy.

April from Jackie - sports/non-sports

 I read this post a couple days before it pops up and it needs editing - but that's not going to happen. 

I hope it's OK with Jackie that I included the note that came in Jackie's envelope. I am intrigued with Jackie's penmanship. A lot of it is all caps. but some is not. Maybe she can share the story of her penmanship with us and how it evolved. Jackie is fairly new to the exchange and I can't imagine she's gone back and read old posts - so she might not know that penmanship is a really big deal in Jeanland.

Is it Jeanland or should we go back working on our virtual monastery - the Siblings of Perpetual Mispelling. I also had a university idea. So many ideas.

***

How many people already know what I am going to say about the difference between sporty-people and non-sporty people?

It's one of my old tunes. Those of us who have no interest in sports have other things that fulfill exactly the same yearnings as sports - but the sporty people must out-number us because we seem like oddballs. And sporty-people would never see penmanship as an equivalent activity.

Now we have to digress because we wonder where the term oddball came from. See below. Tomorrow we will ponder synonyms.

It's not the content, it's the process. Now we have to research that phrase. 

This concept is often discussed in various fields, including journalism and creative industries, highlighting that the process can be as valuable as the end result.

phrase. Maybe we'll talk about that tomorrow.

Back to being an oddball for not liking -or- not being into sports. It's all in the choice of words. If I refrain from saying that I don't like sports - people can often understand. But, that requires a lot of energy to draw a person into a longer conversation and I don't always have a motivation to do that because it takes away from the things I really like to do. For example: it's Mother's Day. I started filling blog posts around 6:00 am. I wrote the critique of Judi's envelope and now I have all the suggestions running laps in my head and I'm racing through all my other chores so I can execute the suggestions.

Did you note the careful choice of *running laps in my head*?

oddball(n.)

"eccentric or unconventional person," 1948, American English colloquial, from odd + ball (n.1). Earlier (1946) as an adjective, used by aviators. The phrase appears earlier in descriptions of modified pin-ball type games (1937) as an extra ball to be played as a bonus.

April from Riley - moderation > sports

 

Oh, Riley - you came up with a *why didn't I think of that?* feature - the little bouncy hearts. I don't have any more of these stamps - and will have to resist the temptation to buy more, if they are even available. Black and red designs are so versatile.

That's a goofy set of cancels - both Albany as well as Des Moines. More USPS mysteries.

***

Can you have too much moderation?

That's a trick question.

Of course you can have too much moderation. I think too much moderation is the definition of boring. Although *boring* defies definition or description.

I am a fiend for penmanship which is probably a boring topic - to most people.

On my personal spectrum - the most boring thing I can think of is watching sports. Admitting that out loud is something I avoid. I've spent a lotta time watching my kids play sports. I've spent a little time watching my grandson play baseball. I have my own mental activity while watching sports. I pretend I am drawing. It's easier than actually drawing and I don't need any supplies.

Back in the day, when my boys were playing a lot of hockey and I was driving them around to tournaments, I was happy to do it because I could see the value of team sports. Recently I saw or read something and neglected to save the source - but it made me so happy to have my intuition from my sports-watching years confirmed. I had a sense that people who like sports are embracing their inner-cave-dwellers. When survival was the only available career, people had to depend on their teams. 

Fast forward to the 21st century and people are still wildly enthusiastic about their teams. Ten year old boys all the way to senior citizens. One thing the article pointed out was that today, when the Cubs win - everyone is happy and exclaimed, "We won!" But if the Cubs lose, everyone says, "They lost." Nuf said.

Tomorrow I might be able to remember what the sport-avoidance people bring to the table.

April from Nicky - planning > too much planning

 

Nicky is our printmaker friend in St. Louis. It looks like a fried egg to me and I'm a big fan of fried eggs. This is the first print from Nicky that is not an animal and it's very pleasing to the eye. I'd frame it and hang it if I were not in the deaccession portion of my life. It will be in a folder - waiting for me to fall off my perch and then my survivors will follow directions on sending my treasures along to the designated recipients. I'll leave you all in suspense on whether they will return things to the people who sent them or if they will travel to some other place. 

***

Is there such a thing as *too much planning*? 

Yes. Planning can interfere with getting started. That's called procrastination. I have a vivid memory of yammering on about something in a class and paused as I was talking all around the topic and needed a concise way of making the point. A student said, "All things in moderation."

Bingo.

But then I ask myself - is there ever a time when there is too much moderation?

Is this getting too complicated?

Maybe I'll have an answer tomorrow.

April from Mia - weeds

 

Mia is back. Due to issues with disappearing mail, I revamped the exchange to limit exchangers to USA only. Mia had suspended exchanging due to the Canadian postal service strike. Then we emailed - and decided to let Mia be *grandmothered* into the exchange. Hopefully people will be agreeable to sending an envelope to Canada once in a while. Mia does nice work and she often includes a pretty card.

Ironically - after I had my little outburst about weeds on the post yesterday - I discovered that the next envelope in line had not one, but two, dandelions taunting me. Lucky for Mia, she stayed on my good side by doing that font on my name that I love-love-love. There is a tiny little part of me that apologizes to each dandelion that I murder with my vicious tools. I know weeds are just experiencing a will to live, as am I. I anthropomorphize everything. Dandelions should be happy that I at least apologize for murdering them. I'm not that kind to creeping Charlie. 

Now I'm picturing myself being sent to the non-heaven section of the afterlife and it's just a giant jungle of weeds - eager to extract revenge. Has somebody like Stephen King already written this story? Yes, it's about 30 minutes after the morning coffee has been consumed.

I forgot to answer yesterday's question. You'll have to tune in tomorrow.

April from Judi - planning?

Judi's note with this card (below) explained that she combined some digital art with hand coloring. Pink and black is one of those color combinations that always seems to work. I think she said something about the zip code being not quite right. Since Judi has responded favorably to my critiques of her work - I will offer some suggestions on this design. There are three *chunks* - the stamp duo - the name duo - and the address trio, which has that extra space between the top two lines. Stretching out the zip and almost making it a rectangle was a good move. 

Then I look at the name duo which is centered. The stamps are centered. So it probably would have been nice to center the address lines in their rectangular spaces - but I will be the first to warn you that being able to eyeball an address and get it centered is something that I've been working on for 25+ years and it's still really hard for me. My only suggestions are to either pencil it first on scratch paper or print out the list of addresses with the lines centered.

That second suggestion is the winner - because it is faster. If you copied and pasted the list into a document and bumped up the point size and centered it - then you would have a nice template for centered addresses. I've done that - but I do between 20 and 30 envelopes each month - so I tend to just sit down and wing it every month - and then I also have to go through the grrrrrrrr-ing when my spacing is off.

Let's go back to Judi's address - even with the non-centering - it might have looked better without the extra space between the two top lines. That might have happened when she intended to do only two lines and then decided to put the zip at the bottom. I like the two different point sizes in the address because that  relates to the two different point sizes in the name.

As I've said before - it can be very helpful to do a quick pencil rough of how you think the elements will fit together. I only do that about half the time and wonder why I don't do it all the time. Planning is something that I actually enjoy. Other times I just like to dive in without planning. My intuition tells me that it's deeply personal. Do you like to plan? Do you like different approaches? 

My final thought about planning - is asking the question - was there ever a time when planning was not a good idea? Think about that and I'll have my answer tomorrow.

 

OK - I like spring - but those #$%^&*($%^&*($%^&*#$%^&*$%^&&* weeds. Grrrrr.

April from Liz - more Perla

Here's a link to the Graceful Envelopes winners for this year: https://www.calligraphersguild.org/2026-gec-winners

Liz is a newer exchanger. I think Cliff, whose envelope was posted yesterday, found out about the exchange from Liz. I enjoy it when friends sign up. Both Liz and Cliff are from Mississippi - one of my favorite states to spell out. Liz's designs lean towards the big and bold. The card that came in the envelope reminds me of Lichtenstein.

 

***

On the 13th, I posted the link to the California sign painter. I had left the link open to her IG account and while I was being cranky about all the problems in the kitchen, I decided to take a chill-pill-break and work on my blog posts which are the urgency-du-jour. But, I didn't have anything to say. So, I digressed into running through a few of Perla, the sign painter's IG. I saw more steal worthy ideas for envelopes and then.... a post about *what to do during a flight delay* I saw that she was taking photos around the airport. I've done that. And then  - wow - she writes that she is on her way to visit her hometown, Corydon, Iowa. That's a little town in the middle of the nowhere between Des Moines and Kansas City - and a ways off the interstate. Small world, eh?

Now I have an excuse to look at more of her work. Why has she suddenly become more interesting because she's from Iowa? I'm not even that fond of Iowa. Except the parts of it where it's old fashioned.

Here's a sample of her Neuland. I LOVE it. LINK to Perla's IG

April from Maggie - mysterious USPS mail

Maggie's floral designs are so pretty. I'm showing how the envelope looks both ways as well as the card that was inside - observing my 74th birthday. That's a big number and it does not seem correct, but it is.

The card looks like colored pencil - and sparkle gel pen stars.

***

I have a crazy story to tell. It's a true story. One of our exchangers had a stack of mail that she had mailed returned to her. There was a letter from the USPS enclosed that said:

Dear Customer:

We sincerely apologize for the delay in delivering your mail piece.

It was temporarily held by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the law enforcement branch of the U.S. Postal Service, as part of an investigation.

We understand how frustrating and disappointing it can be when a delivery is delayed, and we deeply regret any inconvenience this may have caused.

Please be assured that the matter has been thoroughly reviewed, and the OIG has now authorized the release of your mail for delivery. 

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. We truly appreciate your continued trust in our commitment to providing reliable mail delivery service

***

The mail that was returned was outgoing - so - when they say it has been *released for delivery* they aren't delivering it. The mail was also a bit of a mess - some envelopes were opened, with contents intact. Others were just empty envelopes. One was very old - and an international address associated with the exchange. Not all the mail was exchange mail. 

My favorite part is that they use our favorite phrase -- DEEPLY REGRET. LOL

It's a mystery as to what was going on with this mail. The person who had it returned had been on a trip and had their mail held while they were gone - but outgoing mail doesn't cross paths with the mail that is incoming and being held.

Very strange.

April from Cliff

 

I'm pretty sure this was Cliff's first envelope exchange. It was ironic that I sent him a big bold script of his name on the first envelope I sent to him. I love-love-love the Celtic knot work design -- how it is hand done. I also like the giant address which I wish I could use - but sadly, there aren't many people with such short and tidy addresses.

That line on two sides and the second line that wraps part way around is another stealable idea. I probably won't do my version of this design on the May envelope to Cliff because it's so close to what I sent in April. It was fun to have Cliff sign up again. 

It is now 6:40 am and the sun is up. I need to gird my loins, go outside and attack the weeds. At least I am more than a week ahead on the posts. I think I'll skip the add on today. Giving myself a day off on the add ons will be a tremendous help. Perhaps you are just killing time because you too have things you should be doing. Plus - today is sous vide the chuck roast day. Yup. My brother and SIL gave me their sous vide and I tried it once and I might become a serious sous vider. 

***

I just tried to buy groceries. Then I realized I only have 2 hours to dry brine. Grrrr. This is my Mother's Day dinner that I am working on. I was supposed to dry brine it overnight. Grrrr.

***

Spoiler alert - the 2 hr dry brine was adequate.

April from Kate - Wanda Gág

 

Kate did something that I've been doing - putting the stamp a little bit low so that the cancel only hits it across the top. I like how she did the state above the zip. This is an A+ layout if we want to make things clear for the scanners. As I've said before - I think the scanner just looks for the zip and the street address. 

***

I wish I had the bandwidth to establish a list of exchangers and know whether they are a fond of dogs or cats or both in equal measure or neither. I'd use the list when I had something with animals in the add-on.

This is a 16 minute video that I loved - here's the blurb:

Wanda Gág was one of the earliest 20th century illustrators to create picture books for children, where the images were dominant over the minimal text. She was also significant in that almost all her work, whether art or illustration, was created as monochrome.

Video about Wanda Gág

Title page of the book, Millions of Cats.

Odd little tidbit. Nearly fifty years ago, at a wedding reception, I found myself at a table with strangers. They introduced themselves as John and Mary Gag - and then during the awkward phase that they must have learned to deal with because people would repeat the word "Gag?" because they thought they must have mis-heard the name. The couple laughed - and said - "Yes, Gag. The only good thing about the name is that nobody ever forgets it." And they are correct. I do not recall their first names. It was fun to learn of another Gag.

April from Amy - Anne Lamott

 

OK, it took a half hour to load all the photos I have of the April envelopes that arrived. I have the posts filled up through May 24th, so at the very least you'll have something to look at. It's 6 am - and I'm caffeinated. But, I'm feeling really iffy about having anything to say. 

I like this envelope a lot. It's tempting me to do that thing I keep thinking I will do where I use the previous month's envelope to inspire my envelopes. If I do that, should I repost the inspiration? Decisions. Decisions.

Yesterday I watched an interview with Anne Lamott. I have enjoyed some of her books. She and her husband who is also a writer - co-authored a book called Good Writing. I believe it is 36 tips for writing. I hope my library gets a copy so that I can possibly absorb some tips on how to make my writing better.

Towards the end she had advice for people who want to be writers. It was the typical thing that people who are wildly successful say to people who would like to have a career in whatever the successful person has been successful at. They always have some yada-yada-yada - that tries to soften the reality that there is no way to know if you can be successful. They often refer to the amount of luck that might be involved. They mention the amount of work that is involved and how work can be a real chore. 

The point I am making is that I am sure glad I never wanted to be a writer. I'm glad I only wanted to *write.* But, I found a way to write things where I don't have to come up with the words. How cool is that?

April from Hadley - California sign painter

Hadley is one of our college student pen pals. From the postmark we can see that she's in Maine. I like the stamp placement and am pondering doing something similar. It was a shock this morning when I discovered that I only have 3 days of posts scheduled to pop up. I'm writing this on the Saturday that just happened. Let's call it Scary Saturday. I need to fill up the rest of the month but I also need to do my May envelopes. On top of it we are in weeding season. I'm sure we will muddle through. The sun isn't even up. 

***

The Society for Calligraphy, the Southern California guild is having a guest speaker at their annual meeting. I love the story of how she got into lettering on walls. Somehow I ended up on their email list even though I am not a member. Here's the blurb about the speaker followed by a link to her website.

In this talk, Perla will share how lettering moves from design to wall, 

focusing on scaling methods like pounce patterns, layout, and on-site 

execution. Through process and experience, she offers a practical look 

at what changes when letterforms leave the page and are built at scale.

After many years of appreciating super market signs and even the hand 

lettered Home Depot signs, Perla Gallegos stumbled upon a "Paper 

Signs for Grocery Stores" workshop with John Downer.  She had always 

assumed they were signs created by talented employees and that it wasn't 

an actual JOB. She instantly fell in love with the craft and took another 

workshop with Australian sign painter John King. Shortly afterwards 

she took the leap and enrolled in the renowned Sign Graphics program 

at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College (LATTC ), where she was 

mentored by legendary instructors Doc Guthrie and Carlos Aguilar.

After leaving her career in architectural design, Perla launched 

Superlative Signs to focus fully on sign painting and beautifying 

business facades throughout Southern California. Specializing 

in traditional, custom hand-painted storefronts, murals, gold leaf 

gilding, window lettering for businesses such as restaurants, 

retail, hospitality, creative spaces and everything in between!

https://superlativesigns.com/home where you will need to surf to see her work.

Here is IG - which I prefer - https://www.instagram.com/perla.g_lettering/

It was really hard to chose an image - there are so many styles. Even though they are mostly wall and window size, I see many that look like envelopes. These aren't even favorites - if I had time I would go back and change this photo - but - it's weeding season.

 

Another stack of mail that popped up

 

These deserve their own posting - but - I have a situation on my desk that necessitates this group posting....

This is from Starla - I really hope I remember to use this layout. The Lucy stamp makes it extra special. I have something similar. I can't wait for June - thanks, Starla, for the idea.

Below is the one from Judi that I was going to show how I'd adjust the spacing - keep forgetting to get that done. <sigh>

This looks like Jessica's above and JeanR below.

It's a very fun square card - which coordinates with the design on the envelopes.

I like the question - and I don't think I see a specific answer.

It's more fun that there isn't an answer.

There might be lots of answers.

That's Janet's below - maybe it's already been posted?

It is nicely non-cancelled at the top. 

The cancellation looks much better at the bottom.

Very clever to coordinate a shamrock with a snowflake.

And Jackie's below. So cute. Also - that Forever stamp is one of my all time favorites.

The other stamp is also an all time favorite.

Below, Irene learned how to decorate with paisley patterns from Cecelia Boschi.

Irene wrote that she was not that pleased with her Roman capitals. 

They look fine to me. I know how hard it is to do Roman caps.

Amy sent a fun chicken popping out of an egg in March.

April to Julie and Cliff

These are the last two of the May envelopes and it's been a while since I loaded them. I load all the photos at once with the idea that I won't miss any - even though I may miss a few. I do feel like these were more pleasing to my eyes than some of the others. They are both newer exchangers - and with new names - sometimes it takes a while to get into a groove. Sometimes I wonder if I've *burned out* on the names that I've been doing for many years. 

How many years has it been, you might ask? The exchange started in Nov of 2013. It took a couple years for it to settle into a routine where sign up is on the first of each month - for four days. I just spent a couple hours flipping through the 2014-2015 blog posts and found all kinds of things that I had forgotten. The thing that was most surprising was that I did not start sending to everyone who signed up during the first year. It was my friend Jan who suggested I send to everyone.

I've had quite a few people whose names start with C and C has been a hard letter for me. I also have trouble with double letters - like gg, nn, tt (Maggie and Patty). Cliff was brand new in April and I was thinking I might have a hard time with the c and the ff - but - I was pleasantly surprised that this one was splashy and fun. Cliff must have liked it because he signed up again. I'm still in Chicago so I have not seen what Cliff sent from Mississippi. Having an exchanger in Mississippi will give me an opportunity to re-run some of my ideas for turning that state into a design element.

I wish I had put some red hearts on this one.....

 

April to JeanR and Maggie - Postcrossing stamp

 

Once again, these two clash and I do not want to see them too close together so I will be writing a big long blurb to fill in the space between them. JeanR's is one of the series where Jean gets an envelope with each of the round envelopes. I already mentioned how happy we are with the tall skinny Barbie stamps that are coming up. We are also wildly ecstatic about some triangular stamps that are coming. Maybe I won't fill up this space with extra jabbering...and I'll just add the triangular stamps that are coming below.

***

Postcrossing got its own stamp. I was pretty surprised that the USPS honored them. They are deserving - but who, exactly, are *they.*  I do not have time to do the research. All I know is that they have been around for a really long time, in *internet* years. People exchange postcards for the sake of exchanging. Maybe that's why the USPS honored them - because it promotes the buying of stamps. 

The colors are fabulous. I might have to buy some Astrobright envelopes. Or maybe get some neon colored markers. I had some neon highlighters a long time ago and they were fun.

April to Patty, Kate and Renee

 

I'm getting a queasy feeling that I over-did these big scripty names and that people will be disappointed in the postings and the blog is not providing something fun with maybe even a touch of inspiration. Sometimes I'm writing these blog posts to specific people. Other times I have my teacher hat on and am re-spouting the things I say all the time. 

Speaking of re-spouting, someone made a list of the things I spout and assembled them into a little work of art. I am so looking forward to sharing it with all y'all. Maybe I can work this into a cliff hanger. 

Renee is a newer exchanger - so I haven't done that name many times. Kate and I had an actual discussion about the two options on envelopes. A - is when the name itself becomes the focal point. B - is when there is a focal point and the name and address are filled into a face where any name and address would fit.

We pondered if people have a preference. Do people love the ones where their name is the focal point more than where there is some art - and the name is basically a functional portion? If anyone has a feeling or strong preference - it would be fun to hear from you.