Maggie and Inta - Exchangers

Maggie gets a gold star for using one of the fonts I posted. Although she could easily have found it on her own as it pops up on Pinterest all the time. I love it and I love cactus themed anything. Must be my somewhat prickly temperament.

Maggie is paired with Inta. I love the J on Jean in her regular penmanship. The paper seems to be recycled from a magazine. It is a very cool image. She also included a lovely collage.

1st Birthday Invitation ( + Ursula K. Le Guin )

The idea for the zip code banner came from Pinterest. There are multiple variations.

Because they are square envelopes, they need extra postage - so two stamps are a fun way to make a donation to the PO.


Side note to the BigHelpfulBrother and anyone else who has been a fan of Ursula K. Le Guin. First, I must note that I only have 7 other blogs on My Blog List. Four of them are pen pals and of those 4 only 2 post with any frequency. I recently added the off-topic guy who does a photo of miniatures every single day - because I was drawn to both his photos and anyone who is as compulsive as I am as posting every single day.

Then - there is Eyes Wide Open who made the list because of one style she does - and she rarely posts. No. 7 is Cari Ferraro. She is just one of many scribes who could have made the list. I have never met Cari and she does not post very often. But her most recent post is very interesting - about crossing paths with Ursula K. Le Guin. I enjoyed the part of her story where she was not familiar with Ursula's work when she first met her. I am not familiar with Ursula's work - but Cari's post has made me curious. Ursula has been added to the *might get around to this someday* list.

http://cariferraro.com/2018/01/28/ursula-k-le-guin-evermore-on-the-dark-paths-between-the-stars/

I will refrain from babbling on about how Tinky Winky and Ursula died on the same day. Although, if you were a fan, you'll probably want to Google.

Sara and Troy - Kraft and Collage

These two pair nicely because they are both collage and they both use kraft paper. Sara's on top has the kraft paper collaged onto a white envelope with some extras and Troy collaged some patterned paper onto a kraft envelope. I can't remember what that paper is called. It comes from Japan and is sooo pretty.

Two fun stealworthy ideas.

Valentine Exchange to KateR & Nanski

It's a treat when someone hires me to do a mailing with a specific stamp in mind. It was the Harvey Milk stamp with a rainbow and I do not have one on hand, so I shot these with stamps that are rainbowesque.

Normally, I offer people 3 or 4 ideas. This time, I had a ton of time, so I figured I would just address to the January exchange people and hope they signed up in February - and then I would have all mine done.

And then - I thought - go ahead and bump the previous scheduled posts and insert 14 new ideas for valentines. Of course the valentine stamps are not rainbow this year - so this is actually a bad idea.

New plan - the rest of this series will appear in April or May. Except for the two with big hearts.

The ideas on these two are nothing special. You just alternate colors. Hopefully you have spent a little time learning how to make some stylish block letters and are not still printing the way you learned in first grade. Or - if you are - that's OK.

Postcard from Mike - Des Moines

Mike has sent me a couple postcards - I cropped off the note he wrote. Something about the way he wrote Des Moines made me wonder what Des Moines means. It surprised me that I have been here since 1969 when I ran away from St. Paul to go to Drake...and this is the first time I have wondered what Des Moines means.

According the the Internet:
The city is on and named after the Des Moines River, which likely was adapted from the French colonial name, Rivière des Moines, meaning "River of the Monks."

Ironic that a person (me) who dreams of a monk-like (the scribe part) existence lives in a town named *of the Monks.*

Also, I need to alert the well known scribe, Louie Lemoines, that his last name is le Monk.
He is retired from Disney - where he spent many years doing lettering and signage for all the Disney theme parks - and maybe more. You can find him on IG. He came to Des Moines to teach and stayed at my studio. It was a memorable visit. 

Here is a link to his website where you may see some of his work.

http://www.louislemoine.com/

Seems odd that we had a river of the monks. I bet there is something lost in translation. It might have been a river full of carp or catfish....makes as much sense as me being named after denim trouser fabric.

Gold Experiment to Kathy

This is one of my favorites from this series. After I did the random outlining, I paused to look for stamps. These were so perfect. My ability to add has been fading, so I was thinking those 3 stamps were enough. Uh. No.

I am not happy with the placement of the little round coin stamp. It is so perfect in color and subject matter. But I just couldn't find a good place to put it. I enclosed a note asking her to steam it off after it arrived.

That made me want to do a series where I add instructions and the recipient is obligated to follow the instructions. Something tells me that the people who are drawn to my blog are just as ornery as I am and would not follow instructions. I'll label this FOLLOW-UP and maybe run a few tests down the road.

Bug and Tina - Exchanging Line Drawings.

Bug (on top) and Tina (below) had similar ideas on their September exchange envelopes. It looks like Bug's is drawn and Tinas is a rubber stamp that she has colored in. Both are good examples of how one-fun-image is a good way to go on a decorated envelope.

Then -- you can see two choices for the name and address. Tiny and compact or larger. Both work. Even though Tina's looks like a font, I can tell that she actually wrote it. When you get your addresses, you can print them out in any size and any font and that gives you a good template for how they will fit on the envelope. And if you want to trace - that's just fine. There is no law against tracing.

Enough Already With the Anything Goes

There were 20 envelopes in the series. I think there are 10 posts. Time to gang all the rest in the series and move on to some fresh ideas.

Not sure what the blue pen was. It is outlined with a silver gel pen.

Unfinished, unmailed, might show up again someday.

I added plenty of details to the lettering and forgot to re-scan it. Also - it is not really an Anything Goes envelope. Just sticking it in in case someone sees it and says: Oh good grief. I could do better than that. It my *reverse-psychology* style of teaching. Related to my favorite quote - if you can't be a good example, you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

Bright, Super Bright from Miss Cathy

Cathy is retired and has been enjoying a variety of workshops. The note inside this envelope says:
Got to try Brusho Coloured Crystals at the Amity Parks workshop and I went wild with them.

You have to see it in person to grasp the brightness of the pigments. So cool. The stamp is so perfect.

Amity does beautiful work. Google her if you need to extend your surfing today.

In case you did not see the bonus post yesterday - the PO issued a new LOVE stamp. No coordinating 2-oz stamp. It will be uber-easy to do your own version of this design when you are making your mail art. The secret will be in finding the muted tones. Personally, I am not a fan of that L - so it will be hard for me to even buy the stamp. Might have to skip it --- but I like the colors. Tough choice. I bet those who have studied traditional calligraphy can tell me why I'm not a fan of the L.

Bonus Post - New Love Stamp from Rifle

New LOVE stamp from the Rifle designers. Only comes in 1-oz Forevers - no coordinating 2-oz stamp for wedding invitations.

Today's regular post is right below.

Gold Experiment - Kate's quilt

That stamp seemed like fun and the stitching details seemed like a good idea. Then it was hard to find another stamp. With the bit of red on the quilt stamp, I thought it would be OK to write the street/city/state in red and blue ink in a square. But it didn't look right. So I tried covering it up with a navy square with white writing. That didn't work, so I added a bit of red. It could have been a success if I had not adhered the stamps and been able to move the address and the two stamps around to find a pleasing placement. I also pondered more navy squares.

The amount of time I spent on this one was ridiculous. But better than doing chores.

You can see the shimmer a lot more on the photo below.

Rachael's Pirate Map - and mine

Rachael sent this during the September exchange and as we all know, Talk Like a Pirate Day is in September. I am a huge fan of maps. And pirate maps are the most fanciful.

Shout out to my granddaughter who is 4. When she was visiting last year, just before her 4th birthday, she was putting a sailor dress on a doll that lives at my house. She insisted that it was a pirate dress. I so wanted to know how she managed to confuse sailors and pirates. I suppose she has seen them in books or movies. There was no way to convince her that it was a sailor dress. It was a pirate dress.

Below is a map I drew for a high school party that was organized by those of us who had a kid graduation. Many parents work long and hard to create a theme party that keeps the kids entertained (and locked in) at the school on the night of graduation. Many parents work all night. Not this parent. The last time I stayed up all night was during childbirth - and I vowed it was my last all-nighter. To avoid all-night duty (at each of the three years I had a graduate) I always jumped on the t-shirt design committee. Each kid got a t-shirt that was their ticket to get into the party. I also worked overtime on any kind of artwork for other committees. I wish I had pictures of some of the things I did over the years. It was fun to provide art services to committees where they were obligated to produce things - but really didn't have any art background.

I whipped this out pretty fast and always wished I had had time to do a more polished copy. But, for kids - it was fine.

Anything Goes - to KateR

-

Gold gouache outline - gold oil-based Sharpie - done in the warm up stage.

Flip side of envelope:

Gold Experiment to Lynne (and a rant)

Nothing says holidays like a couple dinosaurs. This was a Dec exchange envelope. The gold doesn't look all that gold on the kraft paper.

Previously, we have seen how I did just a bit of colored pencil - and figured that would be enough.

As I started with outlining, I worked on about three of them at the same time - but didn't have stamps in mind.

*Warning - there is an off topic rant coming up. Skip it unless you have time to waste.

This one seems a little unfinished or random - but that's how I feel about all that stuff that we dig up about the past. I get so frustrated with how scientists dig up a few clues and then extrapolate a whole story and then (here's where it gets personal) they put it in books and make us learn it and make us take tests. That's just wrong. They tried to tell me that our particular branch of humanity never intermingled with Neanderthals.  Excuse me? Have you ever looked at people out in public. There are a ton of *missing links* walking around. I can even see a couple of them in photos of my relatives. I knew the science textbooks were wrong. Recently, the scientists corrected themselves. I am still waiting for an apology. It's funny. I can remember my  high school chemistry and physics teachers - but not biology. Wonder who is was. Maybe the BigHelpfulBrother remembers. Can't you just see me storming some nursing home demanding an apology from some elderly, retired teacher?

Thank you for putting up with my morning rant. I drink cold brew coffee and I'm beginning to think it's a little more potent when the batch of extract is fresh.

Public service announcement.
You can buy shots of coffee and have them with you at all times.
https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-content/stok-coffee-shots

Jackie Landscape No. 2

Second in a series of what I call landscapes because that strong horizontal strip looks like a horizon.

This one is fun with the stamp overlapping the name.

Anything Goes to Jannie and KathyMcC

In my on-going problem with spelling kindly without an E -- I caught myself promptly - but had already done the one to Bug Skott where I was embracing bad spelling. So, I did some more on Jannie's.

Kathy's was done earlier - but then these two fell together when I got into the whole stamp thing. I have no idea why I decided to frame Paul. I guess the stamp is a bit of a portrait. Not that formal - but definitely a portrait.

I am very fond of the idea of framing and outlining stamps. I forget to do it. I predict there will be more stamp framing in 2018.

Jan Exch to Janna + Genn Article

This is a Jan exchange envelope that is still on my desk. 

I bumped today's pre-scheduled post after I read a recent Sara Genn article. From time to time I post letters by Sara or her late father, Robert. I highly recommend all of the letters because they cover so much valuable information about both the nuts and bolts of being creative, but also the mind-games that we all struggle with. I preach all of the same things that they preach, but they are better wordsmiths. You can sign up to receive the letters. You get two per week, usually a new one from Sara and a re-run from Robert.

So read this, take it to heart, and always remember that the time you steal to make art is worthwhile. I especially like that it dovetails the process with music and sports. You can apply this topic to anything

I have permission to reprint the letters.
If this is the first time you have heard about the Genns, here is a link to the website.

http://painterskeys.com/

Dear Artist,

In the new pile of books brought by Santa and others, I noticed an early edition of The Inner Game of Music. Written in 1986 by Barry Green, former Principal Bassist for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, “The Inner Game” explores how musicians can temper the hang-ups that stymie heightened creative expression. After researching the nuts and bolts of peak performance with his co-author, sports psychology coach W. Timothy Gallwey, Green determined that performance techniques used by tennis players might also be applied to the arts. Artists, like athletes, while chasing flow and the truth, can instead be bound up with fear, perfectionism, rote and bad vibes.

While alone in the studio striving to solve problems in my own work, I’ve noticed there always arrives a moment of choice, when I can fold up creatively at the panic and shame of possible failure, or let go and trust in the process of discovery. If I can manage the latter, a temporal, but satiating pleasure in the actual, physical activity at hand emerges. After all, if a painting is, among other things, a record of the act of painting, then might we release ourselves from the burden of results and instead simply create? In this system, the end product may even take care of itself.

If you’re still with me, Barry and Timothy suggest this unburdening is achieved by first understanding that we’re made up of two selves: a chiding, full-of-doubt, accuracy junkie who hurls negative comments at a talented joy machine emoting in a carefree orgy of self-expression. This interfering inner voice is an art-killer and must be silenced with a master technique called, “relaxed concentration.” By getting into a state where we’re alert, relaxed, responsive and focused, we can casually make magic while still employing a learned, technical prowess. Here are a few of Barry’s tips for relaxed concentration, adapted for painting:

Be aware of what’s going on in your work by aligning your feelings with what you’re doing.

Be committed to the main goal of making art by putting expression first.

Let your muscle memory do the technical heavy lifting. Think of your practiced, mastered skills as an insurance policy against self-doubt, but also as a set of wings for heightened expression. If you want to be a painter, you need to know how to paint. This mastery frees you to then slip into an automatic mode of play and communication.

Trust in the character of the thing you want to express. Tune into what could be bubbling up from your own, inner joy machine. Does the work, in its purest form, have a casual quality? Is it excited or calm? Is it gorgeous? Is it troubled? What expression are you really conveying?

Lastly, trust in a brotherhood and sisterhood of greatness. Can you draw on the vibes of another or role-play as a means of channelling a certain character of expression? Barry may suggest his students play for a minute like Charlie Mingus, just to get a feeling for the expression. In doing so, we may grow accustomed to the sensations and pull our own uniqueness from within.

Sincerely,

Sara

PS: “Forget shoulds and experience is.” (W. Timothy Gallwey)

Gold Experiment - to Maggie

This envelope is a Smythson, left over from a job. Smythson paper is one of the few papers that is more luxurious than Crane's. It was in the stack of leftovers and I had high hopes. Sadly, I had not done any warm up so the lettering was a little boring.

I'm OK with the way the stamp and footprints work - but overall, the balance is off.

Here is the link to Smythson stationery. Warning, tuck a napkin under your chin. There will be drooling.

https://www.smythson.com/us/stationery.html

Just noticed that I am over 900,000 on views of my blog.
I wonder when I will hit a million.
I wonder if I have a post that mentions hitting 800,000.

***she leaves***she returns****

Exactly one minute later because Google is magical and answered my search for 750,000 after 800,000 yielded nothing.

I was over 750,000 in May of 2017.
So that took 8 months to get 150,000 hits.
So, maybe 5 or 6 months to get to 1 million....

The Black Hole of Exchanges - Jan exchange to Sara

Sara is not the person who left the comment.

Back on Jan 6th, I wondered about the people who only sign up for the exchange once. A very nice two-time exchanger left this comment:

As someone who signed up for my second--I almost didn't, and it was because while the envelopes were beautiful, I was surprised at the lack of any personal interaction with most of them. I think I only got one with an inclusion. Which is fine--I understand that the exchange is only about envelopes, and that some people like the simplicity of that.

I sent out five envelopes and they went into a black hole, as far as I could tell.

However, I signed up again this month with a little shift in expectation and an idea for eliminating the black-hole feeling. It's a shift some folks might not want to make.

Also...I know from long years of mail-art participation that people sign up with high excitement, and then blank at the drawing board, so that their participation is more stressful than they expected.

(end of comment)

I was happy that she was giving the exchange another chance - and I really wanted to add a personal note in my envelope to her - but - I'm the best example of someone who likes doing the envelopes and always have too much on my plate - and the only way the envelopes will ever get out the door is if I skip the part where I include a note.

Above is an example of my typical struggles with exchanges. I am trying to use up old stamps. It is so hard to find stamps that fit both the lettering and the envelope. This one is going out of the country so it needs $1.15. I need to follow my own excellent advice and start with the stamp, stupid. SWTSS

Slightly more than half of the envelopes I receive are empty. In December, there are way more enclosures - mostly holiday cards. I imagine there are some people who would enjoy more conversation between fellow exchangers. Maybe I should have people add some kind of designation when they sign up to indicate that they like to exchange or not exchange notes. That way...we would know when a note would be appreciated. Let me know what you think of that idea, please and thank you. Here is a second comment that confirms what I suspected - it's hard to find time to squeeze in everything we'd like to be doing.

Interesting take. I participated quite some time back, but I never experienced the black hole feeling, but I think I understand what you're saying. I assumed, when I signed up, that it was just an envelope exchange. Each month some envelopes arrived with enclosures and I wondered, oh, was I supposed to do that too? I mostly create digitally, so I started including what program I used and how I accomplished the look. Most everyone creates by hand so I wasn't sure if my explanation was interesting or not. 

I soon found, I didn't really have the time to devote to enclosures, as I was lucky to get my envelopes in the mail on time! Right before I stopped participating, I wanted to transition away from digital to hand crafted, but my life got too crazy and I've still not gotten my office set up after our down sizing move. One day, I'll be back! I've been buying envelopes and markers! 

I hope you'll keep participating, I found it more interesting with more people. 

Dec Exchange - Gold Experiment to Nanski

First of all, it should have been Nanski. Sorry.

This one is more representative of what my gold experiments looked like. Very chunky, wonky letters.

I started with 10 or 12 and came up with 5 or 6 ways to refine them. It was hard to decide when to stop.  I tend to like simple. On some, I really took off and did a lot. Plus I was working on all of them at the same time. I kept rotating through the stack - so, some ended up with more layers than others.

Krafty from Jannie and Sohan

There were quite a few kraft paper envelopes in September. Both of these exchangers use real nibs and ink.

I can't tell if the apple is watercolor or gouache or something else.

Sohan's white ink has some very nice hairlines - but I can't tell what kind of ink it is - or perhaps it is gouache.

There was a bonus post yesterday about Anne Frank's Iowa pen pal. If you are interested, you may scroll down to the see it.

Snowy Day and Anne Frank's Iowa Penpal

This post is appears in real time - written just yesterday.

After 16 days in Chicago, surviving subzero weather and feral grandkids, I returned to balmy Iowa to open my stack of delightful mail. There were also magazines and a short article about Anne Frank's Iowa pen pal caught my eye. While I am not a native of Iowa and there is much about this state that annoys the heck out of me, I do appreciate finding tidbits like this.

Here is a link to one article:

http://www.traces.org/anne.html

I also visited the website of the museum in Danville, Iowa, where the pen pal lived. You have to really dig to figure out that Danville is in Iowa. It is a very small town in the southeastern corner. I'm not sure I will make it down there. But, I'll include that link as well, in case anyone is interested.

http://www.danvillestation.net/

And then----there was info about a postcard project.
You may read about it on this Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/PostcardsAMemorialForChildren/

Or, if you are not on Facebook, you may read the Facebook info below.
This is way off topic for me. I usually stick to pens and markers and playtime.
I assure you this is just a rare blip on the screen and tomorrow we will return to playtime.
I am happy to have a place to send all my excess postcards....

Acceptance of a Great Challenge

Unfortunately, intolerance is shaping the world we live in. Every day, at every level and every age, people face intolerance because they are different in some way. Students are made to feel that they are unimportant because they look different or have different beliefs. People are mocked, excluded, and physically hurt because of religion, sexual orientation, race, and a variety of other "differences." The results of this behavior can range from hurt feelings to avoiding school to school violence to entire nations ripped apart by genocide.
In the fall of 2012, Danville’s eighth grade took on a tough project; they are aiming to get 1.5 million postcards. Intolerance is a major issue in schools across America, as well as the world. To change this, their reading and social studies teachers (Cassandra Macans and Kelly Henry) teamed up with the local Anne Frank Museum, with the help of Janet Hesler, to raise awareness of this issue. They were inspired by other projects, such as Paperclips (a very similar project from Tennessee that experienced great success), Inside Hannah’s Suitcase (a project in Japan that started with a suitcase and ending with a great museum exhibit), and The Freedom Writers (a young teacher worked to increase acceptance in her classroom through journals, among many other things).
The Holocaust was chosen as the backbone for this project because that is an example of what can happen when people allow intolerance to shape their actions; it also demonstrates the importance of bystanders. To start the project, the eighth graders looked far into history to follow the persecution of Jewish people, using traditional historical accounts, as well as folktales and other stories. Then, they read The Diary of Anne Frank and visited the Anne Frank Museum upon it’s completion. This is when their project was explained to them.
They were challenged with the goal of collecting 1.5 million postcards; this would obviously be a multiyear project. Postcards were chosen because Anne Frank collected them. The goal of 1.5 million is to honor the 1.5 million children murdered during the Holocaust. They have been writing postcards explaining their project to Jewish schools all across the country. So far, they have received over two thousand postcards! Some schools were generous enough to send entire packets of postcards! People have also been generous enough to go through personal collections of postcards to donate them to help this group reach their goal. Some of the most interesting postcards have been the ones from China; they even wrote their messages in both English and Chinese! This project has also been covered in multiple newspapers, such as the Des Moines County News, The Hawkeye, and The Cedar Rapids Gazette. They’ve even been covered on a local news channel! This media help has allowed them the publicity to work towards their goal.
These eighth graders didn’t stop with the persecution of Jewish people. They have also looked at the treatment of the Japanese during WWII, the past and current treatment of Muslims, and treatment of those with disabilities. They have had guest speakers explaining the hurt that intolerance causes.
Though this group is a long way from their goal; these kids have met part of their goal. They feel that they are treating each other better than they did before this project was started. They, and the community, has come together due to this project.
The eighth graders will be passing this project on to the next group of eighth graders. They have two requests to make of you. First, move past tolerance. To tolerate someone is not good enough. If you are merely tolerating someone, you are still implying that something about them is “not good enough.” It is time to accept people for who they are. Instead of rejecting differences, such as religion or race, accept those people for who they are.
Their second request is much simpler. Send them a postcard. Help them reach their goal. Please address the postcard to:
Danville Postcard Project
419 South Main
Danville, IA 52623

Anything Goes to Holly

Holly was another new exchanger in September. I only did one of these on gray. The sparkles probably don't show up. It's subtle - but I'm thinking I need to get another sheet of eclipse stamps. Square. Black. Minimalist. Three of my favorite things.

Dec Exchange - Gold Experiment to Patty

I only did one like this during the Dec experiment where I crashed out a bunch of wonky gold - and then tried to figure out some clever 2nd and 3rd steps.

I like this one - but most of the *like* hinges on the stamp and with only a couple of these left, I abandoned the idea. But the idea of scattering tiny little letters across the envelope has a lot of potential.

Eric's Bag-a-lopes

Eric has been exchanging a lot of bags made into envelopes. This one had a lovely postcard with a kitten and a puppy. I like anything with kittens and puppies together because I am not a cat person nor am I a dog person. No pets growing up although I have known some lovely pets. I tend to avoid doing anything with cats or dogs because I don't want to come across as favoring one or the other.

I love bags. It took a lot of will power to not send a couple bags a week to Eric. And when I think of the number of bags that I had hoarded and then let go....it makes me a little wistful. But, I'm better to be in my less hoard-y state.

Note-to-self: add the beagle story when you find a picture of Lady Jane.

Test Pattern to Hannah - Anything Goes

This was the very last envelope that I did in the series of 20 - using Anything Goes style of lettering. I have no idea if anyone else will like it - but it is one of my favorites. I performed the nozzle cleaning action on my printer and this was the test page to see if it worked. I can't tell if it worked, but the piece of paper was sitting on my desk and I decided it wanted to be an envelope and *voila.* Hannah was new to the exchange that month - so I hope she was OK with something that is not very calligraphic. I assume by the time someone joins the exchange they are aware of the wide-wide-wide range of styles that come out of the 420.

Eric has started drawing

This was on Eric's blog in 2017 - maybe October? I didn't keep track. I was impressed that he has started drawing on his envelopes. I have nothing against computer design. Your eyes and brain go through the same steps to create with a computer. But, you hands are not involved in a very interesting way. Working with the pencils, pens. markers, etc can be very satisfying. The tactile sense is different than the punching of keys on the keyboard.

I am looking forward to my first hand drawn envelope from Eric. Hint hint.

Maybe Re-Run - Scribbling with Paint

The top one is from Dianne, a person who exchanged just once. I always wonder why people exchange only once. I never hear from them. I never hear anything negative. Sometimes I hear about people moving or having other things going on...

I do not recall posting this envelope and on the day it jumped out of a very random hiding place - it also spoke to me and asked me to do my own version. Dianne's clearly looks like paint applied with a brush. I tried to make the same general look using markers. Markers get muddy when layered, so that was the challenge. Cover all the paper without much overlap. It was FUN. I'd like to do more. Will label it follow-up.

Blue Lace Stamps to Rachael

Many moons ago I had a new bottle of blue McCaffrey's ink. I addressed a couple envelope in a tiny, no cap script. They were gathering dust - and I couldn't think of anything spectacular so I parted with some uber-favorite stamps.

Then I had another dusty start to Miss Cathy. And the last of the Alcoholism stamps. These have been very difficult to use. I have never found a good time to add them to mail going to anyone I know.

As a retired postal worker, I figured Cathy would not take offense at the stamps.

As I write this, I am having some serious deja vu. It feels like I have already written about this stamp. If I already posted this envelope - sorry - I'm 99% sure the top one is not a repeat - so you are getting your one new envelope today.

Jackie Landscape No.1

I found 6 envelopes (images hiding in my files) from Jackie that were probably done in 2015 and I am pretty sure that I did not post them.

I'm guessing they are watercolor. She might have used masking fluid on the names.

Jackie is one of the three people who had a fair number of envelopes on the blog who has also done a considerable amount of formal study. So, you can try stealing ideas from her - but it will be very challenging to actually make anything even close to this.

The stealable part will be the idea of running the name from coast to coast. I'll label this *follow-up* and maybe I can do some easier versions of this layout.

Indigo to Nanski

The last indigo envelope. I remember putting the stamps lower because I had something clever for the king and queen to say. Then, by the time I got around to finishing the envelope, I forgot what they were going to say. I had just ruined a nice envelope - so I did not want to have another mishap with ink and chose a gray G-Tec. Ho-hum - but done.

Onward.

Anything Goes to Eric

There was one more in this series that went to Eric. He's mentioned that he likes interesting stamps. So, I chose some for color. I really didn't want to use Winston Churchill on a stamp going to France. Not that I know enough about history to know whether or not he ever offended the French people. But, I couldn't find anything that worked in that spot.

Feel free to cover him up if you'd like to, Eric.

January Envelope Exchange Sign-up

This one did not need any repair, I just wanted to add something, so I wrote her name 9 times. I really liked it. Of course, it looks better when I do not have the address blocked out.

It is time to sign up for the January Exchange. Beginners are welcome. You will get a list of 4-5-or-6 people to send envelopes to. One of them may be out of the US and international mail requires $1.15 postage.

No theme, any medium, digital is welcome. Enclosures are optional. This is an envelope exchange.
Please put your return address on the back and write OPEN if there is an enclosure or EMPTY if there is none. It is also nice to write JAN.PTEX on the back of the envelope for those who may participate in more than one exchange. PTEX stands for Pushing the Envelopes Exchange.

To sign up -even if you have signed up many times- I need the following information typed (please do not type in all caps). 

Name
Address
City/State/Zip
Country
Your email

Non-US exchangers - please follow the format that your postal system prefers.

Email the above information to me at;
jmwilson411 (at) yahoo (dot) com

If you are having a birthday in January, let me know. Exchangers have the option to send a birthday themed envelope.
If you are agreeable to be on two lists, let me know. It is nice to have a few people willing to do ten envelopes in order to make all the lists come out even.

Deadline to sign up is January 4. Lists will be sent on Jan 5th or 6th. Please get your envelopes in the mail by January 31st. If you are going to be late, please email the people on your list so that we know your envelope will be late.

Thanks
Any questions - email me.