my 2016 graceful envelope entry

here's my idea, my quickly done rough layout, which (sadly) was the one i had to mail since the deadline was monday. it was the very last minute and i just threw it together. the last little envelope i addressed was the one in the upper left corner. i had been interrupted by a client meeting, so when i returned to do the last address, i wrote *street* instead of avenue. the contest allows you to address the back of the envelope, using a standard, legible format and putting a stamp on the back - so i did that. i drove down to the main PO to have natalie do the cancels. mondays are soooooo busy at the main PO, but luckily, there were only two people in front of me. but no natalie. i saw the sign on the middle desk saying something like: *Please be patient with me - I am a trainee.* That meant Natalie was training a new employee. I was next in line and she walked in, with the trainee. They did not look over at me - and then turned to leave. So, I decided to call out - loud enough to get her attention, but hopefully, not loud enough to cause a ruckus.

Luckily, she turned and was very happy to see me. She put 5 cancels on the front. She kept telling me to go ahead and cancel them myself. But, I said that would be bad luck. The trainee was wowed. One year, I loved my idea, which was a clothesline. I did not get in that year, but there were a couple other clothesline designs that did get in and they were way better than mine. I know that anyone who pulled out real nibs and ink with the same idea as this will probably beat me out. I'm lookin' at you Jeri. Jeri has had a ton of winners using layouts that include many different styles of lettering. I should have insisted that she complete this idea, and enter it as Jeri Wilson (rather than her married name - Hobart) which would have been fine - since I believe Wilson is her maiden name.

So, the judging is in April, winners are posted in May... oh...the shading to make it look like a stack of envelopes isn't very good. It would have been nice to do a better job on the illustration. Maybe some day I will do another one. My one hope of getting in with such rough illustration and lettering is that I might be the only one with these tiny stamps.

So....Christy - Jeri - and anyone else who entered - it would be fun to see any other entries, ahead of time. Feel free to send scans to me and I will post them.