Lynne's purple flowers - Envelope artist obituary

Writing this on June 6th: I just discovered a whole bunch of comments waiting for me to approve them - half were hiding in the spam folder and the other half were really hiding in the inner sanctum of Blogger - and Blogger won't let me leave comments until I *sign in* - but clearly I am signed in --because I am writing this.

Thank you for the comments -- and my apologies for not responding right now -- I expect to figure this out - at some point.

This envelope is slightly over sized - so Lynne put two stamps on it. Below the add-on blurb - I have a photo of the template that they use at the PO - and also a demo of how I smallerize envelopes that are too tall. My technique works for square envelopes, too, when I want to convert them to rectangles so that I do not have to pay extra.

I like Lynne's white space and her WeaverWriting.

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Here is a welcome break from my fill-up-June series:

I hope my readers will tolerate the occasional obituary. I'll insert the envelope related part of the obituary below her photo so you don't have to go to the link. Some of my envelopes are in the Smithsonian Postal Museum. I wonder if they will want any more. Just kidding. Muriel's envelopes are surely more museum-worthy than mine.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/obituaries/dmr121628

Muriel I. Hawkins

West Des Moines - Muriel passed away peacefully Thursday, March 24, 2022 at the age of 99, being able to live in her own home till her final couple of days.

She was born July 12, 1922 in St. Paul, MN to Oliver and Elsie Mix. She grew up at a state fish hatchery and animal reserve in St. Paul. She attended Mills Art College after high school and then began working as a commercial artist at the local newspaper. In June of 1948 she married O.D. Hawkins of Columbia, MO. During their courtship and engagement, she wrote 300 letters to him, painting pictures of pin-up girls or sometimes herself, on every envelope. WWII submariner O.D. saved all of them and the Smithsonian has said they would like them to add to their collection. After they married, Muriel worked as an artist at the University of Missouri. More than 25 years after they moved from Missouri some alumni mail came with a pen and ink drawing of the campus that she thought to be her work. She quickly found the original and was touched to know they still used it.

The full obituary covers other artwork and activities.

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A tip for altering envelopes to fit the USPS size requirements.

Below - shows the smallest size they prefer.

And the orange flag on the right shows that gray area - that will tell you if the envelope falls into an acceptable proportion. They call it aspect ratio. I don't think that is a common expression.

Below is a square envelope that I cut down to fit the template.

It shows the range of heights that would be acceptable.

I use a clear ruler - and position it where I can make a new fold for the new flap.

Maybe you can see where I scored along the ruler with a bone folder.

You can use other bluntly-pointed items to score. 

Then I fold on the new flap-fold-line - and burnish really hard with the bone folder.

The envelope is flipped around - because I am right handed - and it was easier to tear off the original flap. 

You could cut it off - and you might want to make the flap shorter.

This is the new flap. 

I snip a wedge off each end. 

Sometimes I eyeball it.

Sometimes I measure.

Flipped over again -

you see where you need to remove some excess paper?

On this envelope - I did some eyeballed snipping with a pair of scissors.

You can obsess as much or as little as you like on this part.

And then you are done.

That flap looks a little too big - it might get shortened

I like to seal the envelope with this little adhesive applicator. I get them at OfficeMaxDepot. Be sure you get permanent for envelopes. They have reposition-able, too. Not sure what I would use that for. 

They sell refills for the holder - which is slightly less wasteful. I suppose there are better options. 

Glue sticks are fine, too. Although they rely on a bit of moisture, which can introduce some waves - and sometimes we prefer the paper to stay nice and flat.