Irene to Lisa - Liz's tips - No. 6 - pondering the elements

There will be some August exchange envelopes addressed to my friend Lisa who lives in Des Moines. I put her name on the lists and gave people the option to send to either of us. Some people sent to both of us which was very nice of them. I've done this for a few other people and it's always fun to watch people open their mail. Lisa is especially delighted with mail. It just amazed her that people who didn't know her would send her some mail. I guess she wasn't connecting with the concept that it's an exchange - they sent something because they were going to get something.

At the bottom of her stack of mail (that she was opening while we were together) was the one I sent. For the return address on the back, I put her address - so there was nothing that indicated it was from me. She did not recognize my penmanship and was surprised to find it was from me. I'll post it tomorrow.

The inside of the card has a cool pop-up arrangement of flowers. I shot a video of it - but I can't get it uploaded - so here is a link to instructions. I've made one of these and it was lots of fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgUDgScs2to

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Tip no. 6: Look at the elements and ask questions to figure out what needs to be improved is a great tip but when you are doing this on your own you might not know what's wrong. This is where it's helpful to take a class or watch YouTube videos or email me with a question. It's also fun to find a local buddy who shares your interest in making things. For many years I would ask my mom to look at projects I was working on and she had no background in art. Her *un(art)educated* eye was still an eye that had been seeing things for many years - and deciding for herself what she liked and didn't like. She could make comments about things that looked a little off to her. I think I generally accepted her opinion as valid and did something. For me, a difficult part of teaching was when I gave feedback and students would instantly defend what they had done - taking my advice to consider something as an insult. 

There are no set rules about how to make the colors work together or what kind of spacing is going to look best. It's all very subjective. I can look at things and tell you what I'd do - but that might not be right for you. Liz likes to pack a lot of stuff onto her envelopes and she loves bright colors. I've had fun channeling Liz's aesthetic - but it's not something that just rolls off the tips of my markers. 

I do better when I flip through Pinterest and look for examples of exuberant designs for idea. That wall on my optical shop is a good example of something that looks Liz-ish that would give me some good ideas for an envelope.

That brings us to steal and conceal.