Dec from Lynne - Treewhispers

 

I'm 99% sure this is from Lynne. If I'm wrong - let me know. 

I'm living dangerously - and writing posts from memory - after I woke up in Chicago and realized that I had a ton of drafts without images.....

....so I am speed-posting.

*** (written on a different and earlier day)

I have filled up January. I can take a breather while I head in to Chicago for a week. There is a hand made book place (Artists Book House) that has opened up very close to where I stay in Chicago. And even better - while I am there, they are having the opening of an exhibit of TreeWhisperers. 

A loooong time ago when I used to zip in to Chicago to take calligraphy workshops, I crossed paths with a Chicago artist, Pamela Paulsrud, who was collecting circles of paper that she would string into columns which would be hung indoors - to approximate tree trunks. I submitted a few and saw one of her  installations. 

Read all about it here:

https://treewhispers.com

Here is a better description from the website:

Treewhispers is an ongoing international collaboration that celebrates the connection between trees and humanity through handmade paper and artistic exploration. Participants contribute handmade paper rounds with personal memories, poems, images of tree rings, leaves or their beloved trees. These rounds, bound with bookbinding thread, form paper columns and create an ever-evolving forest of paper. As the project travels, it grows with new stories, new voices, and a collective reverence for nature.

There is an address at the website where you can send a paper circle - and I forgot all about the stories that people submit about trees. I should fill another blog post with more about Treewhispers. Maybe I will when I return from my expedition.

Maybe we should send a bunch of circles through the mail to Pamela... let me ponder that - or if you are impulsive - just go ahead and do it..... but, if you do - I think you should share your circle with the blog readers by sending me a photo, please and thank you.

Here is the place in Chicago that I hope to visit to see the Treewhispers exhibit:

https://www.artistsbookhouse.org

Dec from Paula - Interesting *graph*

 

I am always happy to hear from, Paula, our postal pen pal at the post office in NH.

And she chooses Christmas cards that are designs that I would choose if I bought cards. It's a Hallmark - and full of highly steal-worthy motifs.

***

I'm experiencing a bit of a freak out - I just observed the start of the new year and now I am wrapping up January (as I write this on the 6th of January) and I have not even started my Jan envelopes....

Here is something that I found interesting - partly for the subject matter - and partly for the coolness of the graphics. 

https://biocubes.net/?utm_campaign=mb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew

Dec from Kate -Marji with a J - celebrating ZIP Code Day

 

This is from Kate - very pretty gold ink. The address reminds me of French Roundhand. I like this style with the Holiday Joy stamp and the placement of the stamp is very nice with the cancel.

And then there was this wonderful card.

It's so pretty.

I wonder how many she made. They would have taken some time - with the drawing and dotting and collageing and stitching. She was really smart on the star to not stay in the lines. Or maybe she made the gold strokes first and then did the star over the top.

Either way - it's a beautiful card. Stealworthy.

***

I did a search and only found 7 posts that mention Marji - which seems odd. I feel like I would have mentioned lots more about Marji. We might have to have *Marji Week* some day. In the meantime - I will share something that I learned recently from Marji. She told me about ZIP code day. That's when your ZIP code matches the date on the calendar. I need to find out if she invented it - or if she heard about it somewhere. It sounds like something she would dream up. She's very creative.

Marji's ZIP code is 53024 - so on 5-30-24 - May 30th, 2024 - she and her posse had a celebration. I'll have to get back to Marji for details. But - I wanted to jump on this to alert any of the readers that if your ZIP code ends in 25 you might be able to celebrate this year. 

As a 50312 person, I missed my chance to celebrate on May 3, 2012. 

If someone has a ZIP code that ends in 2025, they could have a month long celebration. 52025 - could celebrate in May of this year.

*** a coffee fueled add on - ignore it if you have things you should be doing. Nobody on my exchange lists lives in these places - but maybe some of you know people who do -- and you can alert them. But, celebrating for a whole month is not nearly as much fun as having your ZIP code be a. specific day.

I found some places that could celebrate for the entire month: 

Broadalbin, NY. is 12025 so they could have celebrated in January

Dumfries, Virginia is 22025 (also portions of Cherry Hill) can celebrate in February

Lake City, Florida is 32025 - March

Benton, Kentucky can celebrate in April with their 42025 

52025 is not in use in the US - but there is a town in Italy with that postal code - Montevarchi (Toscana, Italy)

Edwardsville, Illinois can celebrate in June with 62025. 

Casa, Arkansas has 72025. 

Boone, Colorado has 82025 

Escondido, California can wrap things up in September with 92025. 

Cohasset, Massachusetts can celebrate all year - 02025.

Dec from Juliana - Correction on IUOMA

The full story about the brown envelope to Liz is in another post that is. below this one.

We're starting the envelopes that arrived in December. Warning - the envelopes are lovely but my blurb writing is wacko.

This lovely envelope and really pretty card arrived from Juliana - 

There will be a lot of red coming up - so we can just squint and make things into valentines.

***

After writing yesterday's post - I clicked the link on Jayne's blog and it took me to the International Union of Mail Artists (IUOMA) that I had not been able to find. So - it does seem that Rudd is continuing. That's nice.

It was born in 1988 - same year as my son, Hunter - which is ironic - because my blog was *born* on his 22nd birthday. I was a member of IUOMA back at the turn of the century - but - can't remember my password. I'm tempted to rejoin - but my newly energized self-discipline is going to pass.

If any of you are young and want to join - here's the link

http://iuoma-network.ning.com/main/authorization/signUp?target=http%3A%2F%2Fiuoma-network.ning.com%2Fprofiles

Oh. Wow. I just stumbled across Rudd's current blog -- and he doesn't have the images blocked.

Plus - it lead me to the current call for entries - so I'm happy to report that mail art exhibits are alive - although not as prolific as in the olden days.

https://tekeningenruud.blogspot.com

Liz's brown envelope

 Yesterday, at 5 pm, I heard the mail carrier delivering the mail and gathering some that I had put out for him to pick up. I was surprised to see that envelope to Liz in my mailbox. I had mailed in on Saturday. I could see a faint bar code in red ink on the envelope and figured that the scanner had read my return address label on the back instead of the address on the front.

I waited outside for the mail carrier to come back on the other side of our street to ask for the 4 brown envelopes that he had just picked up. I didn't want them to make the same trip that Liz's envelope just made. I showed him how the one he had just delivered was not addressed to me and he couldn't figure out what had happened - until I suggested that the scanner had read the return address label. He thought my theory was correct.

He gave me back the other 4 and I said I was not going to use brown envelopes any more......and just then a medium sized dog came racing down the street, directly toward us, barking and scaring the living daylights out of me. I know dogs don't like mail carriers. The dog started jumping all over me - and the owner came running - and yelling - and maybe the dog was trying to be playful but it was too wild for me. The mail carrier was actually doing a good job of pulling the dog off me by the time the owner reached us.

The owner got his dog back on a leash and muttered, "Sorry."

That was it. One word. 

Grrrrrr

As the owner walked away with his dog I asked the mail carrier if he'd ever been bitten by a dog. Once, on his wrist. I asked if he reported it. He said yes. I didn't ask him to report the incident but my son is getting a full report.

Then I remembered how to handle the brown envelopes. I will cover up the return label and put the recipient's address on the back - so that the scanner only has one choice. The mail carrier thought that was a good idea.

So, Liz, I have to decide what to do about that very faint barcode on the envelope. I think I should just add an outer envelope and start over. Maybe I'll make a trip to the post office. Maybe they would put it in one of the "We're sorry" envelopes they use when a piece of mail gets chewed up.

January to Riley, Sharen, Susan, Meg and Liz - Mail art - Rudd Janssen

Good news - this is the end of my January. envelopes. Apologies that it was the same stuff for 5 days. I won't be doing this again.

I went back to this stamp and this one would have been fine - except I messed up the background color on Riley's R. I realized that it was more fun to do two different borders on the rectangles.

I only messed up the border on Sharen's S.

Susan's might be one that turned out just fine.

There was one that was not fine and not photographed. 

And I don't remember why I did this one.

I did not have Meg in the alphabetical order because I knew I needed to use 3 stamps.

I like the way the 3 stamps look - and I wish the M had a bolder outline - and finer lines on the border - 

I thought I forgot to photograph Liz's - she was new to the exchange in January.

Then I realized that maybe I forgot to even do her envelope - so I made this one on Saturday and dropped it in the mail. It's foreshadowing of my Feb envelopes. I found these brown envelopes in my stash and will use them up, no matter what. 

I'm scared.

Liz probably hasn't even received this yet....

NOPE - it is not on its way - it came back to me....full story tomorrow

***

The surfing from Add&Pass that led to Jayne (yesterday) made me think of Ruud Janssen who was very big in the mail art world - with the IUOMA - International Union of Mail Artists. So I had to see what Ruud was up to these days. His group was so active - back at the turn of the century - but seems to have run its course. Actually - I can't even find the place where people posted requests for participation in mail art exhibits that invited anyone to participate. That's sad.

But Ruud is still making art - so that's nice. And I am quite fond of his style. Actually - he hasn't posted anything since 2021 - so maybe he is doing something else.

I would post an image - but he has a *thing* that pops up that says you MUST request permission to repost any of his images....and that's not something that I can budget time for today. You will know in one click if you have any interest in his work. Or would be inspired by it.

https://artwanted.com/iuoma/gallery/

January to Nanski, Patty, Phillip and Rachael + Mail art (Jayne)

 

I came close to giving up on this whole idea - and I'm weary of even talking/writing about them.

I had not even tried any of the stamps that have the hand holding the dandelion. I realized that the colors in that stamp might work better than the others.

I think I only tried this 2-initials idea twice - and it's OK - but not fun to do. Patty's is a little heavy.

I think I like Phillips.

I like Rachael's R - and I like the border on the stamp.

So these are not complete duds.

*** an add on - since I'm running out of steam on the January envelopes.

Here's a fun idea for a valentine - the lower part of the photo. It's from the blog I found that mentioned the Add&Pass. I returned to the blog and did a bit of surfing. 

https://mailartbyjayne.weebly.com/blog/from-kristen-hermanny-palatine-il. 

The person who started the blog (Jayne) is from Minnesota and it seems like she's not adding anything to the blog any more....but, there are some things to see if you like the more collage-type mail art. Most of the examples are very much in the style of Ray Johnson, considered by many to be the originator of modern mail art. It's not my aesthetic - and doesn't really remind me of anyone who exchanges. It's pretty random, haphazard and guerrila-esque. Even though I am not drawn to appropriating any ideas - there are bits and pieces that do appeal to me. Maybe some of the humor.

BONUS POST - 1st Graders' class project

 Scroll down for today's regular post.

This is a special announcement for anyone who loves to participate in projects with first graders.

Mary, who has been exchanging for a couple years now, sent me this - and added that they need a valentine from Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. So if you can pass this along to anyone in those states - please do. They are welcoming mail from other countries as well.

January to Kate, Lynne, Mary and Maggie - Avuncular

 

Three of these 4 are all in the deep regret category. I enclosed a note indicating that I will do some kind of compensatory envelope for them to be mailed inside the February exchange envelope - assuming they are not so disappointed in their January envelope that they drop out of the exchange.

 I tried that script and it's awful. There is a nice dark green feather on the stamp but dark green seems too strong. The teal on the first 8 envelopes was so nice. But I ran out of teal snowflakes - so I thought these would work with the idea.

I deeply regret that L. I'm OK with the colors - but just barely.

Mary's stamp is fine - but the M is clunky.

And oh-my-gosh - I don't even know what to say about Maggie's, below.

I regret posting it - but, I figure it might be helpful to see everything that I tried - and describe what's wrong with it -- too curly - and no contrast.

I tried doing the 3 things on three of these - but, that might have been a bad idea. They seem too busy. Of these 4 - Mary's is probably the best.

***

We already had one new word this month, griffonage. I'm going to add another one. Avuncular. I learned it from some friends of my grandkids. I don't remember how they discovered it and decided to work it into conversations. I'd heard the word - but had no idea what it meant. 

Avuncular refers to something that is related to an uncle or has the qualities of an uncle, such as being kind, generous, or supportive. It often describes a friendly and benevolent demeanor, especially towards younger people.

I wonder if an aunt can be avuncular or if aunts need their own word.

January to Juliana, Jessica, JeanR and Janet - Paper Bag Inventor

 LINK to the latest article about the future of penmanship

Most people have heard that there is a *rule of threes* suggesting that things look better in threes. I call it the *suggestion of threes* because sometimes it is fine to have two things. I'm OK with Juliana's although I deeply regret the S and I'm not happy with the various sizes of the rectangles. 

Jessica's would have been better with a larger J and a different J and fewer doo-dads - but I was pleased with the way it looked to have the third *stamp* falling off the edge.

That's a better J - and I like the scale of the two rectangles - I don't think this one needed a third bit.

Sadly, Janet who provided the inspiration for the whole theme for my January envelope received a ho-hum envelope. Although I like her J the best. I can't put my finger on exactly what's wrong with the over-all composition - possibly I had burned out - doing 8 envelopes in one sitting. The last name is too bold and the shape is clunky. JeanR's is better with the bold name - but smaller

***

One of my favorite features of the NYTimes is a section called: Overlooked No More.

The woman who invented the machine to make the flat bottomed paper bag was featured and it makes me so happy to learn about her. I have spent a fair amount of time learning how to make a flat bottomed paper bag from any kind of paper. They are so handy if you need to gift wrap something and have paper, but no box and no gift bag.

FULL story at the NYTimes.  They usually allow one free article per month.

If you have used up your free articles - there are a couple highlights below. The full article has more about her background (very little formal education) and the challenges faced by women who break out of traditional roles.

**

In 1867, Knight was working as a bag bundler at the Columbia Paper Bag Company in Springfield, Mass., where she abhorred the cumbersome and time-consuming method of making every paper bag by hand. She sought a way to automate the process.

It didn’t take her long; she had a working model in about a year. But she was soon shocked to discover that a charlatan named Charles Annan, who worked at the machine shop in which her prototype had been built, tried to patent the device as his own. She hired a patent lawyer and took Annan to court.

Annan’s only reported defense was that a “woman could not possibly understand the mechanical complexities of the machine.” But Knight brought to court her blueprints for the original design, along with notebooks, models and witnesses who testified on her behalf. She won her case, becoming the first woman in the United States to win a patent interference lawsuit. On July 11, 1871, she earned U.S. patent No. 116,842 for her invention.

Throughout her life, Knight saw intractable problems as opportunities for innovation; she invented nearly 90 devices and obtained 27 U.S. patents.

JAN to Carolyn, Christy, Hadley and Irene - Skaggs font

 Doing one idea for everyone and having the stamp lined up was my plan for the January exchange. I chose this style of lettering and the teal snowflake stamps. Then - I decided to address the envelopes in alphabetical order to see if that bit of self-discipline would yield better results.

I did not like the horizontal stamp on Carolyn's - so switched it to vertical on Christy's.

I like the border on Carolyn's better.

Janet does a lot of bordering of stamps and I always forget to do that - so this was a perfect time to appropriate Janet's idea. After the first two, I remembered that Janet often puts her stamps at a jaunty angle.

I was happy with Hadley's although the name might have looked better if it was a tiny bit bolder. Also, the stamp needed a little tilt.

Somehow, I forgot that I preferred the angled initial and stamp and reverted to straight on Irene's. I wish I had made the little black snowflakes on the initial with a teal pen. I think that would have been much better.

Four more coming tomorrow.

***

Here is a new font from Steven Skaggs. He has some other fonts that I like even better. Plus - his fonts are available through a foundry that is new to me and they have some really nice fonts. I think it's funny how we still use the word *foundry* when everything is digital.

Anyone interested in a deep dive into fonts - here you go:

https://delvefonts.com/designers/

From Irene in October -- Holiday cards

Here is Irene's October envelope - and the card inside. Irene took one of Kathy Millici's classes on flourishing. If you enlarge the image you will see the stippling which is so effective and must take a very long time.  Irene says she is just learning Spencerian. Most of what we have seen from her is copperplate. Not everyone enjoys both of those styles. Personally - I ended up with a preference for Spencerian because I could do it so much faster. I suppose I would have loved copperplate if there had been more of a market for it. On my own, I didn't feel like putting in the hours to establish the level of consistency that I prefer. Spencerian is more forgiving - if you just want it to be your everyday penmanship.

***

I noticed that this year we (the Wilson household) only received two traditional Christmas cards - which are the ones that fold over and have some kind of illustration or photo - but not a photo of the people or person who sent it. One was from a very old person and the other was from a plumber. All the rest of the cards we received were the single panel style with photos of the people who send them. At my daughter's house, every single card was the single panel with photos. I wonder if Hallmark would share the numbers on this change in trends. 

This one caught my eye. It's just one I saw online...so maybe it had something more traditional on the flip side. 

October from Patty, Jessica and ?? - farming in DSM

 

Here are more envelopes that were left behind when I posted the other October envelopes.

I think the one above is from Patty - but I don't think it is an exchange envelope. I she skipped the October exchange - but sent a cute card. Below is from Jessica

I think this one is from Hadley - based on the postmark -- but I could be mixing Hadley up with Nanski. If either of you want to send me an email, I'll update this blog post.

***

Several years ago a prominent local person proposed a vertical farming project in downtown Des Moines. I loved the idea and have always wondered why it never took off. Des Moines is at the fork of two rivers which is where they used to build forts. It grew into a little town, but there has always been a ton of open space right through the middle of the city which is a flood zone. Part of it is a *park* - that goes on and on - and much of it is wilderness. Along the edges close to the downtown, there have been fairly discrete encampments of people who do not have homes. The city built a large shelter right on the edge of the downtown area. 

Local news is very hit or miss at reaching me because we gave up on the newspaper quite some time ago and we also gave up on cable TV. So, I was happy to see that another farming idea has taken off. It's not vertical farming - but at least it is a start. 

That is not a freeway or expressway at the bottom of the photo. It is a nicely designed parkway with turn lanes. I might include a rant about the one feature that flusterates me.

LINK to article about the project

From Amy and Christy in October --- Missing envelopes

 It has came to my attention near the end of December that I had not posted all of the incoming mail. This disclaimer should be at the top of every post - I try to post everything - both incoming and outgoing - but - I can't figure out a system where I can keep track of photos. Trust me, I have tried many systems. I have numerous folders with images of envelopes. Half are mine and half are the ones that arrive. 

I'll put all the envelopes in a folder labeled with the month and then try to post them all in one sitting - but something always happens to interrupt me and then I don't remember what I posted. I can't figure out a foolproof way to *check-off* the ones that are posted. 

I am toying with the idea of just deleting all the folders of photos and starting a new system (as I write this on Dec 31st - knowing that a new exchange starts tomorrow) Deleting 7,000 photos seems like a bold move. On the other hand - they are all on the blog - so, in theory I could find them.....

Decisions. Decisions.

***

OK - I found them (Jan 12th) and I might be able to tell you who sent them. I am in Chicago - and was shocked to see that I had not finished the January blog posts before I left. So - the rest of the month will be more chaotic than usual.

This is from Oregon, so it must be from Amy.

This is from Ohio, so it must be from Christy

Juliana's Add&Pass - Quote from Janet

 

Here is Juliana's Add&Pass. Mary drew the hand with the tickets and colored them red. Sue/Smash added the balloons. Amy added the circus tents. JeanR added the name and address. She said she chose the Roman lettering because of the font used on the stamp. I let it sit on my desk for at least a week - because I knew I wanted to do a little parade across the bottom - but I had a heck of a time finding any good images to copy.  

***

This was in my folder - to go back and clarify something from an earlier post

***

This quote was on the back of Janet's July envelope. I set it aside to figure out a way to *keep* it and I won't have time to letter it myself in the near future. However, I realized I have a tab on the blog just for quotes. I forgot all about it - because I started it in May of 2020 - which was during the lockdown and we all had so much time to get ourselves organized. LOL. 

I'm just happy that I discovered my good idea - 4 years after I had it ---- more LOL --- 

I did a search and did not find the quote associated with anyone. [Then I think I found out it's from Austin Kleon. But, I have to do more research]

Don't count the hours. 

Art is not efficient. Sometimes a good piece is born in minutes, but even then it is usually surrounded by days of seemingly fruitless poking. 

Accept this and you will be much happier.

Mary's Add & Pass

This is the envelope that Mary started. I suggested that we each put a note inside the envelope so that we could leave a comment about whatever we had decided to do when we added something.

Here is  what was on the note:

Mary wrote:

Hi - I chose to make the envelope out of watercolor paper so that it would hold up to different mediums. Calligraphy is my weakest area is I hope someone else will do the lettering. Starting with the round stamp should be fun. Enjoy the journey.

Susan added: I might have grabbed too much attention - decided not to calligraphy for the circle that Mary provided. This seems like a very fun project - Sending a candidate stamp - Love the watercolor paper.

Amy wrote: I added the wash tape corners and I placed the “fun” stamp. I can’t wait to see the final envelope.

JeanR added: I chose the rounded lettering because of all the circular designs already on the envelope. I used Dr. PHMartin’s bleed proof white to lighten an earlier smudge

Jean (me) being completely off my rocker - wrote too big on the note that was being passed around - so what you are reading now is just me babbling - I didn't write this much on the note. I didn’t confine my comments to a neat and tidy rectangle that would have left the right amount of space for Juliana. I about flipped when I saw this - as it is a clear sign of brain damage. Of course, I’d like to do a documentary of me taking the note in to a neurologist and lamenting how brain damaged I am - and see if they, too, were as alarmed at my inability to follow a very simple procedure of taking up a 20%. band of space. My addition was to fill in a portion of the colorful circular design that was left open. I just rounded it off and left some space. I filled in the washi tape corners because I had the right colors in my ZIG marker stash.

Juliana finished it off and wrote this: I added the address, finished the decorative circle and added the pencil tear drop shapes all over. It took a sudden tropical turn that I love! Fruity drinks with umbrella’s all around!!

***

I am still grrrrring at myself over how I wrote on the note. I also think that I left this one on my desk for about a week, trying to decide what to add. My addition was pretty minimal - and I applaud Julian’s chutzpah at filling in all the space. She thought of something that was very light weight but it totally pulls everything together. JeanR’s choice of lettering was perfect - and I had no idea what to do on the address - so left it for Juliana. She did a great job of tying it together. Susan gave us a bold start. Mary and I had minor roles - which is important. *Adders* need to know when to hold back or the whole thing could get overworked.

Here's what it looked like when it arrived at my house.

 

Powers holiday envelopes

It's interesting to observe my daughter (a first born, strong-wiled person) as she raises her own first born, strong-willed daughter. For a couple years, I coordinated and produced holiday cards for the family. Then, with covid, etc, we didn't get any sent. This year, 11 year old Alex made it her mission to pester her mom to have a holiday card. They weren't sure that Nanna was up for addressing, but I assured them that if they planned. ahead so that I had a month to address them, it would be fine. 

They did not consult with me on the color of the envelope - and we all wished that we could have purchased full sheets of the owls and bunnies - which were also on a black background. We ended up using a lot of the snowflakes because. 3 of the colors looked nice on the green. 

I have 20 teal snowflakes leftover and they will probably show up on my January exchange envelopes. The lower one is that style that *Anonymous* found on an ancient post and asked for numbers. I posted them on Dec 17 - and did a pencil version of exchanger's names. 

I rather like the two weights on Tome's envelope - but it seems like both names having 4 letters is part of why I like it..... hopefully I have fun (and a bit of success) if I actually try that style on the Jan envelopes.