Tidying Up on Feb 19 & Mar 8

Yup, it's Feb 19th as I write this. Lots of snow. Uber focused on tidying up.

I do not recall if I posted this one. I am also adding on more February exchange mail as it arrives.

From GraceH. Artwork enclosed in clear plastic - a good idea. The birds seem to be cut out of fabric. Another good idea - if you have plastic outer envelopes.

From Bev - Pretty colors, nice white space, clear address for the p.o.  I like how the barcode fits in with the design.

The card from Bev - stealworthy.

From Heidi. I can tell it is some kind of paint over a stencil. It might be gouache. Nice colors.

Gloria sent Year of the Pigs greetings from down under.The fine print on the stamp says Christmas Island.

The red wrapped was around the nicely lettered card. The image on the card and envelope is a hand tinted stamp of some kind. I can't tell if it is hand carved. Either way - it's a nice package.

A line of copy to help if I add any more envelopes to this post. Blogger is tricky but I am trickier.

Apr PTEX to Maureen and Heidi

There has been one of my April PTEX envelopes already posted along with my whining about how I did not like any of them.

I had treated myself to a new set of brush tip markers from Target. The markers are fine - it's the wretched situation with my leftover stamps that displeases me.

When I have a set of rainbow markers - I just need rainbow stamps.

Towards the end of my experimenting I tried holding several markers at one time and dragging them across the envelope.

I think Heidi's would have been cuter if all the lettering was block printing.
or maybe no caps. It's a shame to have used some of my all time favorite stamps on a design that I am not thrilled with. But dolls and crayola colors are kindred spirits.

To Viola from Grace E and Anthea

GraceE asked me for a few things that related to Viola  because she likes to find stamps that relate. Viola was a P.E. teacher who lived in Louisiana and likes board games.

The pretty blue script is also from GraceE and the happy butterflies are from Anthea.

March PTEX - Last out-going to Crystal

I forgot to take a picture of the one inside of this one. I messed up her zip code. Then on the black one, I put an H after the C in her name - and turned it into a clunky tree. I'm not happy with this one -- but as I've said -- at a certain point I just have to wrap up my exchange envelopes and move on....

Feb PTEX from Inta, Tina, and Anthea

Inta's tiny penmanship is so cool. The envelope is handmade and there is a sweet little card inside. The pen is to show the scale. I *heart* tiny.

Tina sent an envelope that coordinated with a lovely card that has the best sparkle paper ever. It does not shed glitter and it is super sparkly.

It included a tiny little calendar that is perfect for my tidy desk. My OCD has been amping up and now I do not have to keep the big calendar on the desk.

I need to find a place to store those two Post-Its. They contain info I need - but not often enough to actually remember it. Maybe I just need to re-write both of them on one white Post-It using Inta's style of penmanship. Yup - I'll do that.

And one more valentine themed envelope from Anthea.

March PTEX - Quilts to Leslie

I have not made up my mind on this one. It seems fine - but there is something about it that isn't quite right - and yet, I do not know what exactly is the problem.

Maybe someone can help me out and tell me what's wrong...

Feb PTEX - to Viola from Jessica, CarolynC, and CaroleV

I'm a big fan of alternative colors for holidays. It makes sense to go blue with the blue love stamps.

Jessica collaged blue hearts.
CarolynC zentangled.
CaroleV rubber stamped, hand tinted, and made a fun pop up card.

This is my first attempt to insert a video in the blog. Wish me luck.

March PTEX - Quilts to Tina and Lynne

There are still a few quilts left. These ideas were not the most spectacular - it was getting late in the month and I just had to buckle down and get them out the door.

Lynne's quilts are on a shimmer envelope.

Feb PTEX from Cynthia - mailbox

First time exchanger, Cynthia went all out on the option to send a birthday greeting to Viola for her 99th birthday. She enclosed it in a standard envelope. The blue mailbox is an illustration on a 5x7-in envelope. There is a tiny slit with two pieces of mail peeking out.

Next photo - you can see the tiny mail removed from the mailbox as well as the 2x3-inch kraft envelope that was inside the 5x7-in envelope

Close up of the kraft envelope with a tiny seal

Tiny card inside the kraft envelope.

March PTEX - Blue Lace to Lauren, Janet, and Pam

The last of the lace stamps went out the door. They've been lots of fun.

Lauren and Janet's are done on Crane's envelopes. The heavy lines are Sharpie and the fine lines are G-Tec.

Pam's is done on a shimmer envelope with Sharpies. I have three sizes of blue pens/markers. Probably more if I dug through everything.

Oh.My.Gosh. If I reorganized all the pens by color -- that would be insanely wonderful.

Feb from RachelD and Faye to Viola

Hearts are fun in February - but they are just as welcome for birthdays or any time of year.

These are from Rachel D on top and Faye below.

I've shown Rachel's card - both sides.

I'm pretty sure there was a card inside Faye's with glitter and I meant to photograph it somewhere other than my desk - and forgot. And now it is gone.

Apr PTEX to Lynne - crazy quilt jubilee & Memory Lane with Maggie

This is a sneak peek at my April exchange envelopes. In March, I bought a set of 12 brush tip markers at Target. It was an impulse - because I was going to be in Chicago March 31 through April 19th and I thought if I had a fun new set of markers, I would be able to do my exchange envelopes while my grandkids were in school.

Nothing went as planned and I had to crank out 27 envelopes when I got home. I was not happy with a single idea - and none of the stamp choices looked right - but - I took my own advice and just dropped them in the mail. Maybe I'll get my act together in May.....

P.S.  It is May 15. I mailed the last of the PTEX envelopes yesterday and they were a hot mess. So, don't hold your breath, but, I think by June will be the month where all the vintage and orphans are gone -- and we will see if it creates a better environment.

After I posted the cool bicycle envelope from Leslie, Maggie sent me the image of her very first envelope. I found it in the archive. She used two stamps to make sure the PO was OK with taking extra time to figure out the destination.

Feb PTEX from JeanR, Janet, and Smash

Jean did a pretty collaged card and tucked it inside an envelope that features Viola's name.

Janet's official exchange envelope has already been posted - she did an extra envelope for Viola. It's a nice stealworthy idea if you have a fun scrolly penmanship style.

From Janet - another fun design using her limited number of art supplies while she escapes the polar vortex.

From Smash - it looks like a deconstructed tea bag.adhered to the envelope.

March PTEX to Gloria, Maureen, SuzanneB, GraceE, and INTA

Almost all of the abstract expressionist stamps are gone. There were 35 people signed up for the March exchange and when I got down to the last 5 - I pulled out ink and nibs and nice envelopes.

I did not pencil any guidelines, I just wrote - and enjoyed the feeling of nibs and ink on gorgeous paper.

They are posted together because they are so similar. I hope Gloria, Maureen, SuzanneB, GraceE and INTA are OK with mixed fonts. I guess some are more mixed than others. The point of the exchange is to have fun - and I always have fun when I get out the nibs and ink.

Feb PTEX from SuzanneE and Trish

There is one similar to this one, with my name, form Suzanne. It is a wonderful font to repeat - for Viola.

Since I need to gang envelopes to fit them all into one month,  the magical hot air balloons from Trish seem like a fun partner. The word that comes to mind for both of these is exuberance.

The flourishing that's coming out of the top hat on the card is similar to the flourishing on Suzanne's envelope.