icky - but, halloween does lean towards the icky (spooky not-tues)

i've done spider webs before. this one isn't the best. the bottom one was an idea i saw on pinterest that went wacky because i was too impatient.

there was a lot of shuffling to get the posts lined up, and then i discovered that this is a leap year. almost forgot to schedule one for the 29th. happy leap year.

feb exchange envelopes

tomorrow is the gentle deadline to get your february envelopes in the mail. i am still putting the last details on mine.

also, jan is going to take a leave of absence from the organizational part of the exchange. she has a full schedule of fun family events coming up and her spare time has been reduced.

so - i will be doing the organizing and some of the rules have changed.
1
i will start the call for participants on march 1.
2
instead of mixed lists where you send to 5 and receive from a different 5 ---
i will compile lists of participants as they come in.
the first 6 people will go on the first list and the next 6 people will go on the second list.
and so on. your name will be on your list.
3

participants send to the 5 other people on the list.
you send 5 - you receive from the same 5.
if you want to send to yourself, that's fine with me.
i will also include all of the emails - so, if you are missing any envelopes, you may contact the person directly.

if you do not wish to share your email with the other participants, then don't sign up.
or create a new email that is just for exchanges using one of the free providers - like yahoo or gmail. then, if we get hacked by some bizarre mail-artist-hacker - you can just delete that account.
i will be creating a new email account to run the exchanges as i feel that will help me be organized.

PLEASE - do not contact me directly, right now, about the exchange. wait until tuesday, march 1 and we can discuss through MY NEW exchange only EMAIL. you are welcome to leave comments, suggestions, whinging and whining in the comment section of this blog post.

i am adding the emails and the self-monitoring because i will not have time to track down people who do not fulfill their commitment. most of our participants have been very conscientious about sending the mail on time. a few have been a little late. but it always works out. foreign mail tends to take a little longer.

the sign ups will close on the 7th of the month.
if i do not have exactly 6 people when the sign-ups close, i will  post a call for 5-MORE participants.
if you want to do 5 more, you will have until the 10th to sign up for 5-MORE. but if i need 2 more participants and i get 5 responses, only the first 2 participants will get on a second list.
also, if you know ahead of time that you like to do 10, you may indicate *5-MORE* on your first email. then i will add those people to make the last list a 6-person list.

FOREIGN addresses:
we only have 2 or 3 per month at most, so, I will hold those names and put only one per list. if you do not want even one foreign address, then, sadly, you will have to drop out of the exchanges. i realize the $1.20 cost of an international letter can be prohibitive. but, i don't want to exclude our foreign penpals.

today's regular post is below

off topic - chase turberville

 i chose this example by Chase Turberville because i was posting on the day that i blogged about how i have trouble with the letter C. this is a pretty perfect C.

https://dribbble.com/lerinchase

ribbon binge, no name

i was too lazy to go get an envelope so i drew this on a sheet of letterhead paper and figured i would fold it into an envelope. not sure which stamp i will use. it is going to go to miss cathy. today i am on a scan and post binge. is anyone going to try these ribbons? you just take a wide marker and drag it every which ways. takes 30 seconds. then you add gold and white, takes a while, but perfect for chore avoidance.
sometimes my mom reads my blog posts. i wonder if i will be admonished after this one. she's a bit of chore-meister.

rerun friday - another that is not mine

sorry, i keep posting work that is not mine, but i can't help myself. *  last friday when i posted the link to the 454 Mail Art Around the World envelopes, i had not discovered that there were more albums

this link will take you to the page with all the albums and you can reeeeeeeally get lost for a while

https://picasaweb.google.com/106709695274778066246

this is the art of Guy Mocquet
if you do something like this, be sure to put on extra postage. this is non-compliant.

or, if you prefer reading articles, here is a nice one from robert genn - it's a little preachy, but has some nice thoughts if you are churning stuff and need some replacement thoughts.

http://painterskeys.com/just-for-today/#prettyPhoto

*i had to edit this morning. when i read that, i thought it sounded silly. of course i could stop if i wanted to. i just don't want to. plus, i scheduled 20 new envelopes yesterday that will pop up in mid to late march. so, there will be some new work coming up.

from exchanger leah

new exchanger leah made some monoprints on her envelopes. a monoprint is where you apply ink or paint to a plate (a flat surface, like a sheet of plexiglas, not an actual dinnerplate) then you put a piece of paper -or envelope- on the plate and apply pressure to transfer the paint or ink to the paper. the term *printing* means the transfer of ink or paint from a plate (with an image) to a surface - usually done multiple times. with a monoprint, you only get one image and then you start over.

leah did some fun spooky lettering on top of her monoprint. this was for the october exchange. thanks for joining the exchange, leah.  (my 420 is blocked out - she did not depend on the P.O. to know me personally. this is a scan from her because the envelope has not yet arrived)

a few days later:
this showed up...thank you leah - it's fun to compare the two. the second one fits together like a puzzle and makes a nice oval shape. i don't prefer one over the other, it's just fun to compare.

desk cleaning - peacock for rehj

desk cleaning - a recent addition to the pile. some of us recall the peacock binge with fondness. jan loaned me her peacock rubber stamp and i made a couple envelopes. i'm not the best with rubber stamps. i added some colored pencil. and i like that style of lettering with the peacocks. the snowflake clashes on every level except color. but you have to embrace the wabi sabi when you are cleaning your desk.

sneak peek

random odd ideas that were scaring me. so i decided to use up old stamps. trying to post directly from phone photos. technology may just be the end of me. however, the hour of playing fit-the-stamp soothed my frazzles. as usual, art soothes.

better things to come on these rough beginnings...

from florence

florence says she uses gelli plates. i suspect you can learn all about them by googling. my reformed self is going to keep my nose to the scanner and get 4 months of posts scheduled by the end of nov.

filling in the spaces around the name can be done in so many ways. this one is a new-to-me variation...and it is stealworthy.

thank you florence.

p.s. like the note you enclosed and am glad you like the blog. fan mail is always welcome.

inspired by martina for kathy and nancy

inspired by the post yesterday, i tried tombo brush marker and g-tec outines. then i chickened out and made a second one to see if i could add more details. it was a lot of fun. these aren't too bad considering they were the very first ones i tried with no pencil, no practicing - just go-for-it. sometimes it works. these could be more refined, but, i'm ok with the looseness.

off topic - martina flor

martina flor is a lettering artist in berlin. it was hard to choose an image to represent her. she has more than just one site to visit.

if you do not have time to surf, go to the bottom link first.

her website - where her name at the top is worth seeing - and then there are many options to surf
http://www.martinaflor.com/

a blog
http://lettersbymartinaflor.tumblr.com/

a cool collaborative project
http://www.letteringvscalligraphy.com/

on her website, if you scroll to the bottom, in the bottom right corner - you will find 3 more places to visit. the BEST one is this one - because it is a series of postcards....and you can send your own version via email. read the {who's doing this} to learn all about it. it's pretty genius as well as generous.

http://www.lettercollections.com/

teal ribbons for lynne

another one from the ribbon binge. need to do one in springy colors.
there were other stamps that would have looked better. something with a teal background

like one of these. these were such wonderful stamps.