pushing the envelopes
decorated envelopes, mail art, lettering ideas
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Mar and April from Riley
Monday, May 19, 2025
Mar or Apr from Geo - Yay sign
Sunday, May 18, 2025
April from Carolyn
Saturday, May 17, 2025
March from Leslie
Friday, May 16, 2025
March from Nanski - Meow Wolf
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I'm not much of a traveler - but one place I visited has really stuck in my head as being exceptional. Also pretty alternative to the usual tourist site. It is Meow Wolf which started in Santa Fe. I knew they had added other locations - and just announced that they will be building one in NYC.
It's an alternative to typical tourist traps - also very hard to describe - so, I'll leave it to you to delve into it on your own. I'm just mentioning it in case any of you happen to be in a place where you could visit one. I'd be curious to know if they ever have visitors who are disappointed. The website makes it look very trippy with flashing lights - which I think is misleading. To me, the use of lighting was very effective at transporting you into a different realm. You see everything up close - so you can appreciate the materials used to make the environments.
I couldn't find a picture I have of myself - opening the door of a refrigerator and finding a portal to another world ---
---but I did find this one of somebody else...
Thursday, May 15, 2025
March from Janet - May Madness
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I'm drawing a virtual line in the sands of time today. As I write this, it is May 1st and I just returned from that trip to Chicago. The exchangers are signing up and I have the stack of mail that arrived in April. The goal for this month is to photograph them and post them in an orderly fashion.
At this moment, I am in chore avoidance mode - so I am going to start with at least one add on. I have been fond of pressing leaves and flowers for a very long time. This will go in my *maybe never* folder. I have several things to tidy up before I turn to pressed flowers and leaves. It seems like a good activity for winter.
Here is the link to Jennie - LINK to Leafworks
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
April to Lynne - March from Patty and Jessica
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
April to Nanski - elevator operator
Earlier in the blog posts with the April envelopes that I sent, I mentioned coming up with ideas to test all my markers - and toss the ones that were too dry. This is the only one I did that was just straight *test-pattern* - I didn't think the idea had any potential - although, it would not rank as the worst one of the group. This makes me wonder if I should do a *ranking* of the May envelopes. I'm not one of those competitive types at all, so it surprises me that I would even think of such a thing.
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A video for anyone who needs to fill some time in a way that is helpful at filling time but does not cut into the list of things that one should be doing.
I don't have anything to say about the video. In a very odd way, the woman's devotion to her elevator job reminded me of my devotion to the blog....but, it's not the same at all.
https://psyche.co/films/mzia-the-elevator-operator-leaves-her-post-for-the-first-time-in-two-decades
My blurbs while I am out of town seem disjointed - so the remedy is to use up the pile of add-ons that are in the *maybe* folder.
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I have not started the posts with the May envelopes - but I still like the idea of ranking the envelopes - maybe I'll remember to do that in June. The May envelopes are wacky. I think Kate and Mia are the only two who got nice envelopes - and Kate's good one was inside one that was sooooo bad.
Monday, May 12, 2025
Mar from Sharen - Pantone

Sunday, May 11, 2025
April to Troy and Riley
Here are some more orphan stamps. I don't have anything to say about these. Troy's is on top because it's better than the two below. I came close to not even posting the two below - but, I am writing this while out of town and when I get home, it will be time to do the May envelopes and I am planning on returning with a better handle on how to proceed.
I get so motivated when I am away from home about how I'll choose the next month's stamps and designs so carefully. Maybe this time I'll stay on track.
Here is one of two that needed something else ---- I had to delete the other one because the address was not block-able. It was more layered than this one. The colors went well with the stamp - but it's ho hum.
Saturday, May 10, 2025
April to Patty. Leslie and Jessica - Hello Kitty/Mail Art - Part 4
To me, there is a parallel between the desire to give a little something that expresses feelings with a Hello Kitty trinket/talisman and the sending of mail art. Even though most of us will never meet in person, we share a *thing* about paper/pens/markers/stamps/etc - and most of us aren't going to turn our artistic projects into a business - so sharing that *thing* for paper, etc with other like minded people serves a purpose.
There is an endless stream of info about the value of making things as well as maintaining connections. Even if you never send anything but you just enjoy checking in to see the daily envelope - that's fine. It's not like we even agree on what's good and what's blah.
I thought I would enjoy using the lavender calligraphic stamps with these lavender envelopes. While I was not pleased with them at all, I did get positive feedback.
Friday, May 9, 2025
March from Amy --- Hello Kitty - Part 3
The item I noticed on the Hello Kitty website that I felt like talking about was this:
small gift, big smile®
It's more than just a catchy phrase; it's the foundation of everything we do, and we're proud to say we've been creating smiles for 50 years.
At Sanrio, we believe that a gift is more than just a gift. Rather, a gift is a means of expressing our heartfelt feelings for others. This philosophy guides all of our activities, whether we're designing a stationery set, a retail store, or an animated television series.
From Sanrio boutiques showcasing the ultimate Sanrio collection to smaller assortments in other shopping environments, we invite all our friends and guests to experience the magic of these four simple words.
Thursday, May 8, 2025
March from Grace --- Hello Kitty - Part 2
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Guess what - one more day of musings on Hello Kitty. I like to take everything back to what we were doing when we lived in caves. At what point did we start collecting and giving talismans. Is that the correct plural for talisman? (I checked. It is.)
What is the difference between a talisman and a trinket? Who is in charge of determining such things? Cave mom's must have had to deal with kids who brought home too many rocks. Several years ago I followed a woman with a funny IG account that included videos of the various stashes of rocks that kept appearing in her house. She lived in a rural area. She would share videos of her own *thing* which was surreptitiously taking a random rock from each stash and *re-homing* them.
15 second delay while I researched talisman ... they are supposed to have magical powers. Apparently people think they are somehow more powerful than a trinket. Again - who is in charge of such things. I think I can find my box of trinkets that are not magical per se - but they have the power to delight me. To find *delight* is powerful - in JeanWorld.
Well, this is long enough and I have not even gotten to the Hello Kitty part. I guess this will be a 3 parter.
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
March from Irene - Hello Kitty
Shout out to Annette who left a comment yesterday. She's going to send a birthday greeting to Frank. I like the idea of posting random addresses to people who we don't know. And, I even have a name and address in my stack that I need to post. Stay tuned. It's a postal worker.
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One more brand-truck - Hello Kitty.
One of these is going to be in Des Moines and they have had several trucks out and about since 2014. My initial thought was this: is Hello Kitty too banal for my blog? Should I even spend time diving into the history? There wasn't much history on their website other than 2025 is Hello Kitty's 50th anniversary. So I surfed over to Wikipedia and discovered that Hello Kitty is right up there with Mickey Mouse.
Wikipedia did not make that observation. It just occurred to me that nobody can explain the longevity of certain images. A mouse and a cat. I've been trying to think of any dog character that has attained Mickey Mouse or Hello Kitty status - and so far, I have not come up with one. Any birds? I'd put Smokey the Bear up there - but nobody has monetized him. Please let me know who I am forgetting.
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
March from Kristin in Winterset
This is from a new exchanger, Kristin, who lives close enough to Des Moines that her mail gets postmarked here. If you recall the envelope I posted that I sent to her - it said Winterset. I've been there to visit the Iowa Quilt Museum. Winterset is the home of Fons&Porter - which you recognize if you are a quilter. It is also in the heart of Madison County and most of us are familiar with the book and movie, The Bridges of Madison County.
Monday, May 5, 2025
March from Liz - Nutty Cruiser
Sunday, May 4, 2025
March from Susan - more from Laurie Doctor
Saturday, May 3, 2025
April to Hadley, Christy, Patty and Mary - Standards - high and low
