rereun friday - motherlode of mail

this idea to rerun things from my old posts was a great idea. i found a link i had forgotten about:
Mail Art Across the World.

warning, do not enter unless you have an insane amount of spare time.

this is by laurent rebena.

uber-stealworthy layout.
not sure the po will honor stamps that have been cut in half.

https://picasaweb.google.com/106709695274778066246/MAAW2009#

454 envelopes - at least half of them have something that is stealworthy. i may never have to think again.

from exchanger miss cathy

lucky miss cathy got to take a workshop with peter thornton and he told everyone to go home and work on some projects. lucky for wilma that she received this pretty envelope and the bonus poem inside.

the ginko leaves are so pretty. my neighbor has a ginko tree and it is so much fun to watch it drop its leaves. most of the time, it will wake up after the first really cold night and just drop them all in about 2 hours. they are like leather and you have to shovel them. rakes don't work.

but i digress - lesson for today. simple, perfect lettering - on straight lines, flush left - are beautiful.

thanks for exchanging miss cathy

hApPy biRtHdAy to the blog

6 years of daily blog posts - have not missed a day. if you go back, you will find some days that are missing due to some editing. but 6x365 = 2,190 and there are over 2,500 posts, so i am way ahead of the game. if you woke up and clicked, you saw something. and then there are the readers who leave a comment at 1:30 am - so that i get a comment when i wake up. that's always fun for me....

thank you for your comments (at any time of day or night) over the years. even the ones where you complain about spiders give me inspiration.

this is from the desk cleaning series. it spent several years as a pencil outline of something i saw on pinterest that i liked. i put a name in the center of the flowers and it looked awful. then proceeded to spend a ridiculous amount of time covering them up. still looked terrible. then smeared everything with pale pink tombo marker, and ended up liking. was very happy with the orphan stamp.

bonus post - stamp lamp

many of us have too many stamps. here is an idea for using them up.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/97942058/stamp-lamp-upcycled-glass-jar-tealight?ref=related-0

it says you can burn a tea light inside the jar.

there must be many other items that could be stamp encrusted. many years ago i made a bird house, encrusted with postage stamps, to donate to an auction of decorative bird houses - a local fund raising event. sadly, i did not keep a photo of it.

other items that come to mind:
picture frames, coffee table, end table, my fridge, my car, a box for storing all my stamps, a lamp shade.

please add ideas in the comment section.

today's post is below.

leaves from the elizabeths

elizabeth o. (top) and elizabeth w. both sent leafy envelopes in november. e.o.'s looks like she had some kind of stamp to make the leaves and e.w. looks like she used actual leaves. both are very pretty. who doesn't love leaves.

if you are tired of winter and looking forward to spring, you could do either of these with springy greens

thank you penpals.

p.s. i don't know what kind of ink or paint e.w. used but it is by far and away the shiniest metallic i have ever seen. it looks like car paint.

p.p.s. e.w. noted on the back of the envelope that her stamps were not the right ones, but she had to use what was on hand. the CPA stamp is perfect. i know how frustrating it is to not have the right stamps available....but at least the second one is not a flag.

crazy lace (not sunday inspired)

this was in the pile of very bad starts- but might try to save. it went through many layers and i like the stamp. the top and left have the most layers. i think they went too far. there was a point when it was just right, but i went beyond that, and now, i have to decide if i try to get it to another point of just-rightness.

because i have an exchange envelope that is too pretty to drop in the mail, i am not worried about getting this to a point where i love it. it's fine as an outer wrapper for a nice one that i want to protect from the p.o. maybe it will inspire some more crazy lace....if it does...then it has done its work.

blogger maintenance

just so you know....
blogger changed something, so if you can no longer *follow* me, unless you have a Google account
it is explained below.
my followers dropped from 207 to 175

An update on Google Friend Connect

In 2011, we announced the retirement of Google Friend Connect for all non-Blogger sites. We made an exception for Blogger to give readers an easy way to follow blogs using a variety of accounts. Yet over time, we’ve seen that most people sign into Friend Connect with a Google Account. So, in an effort to streamline, in the next few weeks we’ll be making some changes that will eventually require readers to have a Google Account to sign into Friend Connect and follow blogs.

As part of this plan, starting the week of January 11, we’ll remove the ability for people with Twitter, Yahoo, Orkut or other OpenId providers to sign in to Google Friend Connect and follow blogs. At the same time, we’ll remove non-Google Account profiles so you may see a decrease in your blog follower count.

We encourage you to tell affected readers (perhaps via a blog post), that if they use a non-Google Account to follow your blog, they need to sign up for a Google Account, and re-follow your blog. With a Google Account, they’ll get blogs added to their Reading List, making it easier for them to see the latest posts and activity of the blogs they follow.

We know how important followers are to all bloggers, but we believe this change will improve the experience for both you and your readers.

Posted by Michael Goddard, Software Engineer

more off topic

this is way off topic, but interesting and relates to penmanship. while looking for info on donating more books to the collection at the U of Iowa, i discovered that they have a bunch of handwritten books and letters online and if you want to transcribe them you may sign on and do so. seems like a fun way to kill time if you have time to kill. sadly, i do not. but thought i would pass this along.

here is a link to a random page

http://diyhistory.lib.uiowa.edu/transcribe/1785/55566

if you click on More Information, you can see tips on how to do the transcribing.

going back to the home page where you see how many volumes they have online (Transcribe by Topic) is a very slippery slope. you have been warned.

off topic - drew ellis

if you divide this into three, you have three ideas for envelopes.

or you could do the whole thing - or 2/3

lots of options courtesy of drew ellis

http://theinspirationgrid.com/hand-lettering-by-drew-ellis/

and we like his words. he doesn't say if they are his own or not.

dk - amy's red ribbons

this was in the desk cleaning pile with just pencil lines for the ribbon. i used prismacolors to fill in the ribbon, added the uniball gold gel for outline and uniball white gel for highlights.

this is definitely something that has some potential. too bad i didn't ponder some valentines a while back.

rerun friday - christy who started it all

looking back at the first year of posts is a treat for me. i find things like this one which included the story about how my envelopes to christy in 2002 were the beginning of my whole obsession with envelopes. she is a niece who headed off to college a year ahead of my oldest offspring and i made envelopes for christy's mom to send to her. after she told me how much she, as well as dorm mates, enjoyed them, i started stockpiling envelopes for my daughter and they were ready to be mailed to her freshman dorm the following year. i wish the PO would be as vigilant at keeping a happy birthday stamp always available as they are with the flags.

this just in

after 8 weeks away from my computer - this was the first thing to pop up on my morning Pinterest surf. it is the ORIGINAL source for this alphabet. it is so nice to find out where things come from. plus, she is selling the font, along with a bunch more. so, for those of you who collect fonts....

http://www.sugarhillco.com/shop/alphas/

i'm not sure when i posted envelopes using this font, but it seems like it was not that long ago. i bet you could morph it into other holidays.


and

a HUGE thank you to everyone who sent mail in december. i think i will schedule them to appear in october and november where they will inspire holiday mail.

and

a GI-NORMOUS thank you to the people who included personal notes - thanking me for the blog. i am happy to be back at my desk and energized for at least one more year of blogging. feb 17th is my official birthdate for the blog.

today's regular post is below

from exchangers amy and chuck-k

these make a very fun pair. i really like that the train track is a partial border. and the stamps are way-fun.

chuck-k  uses markers, templates, rubber stamps, etc and there is asymmetry to his layout as well.
he puts his stamp and address on the flip side.

thank you both for exchanging.

desk cleaning for jean

another 2011 envelope leftover. this time i filled in some detail with the Gelly Roll Clear Star and tried a photo rather than a scan to see if I could pick up the glittery details. on the phone, it looked like little bits of glitter. hopefully it looks good on a screen, too. in person, it's quite nice. and i'm not always that fond of glittery stuff. i like the subtlety of the glitter on gray. the last white rose stamp was happy to make it onto this envelope even though it clashes with the drawn flowers.

spooky tuesday - from jinanne

jinanne collaged images onto a handmade envelope. that little owl holding the zip code is adorable.

she spent some serious time on the lettering. it looks outlined and filled in.

perfect stamp choice.

thanks for participating in the exchange.

inspired by sunday - maggie's fern

this was, bar none, the ugliest envelope ever when it only had the green lettering. i had no idea that i could save it. all i did was scribble out all the green with white gel pen. it reminded me of pine needles, but the fern stamp goes pretty well. of course, there is no way to know what it will look like on the screen. sometimes the ones that look fine in person look really awful on the screen. not sure where to place the stamp. i might end up centering it and also centering the address in the bottom. might fill in with some more checkerboard designs using yesterday's post as inspiration.

off topic - guest artist - koloman moser (mary engelbreit)

chuck m sent me the link to this artist. i was flipping through a ton of great stuff and when i saw this - my brain shouted - Mary Engelbreit.

i have always been drawn to her art and i suspect she, at one time, was drawn to this kind of art. as i recall, she had a very early interest in art and her parents set her up with a little studio at home.

here is the link to koloman's site
http://www.theviennasecession.com/gallery/koloman-moser/

there is an arrow > on the right of the screen that will flip you through the images - until you get to this one - and then there are more.

 i had to google mary engelbreit to be sure i spelled her name right. her story about her little home studio is correct, under About ME and her blog (there is a tab for it) has some great stuff (a new line of all-purpose snarky cards). i also liked her FAQ. basically, she started out by copying pictures out of books and never went to art school...
www.maryengelbreit.com/

a lot of her stuff is so sweet, but she's realistic and adds just enough snarky to appeal to me. i also like that she gave (gives) instructions on how to copy her style. she had enough confidence to know that there was no point in trying to copyright protect every little detail in her work.

January exchange update

If you were late or have not sent your January exchange envelopes please let Jan know. There seem to be some participants who have not received all their envelopes. International envelopes sometimes take longer.
Thanks.
Jan's email is
Janhardt (at) mchsi (dot) com

carroll's gregory peck

a desk cleaning challenge. the black rectangle was in the middle. i thought gregory would be fine. then i dotted the v instead of the i so had to use the stamp to cover it up. the thought bubble is too much in the corner
so i will fill up the lower right corner with the address and then fuss over it for a while - if i get a really good solution, i'll repost it.

February Exchange

It is time to sign up for the February exchange.
If you would like to participate please email Jan with your snail mail and email address. Let her know if you want to do 5 or 10 envelopes.
Let her know if you are OK with international addresses.


Jan's email is
Janhardt   At.   Mchsi.  Dot. Com

Jan will send out lists on the 12th.
Please send your info by the 11th.
Thanks.

rerun friday - kathy's pansies

remember those simple block letters i posted on nov 6 for bridget? this is the same style of lettering, done larger with a fat marker. while i have zig markers, you could get the exact same look using the big markers for kids. the little flowers are just dots and dashes and the only trick is to add a bit of black outline with a very fine pen and don't outline exactly on the edge. leave a little white space. those bits of white add sparkle.

i guess i should mention the shading on the lettering. that helps a lot. i have directions on how to do drop shadows in the video section. directions are included in the tiger writing. (at least i think they are. i have not actually watched it in a long time - so i could be having one of those unreliable fake memories.)

exchanges from candy and rehj

it's so much fun to pair the exchange envelopes that come in. i don't always find perfect matches, but i love how these two go together.

the top one is paste paper from candy. you can read the details on her blog - link to it is in the right column - below, on a regular computer. on a phone, i'm not sure how you will find it.

the bottom one is from rehj. it is digital and it is a postcard so my address is on the back. i have to look back and make sure i have posted the one she did for wilma that has the crane stamp on it. the watery reflection is actually a distorted *wilson.* and it has that raised thermographic coating on it so it is shiny. i know i took a photo of the envelope that shows the reflection of the shiny...i just don't remember if i got the photos posted...i'll figure this out....

thanks to both of you for participating in the exchange.

desk cleaning - big copics

two more that spent a couple years in a pile waiting for a the right stamp before moving on. i like the way they go together, even though the stamps are not complementary. i had no stamps in mind when i did the copic marker marks.

broken record. i like contrast. big stuff and little stuff.

i'm not a big fan of that dark stamp on such an airy envelope, but it was the last one on the page and sometimes orphans have to be glad that they at least got out of the drawer of doom. not to be confused with the closet of chaos and the hamper of ... hmm, one of my uber-clever blog readers will have to finish that thought.

spooky tuesday - from kelly and elizabeth w

kelly's (top) looks like a resist. it is very cool. maybe she will post in the comment section and tell us how she made it. i like the stamp choice a lot. that has been a very versatile stamp. i should load up on them.

elizabeth-w has a set of hand carved rubber stamps with her monster letters so she stamped the name and bats and cat. i still have my stamp carving tool. it is taking a lot of self-control to not dig it out and start carving again.

thanks to both of you for participating in the exchange.

these ideas could be updated to valentines by making the spider web into a lacy valentine and changing the bats and cats into hearts - and doing something punny with the mummy.

inspired by sunday - alex's thank you

i printed out a photo on regular printer paper - and then wished i had used nicer paper - but, it is just fake mail...showing how you can write on the background. the idea yesterday was to write on the face, but i couldn't bring myself to do that. it seemed like a cute idea for a thank you for someone who can't write yet.  it could also be a party invitation. the possibilities for writing on photos are endless.

turning a piece of paper into an envelope:
google: envelope folding template and you will see many. Word has templates, too.

off topic - ian barnard and chuck close

today i am sharing a quote [below]. you might want to google chuck close if you don't know anything about him. i chose his quote to go with this image. it would be a very nice way to address an envelope. you would need a chunky white paint marker. imagine it in landscape orientation.  chuck close does a lot of giant head shots.

the lettering is by ian barnard
http://www.ianbarnard.net/

“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that’s almost never the case.”
-Chuck Close

flowers for rachael

to make up for the october/halloween envelopes that are still tagging along in january, here are some very early spring flowers

i like how tombo markers dissolve g-tec pens. not as pretty as real watercolor, but so handy.

and technically this is from the desk cleaning pile. maybe it was a bad idea to get rid of that pile. maybe it was full of refreshing change-of-pace material.

rerun friday - stripe variation with flag

here is a variation of the elizabeth that i ran on jan 1st. this one is more elongated and sloppier. while i am not a big fan of flag stamps i'm sure there will always be a flag option so it's probably a good idea to have some stripe ideas on hand.

exchange from finn (bird on head)

finn, smash and i have an ongoing exchange of bird-on-head mail. finn enclosed a note saying he hoped this was not too gory for my blog. no, it is not, but it is plenty close enough.

the post office worker who added the black Xs must have been super thrilled to be adding to the artwork. and it was serendipitous that it came on the same day i was reading a list of top 10 ideas for art therapy. not than any of us need it, but, i just wanted to see what was on the list. i've done all of them and one of them was:
collaborative art

and A+++++ to finnbadger for his really nice lettering.
super nice. i lurk around the internet and spot some very nice artwork on the envelopes you send. i am so pleased to see how well you are doing as an international mail artist.

BTW, that eyeball hanging out of the bird's mouth looks like a holiday tree ornament. i'm thinking this would be a good beginning on a holiday card - - - -  for ozzy osborn.

desk cleaning - 2 navy flowers

the flowers on these are from the gel pen and colored pencil binge of 2011. they went with the garden of love stamps.

snowflakes and flowers do not go very well and the edges of the stamp on the top one really bother me. i  hope i do not sound like i have lost my marbles - but the two straight edges plus the two zigzag edges are like fingernails on a chalkboard.
anybody else have problems with mismatched edges? it is a frequent problem when you buy books of stamps.

i tried a photo to show all the sparkles. probably just picked up glare.

[not spooky] tuesday - from miss cathy

did you notice how paul newman is holding the flowers? very clever. the greens in the paper are a perfect color with the stamp. i always liked paul newman movies so i hope i come up with something fun to go with his stamps.

very nice centering, too. i have a really hard time centering

thanks for exchanging again, miss cathy.

inspired by sunday (for alex)

it needs a few more doodads. the white is gel pen and the colors are colored pencil. i really should have sharpened my pencils...but as always, i get really lazy on alex's mail because she is only 2 years old.

off topic - karli ingersoll

here is someone who seems to be selling a lot of work and the lettering is super naive. it looks like she just started copying things and was not too concerned about seriously studying the traditional styles. there are raging debates among lettering artists about whether this debases traditional calligraphy. i always compare it to the Gees Bend quilts. those ladies just did whatever pleased their eyes and the happiness of the process shines through.

karli's art is very happy and might inspire you to just make letters, be happy, and don't stress.

http://karliingersoll.com/works/custom-lettering/

there are other places on her website to look besides custom lettering.

this artwork could be morphed into an envelope - easily.

dark green sickles

there's an expression i hear from younger people, "oh, snap" or "oh, snaps" and i have no idea what it means, but i said, "oh, snaps" about this one because i liked the idea of using those sickle shapes on the stamp, but the green is way too heavy for that stamp, so now i have to find another stamp, or set of vintage stamps....
this is from prismacolor swatchbook week. i like the way you get different saturation with the markers. this paper is a nice cotton. during prismacolor testing, it was obvious that the outcome is wildly different on different papers. not that any outcome is better than any other outcome. it's like life. you never know what's going to happen. you just have to try and fix things after they happen.

re-run friday - jeans on the clothesline

this is being written on nov 5, the day after i bought some more of these stamps. i try to avoid the vintage stamp store, but in the midst of a less than perfect day, i found myself driving by and the auto pilot made the turn into the parking lot. then, today, as i am filling up 4-5 months of blog posts, i stumble across this. lucky me...i'm still a big fan of  clotheslines....if you look closely, you will see tiny little details on the blue jeans.

exchanges from tom & chuck m

these are from the oct exchange. tom (top) has clearly been taking some lessons. or, if he learned all of this on his own he is a wunderkind.

below is chuck m's. i showed this one when he had just the oval and pumpkin. i like his choice of lettering, the rounds all complement each other and tucking the J behind the stem is very nice.

thank you both for exchanging

desk cleaning jimi to elizabeth

no recollection of where i was going with these letters. those Es are distinctive, but they don't intrigue me enough to do any more of them. i was happy with the stamp and that pale green. happy to clear the desk.

spooky tuesday - kathleen

every time i thought i had all the october exchange envelopes posted, i would find more. this one might be the last one. kathleen spent a lot of time drawing that lace by hand. the little words along the edge are wonderful touch. fun stamps. cool lettering.

thanks for participating in the exchange

inspired by mr rapp

my inspiration from yesterday was to just do my version of my favorite font that he has designed.

i should send him a fan letter.

it was the first time i really looked at the snowflakes and tried to draw them and i was surprised at how much fun they were. somehow, i am always thrilled with 5 pointed stars and then lose it when i try to make 6 pointed anything - like 6 petal flowers. but these worked out just fine.

oops, i see that the top snowflake is missing a couple lines at 10 o'clock.

i tucked the street address in above des moines.

off topic - stephen rapp

if someone took a teddy bear and turned it into a human being it would be Stephen Rapp. i met him at IAMPETH and he is an extremely talented lettering artist. this is one of his fonts. you can see more at MyFonts.com

http://www.myfonts.com/foundry/Stephen_Rapp/

and he had a website, but it might be in transition or expired. it seems like websites are antiques these days. glad i never got around to creating one.

http://stephenrapp.com/


this font is probably my favorite. if i fall on the ice and am in traction and can only plunk on a computer, i'd figure out a way to make envelopes using this font.

and then if you really want to dig, look him up on Behance and check out his Daily Doodle. it shows some pencil sketches progressing to finished art. i won't add a link since some of the words are not exactly the words you'd expect from a teddy bear. so don't go there if you have delicate sensibilities. also Late Night Doodles.

pink parabolas to carol

another desk cleaning envelope. it had just the border and i had no idea which marker i had used. i grabbed a crayola and it seemed to be a perfect match. they are not  waterproof, so i blended them with a pale pink tombo - also not waterproof. i had the stamp in mind for the O in carol, but it wasn't as strong an O as i had hoped. the space that the L leaves bothers me. but i like the way the Cs, As, and Rs work together. L tends to be a bit of a problem when you are doing pictures. it is hard to substitute a lower case L because it looks like a capitol I.
in general, i find the parabolic lettering to be nearly fool proof. and once again, don't look down on the crayola markers. they are one of the very few inexpensive art supplies that holds their own when mixed with the better art supplies. not archival, but good enough for envelopes.

it would have been better to make the O - and then the L could have a very short cross bar. 20/20 hindsight.

missing exchange envelopes?

if anyone is missing envelopes from the december exchange, please let Jan know. if anyone is late getting theirs sent, please let Jan know. our participation is usually 100% and on time, but we like to know if there are any blips. thanks.

re-run friday - quick(ish) and easy

these two are super easy because you just pencil in the names, large, and geometric. the lines do not have to be straight, so that makes it easy.

the quickness of filling in the details depends on how many colors you use. the top one probably took a little time because i did the colored beads and then went back and outlined each one.

the lower one might have been a little faster. if you did not do a variety of colors, it would be pretty fast. it would be just fine if all the beads were just one or maybe two colors.

forget-me-nots from smash - exchange

this is one of those stamps that i really love, yet, i have not had much success with any of my ideas. the minute i saw this, i knew that getting out some real art supplies and nice paper was the solution. you probably can't see it on the scan, but there is a tiny bit of sparkle, too.

so pretty

thanks, smash

desk cleaning - miss cathy's corn

i never got around to doing much with the vegetable stamps. that little red banner on the stamp could be used in many ways. the lettering is completely guerrilla. there is not one element of it that looks like it is supposed to look. i did do a faint pencil guideline. anyone who thinks they can't letter should just try an outline. there is something about an outline that makes the complete wonkiness seem intentional.

this is a little blah. it needs some bold black somewhere and i'd love to do the address in white on a red background. i might cheat and print out a font and adhere it. drawing it all out would be challenging.

spooky tuesday - jan and smash

the top one is from jan, bottom from smash. i considered saving these to post in october, but they are both full of ideas that could easily be re-styled for valentine's day.

smash has itty bitties floating around in a clear envelope. and the name might have been written with a ruling writer. it's probably gouache.

jan painted her sky - and rubber stamped the images and colored them in.

thanks for participating in the exchanges
(and all the organizing -jan)

inspired by sunday - using crayola markers

tony, the guest artist yesterday, probably did some roughs. my approach was to just dive in with a fine line pen and that ended up in the waste bin. crayola markers (the kid's markers) are my go-to art supply when something is not working. this is just the first layer. the name and address panel was blocked out with the same Post-It tape i used on the jan 4th envelope. when i peeled the tape, i could see i needed lines. one line was blah. so on the E-X you can see i added a second line.

it is hard to know how much flourishing to add on these types of doodle pages. here it is with some g-tec and colored pencil. the yellow circle is the problem area. there is no point in trying to resolve all the problems with this one. alex is only 2 and  these envelopes are going to be things to entertain her. i'll fill them with stickers and what-not. any envelopes i do for her that are saveworthy will be waiting in a stack to send when she is a bit older.

off topic - anthony bloch

not an envelope - but an idea that would make a lovely background on an envelope or you could do a square pattern on the left of a rectangular envelope and stack the address on the right, just under the stamp.

if you feel like practicing your flourishing, this would be a way to turn practice into something useful. just do your practice on some envelopes. a while back i showed some silver on navy envelopes where i did just that.

http://www.anthonyblochdesign.com/

click on the items in the column on the right to see more of his work

here is the blog post of mine that shows flourish practice on envelopes.

http://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/2015/10/metallic-doodles.html

more prisma testing

the prismacolor markers look really nice with the snowflake stamps. then i layered several different gel pens and g-tecs. these envelopes are fun, but nothing new. i did like the tiny little addresses, but will have to do a fake envelope to show how they look. as usual, i am a big fan of a lot of contrast.

the i in LIZ was skinny, so i beefed it up with snowflakes.

using 3 snowflakes for the international exchangers seemed like a good idea. i was sad that i didn't insert something in the envelope to prevent the bleed through.

it's hard to tell if photos or scans will look better. spending a couple hours on each envelope would have been better. but, alas, i do not have that much time any more.