April - Sequence of Kate+Rachael+Janet+Juliana - also JeanR and Irene

This is the first layer.  I found the right color to use with the multi colored flowers. It's the 1-oz option. There is a 2-oz version for wedding invitations. If you are reading this Grace, I'd love to know if you are using these on your current wedding jobs. The official name is Celebration Blooms. Better yet - if you have any examples to show us that would be fun. Do you ever make a mistake on the name? If you do, you could fill in a fake address. I know you would not want to share an actual envelope that was going to a client.

Here is what those 4 looked like after I tried a variety of ways to fill them in. Plus I tried a versal which is OK - but then I ran out of those stamps.

I deeply regret that the E in KATE is too big.

The group photo probably doesn't show the layer of flowers.

They were fun to do - but I'm not sure it's the best idea to go with the stamps.

Because I ran out of stamps - Irene has a used stamp and I put hers inside another envelope.

 

Meg+Cathy+Chuck+Alex - Brand names 3

I  don't have much to say about any of these - because I spent all my time looking for Thomas logos.

I was thinking that the English muffins would pop up - for Rachael Thomas.... and it did. But the one that dominated the search was Thomas the Tank....and then a bus company was hidden in there - which was fun - goes with the Riley cars. I wonder if Rachael is familiar with Thomas buses. 

This is the logo on the package of English muffins - I like the black and white one at the top a lot better

 

MAR to Irene, Riley, Troy and Geo - Brand names 2

 Grrrrrrrrr -- there was a delay in the middle of posting the March outgoing mail - so some of these might be repeats. My new plan will be to lock myself in a room without my phone as I load all the March incoming envelopes so that I don't lose track of things. Grrrrrrr.

This is my favorite Keith Haring themed envelope - so far. I've posted the warm ups and the duds.

The little guys were getting better. Some of them are still way off.

I guess Riley's is a half dud. The lettering is awful - and the solution had potential - but, I didn't practice those little guys enough.

Troy's would be fine - if I had not messed up the R. Grrrrrr

The little guys need to be done with a bolder pen.

This one is similar to Riley's - not something that is working at all.

It was an orphan stamp.

Apologies ro Geo.

***

The first name I Googled of the 6 names on the exchange list that I think will have a fun brand name logo is Riley - we have Riley Coe and long-timer Kate Riley and while I have never seen this logo - I think it is spectacular. The tagline that is sooooo good. I'm jealous. I think it refers to a car or car parts. I like it so much I'm just posting it without doing any further research.

To Susan from Phillip - Brand names

Smash was delighted with this mailing from Phillip. It's a zip-top bag that held Smash-Mallow cookie dough. Susan Mashman's nickname is Smash. Smash and Phillip are charter members of the envelope exchange. Phillip must have a huge stash of stamps because he is always able to pull out the perfect stamps to go with his envelopes which are often recycled materials.

Below is the flip side.

This very pretty postcard was inside.

And.... while we are admiring packaging that becomes fun mail art....

last time I was in Chicago - my daughter ordered pizza. I was tempted to save the top, trim it down and mail it to Lynne - as a giant postcard - and I would have - if it had been a good design. Sadly it is a mish-mash of fonts, shapes, random images, those vertical lines that make no sense. I'm always curious about how things like this evolve. At least the pizza was good. If I lived in Chicago, I'm not sure I would even bother cooking.

And then I was wondering if I would ever get any *Wilson* mail..... I imagine there are some options if one were buying sporting goods - or related merch. I bet there are more people on the exchange with *brand* names. When my boys were young, I enjoyed finding t-shirts for them with the Wilson sporting goods logo. I was curious what I'd find on line. <1 min pause> Fun stuff popped up. Not that I would wear this - but it's cute. There are 6 people on the exchange list with last names that probably have some fun *brands* already in use. Stay tuned. 

 

March to Ben, Hadley & Rachael - Haring warm ups

Here are the warm up envelopes for the Keith Haring stamps.

As mentioned previously, Kate did a good job on her little guys.

I think I penciled the ones on Ben's and thought that would be enough practice. I know I have seen footage of Keith Haring drawing his little figures - and he draw them in really fast. Obviously, he had a ton of practice.

These two didn't show any potential - so they are one-offs. I blanked on something that would have been nice on Rachael's - adding the little dash marks. Do they have a name? Rays?

When I was doing the borders along the top, I tried a 3-sided border. Those flowers were much harder to imitate than I imagined. I used markers. Actual watercolor would have been better. The whole thing just feels clunky. Deep regrets that I keep forgetting my vow to stop-doing-caps-on-scripts. Grrrrrr. If you are not a calligrapher, you probably think that addressing looks fine. 

It has a very untrained look to it. I like untrained script - but this is not untrained. It is *used to be trained and then got rusty.* Big difference. I need to try writing with my non-dominant hand and see if I can come up with an untrained style that is legit.

 

March to Grace, Mary and Patty - too dotty

These are the last three using tulips and those Klimt borders. I might put these on the back burner and try again someday. These are all *fine* and from a design standpoint, Patty's is the best. The *happy birthday* completes the design. If I do this again, everyone will get a *kindly deliver to:* above the name.

Patty's is an example where I came very close to edging beyond *fine* into *nice* - the element keeping it in *fine* is dots. I use dots all the time to fix things. And then, as with everything else, they can go too far. It's like a dish that needs salt. It needs the right amount. Over salting is a disaster. On Patty's I over-dotted. You are free to disagree - but, I saw it without dots so I am the only one who saw it when it was *nice.*

Of course, I could have nudged it back into *nice* by figuring out how to make the dots work. Right now, they are in competition with the other shapes. The tulips are not dotty. They have nice shapes. Maybe layering dots onto the tulips would have been fabulous. Also risky. I was going to let it go. I've over-dotted so many times. At least I got the colors right.

The new dahlia stamps should be out soon - they are similar to the tulips - all pink. The tulips had some purple and that dark purple tulip was harder to work with. 

 

March to Liz, Kristin, Christy and Lynne - 2nd skull

Yesterday I mentioned that I think I do better when I have more of each stamp. In this case,  I had tulips and even though they are not exactly the same - I think the progression shows that the idea evolved and got better. Of course, I always feel a modest amount of regret when people like Liz get the first one - and it's a bit lack-luster. There will be more tomorrow which almost hit the *nice* level for me.

I might have hit *pleasing* but I ran out of those stamps.

***

Here is a re-post of the skull photo from yesterday - it's about 12-inches tall and is constructed out of printer paper. Eventually, I have to build one out of something stronger that will be at least 2 feet tall, maybe taller. I was invited to be on a committee to build an ofrenda for a Day of the Dead event in October.

This is a typical ofrenda. You can see a little skeleton at the very top. Some ofrendas have a lot more skulls and skeletons than this one. Ours will feature the large skull at the top. This one is about 9 feet tall to the top of the skeleton - 12 feet to the top of the blue circle.

From time to time I will give progress reports on the project. I have already enlisted loyal exchangers  Patty and Janet to help. I found the pattern for the skull on Etsy for less than $4. There are 40 pieces to the skull. I think we can build it out of poster board and fill it with bubble wrap for support. My paper model is surprisingly sturdy.

Patty and Janet have agreed to help with the cutting and scoring. Hopefully it won't be too difficult on our arthritic hands. We have more than 6 months to build it. But we also have to paint it - and maybe do a few layers of paper mache. Most ofrenda skulls are paper mache. I rather like the origami look - but - it's a committee project - so my minimalist aesthetic might not fly.

 

March to JeanR Kate and Lynne - 1st skull

Wow, this one is not pleasing to my eye. I haven't seen it in a while. I did stick with panels across the top and some of them are OK. The blue lettering below is wimpy and I took time to insert notes in those envelopes with the standard *deep regrets* comment. The tide did not turn on the April envelopes. Although I had an adequate amount of fun doing them. 

As previously mentioned, I tend to lose my way when I am using up orphan stamps. There's too much energy spent on finding the right colors.

I mentioned building things out of cardboard a couple weeks ago and will add a photo at the end of a new project that will include some cardboard construction. Then I'll talk about it tomorrow.

Another problem with using up this type of orphan, there are only two of these per sheet.  I think I do a lot better when I have a sheet. of stamps with 20 of the same design. These stamps are so pretty - and maybe I could have come up with better ideas if I had more of them.

 

March to Juliana - lost kids?

This one didn't translate very well from the *note* I jotted down. The blobs of red - inspired by the blobs of blood cells are creepy. I thought the shapes would be fun because they look like the perforated edge of postage stamps - but somehow that didn't happen. The lettering is clunky. Grrrr.

A few days ago I warned you that I had to scramble to fill posts. Then, I discovered that some of them were actually written, so, now I am back to the list where there are envelopes without blurbs and the clock is ticking.....and I was invited to lunch with some old-timer-calligrapher friends. Maybe I'll have some good stories when I get back. I have no idea if either of them read the blog. I'll tell them I need stories and see what they come up with.

Juliana has kids. I should ask her if she has any good stories.

I always get a kick out of mom's who tell about the time the dad had the kids on an outing and came home without one of them. Has that ever happened, Juliana? Or any of the other readers who have a lost-kid-with-a-happy-ending story - feel free to share. How many do we think I have?

 

March -- to Jessica

Most of the March envelopes involved looking for fun border ideas as well as grid ideas to leave a pleasing section for the address. It also involved using up stamps. As if that were not enough, I layered the task of finding ways to test all my markers and discard the dry ones.

It's no surprise that this was like someone with a broken leg asking the doctor to do a face lift and extract their wisdom teeth while they were anesthetized. Or a chef grilling a steak while baking a cake and mixing cocktails. 

I saw some border ideas on Pinterest and jotted them down. I think there was reference to Gustav Klimt. Some of the other ideas turned out a little better than this one. Maybe the marker testing just needed black outlining. I wonder if Jessica wants to add the black lines and send us a picture of the improvement.

 

FEB to Meg

Remember that envelope from yesterday that took a month to go from Iowa to Canada. I had forgotten to photograph the two to Doris as well as this one to Meg in Australia. So, I emailed asking them to please send photos when their envelopes arrived - and they both did - and the emails from both arrived on the same day. So, it took a month for this to reach Australia. 

I had MrWilson mail a stack of envelopes in February and when he got home, he mentioned this one as being especially nice. I agree - it's one of my better ideas. Of course - the number of letters helps a lot as well as me making a mistake. I meant to draw 12 squares. Somehow I ended up with 16 and for a minute, I was grumbling.  Then I seized the opportunity to fill in with flowers. 

The term *happy accidents* is sooooo appropriate in this case. I will refrain from grumbling about some of the letters that are ugh-mo. I was too lazy to pull out a Sickles exemplar. Grrrr at myself.

 

MAR - Patty's b-day + FEB - Doris

This. went inside an envelope to Patty. I like those. stamps - but would need 3 - and I had some very nice watercolor paper, so figured I'd make her a card. I was pretty sure I had my system for doing Checkerboard Madness figured out. Nope. 

I messed up on the second letter.

I smudged because PrismaMicron ink does not dry fast on nice paper.

I messed up the order of the colors.

I really messed up the vertical line on the Y - but, the universal remedy for making a mistake is to make it three more times. This does not apply to all mistakes - just the ones on a piece of artwork. I rather liked adding those little wedge shapes around the edge.

Below is an envelope that took a month to get to Doris - in Canada. I think the USPS has a big bin for the mail going to Canada and they wait for it to get full to the top before they drive it to the border. I wonder if they meet the Canadian postal service at the border. I guess a lot of mail goes by air.

I do not see any mistakes on this one. It could have used something to tie the stamp and name together.

Actually, there is a mistake...on the address. I had put so much time into it - that I stuck it in a larger envelope to mail it.

 Here's the outer envelope. I love the leaves. I also love Doris's name. Five letters in each name and each name has an i.  I could have a lot of fun with this name --- maybe she'll sign up again. Although the expense of participating - when you have to send 5 international letters is a bit much. Maybe we can cultivate a posse of Canadians to exchange up north.

Smash & Amy - Add&Pass

I guess there were three more to post - and I put these two in one post.

Above is the final image that Mary sent to me before she forwarded it to Susan/Smash.

Below is what it looked like when I passed it along. I put in the name. I'm not sure who added what -- but I think it's a very nice mix of styles and shapes and everyone made excellent choices.

 This is what Amy's looked like when it left my house. 

JeanR had done the name and I added the white circles.

Below is how it looked when it arrived back at Amy's house.

It was so nice to have the USPS involvement.

The number on her street address was incorrect.

Her carrier put the circle around the incorrect number and brought it to her house.

I also love where the cancel is....so perfect.

Here are the notes that we all added as the envelope travelled from coast to coast and back. While we all agreed that it wasn't easy and some of us had regrets and second thoughts - I'm impressed how the whole thing pulled together and is whimsical. I think we did a good job on all of them

Jean Rothfusz :

 

1. I place the stamp in traditional space.
2. I decided to copy the lettering on the stamp for Amy’s name.
3. I found two more colored envelopes to practice.
4. Both envelopes: suni ink for basic letter shape.
5. Tried “sharpie” markers. Didn’t like fuzzy edges. 
6. Tried “manuscript” double dip markers.  Good results.
7. SURPISE!

The first letter on the REAL envelope – “F” - I immediately saw the yellow the suni ink making a mess.  That did not happen on the sample.  So I tried to lay down the other colors without much contact with the black. 

JeanW:

Grrrrrr at myself - it took me a week to draw the 2 white circles. Add & Pass is a lot harder than I expected it to be. The lines are wimpy. Feel free to beef them up.

Juliana:

I agree with Jean, add and pass is harder than I expected. I feel like I’m completely blank on ideas, or have so many thoughts that I need to rein myself in. I added the bee and tulip. The bee is obviously a sticker but the drawing was all done with Posca pens. Lovely choice of stamp by the way. I love these circle ones.

Mary:
I may have ruined it with the address. I wasn’t sure where to put it and then I second guessed adding the color. I also added leaves to the tulip.

Susan/Smash:

Sorry, I made Jean’s circles worse. The Posca dots didn’t work as well as expected. I filled in the leaves and added the black line in center. Overall, the envelope is pretty cute.