August to Teri - Laboratorio Paravicini

The pink could have been muddy over the blue. I would have liked a little better color coordination on her last name. Maybe black would have been better. The idea of little silver robots was a good idea. Where I missed the boat was making then so small. Remember one of our best design tools - scale? Make something really big. It's not my finest border but it has potential.

Our add on today is swoon-worthy plates from Italy. Our five remaining plates that are perfect for sandwiches and have had 49 years of daily use are getting too crazed for me. I can handle a certain amount of patina on a plate but they are starting to bother me. Sooooo - in searching for replacement plates, I found this place in Italy - all hand painted and way out of my price range. But, there are tons of good ideas for envelopes.

https://www.paravicini.it/pages/ready-made

LINK to Instagram -- if you prefer Instagram. They have videos on Instagram which are swoonier than just still shots.

 

August to Liz - artists in their studios videos

 

This is one of the last envelopes I did using the Rolly font. I did black on white and then white on black. Then I decided to try some color. Forgetting my own solid advice about having a stamp in mind prior to choosing colors, I just pulled out purple. Big mistake. I currently do not have any stamps with purple. There is a tiny bit on this stamp. It would have been so much better if the *LIZ* had been in that light blue. It would have been better to have some much larger stars running off the edge of the envelope. It would have been better to reflect the verticality of the stamp somewhere.

***

I've watched several of these videos and thoroughly enjoyed them. Many are interviews with artists living in lofts in NYC. Most of them (or maybe all of them) are older people. They are unique however there is a common thread through most of the interviews when they share their perspective on how gratifying it has been to live life as an artist. It seems as though one doesn't choose to be an artist - the art chooses the person.

This is the most recent one - 8 minutes. LINK to Ben Schonzeit

LINK to the filmmakers main list   with lots more. Some videos are not about artists - there's one about the guy who releases the confetti on Times Square, some tapestry restoration, painting ballet shoes and the last flower factory in America. 

 

I Googled Ben's name to see more of his work since I had not heard of him - some spectacular photorealism of flowers and food as well as some more abstract work.

Aug to Jessica and Jeanette - Mimi

These two were returned to me. They had stickers with bar codes and I had used a return address label on the back. I didn't follow my own advice and put the sticker on the short edge of the envelope so that the orientation was vertical so that the scanner wouldn't pick it up. Let this be a warning to all of us that we really have to work at making our envelopes scanner friendly.

The style of lettering is the one from Rolly. I used two different types of white gel pen. I like the detail provided by the finer pen on Jessica's. But I prefer the whiter white on Jeannette's. 

***

It is so much fun when my pen pals send me things like this. It's from Mimi who has an impressive career in the special collection world. It is a 15th century book and the rubricator is complaining about their fingers being tired. Now that I look closely - that looks like a book that is typeset. And the first typeset books were from the 15th century - 1455 is the date most often associated with the Gutenberg bible.

I wonder if they only printed in black, leaving space for the red - and then all the red had to be done by hand. Note to self...ask Mimi if that's how it worked.

Aug from Patty - guinea fowl wallpaper

Patty researched and found one of the Barbie fonts which looks great on that hot pink. I almost wish I had another sheet of Barbie stamps. Patty used the Posca paint markers and mentioned that they can be too juicy and then dry up faster than one would expect. In my experience, the type of paper can influence the behavior of the markers. Art supplies require a lot of trial and error. Then, in a perfect world, you keep a log of successes and failures so that you can refer back to what worked and what didn't. Sometimes an ornery pen or marker can be a failure on everything you try - and then you finally find something that works well ---- but then it doesn't last long because there were so many test runs that used up the ink or paint. 

***

Here is a long video with Juan Pablo Molyneux showing the restoration of his mansion in Paris. He's a charming person and the mansion is quite lovely. I have no idea if anyone is interested. I included it because there is one room where he had the entire wall space covered with the feathers from guinea fowl. I have fond memories of tending to a flock of guinea fowl while visiting my grandmother and uncles on a ranch in Montana. I loved the polka dot feathers. And we all know how much I love dots - and how I rely on them to solve design problems.

Link to 1 hour video go to 55:32 minutes for the feather room.

Aug to Lisa and Amaya

 

Two more from the Rolly series made towards the end when I stuck closer to Rolly's style. The two of them show that the particular letters make a huge difference. Amaya's is sooooo good - and Lisa's is clunky. It's only slightly clunky. Maybe it's just blah. There's no visual interest to the way the letters fit together. Of course, I could look at this as a challenge and make myself work harder on this style. 

Would the readers enjoy that journey or would they rebel? And if there was a rebellion, exactly what would that look like? Can anyone tell that I have just finished my noon coffee? 

These two envelopes were also hand made. They don't bother me as much as the pink one. How could anyone be bothered by gray? And there was nothing wrong with the pink one before I put colors and a stamp on and they were all clashing. It would have been fun to find something perfect to go with that pink.

Aug to Carole Violett

Carole was an exchanger back in 2018-2020. If you do a search for [Carole] many envelopes will pop up. I think there were two Caroles - so I'm not sure all of them will be from CaroleV. She always included a fun handmade card and letter. It was fun to hear from Carole out of the blue so I responded. I usually respond to all my mail but I think some of it has been lost to the ages. I mimicked the flowers that Carole had put on her envelope and mine are OK. 

I'm not happy with the lettering and the stamp doesn't help things. I made the envelope out of a random piece of leftover paper and I hope I don't try that again. Random paper needs to be used as filler. Making envelopes by hand is way too tedious for me in my current situation. If I ever get to the point where I can no longer drive around and get lots of stuff done - then I will relax into the gentle art of making envelopes by hand. I will also treat myself to those crazy expensive roller tape dispensers.

 

August to Chuck

 

The next few days will be mail that was sent around the time I was working on the August exchange envelopes. This is that font I borrowed from Rolly. Although it was probably never turned into a font. It was probably always hand lettering. This was done very close to the end after I had followed Rolly's work and then gone off on my own tangent and then a few days later I reined myself in and followed Rolly again. While all y'all are probably weary of me saying that a person needs to do 15-20 envelopes to really decide how they feel about a style - I'm saying it again. When people try something on one-five envelopes and say they didn't like it - I'm not sure they really gave it a chance.

Here's a postcard I sent. I have a whole pack of them that I have had for a couple years and it's hard to part with them because they are so fun - but, I'm going to make myself mail them.

The pack even came with a fridge magnet of that mail carrier. 

June from Juliana - Rolly Crump

Juliana had a marvelous idea. She deconstructed an envelope and covered it with her own design...a watery scene to go with the beach stamp. She colored part of it in with colored pencils and left the rest for the recipients to finish. 

Our add-on today is Rolly Crump - a designer for Disney who was 93 when he died in 2026. His work popped up on Pinterest and was the inspiration for my August envelopes. At the moment (2:42 pm on July 19th) I have found 23 letters on this screenshot. I'll figure out a Q-X-Z and a set of numbers. 

He was a major figure in the early years of Disney - LINK to list at Wiki

LINK to an article about Rolly

LINK to Pinterest images of Rolly's work

 

June from Jackie

 

This is so pretty. I can't tell how Jackie did it. It looks like mixed media - not just watercolor. Maybe gouache. It doesn't look like it was done with a brush. I'd say that it was impressed with something - but each petal is a little different. 

It reminds me of some past envelopes with a large half-flower. I remember copying one that my friend Jan had done - or received. It took a lot of time but was so worth it. I still see it pinned on Pinterest quite often.  A half-flower design would be a good prompt if we ever did the thing where I toss out an idea to give people ideas so that we can enjoy all the variations. 

Would anyone do that? I don't think anyone would want to draw flowers in September. I wonder if I could remember to toss the idea out next summer. What kind of theme would people like in September? Leaves? Pencils? 

This layout would work for snowflakes. Should I toss it out in January? I'm curious to know if people would enjoy a theme. I don't think it would be popular. Should we find out?

July to Liz - Helena and her yarn

Ironically, Liz, who has been my inspiration to go wild and crazy ended up with a very orderly envelope. It was fun to find the right number of stamps and arrange them symmetrically. Liz has the short/long situation with her names. 

Not all of us are paper people. Some of us are yarn people. Here is an orderly yarn person who has had an impressive career.

LINK to Helena's website

I was going through my address book and found the name Helena Hernmarck in Ridgefield, CT. That's where Lynne and Maggie live. I wondered if there had been a third Ridgefield calligrapher. When I Googled her - this is what I found. Maybe Lynne or Maggie can remember another Helena.

I found the image below in the Portfolio section of her website. Knocked my socks off. That is a tapestry - she created the image out of yarn. At least I think she did..... maybe I read too fast. While I like this image - a lot of her work is colorful - so - you might want to surf through if you have time.

 

July to Kerry

 

I had this one all stamped - and the numbers filled in. Then I had to decide who might like something like this. As I finished up the July envelopes, I had not found a good design that was going to fit with Kerry's name - so she ended up with this one. I hope it wasn't a huge disappointment. Kerry is a newer exchanger and I'm not sure the new people have a feel for the way I fill the blog. I don't even know if Kerry reads the blog. Some people have been reading it for more than a decade. So the newer people might be perplexed by what shows up. Maybe the variety is fun. 

Tomorrow will be the last of the use-up-the-orphans - and the end of my July envelopes. I can usually get 14-15 days of posts out of my envelopes. Assuming all 20 of my incoming exchange envelopes show up, I'll be able to fill August.

July to Janet

 

When I started posting my July envelopes I mentioned that I was nearly done with using up my orphan stamps. This is a good example of what happens when some careful planning kills all the spontaneity. 

I drew the flames on the candles and if I had something I could have cut and adhered that had super sticky adhesive - that would have looked better because the stamps look like cut paper. I'm not sure I could ever do marker letters and make them as crisp as cut paper. The right kind of outlining can do a lot. Maybe it's the outlining that is off. 

Even though it is disappointing - at least I can show that I took the time to redo something that was dreadful. I thought I'd get a better effect if I did all the red strokes, then all the blue strokes, and so on. That's what I tried - but my spacing was way off. So I did a template to give me the order of the strokes and numbered them.

Maybe someday I can go back and look at all the candle letters I did when these stamps first came out. 

July to Samantha - Ai Weiwei

 

I guess there was one more that came after Grace's. Samantha exchanged quite a while ago - and I had pulled out a gray envelope from Rachael from a long time ago to give me an idea for white on gray. It's a lovely font - but I do not have a complete exemplar. All I have are the nine letters in my name. Completing the tree seemed like a good idea - but I'd only give it a B-.

***

Blogger is refusing to let me put the words flush left.

Grrrr

I have no idea if Ai Weiwei is on everyone's radar. He's been around for a while. If you're interested, go ahead and do a search. He's well known for sculpture and claims he has not made a drawing for 50 years. He was inspired by a tree.

It's a wonderful article and drawing. It made me want to go draw a tree.

https://www.designboom.com/art/ai-weiwei-drawing-50-years-dying-tree-circa-interview/?utm_source=designboom+daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ai+weiwei+on+why+a+dying+tree+inspired+his+first+drawing+in+more+than+50+years&utm_cat=articles

I also think it's interesting that his first name is Ai -- as in AI.  I'm pretty sure his name is pronounced *eye* but I could be wrong. I think his last name is pronounced *way-way*

OK - I checked - it is *eye way way* but there is a cadence to the way-way part.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWPY8imlO0w

You can see the image a lot better at the link.

July to Grace

 

Lots of colors and little zig-zags. Somehow - this one just worked. It was the last one I did with these stamps and while I might have worked out something I liked - I'm not sure I want to do the same thing again. All those different lengths of names would throw a monkey wrench into things. That pinkish color really works - but I don't think it shows up in all the stamps. 

Note to self: stop falling in love with those gorgeous sheets of stamps that look nice on the page, but when you start dividing them up - they are just too different to lend themselves to a good idea for multiples.

July to Irene

 

I started with the grid and Irene's last name - then it sat on my desk for a day or two. Finally I added the trees. The minute it was done I realized that it would have looked so much better with just one tree. The long last name was very nice to write. The stamps work so much better with more colors. Maybe there is hope that I come up with something that will be pleasing enough to do another 20 envelopes with these stamps. We can dream.

Tomorrow we get to see the best July envelope and find out who got it.

***

I printed out an image of the envelope and it's not a very good printer - but good enough to show how much better it would have been with just a tree and four red birds. I didn't try to make the R-E-N-E into birds - I just made letters and added legs. I'm not sure the idea is worth another try. Maybe....

July to Patty and Maggie

 

Dividing the space is helpful for me as a starting point. Then I reminded myself to pick up some random detail from the stamp and stop trying so hard to find images to repeat. There was no way I was going to draw those tiny people and be happy with my drawings. I outlined the letters and filled in with colored pencil. It's not spectacular but it's less dud-like than anything I'd done so far. Maybe another name would work - a name where the first and last name are roughly the same length.

It was a good idea until I left the I out of MAGGIE. I didn't take time to look, but I think I've had to do a bunch of layering on Maggie's envelopes to disguise the same mistake on previous envelopes. 

In some ways I like that little lower case (i) standing in the middle of the G. I had to put the I in parentheses because the computer will not allow a lower case I - or if it will, the secret keystroke is staying a secret.

***

Adding on -  a few days later.

I almost forgot that I had taken a photo of Patty's as it was evolving. It spent a little time looking like this. It's always bold (risky) to put a stamp on before I'm assured that it's going to work out. With Patty, I know she'll understand if I make a mess.

Here it is with a bit of drop shadow - but it's in the wrong place - which must have inspired me to try the red and blue stripes.

And then some white - and then the colored pencil. It's fun and loose - so I was inspired to do Maggie's which ended up a little too loose.

July to Jessica, Lynne and Nicky

 

This font doesn't go with the stamp but I had fun with it. The light blue colored pencil helped to coordinate the lettering and the stamp.

Nicky didn't get a RBG stamp last month -  so I gave this a try. That border is too big.

***

Random & very off-topic as I fill up the outgoing posts during my trip. 

My grandson needed some reassurance that there would be a complete recovery after breaking his forearm - both bones. Luckily he's a lefty and broke his right arm and did not have to have surgery - but it's still a learning experience to go through the process of casts and cast removal and the skin's response to the cast. It's not pretty when you get the cast off. 

Nanna's idea was to find out how long it takes for your body to grow an entire new layer of skin. My guess was 60 days. Ben's guess was 90 days. Here's what we found:

The outer layer of your skin (the epidermis) replaces itself entirely about every 28 to 40 days for most healthy adults. New cells are created at the deepest layer of the epidermis, slowly pushing up to the surface, dying, and shedding off to reveal fresh skin. [1, 2, 3]

This cellular turnover rate fluctuates based on a few distinct factors: [, 2]

Age: The cycle runs at top speed in your teens and 20s (about 28 days), but slows down as you get older, often taking 45 to 90 days for adults over 50. [1, 2]
Depth: While the epidermis continually regenerates, the deeper layer of skin (the dermis) does not renew itself in the same way, which is why deeper injuries and surgical scars are typically permanent

July to Juliana, Renee, Jeannette and Leslie

These were the first four I started for the July exchange. I thought the stamps would be nice with the gray envelopes and white is always nice on gray. it seemed like a good idea to get out the white gouache and the wedge brush. I didn't have anything in front of me which was a mistake. I need some examples of something I like when I have been away from brushes and gouache for so long.

I'll refrain from nit-picking at each one and just say that I like the August idea to use up these stamps a lot better. Not that they inspired a design idea. I just like a very wonky style of lettering that I found whilst surfing. 

 

July to Mary - wool skirts and quilts

 

I went completely rogue on this one and broke my own rule about being scanner friendly. There is no excuse for it. Perhaps I had my last fling with non-conformity on envelopes because it looks like I have used up nearly every orphan stamp that is not a Forever. That's been a goal for quite some time. The very last ones will pop up at the end of my July envelopes. I decided to use up my gray envelopes with the gorgeous USPS stamps that I have been saving. I love them - but did not come up with any good ideas for how to use them. 

My first idea was to get out some white watercolor and my wedge brush because Maggie, Lynne and Irene do beautiful flowers. Mine are so pitiful I would rather not post them but that's now how this works. We just putter at our desks and it all gets posted. A few things slip through the cracks, but that's an organizational issue.

***

I wonder if Mary has any fond memories of wool skirts. Even though I have an enduring bitterness towards the dress code that did not allow girls to wear pants to school in the 50s and 60s in Minnesota - I have fond memories of my wool skirts. Here is an exhibit of 632 vintage wool skirts.

https://www.instagram.com/commonloomstudio/

LINK to the exhibit of the 632 skirts in the collection

The original collector was the grandmother of the person who currently has the collection. Both are from Minnesota. I didn't spend a lot of time researching - it seems like there is a reference to cutting up the skirts and making rugs. That's a great idea. I've also seen wool cut into squares and made into wool quilts. You do not need batting - just two layers of wool.  

Not the colors I would choose - but you get the idea.

Slightly better colors. I like the red but I'd do the red in squares or diagonals.

July to Judi and Mia

Judi's does not have quite the same feel as JeanR's from yesterday. It might feel a little empty because the word BIRTHDAY is missing. I was more careful with the scalloped edges which seems to work. The border closest to the stamp is better.

Then I forgot to do the smaller border around the stamp on Mia's - so hers is feeling a little empty. The lettering is pretty rough. If I had more round stamps this would be a fun idea to keep working on.

Grr at myself for the sloppy penmanship on the address. No excuse other than the tight deadline to get things in the mail before I took off for Chicago. Grr that the colors on the stamp are so hard to match.

Grrr that I don't have more of these stamps. I'd like to do another HAPPY envelope with the name spelled out by the trail behind a bunch of bees. Each bee would make one letter in a name. Maybe I'll just try that with a non matching stamp....

 

July to JeanR and August sign-up

JeanR had a birthday in July. She has been getting a round stamp each month and the HAPPY stamp was the logical one to use for a birthday greeting. I didn't plan this out at all other than a quick set of circles done by penciling around a roll of masking tape. As usual, it was cute enough to send, but a little rough around the edges. 

I tried a couple more envelopes with the idea of the two overlapping circles. I even took time to dig out a compass. Perhaps it would be better if the two circles were slightly different sizes. Was it better? Would a second and third attempt be better because things tend to get better when I've done some practicing? Or did I lose all the freshness and spontaneity? We'll find out tomorrow. 

It's time to sign up for the August exchange.

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

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

Send your sign-up to:    PTEnvelopes-at-aol-dot-com

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

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

Jane Doe

123 Oak Street

Ames, IA 50010

janedoe@aol.com

[Birthday]  [2 Lists]  -- if those items apply

If you are new to the exchange - there are helpful details at this link:

https://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/p/rules-of-exchangement.html