OCT/NOV from Kate and probably Lucy

I emailed Kate and said something about how much time she had spent on coloring in the ghosts. She responded that she had not intended to do it that way. Her initial attempt to imprint a white ghost was not what she wanted so she colored them in. She said the time went quickly because she had listened to something. 

[I deleted some idle chit chat that was here - because a new add-on presented itself.]

No return address - by the cancel, I can deduce it's either from Nicky or Lucy. 

These two get the SRSA designation. 

Scanner Readable Seal of Approval.

***

Here is a real time add-on.

Mike Moore sends mail with the most delicate Spencerian that is a delight to see in person. One of his envelopes was gold ink on red and it took many weeks to arrive. We can assume the scanners could not read it. I think Mike has seen my requests for clear block printing on mail, if you want it to move smoothly and swiftly through the USPS.

Voila.

He mailed this on Dec 11 from Atlanta GA and it arrived at the 420 on Dec 15. Four days. That is UH-MAZE-ING. Additional shout out to Mike for using a pen for the addressing that is bolder than a *hair's width* - which is what the typical Spencerian penmanship looks like.

I'm guessing this was a challenge for Mike - to embolden and block print the address. But, he did it - and I appreciate how it might have been an aesthetically challenging event. I wonder - has he done all his holiday mail like this - or did he just do mine like this because of my ranting?

 

Nov from Amy

Whenever I see a layout that has the artwork and stamp on opposite corners, leaving adequate space for a clear address, I ask myself why I never do that. I'm writing this on Dec 6th. I left five blog posts with just an envelope - thinking it would be easy to come back and fill in the blurbs.

That was a good idea at the time, but, the worst idea ever for any kind of continuity to my Master Plan. I have no idea when I came up with the Master Plan - so - I'll fill the next four days with things that are very random and get back to the Master Plan after the New Year starts. This is entirely a coincidence.

Maybe that's fine because this can be a busy time of year for a lot of people and they probably appreciate something short that reminds them they should get going with that to-do list.

Thank you to Amy for doing a clear address. I will be adopting this layout for a few of my Dec envelopes. [Real time update - that didn't happen, but I am wildly excited about how well the Master Plan is going.]
 

Oct from Samantha - Style/Tool (List of styles)

Samantha is a newer exchanger. At first glance I thought this was from Janet. but the Hartford CT postmark stood out - so I knew it wasn't from Janet. If Samantha sticks with the exchange that will make 4 CT exchangers. 

Yesterday's post said that I was going to fill up the last 6 days of Dec with envelopes and then come back and fill in the blurbs the following day which would have been Sunday. I took Sunday off and focused on the huge project involving the organizing of the things I save and exemplars - which needs to be done before I get serious about my Style/Tool Project.

There have been some additions to the lists of styles and tools - and I appreciate that Kate and Ruth responded. It's never too late to respond so if you think of more, let me know. I feel like there was a third person who responded - apologies if I've left someone out.

I have rearranged the styles into groups. One group lumps a lot of older broad edge styles together because they are a confusing group and I'm not sure I'll spend much time with any of them. They are confusing because nobody is in charge of names and for centuries the names have been random and there's no way to create a standardized naming system.

Blackletter, Gothic and Old English are the three names that are used all the time and they all mush together. Yes, we could look at details and see that some are rounder and some are more compressed and some are super simple and some are very complicated - but as a group - they are all pretty chunky. For our purposes, they are all going to get lumped together. I tend to use *blackletter* for all of them. 

Here's my new list:

Very basic shapes of standard alphabet shapes - Romans are just the caps and Foundational includes lower case.

Romans

Foundational

Very old and doesn't fit with any of the other styles but it's artsy

Runes

Mostly older styles - all done with BROAD EDGE - even though we can do variations with a monoline - many are from the pre-printing press era when books were written by hand

Uncial - old, all caps - roundish

Carolingian - like Uncial but with a lower case - roundish

Blackletter/Gothic/OldEnglish - Batarde, Gothisized Italic, Fractur - a gazillion different styles - mostly rectangular 

Italic - two-gazillion styles

Neuland - a very contemporary style but lumped in with the broad edged styles  - while mostly done with broad edge - we will try it with a monoline and see what happens

French Roundhand - very much like a script because the letters are joined but it's mostly done with a broad edge. 

Relatives of cursive - writing that is joined - came way after typesetting

Copperplate - pointed nib or monoline

Spencerian - pointed nib or monoline

Penmanship/Cursive/Handwriting - the sky's the limit

Versals - so many different styles in this category

Brush script - pointed brush

Brush script - flat brush

These are styles that were designed by specific people

Ben Shahn

Peter Thornton’s Button Alphabet

Jacqueline Svaren’s Bone

Gwen Weaver’s WeaverWriting +

Loredana Zaga’s Flame

Arts & Crafts styles - these get their own category because there are so many and they are very beginner friendly. They bridge hand lettering and typesetting.

Fonts - this category has an infinite number of styles - it will include all the styles where the letters are drawn eand there are many alternatives to how to make particular letters. This would include all the styles where the letters are actually little pictures. 

And then we have  

Asemic writing - which is scribbling that gives the impression that it's writing but it is not legible.

Nov from Janet - ho-hum hoard jabbering

Janet went with mice and a partial border. I frequently comment on Janet's borders because they are often a very eye-catching design element. This bottom border is in the space that I reserve for the bar code and it seemed to have worked out OK. 

It is still that snow storm day and it is now 12:45 p.m. A lot was accomplished in the sifting room. A sifting room is a spare room which is used as a holding tank as you clear out all the other rooms and closets as you are decluttering an entire house. Things in the holding tank can often be re-organized if you are prone to putting a particular item in various places. One of the things I found was a list of many different styles of lettering. 

One of the hardest things for me to part with are old greeting cards. Maybe I've already written that I intend to take photos of them and put them on a card blog so that I can enjoy them online and free up space. Before I start that project, I have to slog through all the photos of exchange envelopes and then delete them from the photos to free up space.

This is boring. I am going to load 6 more envelopes and save the blurb writing for tomorrow. Or I might have one more update on how much I'm getting done so that the Accountability Posse will know what a good job they are doing.

 

Oct from Nicky - Messy desk/studio links

 Here's an Oct exchange envelope that arrived in early Nov. I no longer try to keep the months together. I just bundle them and once I have 12-15 envelopes I photograph them. Then I sit down and try to post all of them in one sitting so that I don't lose track of what's posted.

Of course, today is a little different because we are in a series where I am trying to fill December during a snow storm and I am hungry. I set the incremental goal of filling up this week. Ta-da!!! I made it. I can now reward myself with some food.

However, alert readers will note that I have not said who this is from. It's from St. Louis so that narrows it down. After I eat I will find the bundle and insert the name in the title. I think it works best to go with a week at a time. It's 9:03 am. How many side trips will there be before I get back to the computer. I know there is a load of laundry to fold.

***

9:33 ate fast, folded fast, panicked when I couldn't find the envelope. 

Found it. It's from Nicky. And there are goodies inside. I had questions for Nicky on the blog and she responded by telling me she is a printmaker. That's the kind of info I love to find out about exchangers. Little things that we share that will enhance our exchanges. Photos of what she sent will show up in a later post.

Once I found the envelope, I had to decide - do I (A) Write another weeks worth of blog posts or (B) go work on that huge hoard reduction project. It's the one that has had hundreds of starts - but this time we've got a whole new level of perseverance and persistence because we have the *Accountability Posse.* 

Inspiration photo:

That's Alexander Caulder's desk above. 

Below is Frances Bacon's studio and a nice article about it.

Bacon's studio

If you need further places to wander to avoid chores - here is the article where I found the photo of Caulder's desk. I have not read the article - but noted this intro:

There’s an actual book about procrastination entitled: A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits Of Disorder http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=A+perfect+Mess a perfect title both for this blog post and my office desk I avoid working from on most days.

LINK to article about messy desks

Nov from Lynne - clear lettering for scanning

 

Here is another leafy design. I'm pretty sure it is from Lynne. Her choice of style for the lettering looks like something that the scanners can read. The article that Clover sent was talking about the new scanners in 1993.  I imagine the scanners have improved a lot over the years.

I think my address is pretty easy for scanners because it is all about the numbers. If you write only this on an envelope, I already know it will get to my house. It's been done - see below.

420 - 44

50312 

I think the scanner just looks at those numbers and knows where it goes. The issues are when it needs to understand the names of street. I'm pretty sure that the machines are not that interested in the city and state unless the street/zip combination does not register as a known address.

I think this lettering is legible. I wonder if there is any way to test the machines. I know that December is not a good time to go visit my main post office and ask to send a stack of mail through the machines. But, I might get that on my to-do list for 2026.

***

I imagine I've posted this previously. I forgot that it has -- th St --- so it's not just the numbers. Now I have to experiment with just the numbers - and see if that is enough.

The address is 430 - 44th (and not the usual 420) because at the time (2004) we owned a duplex 2 doors from our house and I used half of the duplex for a studio - so I had my mail sent there.

This envelope arrived with no problem. It was from Carol - but I don't remember her last name. I met her when I was teaching a class in NYC....many moons ago.

Nov from Mary - goals and scanners

So cute. Mary is the queen of cute. I feel like that mouse is giving me *the look.* Since I have announced that I'd like to fill up all of December today I will set some incremental goals. Can anyone guess how long I had to stare at the screen to come up with the word incremental? Too long. Ooops, maybe that's whining. An additional goal will be to refrain from whining.

Here's the incremental goal. It is 8:46 am. I am hungry. How about I fill up the week and then I get to eat something. That's only 2 more posts.

Here is a sneak peek about a topic that is going to be a rant. I am going to complement Mary on her nice address that is scanner friendly. I've been hinting about making addresses scanner friendly. I don't want to get crosswise with people about address legibility. However, I think there is a valid reason to make our addresses scanner friendly.

 

Nov from Patty - accountability in the snow

I think it was the Tuesday post where I mentioned that there were lots of leafy designs in the Nov exchange. Patty did this one and she used another stamp from the series that we saw on Jessica's envelope. She also used a style that she learned from a class with The Postman's Knock. It reminds me of some others that have been around for a while. A basic Roman monoline with doo-dads. Doo-dads are my love language. I'm tempted to come up with all the letters that are not on this envelope and then invite myself over to Patty's and see how the two exemplars compare.

It is 8:40 am on the Sat after T-day when we are expecting 8"-14". Maybe the Dec posts will be an exercise where I announce what I am going to do and then I log on and do posts that report on whether or not I have followed my plan. 

I am turning my readers into my accountability people. What's the word for the person who agrees to be available to hold you accountable when you are needing help in the self-discipline department? I think it is a sponsor in AA. Is there another term? 

 

Nov from Jessica - spatial reasoning - truly the last ofrenda post

 

This USPS postmark has been doing a good job at fitting in with the various designs. I like Jessica's choice of gold with the stamp and who doesn't love leaves. I'm writing this on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. There were a bumper crop of leafy designs in November. It's snowing with a prediction of 8"-14". Perhaps I will have a marathon of loading posts. Perhaps I will fill December. Maybe the next few days of posts will be a cliffhanger.

***

This is absolutely the final ofrenda post. Maybe I had to drag it out until I had some new topics swirling around in my head.

At the very beginning of my ofrenda project when I needed an idea for something that looked like a shadow box but would have to be made out of cardboard and the first attempts to recycle cardboard boxes were disappointing I had to come up with an alternative.

Here we are (Keith and Jean) in 2003 on the original plywood ofrenda.

Below is 2025 version - much larger. Not taller - but the footprint is at least twice the size.

This following part is too long - but, I am determined to wrap up this topic so I can resume the purge project and the style/tool project.

***

The materials took a good chunk of the budget, but it made sense to invest in this structure to provide future committees with something more exciting than stacks of banquet tables. When I asked Keith how much I could use for supplies he said I could start with $100. Most people would have pitched a fit at that number. I took it as an opportunity to get creative and see how many recycled materials we could use. 

After the disappointing results reusing random cardboard boxes I figured out a way to make a shadow box out of a piece of railroad board. That's a popular material for kid's classes because it can be cut with scissors but is sturdier than card stock. WE only used one carton of railroad board. I think it was $25. Then there was a $30 roll of Tyvek tape - the best tape ever. I also had a $10 pack of double face tape in various widths. The tissue paper for the 1,000 flowers was $175. The print out for the big skull was $35. It's hard to tell how much I donated from my stockpile.

I knew that my 12 artist-friends would all have a stockpile of art supplies and none of them even asked if I was going to provide any materials. I did provide a basic railroad board shadow box for about twelve of the nichos. None of the helpers asked to be reimbursed so I'm guessing they didn't spend much and were OK with sharing things from their stockpiles.

One helper asked me for a pattern to build a shadowbox which I will provide at some point and post somewhere. Maybe we can make a video of me showing how to make one and then see how good the instructions are. I do have a YouTube channel....

Figuring out the shadowbox construction was the very first time that I felt like I put my one amazing gift to use. I did fine in school but there were always a lot of people who I could tell were way more gifted than I was. There was one skill that I was really good at when it came to testing and that was spacial reasoning. People would admire my scores but it annoyed the heck out of me because I could not see any practical use for skills that were basically puzzles.

Fast forward to 2025 and I finally found a use for spacial reasoning. If you do not know what spatial reasoning is, there is a link to a test below. If you score 100% feel free to email me and I will note that I have kindred spirits on the blog. Or perhaps everyone can score 100% - in which case we can be happy that we found each other and have a common skill.

The test questions that apply to my shadow box design are the ones where you look at a 3D shape and then have to discern which of the flattened out shapes would fold together to make the 3D shape.

https://www.123test.com/spatial-reasoning-test/

Nov from JeanR - almost the last ofrenda post

 

This poor envelope had quite a trip through the USPS machines. The insides are unscathed. While it is sad to see the mangled envelope, in some ways it has a certain charm. It reminds us of the wabi-sabi perspective. (From WIKI: Wabi-sabi is a traditional Japanese aesthetic that emphasizes the beauty of imperfection, transience, and simplicity. It combines two concepts: "wabi," which refers to a rustic or austere beauty, and "sabi," which signifies the beauty that comes with age and the passage of time.

The inner (above) and outer (below) of a very nice card from Jean.

Learning lessons (or reminders) from my ofrenda project.

No. 1

Taking on a big project works best if you have many experienced artists with some free time. 

No. 2

Don't expect things to be easy. Artwork is work.

Projects without problems to solve can be boring and predictable.

No. 3

If you make a bunch of something - you keep getting better. 

The later nichos were a lot better than the first ones

 and if they weren't better, they were at least faster.

This can be applied to anything.

Practice may not make perfect - but it will nudge you along on the proficiency scale.

Perfection isn't the goal but proficiency is.

No. 4

If you have to start work every morning at 6 am your screen time disappears. 

Although the screens are still a good place to do specific research when you need a fresh idea.

No. 5

If you get obsessed with details and lose track of time you also lose 5 pounds.

There is one more thing I've been saving for the very end.

See you tomorrow.

Dec to Clover - 2nd to last ofrenda rambling

 

My Dec and Jan exchange envelopes will be the ultimate hodge podge as I launch the this-time-it's-going-to-get-done purge and consolidation of the stacks. It has begun. It might be boring, but it is going to be the topic of discussion until it's done.

I found this envelope with the panel of marker testing. There will be more marker testing. Clover sent me a very interesting article from a very old magazine. To mix variety with the ultimate purge project I will insert rants about people who have unrealistic expectations of the USPS.

***

The past four days covered the 24 nichos. There is a ridiculous amount of detail about each nicho and the inspiration behind the designs on the Page where I put additional photos and information. There is also more about the one thousand flowers and the large skull at the top of the ofrenda. Ignore this as well as the links if you were understandably exhausted by the topic way back in October. While the topic might have become wearisome I do have some final thoughts about what is to be gained by slogging through a huge nine-month project. 

While I was in the midst of the project, there were quite a few people expressing thoughts like:

Boy, I bet you'll be glad when this is over.

And... Boy, I'll bet you'll never get involved in something like this again.

And the popular... Is this your swan song? 

That last comment implies that I had come out of retirement to do one last event and that it was certain to be my last event.

To be honest, there were moments of frustration, but my response to frustration is to ask: What can we change to alleviate or resolve the frustration? There's always something that can be done. Identifying that *something* is the issue. 

On Sept 1st, telling MrW that I was not going to cook for the next 2 months was an easy fix for me and freed up a ton of time. He simply said, OK. The normally quiet house was a beehive of activity with people coming and going and piles of stuff in the three rooms that he avoids. He saw a lot of things going on but it did not involve him and at 74 he knows how to find food on his own. He did not lose any weight during those two months -- while I lost 5 pounds.

Tomorrow will be the final-final post on the ofrenda project.

Nov to Lisa - Fourth side of the ofrenda

I'm guessing this is my first envelope with the new holiday stamps. This one is not a favorite because of the way the name is only a little off at first and then way off at the end. Poor planning. However, the color is good. and there will be some more examples of layering. Looking at it this way, I wonder why I didn't write any of the names in a circle. Some of the best ideas are the most obvious. I'll have to buy more stamps and try writing names in wreath shapes.

Several of my November exchange envelopes are very Christmasy - which seemed like an OK idea since they went out very late.

The fourth side of the ofrenda, above, and the six nichos that were displayed on that side, below.

2019

This smaller skull wearing a mask was used to represent 2020 because the event was cancelled due to covid.

2021

2022

2023

2024

 One last LINK to full report if you want details.

There will be a closing comment tomorrow.

More Lombardic versals from Christi - Third side of the ofrenda

 

The envelope from Christi has already been posted. I often forget to shoot the things inside envelopes. This time, when I realized I had missed this very nice card, I also noticed there are 3 distinct styles of Christi's Lombardic versals. 

The greeting above is sketchy and looks like she did them quickly.

I'm going to give this version a try.

Below is something that looks like it wants to be a bookmark or it could be a little framed piece. I can't tell if the whole thing is done by hand. It is so tiny that I'm thinking she might have done the art, then scanned it and printed it out multiple times - possibly reducing it. The gold is handpainted. And then there is the little red signature. Hopefully Christi will tell me what she used on that signature - it's sooooo tiny.

I love tiny.

Here is the envelope again so you can see the third version. Also, I neglected to point out that she did her own version of the Goodnight Moon stamp and put her own little *character* in the setting. It's adorable.

 

enlarged image of the stamp

***

Photo by Erik Brockmeyer

This is the third side of the ofrenda. The six nichos that were on this side are below.

2013

2015

2016

2017

LINK to the TMI post  which is way too much information unless you are looking to kill a lot of time or want to see the whole story in one place.

Oct from Lynne - Second side of the ofrenda

Spiders popped up on many of the October exchange envelopes including this one from Lynne. That's a very nice spider web. It captures the feel of how they are symmetrical without being perfect. 

***

Here are the 6 nichos on the second side of the 2025 ofrenda. Each nicho was inspired by the ofrenda that was built in the corresponding year. 

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Those 6 nichos were displayed on the second side of the 2025 ofrenda.

LINK to the full story  -- 

Photo by Erik Brockmeyer