Bocskay's Mira calligraphiae monumenta

almost everyone has heard of the Book of Kells and knows that it is a masterpiece of calligraphy. there is another book, not as well known, but equally masterful. the Getty Library has generously put high res scans out on the internet.

you have to download them one at a time and i guess they are not in order. but they are very cool and full of fabulous flourishing.

the link to the getty website is below
on the right, under Search Options
go to [Titles]  and put in this:
Mira calligraphiae monumenta

I tried typing in just Mira - and it worked fine - but maybe it was because I had already searched once. If someone tries the search with just Mira - and it works, will you please leave a commnet so I know it works
thanks

http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/search/

i just tried putting in Bocskay in the Maker/Artist box and it led to the book, so that is another option.

thank you from louise

remember a while back i posted a call for entries from Louise, who wanted 55 envelopes to observe her 55th birthday? i sent one and the left half is the last part of the thank you note from her. she mentions that her local postal workers are enjoying the fun mail and it says right there - that her mailman thanked her on their behalf. isn't that sweet?

Louise's handwriting is very distinctive. i like her capital L a lot. might have to steal it. :-)

google map for smash

i saw this idea on pinterest. print out a map with directions from one house to the other.

i am not happy with the way i wrote the zip code. i was trying to make it eye catching for the p.o.

i know it will arrive, because i put her address as the return address.

it's a fun idea and it would also be fun to redraw the map by hand.

alert reader miss cathy advises us that it now takes $1.20 to mail to Canada, but you may mail up to 2-ounces for $1.20. the 2-ounce rate is only for Canada.i mentioned the cost of postage to Canada in yesterday's blog post.

pueblo pots for alex

so, these stamps look great, but i'd need to use 9 to send this to her in canada. plus, she isn't even two years old, so this is a lousy way to teach her the alphabet. multiple problems, plus the obvious one that i messed up the E. so, this is just an example of how this style depends on looking at which letters are next to each other and figuring out ways of making shapes that fit together. has anyone been making their own parabola names? if so, i'd like to see examples.

i might have to make some envelopes that have really nice pueblo designs in the letters. i think that would be lovely.  i like the RA at the end.

since i had to put $1.20 in postage on this one, i was looking for two forevers - and dang - the ramirez stamps are perfect. now that i am almost out of them, i finally find a style to go with them. rats. i don't want to buy any more.

bonus peacock from jan

jan sent this promptly when i was just starting the whole peacock frenzy back in june. it looks like rubber stamps with filled in colors. very pretty. i immediately requested an opportunity to do some more things with the rubber stamp. the rubber stamp has been waiting patiently on my desk...

hodge podge for alex

alex is 20 months old and learned how to put the key in the mailbox, open it and look for mail, so i'll be sending a fair amount of mail to her from now on. it is also a good opportunity to use up random stamps.

neither of these envelopes are masterpieces, but they are very good suggestions for beginners to just write the name many different ways, in many different directions. or make a bunch of lines and then fill in the information.

easy-peasy as they say on the DIY blogs.

cathy's neon world games

i finally found the perfect markers for the free envelopes. zazzle brights liquid ink highlighters by zebra. it is a really old set and i have no idea if they still make them. those 5 odd stickers are covering up mistakes. i tried to make her name look a little more like the multicolor design on the stamp, but the overlapping did not work for blue and green. i would need something opaque and waterproof like a glaze pen or paint pen. i no longer buy new things. just using up the stockpile. odd placement of the elements. the outlining is done with g-tecs. it's always fun to have markers and pens that match or at least coordinate.
and neon colors do not scan well. they wash out. please imagine the lettering as bright as the stamp.

clever leaves from nonnie

nonnie didn't think this was blogworthy. the PO put some dreadful black marks across the two lower stamps. since i wanted to muffle them a little, i decided to muffle the address too - to show nonnie that the flowers were fine - they just didn't want the address competing for attention.the address was pretty bold. one way to bump up the flowers would be to add some black accent. but that can be a risky move. you might fix it or you might make it worse. but that's the fun of envelopes....

in case it isn't obvious. my name is spelled out in leaves. i am soooooo going to steal this idea. nonnie said that the cats on the apr 2nd post were the inspiration for this lettering.

thank you nonnie.

(my stolen version of this has already appeared)

then...a few days later...this arrived...
nonnie made a re-do

this time everything works
:-)
thanks, nonnie

carolyn's notebook paper

there are tons of cute items on pinterest inspired by notebook paper. i have not seen this, but it would not surprise me if it is out there.

the address and zip code will both be flush left in the two open lines.

the colored lines were made with a dotta-riffic marker and i used a ruler, which meant i was willing to take time to clean the ruler after making the lines. not my usual lazy self. but, i did one freehand and it was wretched. so bad i am not even going to show you how bad. sometimes i just have to spare you things that you could not un-see.

karen's robb-esque

remember the bright red and pink envelope that christy robb made that also inspired the cool nameplate that cathy o'rear made? well, i knew i was going to eventually do my version of christy's envelope. originally, i started with the versal name and then it reminded me of christy's envelopes, so, i just did all this from memory. i did not go back and look at christy's original. and i still haven't, as i write this. i did not make the cartouche for the stamp large enough. and i may not have any color on this....just very unsure of where it is going, but, liked the idea of showing some of these works in progress.

a couple days later+gold gel pen+colored pencil=ho-hum... or maybe a little better than ho hum. sometimes when you are stealing ideas you have to do your homework and actually look at what you are stealing...other times, a vague memory is enough.

christi's dots (a note to the exchangers)

hopefully i will relocate the inspiration for this one. the inspiration is entirely filled in. i know that would look fine, but part of me is liking it with some white space, so, i really can't decide what to do. some of the ramirez stamps look fabulous with it, so...at some point, i will show it finished.

i also thought it was a good idea to show it in various stages so you can see how the addition of black lines and white dots makes it way more interesting that just blobs of color.
it is about half done.

in case you can't tell, this is another spin off of that veggie-bead series that was not going anywhere.

*****
we have several new people signed up for the next exchange. i think most of them came from a calligraphy forum where i mentioned my blog. remember, this blog is not limited to calligraphy. you may do rubber stamping, collage, digital art. it's up to you. it just needs to be something more than a plain address. we are happy to have new people exchanging and i look forward to posting some of the ones that arrive in des moines. 

nancy's larcher-esque

i was looking at a pin on pinterest and it was too small to read the credit line, but i'm pretty sure it was a page of Jean Larcher's. he passed away not too long ago. his version was not done with a brush marker. and of course - no self-respecting calligrapher would write this style in all caps. but, i need to figure out something to do with these 146 envelopes......

cindy's exchange butterflies

this is the first exchange for cindy. i hope she was happy with the envelopes she received. i know jan was happy with this one. the p.o. was kind enough to leave the stamps alone.

thanks for joining the exchange, cindy.

finn's bead-flowers

when i could see that the veggie-beads weren't going anywhere, i lapsed into my oldest obsession, dotty flowers. remember, i was just trying to find something fabulous to do with markers on the 150 free envelopes made of icky paper.

at first these were ugh-mo. now they are just trite. but, i like trite flowers.
so, this pleases me on the level of...it's such a cute idea that anyone could do - and i like to toss out really quick easy ideas.

oops, i see i forgot the outline on the left leaf on the d in badger.

nancy - 3rd veggie bead

this was probably the second one and the one i labeled 2nd was probably third, but, it doesn't matter. it's just another variation on the theme and it's the end of the series.

they are cheerful, and fun to do when i don't want to think very hard, but i do not think they are very inspired.

legend-ary

legend wrote a pretty funny note to tuck in the envelope explaining how he was happier with his rough idea than the way the final envelope came out. i'm glad he shared that. it happens to me all the time. i don't think there is any way to get around it. life is a balance between planning and then watching everything go really badly and then doing something spontaneous or impulsive and having it turn out perfectly...which inspires you to be more spontaneous, but then you end up with a big fat mess, from poor planning, so you go back to planning and then the rough draft is better than the final and it's just a big ol' merry-go-round. i suppose at this point, you think i'll have some words of wisdom about how to cope with this dilemma. all i can think of is to be sure to take a nap. everything is better after a nap.

christy - 2nd veggie-bead

this was the second version of the veggie bead idea. i like making those side-dots by pressing on the side of a brush marker. i suppose we could call then elipto-dots.

i have nothing to say about this. i will be curious to know if anyone likes it - or if anyone is going to try their version.

i did not mean to put the stamp on upside down. but, after i did, i rather liked it that way.

exchange envelopes + the NEXT EXCHANGE sign up

here are the rest of the envelopes from the may exchange.
i apologize for not having the names of the artists on these envelopes. i have misplaced the stack. when i find it, i will repost with credit to the lovely people who participated in the exchange.

next exchange
sign up by JULY 15th and mail by JULY 30th
send your info to
janhardt (at) mchsi (dot) com

give her your:
name
address
city/state/zip/country
email

tell her if you want to do 5 or 10 envelopes

no theme - any medium (ink, markers, digital)
envelopes may be empty
beginners are most welcome
calligraphy is optional - digital is fine
just make the envelope lovely

some of you participate in other kinds of mail art exchanges where the participants are supposed to email the sender when the envelope arrives. but jan and i are more about keeping it simple. as far as we know, everyone is receiving as many envelopes as they send. once again, if you are missing envelopes, let us know and we will send replacements.

exchange envelopes

i am lumping all the exchange envelope into two posts because i ran out of time/energy to do thoughtful individual posts. i appreciate all the participation and i love all the envelopes...i just ran out of steam on making good comments. it's so much easier to just nitpick at my own envelopes.

we seem to have quite a few people interested in the exchanges so, we will continue them as long as there is interest.

if anyone has signed up for an exchange and did not get all the envelopes they were supposed to receive, let me know and i will send a make-up envelope.

tomorrow i will post the details of the next exchange.

lilli's baby exchange envelope

a very sweet photo (probably from a calendar) made into an envelope, paired with a perfect pair of stamps.
once again, canadian stamps impress us. the label and sticker are nice additions

thanks for participating in the exchanges.

karen's vegetable hodge podge

i pulled out the Pitt Big Brush markers to see how they would behave on this paper. i have about 150 envelopes with a printing error on the flap and they are not my favorite paper, but, geesh, 150 free envelopes....i sometimes get good ideas when the envelopes are already being recycled. so, i started with the colors, then started outlining in black.
horrific.
tried flinging some more black lines.
what's a word that means *worse than horrific*? 
covered it up with some white.
added gold
i would have thrown this one away, but saved it so you can see what launched a different series. i am calling it the veggie-bead series because i used the veggie stamp and those tear drops look like beads.
more to come.

versal-script K -kathy

there was an L like this with a script layered over a versal earlier. i believe i said i wanted to do more of these. i used g-tec and added a tiny bit of water with a brush. this will go in a larger envelope because i only have one glass stamp and i no longer spend hours sifting through my stamps looking for perfect combinations.

the address will be in the rest of the straight line - or two lines, as needed.

two posts today, because technically, the other one is not an envelope and some of you might call me out. or would you? does anybody care if i post envelopes?

christy-style name plate [not an envelope]

cathy o'rear was inspired by the envelope that christy did - to make a nameplate for one of her co-workers at the P.O.

and in case anyone wants to watch the mail cancelling machine in action, here is a nice video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnt9k8Ax1Ck

this is the old-style machine, but it shows exactly why the landscape orientation is the preferred orientation and there is a surcharge on portrait orientation and squares.

h.b. karen - ramirez deer

should have used gray on the deer. like the idea, did not like the paper, so left it simple. if i do another one like this on nice paper, i'd add more color.

that green stripe is uncropped background, but i rather like it. maybe i should do more borders or edge colors....one of those accidents that gives me ideas.

candy-land

 here is a card and envelope from candy-land. candy has a blog that is worth checking out.
http://www.mypaperarts.com/
i have a link on this blog, although, i can't tell if it is always in the same place on phones, iPads, or desktops. AES left a comment on the blog post with the plastic bottle filled with boxes, wondering how she did it.
details are here
http://www.mypaperarts.com/2015/04/30/diy-how-to-make-a-plastic-bottle-into-an-envelope/#.VZbvnEb5nR4



or you can even subscribe and get a notice every time she posts. many of her ideas are perfect for envelopes. although she does engage in several other types of projects - so if you want to be faithful to the envelopes, be careful that you do not let candy distract you. some of her projects are pretty tempting. luckily, she puts out enough envelope ideas that i can maintain my focus.  thanks candy

karen's deer

after one that was similar to this one got rave reviews on the blog, even though i thought it was a dog, i figured i might as well do some more along these lines. but it was the same day that i started making bad address choices, so i am just posting these sans address and will repost if i don't mess it up when i add the street.

it's just black with white gel pen over the top. mimics some detail on the stamp.

bonus post - alex's picklepie

this was inspired by the picklepie font that elizabeth sent and now i don't remember at what point i started posting this series. it's pitt brush markers first, then outline with pigma micron 05. and white gelly roll dots.

i hear that these envelopes are not reaching alex. the canadian post doesn't approve or else they love them so much they are just keeping them. hard to tell. our neighbors to the north are mysterious.

francois szalay colos

while this hungarian artist passed away in 1989 and there isn't much about him on the internet, i don't feel comfortable stealing his idea. but i love it and wanted to share it with you.

i imagine it could inspire other kinds of stamp stacking ideas.

h.b. karen - 4 water lilies + energy

maybe not the best stamp choice. but, the dot-a-rific marker colors don't go with very many stamps. of course they are perfect with the happy birthday stamps that i no longer have.
this was close to getting filed in the circular file, more than once, but swirly-cues and dots ended up making it fun enough to send - along with all the others. i'll be interested to hear if there is a clear *favorite* of the ones that karen received.

 after i made the first scan, i thought it needed some white. then i saw another stamp that isn't too bad, but i only have 4 of them. not enough to mail it. guess it will go inside another envelope.

3D mail

 this fun bottle full of boxes arrived in my mailbox. it's from penpal, Candy in oregon. she has a blog and features work that involves a variety of things including a lot of folding. these are out of paste paper. i haven't decided what i will do with the little boxes. they are so cute.

thanks, candy.

years ago, i wrote a letter on lined paper, then cut each line apart and taped it together into one very long strip and stuffed it into a bottle and mailed it. and i imagine you can find other examples on line of things to mail in a plastic bottle. i guess i should have done that as a thank you to candy. dang. i'll have to think of something else, unexpected....

here is a pinterest board with a bunch of fun ideas

https://www.pinterest.com/dperky/mailing-fun-things/