Monday, March 18, 2024

To Tom from Sharen - Part 3 - Big wedding


 Sharen is a newer exchanger. I wonder if she has done - or still does addressing for wedding invitations. Her pointed pen script is lovely.

***
Here's the part of the story that illustrates what a special person Tom is. There was a gathering for all the local vendors a week after the wedding. As we were reflecting on various aspects - everyone agreed that Tom had been the glue that held them all together on the day of the event. 

I'll never forget one of the team leaders saying to me - "Yeah, there were times when we'd be freaking out and we'd just have to find Tom and get *a dose of Tom.* I love that expression. He really does have a remarkable way of bringing calm to any situation.

Recently, I introduced him to someone - and he has a new part time gig - to keep busy during his semi-retirement. Every single time I talk to my friend who knows him through his new gig - she gushes over how *everyone loves Tom.* She remarked that there is one person who is a sour-puss who doesn't like anyone - *but she LOVES Tom.*

OK - enough gushing about Tom -- tomorrow we have to start our slog through the envelopes I did in February. Brace yourself -- there is some redundency.

Sunday, March 17, 2024

To Tom from Paula - Part 2 - Big wedding


Paula probably doesn't know how good her lettering is. She often writes little comments on the back of her envelopes pointing out things that she doesn't like. Other times she'll write more on the inside. Paula: You need to know that the orderly-ness of your penmanship is above average. Troy has his FOJ - Fear of Jean pointing out things that she thinks could be improved - which I actually don't do - but I might start (LOL - JK) What I do - is point out things that I like - and then when I say what it is - people who don't do that jump to the conclusion that I am critical of sloppy lettering that is not orderly. OK - yes - I do prefer orderly - but that doesn't mean that I never like dis-orderly. I'll be on the lookout for something dis-orderly that is eye-catching in a good way.

***

 Part 2 of the mother of all events story.

So, Tom was in charge of everything. I can't remember how many people I hired to help with the napkin/place card component. All I know is that I had to calculate enough people to show up and do it after the tables were set - and I knew the lighting people would cause a huge delay - and my napkin crew had to be *on call* to show up when the tables were ready - which was going to be the last minute.

And then Tom had to make sure that the napkins were there - but not anywhere that somebody would move one of boxes or all of them -- It seems like there were about 8-10 Banker's Boxes. At some point - he would have brought them into the dining room and put them in the general vicinity of the tables. 

Sure enough -- as the crew was finally summoned to put the napkins out - at least one of the boxes went missing. I still get PTSD thinking about stuff like this. It seems silly - but when people are paying you to do something simple - you actually want to get it right.

At least I was not the vendor who got the layers of the cake all stacked up - and then realized that it was too tall to go through the doorway.

Tom and his crew did a spectacular job of getting everything right. The missing box was found. They even went above and beyond - when the groom decided that he wanted to honor the memory of his grandmother by having her favorite candy in a candy dish s.o.m.e.w.h.e.r.e -- I'm not sure where they put it - but my crew ran out and found the candy and Tom lettered a nice little card to sit next to it.

One final note tomorrow.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

To Tom from Kate - Part 1 - Big wedding


This is nice - both colors and layout. Nicely un-canceled. I think Kate took a course in architectural lettering. Maybe this will inspire others to work on their lettering. For starters - you can Google *architectural lettering* and there many fun examples.

OK - here's a Tom saves the day story with details. After years of working with the one event planner on big events, I had the opportunity to work with a different event planner on the *mother of all events* - (does anyone use that expression any more? ) Events are relative - this one was spectacular by Iowa standards - which means you hire a ton of stuff out of Chicago - the band, the vintage cars, the light show, the luge ice sculpture, the tent for the afterparty - which included furniture to create a lounge. The after party band was from LA - and you'd recognize the name.

I will preface by saying that I have nothing against people who want to go overboard on weddings because they are providing welcome income to people who like to create memorable events. I started working on the event in November (invitations) and had not really paid attention to the calendar for the following May - when the wedding was scheduled.

It wasn't until January or February that I realized prior to booking the wedding, I had booked myself into an out of town teaching gig on the weekend of the wedding. I had to tell the client that I would be gone - and assure them that I had someone who was even better than me at being on call for the weekend.

Luckily Tom was up for the challenge. He had to bring his nibs and ink and be ready to write out any last minute place cards or escort cards. The bigger part of the job was putting out all the place cards and lining up the escort cards. It seems like there were 300 - 350 guests -- that was a lot of tables.

I had been in the planning meeting where the lighting people (from Chicago) assured the dining room people that the lighting would be done by 10 am. I knew that was not going to happen - but nobody is going to listen to the calligrapher if she casts doubt on the guys from Chicago who swagger around like they know how things go in Iowa. 

I also knew that you can't trust the people who set the tables to put the place cards on the tables - and it's not like they were regular place cards - they were belly bands (a strip of paper) that went around the napkin that was on the plate.

So, I had to get all of the napkins with paper bands done ahead and in Banker's Boxes - that would be labeled so that people who could read cursive - could get the names on the right tables.... it seems like an easy job... but it is way too challenging for some of the people who set tables - some are fine - but you can't be sure that there won't be one rogue who will make a crucial mistake.

And I knew the worst part was going to be protecting those boxes. Why can I see into the future?

 

Friday, March 15, 2024

To Tom from Amy - event stories without actual details


This is cute - and relates to Tom, I know one of the nice things he does for friends is dog sitting. Sometimes he even drives all the way to Kansas City and picks up the dogs. 

One of the first things I remember him doing for me was not just a volunteer job - but it was helpful on many levels. It was back in the day when I did a lot of work with an event planner. We were working on a huge wedding that was about 3 hours north of Des Moines and the event planner needed people who could come and spend the weekend at the location. 

Tom had a day job that was in the world of graphic design and web design for a nationally known company. But, I knew he did some moonlighting with a well known hotel chain which provided some nice discounts when he traveled. So, knowing he had hospitality experience, I recommended him for the job with the event planner.

One of my regrets is that I did not keep a log of all the stories of all the crazy things that happened at that job. It was crazy. I felt bad about getting Tom involved - but - apparently he thrives on crazy events - because he went on to work on many jobs for the event planner. 

I'm being careful about saying anything specific - which is too bad - because they are entertaining stories. It feels too gossipy to say more. Suffice it to say -- Tom saved the day on many occasions. 

 

Thursday, March 14, 2024

To Tom from Susan - critiquing stamps


This one makes me long for more monster stamps. I think I had 3 or 4 sheets of them at one time - and they are almost all gone.

By the way - when I saw the wall chart of all the stamps coming out in 2024 I was struck by how many of them were images that turned to mush at a distance. I'll have to look more closely - but it seemed like they were mostly based on photographs. The Ansel Adams stamps stood out for being black and white. You might want to get a few sheets of those. It seems like there are lot of beautiful envelopes based on just black and white - but not that many options for black and white stamps.

OK - I did further research - Dungeons & Dragons and Carnival - mush
Turtles, horses, shaker furniture, humming birds - photographs - all fairly mushy, colorwise.
The new 1 and 2 ounce set with watercolor flowers is mushy. Brighter, but still mushy.
And there is another orange-mush set - autumn leaves - mush.

The big hits - for graphic design are the round ones, the snowflakes, and Underground Railroad. 
Year of the dragon - and the red and white love stamp are nice.

Here's a link - maybe they won't seem mushy to you.

Or maybe it will be a whole lot easier to color coordinate envelope designs with stamps when the colors are not so specific.

And by mushy - I mean that there is no dominant color. I'm not explaining this very well.

 

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

To Tom from Leslie - Tom's cake


Fun and festive - thank you Leslie. As I fill the blog posts over several days, I forget what I have written and have jumped around - so apologies for the chaos - except chaos is our middle name. 

In the midst of the chaos, I received an email from Tom - gushing over how much he enjoyed the envelopes and how frustrated he was that he had not sent any kind of thank you - to me - or maybe to the whole group - he did not specify - and his email was like getting hit with the proverbial ton-of-bricks reminder that I was supposed to tell stories about Tom when I posted his envelopes. 

We've all known people who go above and beyond in helping others. If there were a Nobel Prize for Niceness - Tom would win one. And it is not just me -- it's everyone I know who knows him. I don't even. know which story to start with. 

I've known Tom for 30 years. We met through the (late) calligraphy guild - and we have stayed in touch. He's a very talented artist and it's not my place to relate all the things that he does for other people - but trust me - they are above and beyond. 
 
One quick story - during one of the guild weekend workshops - he found out that it was my birthday and baked me a cake to share at the workshop -- and decorated it with very clever *flags.* I think I posted a picture on the blog - I'll look for it - maybe. Part of me does not enjoy seeing the youthful Jean enjoying cake at a workshop. All things that are very dusty memories. <sigh>
OK
here is a link to the photo - 
I'm the one on the right - my mom is the one on the left.
Currently, I am looking a lot like my mom <sigh>
But, it's worth seeing the cute idea for the cake.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

To Tom from Juliana - cardboard trolls


This is a very fun idea and goes nicely with the stamp.  Sorry for the short blurb - I've got more to fill.

Juliana has kids - so I'm tossing this idea her way - in case they want to be a family of trolls for halloween. If they like my idea - they'll probably need to get started.

There was an earlier post about the wooden trolls made by this artist - but this cardboard one is inspirational.

 

LINK to making yourself into a cardboard troll  this is a video with the instructions - probably not that interesting unless you like making things out of cardboard.



Monday, March 11, 2024

To Tom from Jessica - USPS story




 Very nice, Jessica - my favorite part is the dot-dot-dot-dot on each section of lace - and then the 4 dots on the zip code - subtle - but repetition is one of my favorite design principles.

***
The USPS story.
It's crazy complicated - so I will leave out the why and how it happened - but there is a car title that has been mailed to my older son's PO Box in Lake Tahoe. There is a forwarding notice at the PO - to send the title to my house - which will be my son's US address - because he is living in Whistler, BC (Canada).
We've been waiting for a couple months for the title to show up - and his plates are expired - so he really needs the title to get plates in Canada.

Nobody answers the phone at the PO in Tahoe - and he knows that they must be short of workers because the PO window is only open for a couple hours per day. People can access their PO boxes - but the window is on very limited hours. There is no door-to-door delivery in Tahoe.

So, I went down to our main PO and asked what could be done - about finding a piece of mail that needed to be forwarded. The head of the clerks at our main post office told me that they were about 3 weeks behind on processing the DM mail that was to be forwarded -- but she did send an email to the Tahoe office - asking them to look for any mail with my son's name.

It was interesting to find out one more place where the USPS can get bogged down - or bottle necked. It was really nice of her to even bother with helping me. 

***
Update--  more forwarded mail has been arriving - no car title yet -- 
***
I read the USPS union newsletter - and sometime in April - I'll post what I learned. 

Sunday, March 10, 2024

To Tom from the Westchester scribes

I think this is Irene's


I think this is Lynne's


I think this is Maggie's 

There are three people in Westchester County who exchange. When my daughter (with husband and first grand baby) lived in Stamford CT for a year - I discovered the Westchester airport which pretty much saved my sanity. It's small - but a perfect alternative to driving into LaGuardia. Mostly, I am very proud of myself that I discovered it all by myself. My daughter and son-in-law - world travelers - had no idea that there was a charming little one-room airport - right in their back yard.

The *gates* are doors, at ground level - where you walk out the door and then you walk between painted lines that guide you to your plane. There are people watching to make sure you stay between the lines. Then you climb the stairs. A real trip down memory lane so to speak.

I went to the website to see if I could find a good photo - and the have a photo of the traditional *tube thing* to walk through - so maybe they have added it since I was there - 9 years ago.

I'm 99% sure that I have the right names on the envelopes - if not - I am sure they will alert me. 

Once again - I am bumping my USPS story to tomorrow.



Saturday, March 9, 2024

To Tom from Mary - Electronic paper

 


Mary has had some problems with mail being returned to her - even when the lettering was clear. She's consulted with me on what's going on - and on one - I could see where the space between the house number and street name might have been confusing. I have no idea if the scanner can pick up something like this. I still hope to find a postal worker who will talk to me. 

I had a postal story in mind, but now I am going to bump it to tomorrow.

***

https://remarkable.com/?region_id=000250&msclkid=3c4e720804f01789b48317b537baea00

I do not recall where I got this link - I think from the BigHelpfulBrother. It's about electronic paper. I remember finding it interesting - but now I do not recall anything. I struggle with electronic things. I have a whole box of electronic things and I need to lure him over to my house to discuss what to do with them. I'm posting this so that he can be stockpiling excuses for why he can't help me with something that is beyond my comprehension. We have a long history of him trying to impart knowledge into a receptacle that was not having it. 

Friday, March 8, 2024

To Tom from Patty --- The Gentle Penman

 


Eleven posts to write -- I know Patty personally - and we might discuss the pros and cons of 4, 6 or 8-pointed snowflakes. But only if she remembers to bring it up. Since her career was in the education universe - she'll have a lot to add to the conversation. She gets A+ for being consistently supportive of my admonition to give the USPS a nice clear address that the scanners can pick up. I have a USPS story for tomorrow.

***

I do not recall if I have ever linked to The Gentle Penman - if I have - it's been a while. Over the years, there were a few different websites that popped up to offer online calligraphy courses. Then the pandemic swooped in and the whole world shifted gears to be more organized about online options. 

I do not know the Gentle Penman - he seems young and he is not on the list of instructors - so, I'm guessing he was the magic person who showed up and figured out a way to build the largest stable of most highly skilled scribes who are willing to teach. It looks like he is in Hong Kong. Now I'm curious to learn more about him. Oh - that was easy - click on the [About] tab - https://www.thegentlepenman.com/about

Maybe everyone already knows about The Gentle Penman - if not - happy surfing - here is the list of instructors. It was fun for me to see how may of them I have met personally (hint: they are the ones with gray hair) - I've met 13 of them -- taken classes from 7 - back in the olden days when we classes were in person.

https://www.thegentlepenman.com/team

Thursday, March 7, 2024

To Tom from Gloria - puzzle prints


I love that circle. I want to do more circles. I love copperplate. I do not see much copperplate in my future. I just see frantic typing. Sorry.

***

Here is something for anyone interested in printmaking. The artist lives in the Netherlands. The first link is to the main Instagram link - and the second one is to the particular listing that shows a very cool way of cutting the actual *block* into puzzle pieces - and putting different colors of ink on each one - and then putting the puzzle together. A very clever way to get many colors without having to get all the different parts to *register.*

LINK to Tatianasta's IG

LINK to *puzzle* print technique

and if you are wondering how she keeps all the inks from drying before she gets around to pulling the print - here's another interesting page.

LINK to what inks she uses

This makes me want to return to printing - and the best part of this technique is that you can do it all at home - you do not need a press.


Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Extra post - Lloyd Reynolds book

 Today's regular post is below.

I have a spare copy of the Lloyd Reynolds book - Weathergrams.

If anyone would like to pay the postage - I will be happy to send it to them.

The book is digitized - but some people still like hard copies

LINK to digitized Weathergrams  

There are a couple on Amazon - and people are asking $40

If you are interested - email me:  ptenvelopes(at)aol(dot)com



To Tom from JeanR - Dempsey and Carroll

 


Forgive me while I do a little freak out about the time flying. I had been keeping the blog filled at least a month ahead - and just discovered that I am only a week ahead. A WEEK. Brace yourselves - the next couple weeks will have very short blurbs. And probably be repetitive -- which is a reflection of my poor writing skill. I really do like every envelope - but sometimes I have to do deep pondering to pin-point what exactly it is that I like. 

This one is clever - clever use of ideas off the stamp - generally geometric without being literal - and nice white space. Love it.

***

Back in the day - when I addressed wedding invitations - I was alway happiest when I was writing on either Crane's or William Arthur. You could get actual steel engraving from both companies. I remember hearing about another company but do not recall the name --- and then, out of the blue, I was reading an article that mentioned Dempsey and Carroll. Oh.My.Gosh. I wonder why it's taken them this long to pop up on my radar. I think it's because there is a level above the 1% - something like the .0001% who has their own exclusive purveyors of goods. 

In addition to fine stationery - they have a leather envelope. I'm not sure how one uses a leather envelope. Maybe someone knows and will enlighten us. It's only 4"x 6" - so I don't think it's a purse. Unless the only thing you need to carry is your Black American Express card. By the way - did you know that even though there is no limit to how much you can charge on a Black AmEx - you have to pay the balance, in full, during the next billing cycle. 

https://www.dempseyandcarroll.com/




Tuesday, March 5, 2024

To Tom from Christy +Lego artist

 


I have a page of these stamps - and I love them - but they are turning into a good example of loving a stamp - but struggling to find a design that I love equally. The way Christy used the blue - and then snowflakes reflect how the stamp had a bunch of little line drawings is giving me an idea. Of course, I like the scanner-friendly address, too.

***

Shout out to the BigHelpfulBrother who sent me this link. I've already posted some Lego sculpture that I designed using only one color per sculpture. This video will have me back with the tubs of Lego. I was interested that this artist insists that Lego is always Lego and never Legos. I'm not sure I will be able to reform myself on that item.

LEGO VIDEO on YouTube



Monday, March 4, 2024

OOO - from Janet -- Feckless and dolt

OutOfOrder


I really like this one - and accidentally posted it on the 9th of March - 

I'll just leave it here - and make a note later

***

 Quite some time ago - I used the word *dolt* and wondered if it was OK to use that terms. Later, I saw the word *feckless* - and wondered if that word was OK - or has maybe become offensive.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dolt

feckless
fÄ•k′lÄ­s

adjective

  1. Careless and irresponsible.
  2. Feeble or ineffective.
  3. Spiritless; weak; worthless.

Then these words popped up later:

Nudnik
Nimnul


To Tom from Janet - Book covers

Most of us were in winter/snowflake mode in January. I'm writing this on a 50° day in February. Is there any way for me to remember how to make the ° symbol. I have to look it up every dang time. Grrr.

Janet added icicles, too. So pretty - but so much damage to roofs and eaves. For the January exchange, I had people send envelopes to Tom. He's an old friend from my guild days. I was not with him when he opened them so I do not have photos of any cards that might have been inside. I knew that his birthday was in January.

I might have some stories about Tom as this batch of envelopes pops up. He's a marvelous person - and I'm glad that we've stayed in touch - beyond the guild days.

*** 

Holy-moly --- these book covers are gorgeous.


You may see more - and find additional links here:



Sunday, March 3, 2024

BONUS POST - Non-machineable mail

 It's hard to make a post stand out - especially one without a cool photo -  but here goes. I'm trying to nudge us towards conforming (our envelopes) to a system that relies on machines and scanners - and while we have friendly carriers who come to our house - there are a lot of other workers along the way who would like the mail to be *regular.*

I had a conversation with an exchanger who had heard from a postal employee (a clerk) that the clear plastic envelopes were NON-MACHINEABLE MAIL and subject to a surcharge.

That sounded goofy to me - but, I was wrong - and after two clicks - I am now enlightened.

There is a copy/paste from what I found below. The highlights are MINE.

First - my own commentary:

The first bullet point addresses flimsy mail. So - that's a new one to me - but I totally get it.

Second bullet point is only for those of us who love math. Stick to traditional, rectangular envelopes and you will be ok.

Third bullet point -- NO PLASTIC. Got it.

Fourth bullet point - no buttons - I assume this means even decorative ones - and my son who spent a lot of time shoveling shredded mail out of machines that were bigger than his house - says he is not a fan of anything other than sturdy paper.

Fifth bullet point - while I enjoy enclosures - it's best to keep our envelopes as flat and bump-free as possible.

Sixth bullet point - yup - they would like those addresses to be horizontal - on the landscape orientation of the envelope.

A square envelope is non-machineable - and they now cost $1.12

*****

nonmachinable mailpiece is a mailpiece that must be sorted outside of the standard, automated mail process. Because it is more expensive to processes these mailpieces, a surcharge applies to them.

The nonmachinable surcharge is added to First-Class Mail® with any of the following criteria:

  • For pieces more than 4-1/4 inches high or 6 inches long, the thickness is less than 0.009 inch
  • The length divided by height is less than 1.3 or more than 2.5 (length is the dimension parallel to the address)
  • It is poly-bagged, poly-wrapped, enclosed in any plastic material, or has an exterior surface made of a material that is not paper
  • It has clasps, strings, buttons, or similar closure devices
  • It is too rigid or contains items such as pens, keys or coins that cause the thickness of the mailpiece to be uneven
  • It has a delivery address parallel to the shorter dimension of the mailpiece

***

LINK to the page that I copy/pasted 

Today's regular post is below.

William Schaff - secret note - weather reporting

 


I ran across William Schaff's IG a while back and have mixed feelings about linking to him. His work is edgier than what I usually post. His mail art is an aside to what he usually produces and it looks like he does make a living off his art. Recently, these popped up up and I am posting them as examples of non-USPS friendly mail. While the Charlie Brown envelope is very legible - it might not be scanner-friendly. 

He is very good at drawing bodies to go with the stamps that feature heads and skulls. As much as I love the compositions - my banner days are over. 



***

This is for people who have been wondering what kind of people figured out that we could have a coordinated effort of watching the weather and then predicting the weather.

LINK to a secret note and early weather reporting


https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/secret-note-victorian-dress?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=06175cc5ad-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_01_18&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-06175cc5ad-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=06175cc5ad&mc_eid=4ac0f9a8f0

Saturday, March 2, 2024

From Sharon to Mary in Jan - messy mandalas

 


Thanks, Mary, for sending a picture of your Nov mailing from Sharon. It's beautiful - hopefully I'll remember do some uncials and add dots. And dashes or lines. It's a very nice combo.

***

LINK to mindful messy mandalas


Remember the link to the website in England with Crafts for Wellbeing? I clicked around to see if there were any ideas that looked like fun - and messy mandalas have *jean* written all over them. I like to take the letters in names and turn them into patterns.

Friday, March 1, 2024

March Exchange Sign-up - Flowers from Rachael

 How ironic that yesterday's blog post was celebrating that I had not lapsed into chaos and today (Feb 19) I discover that this post is empty - and all the Jan posts are in order. So, I could post one of the Feb envelopes which is in the folder - but then it would be out of order. Or - I could play the Pinterest game and find something random - that has already been posted. <1 minute spent at Pinterest> Bingo.


This is a screen shot. I tried to find it on the blog to get the original photo - and I am pretty sure it's from Rachael - but why can't I find it. Grrrrr. I think I might steal the idea for my March envelopes.
Warning to anyone who has the same idea - my address is really short - and the success of this design has a lot to do with the compact address. I need to choose my design ideas based on length of address - as well as length of name.

Time to sign up for the March exchange:
Sign up is Mar 1-4 -- and I email the lists on the 5th.

Please send the info in the following format to me at
ptenvelopes(at)aol(dot)com

Your Name
123 Your Address
City/State/ZIP
your email
(2 lists) (birthday)

You may offer to be on 2 lists - if I need extra names to make the lists come out even
You may mention that you have a March birthday - birthday themed envelopes are optional

Details on how the exchange works are here:





Thursday, February 29, 2024

JAN Rabbit+grid to Jessica


 Jessica's envelopes tend to be in their own category due to the length of both names. Grids are one of my go-to design principles. I did manage to do all the Jan envelopes in an orderly fashion. The goals were to stick to one style/color of envelope and go through all my markers and weed out the dry ones and also use up sheets of stamps to eliminate orphans. The next goal was to photograph all of them and get them posted  in consecutive days so that I have a handle on what has been posted. 

Now I'm thinking about a celebration to celebrate that I didn't lapse into chaos. I will refrain, because all of this happened during the blizzard followed by cold spell - so being house bound is probably 75% of the reason I didn't get distracted and wander off into chaos. 

Or perhaps, I have reformed. Time will tell. Tomorrow we will start on the envelopes that arrived in January.

***

Real time comment: One of the exchangers emailed me and said they liked the envelope I sent - and I couldn't remember what it looked like - and I can't find a photo of it - so there will be no celebration. Maybe March will be better.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

JAN Rabbit stamps to Janet and Mary

Correction - yesterday I said I thought the lettering idea had come from Cathy - but it came from Rachael. I fixed the post at 3:25 pm.


 These two are the same style as the one to Cathy - and had lots more colors to work with since I had a few of last year's Year of the Rabbit to use up. I'm looking forward to some dragons for this year. This style of lettering is pretty versatile - I'll probably keep it in the stack of ideas that get to live near the top of the piles.


Real time comment: some of the blurbs on the Jan envelopes are short - and there aren't many add-ons. But, we'll just have to deal with it - because that's what we've been learning over the past several decades: not everything turns out the way we were thinking it would. Some days I'm chatty and some days I'm not.

Did I ever tell the story about picking up my first child at a little Mother's Morning Out drop off program? The kids were 2 years old - so every mom would pick up their child, literally - when the kids came running to be reunited - and then we would chit chat for a bit - while holding the toddlers. One mom picked up a little boy and asked him: Did you bite anybody?

The rest of the mom's were startled - and also speechless. The 2-year old boy could feel several sets of eyes boring a hole through him and the silence was awkward - so he shrugged and said: Sometimes I bite and sometimes I don't.

When I made that comment in the first paragraph - it unearthed the story. I just read an interesting article on memory. It's NYTimes - so it might pop up as one free article per month - otherwise it's behind a firewall. If you want to read .

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/02/04/magazine/charan-ranganath-interview.html?campaign_id=190&emc=edit_ufn_20240218&instance_id=115502&nl=from-the-times&regi_id=73964244&segment_id=158554&te=1&user_id=2c9533d03031c47a74b8d465fb2a92af


Tuesday, February 27, 2024

JAN Peanuts stamps to Cathy, JeanR and Kate


After I was weary from doing the medieval versals, I had 3 Peanuts stamps left and tried this style that arrived on an envelope from Rachael. It was lots of fun - although it was hard to execute using markers. 

Jean's is ho-hum - and Kate's took forever to do - and was disappointing. As I was scrutinizing the way Charles Schultz drew shoelaces, I was wishing I had just stuck with medieval versals. <sigh>

The amount of time it took to do the lettering on Jean's was absurd. I am mesmerized by outlining (on the name) but is it a good use of time? I can see how much better it is - but nobody else sees the *before*. And then each stroke on the address was a scritchy-scratchy back and forth maneuver that took so much time - and the effect isn't commensurate with the time it took.



The problem with Kate's is: the shoes are way too small. I should have made them bigger and overlapping. Grrrrr.
And some of them should have been tipped up and shown the bottom of the shoe. The success of lifting ideas off the stamp is to do it right. Don't dumb it down.
Grrrr
As a wise person once said: There's never enough time to do it right - but always time to do it over. If I happen to find another sheet of Peanut's stamps - I might. buy them and do this one over.


 

Monday, February 26, 2024

JAN versals to Patty, Paula and Juliana


I have some pages from a book that might have been a Dover book. I put the individual pages into plastic sleeves and used them in classes - and they have been lost in the stacks for a while. There was a time when I really enjoyed reproducing illuminated letters so it was interesting to try them again. My envelopes were too thin to stand up to wet media so I went with Pima Microns and ZIGs. Pigmas are actually pretty good.

The juxtaposition of Peanuts and medieval versals is silly. 


The Q I was looking at when I did Juliana's had that odd border thing going up and I wish I would have left it off.  Or better idea with my 20-20 hindsight - would have been to have it turn a corner and border the envelope.