Postcard Mail Art

A couple of new mail art postcards have traveled a long way to arrive at their destinations.

This one was for a fellow bicycling enthusiast.

Scrapbook paper, rubber stamping, coloring and shading with stamping inks.

This one was for an animal lover.  Those of us in the USA will recognize the Geico camel.

Scrapbook paper, rubber stamping, junk mail (camel) and shading with stamping inks.

Happy Mail Day!
xxxx
Annie

Mail Art

I'm hopelessly addicted to creating fun mail!

My daughter's boyfriend put together a very fun mail package for me.  I built a thank you card with an assortment of the items along with other supplies I already own.  He called it The Clocks and Gears package.  The silver foil stuff is something I found that is a 4" roll.  I spray glued it to cardstock then embossed it with a gears embossing folder.  The heart is mounted with foam mounting dots.

The envelope...

I figured out how to do some of that fun calligraphy using double ended ZIG Writers.

Next is a postcard made with Ms. Skellie and highlighted with a white galaxy marker.  

This postcard was a thank you for a gift.  The hearts are die cuts and the butterfly is a punch.

This postcard was awfully fun to make.  I've lately been scouring through some very pretty used postage stamps that my friend sent to me.

This fabric postcard also was terribly fun to make.  Carla waited a good long time for her fabric postcard.  I'm pretty sure she probably gave up on getting one.  I waited purposely so she'd be surprised.  Not really.  It was a while before I had an inspiration for her postcard.

And lastly, I had a new motorcycle stamp to play with so a postcard was made for a couple that we get to ride with now and again to go on great little weekend jaunts.

Happy Mail Day!

from your mail art obsessed friend,

Annie

xxx

Watercolor Mail Art

I keep trying to make watercolors work for me.  When something happens that I like, I'm always shocked and pleased.  I did these envelopes and card fronts with Tombow markers and water.

When I tried to recreate the same look, of course it didn't work.  That is not always a bad thing.  But this envelope below and card really needed some help.  I pulled out my neocolors to fix both.  I forgot to take a photo of the fixed envelope.  This one isn't totally lacking, but it was much brighter when it was mailed.

The marker watercolors were really lacking on the card, but the neocolors blended well.

I did the brush lettering with the Tombow markers.  They were reviewed on amazon that their brush tips hold up well.  I don't find that to be true, so I'm pretty disappointed on that point.  With some practicing and writing the envelopes with black, then a bit more practicing play, the tip on the black marker is done.  I need to work on how not to let that happen. 

Wishing everyone a good mail day.

xxx

Annie

Love Postcard

This postcard is my entry for the Sunday Postcard Art challenge this week.

The challenge theme is Love Gives You Wings.

I thought the words were perfect.

The address/correspondence side.

I thought I wouldn't play this week as I couldn't think who I would send this card too.  My postcards are not digital, they are real and I don't like to just keep them, I want to mail them.  But I've never added wings to anything and wanted to give it a try.  Maybe I'll find someone to send it out to next Valentine's Day.  Wait!...it doesn't have to be just for Valentine's Day, so I'll be watching for any love opportunity to mail this one out. 

Happy Valentine's Day

xxx

Annie

Calendar Journal and Mail Art

January 2016 was a month of lettering play.  I also found something to write about every single day.  No filler blocks used.  I had a very playful month that I am very grateful for.

Much of my playful month was filled with mail art play.

My vbff (virtual best friend forever), Sheila, is having a birthday soon.

Some very late mail art went to Abby.  I have not heard whether this card and envelope arrived.  I do hope so.

And this postcard was some best fun to make.  Gina's father is celebrating his 88th birthday soon and she has plans to present him with at least 88 birthday greetings from around the world.  Her Papa loves mail art.

And lastly is a Valentine card.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

xxx

Annie

Mail Art LOVE

It's the month of Love.  And a bit of a different take on the subject from me this week.  This time I got out my neutrals bin of scraps for my postcard background collage.  Chopped and stitched.  Then a heart stitched on.  Then an envelope charm tied on.  And there you have it...my love of mail art.

I must give credit to the Sunday Postcard Art.  This card started out as just another Valentine card.  But SPA challenged us to create a postcard and add a charm to it.  I had no ideas for a charm.  But after the heart was stitched on and I looked at the card, I decided it needed something more.  The SPA must have planted this charm idea into my subconscious and I remembered that I had a tiny stash of envelope and postcard charms....somewhere in this mess.  Of course they were in the last place I looked and literally hiding right out in the open.  Always the best place to hide something from yourself, or anyone else for that matter.  

"Just another Valentine" transformed into my love of mail art.  Especially for fabric postcards.  This one is in the mail on Monday.

Happy Mail Day!

xxx

Annie

Orange Collage Butterfly

There was a butterfly in my mind wanting to be stitched.  But what color did it want to be?  The Sunday Postcard Art challenge made a delightful decision for me.  Orange.  Yes.  Perfect.

I have made well over 100 fabric postcards.  Yes, most of them have been mailed out.  114 of those can be seen in my Fabric Postcard Flickr Album.

In the beginning the ideas for them came in masses.  Now I struggle for new ideas for stitched postcards.  The recipient of this one has waited quite a long time.  My waiting list is now complete.  Now I'm just waiting on new and more ideas for stitching more postcards.  

Happy Mail Day!

xxx

Annie

Small Creations

This month's challenge at A Monthly Challenge is to think small.  Our little creations are not to be larger than 4"x4".  That's a fun size to play with.  I made coin envelopes.  They measure 4"X3".

The one on the left is made with a scrapbook paper then decorated with torn tracing paper and a bit /of Washi tape.  The one on the right is made with a craft paper and decorated with Washi tapes.

Reverse sides

They are such fun little envelopes to make.

Recently I found a new blog to check in on called The Lost Art of Letter Writing...Revived.  In November Pemela had challenged her readers to make an Autumn Matchbox.  After reading a few of Pam's posts, I felt strongly compelled to write a letter to her.  That must mean her blog is working.  It can't just be that I like mail art.  I didn't want to make a matchbox and I certainly didn't want to deal with mail it to arrive not crushed.  So I made little envelopes for her in the theme of postal/letter writing.  

I put the two tiny envelopes inside the coin envelope.  The smallest envelope measures 1-7/8" X 1-1/4".  Pretty tiny and so adorable.  I also made her card using a Jane Austen library card and a clip art of a writer with a fun ink well hat with her quills handy and note paper streamers.  

Then I wrote the letter.  While working on the envelopes and card, I kept wondering what to write to someone I don't know.  Well, surprisingly, I didn't have any problem finding some words to write.  With email so handy and instant these days, I don't have any "real" stationery on hand.  So I took sheets from note pads and just kept Washi taping them together.  This was a really fun project.

NOTE:

The library card is from a boxed set I found at Barnes & Noble.  They are copies of real library cards from the Library of Congress.

xxx

Annie

October Calendar Journal

Not a lot happened in October, but what did happen was fun.  And the boring days were made fun just deorating the day blocks.

October is such a fun month for lots of fun creepyness.  I hated turning the page.  But off to November I go...where being grateful is the season.  

One more creepy Halloween mail art because Ms. Skellie is such fun.

Welcome November

xxx

Annie

Halloween Greetings

Halloween art is the most fun for me whether it's with fabric or paper.  I love them equally.  But I've been obsessed with paper crafts lately.  Halloween greetings mostly.  My daughter has inspired me to make more cards.

Postcards are still a favorite mail art and I made a few variations of this one, because this raven stamp is such fun.

 

A couple of postcards were made similar to this one...made from notepaper I purchased in a gift shop for a Ghost Tour in Door County, Wisconsin.

This creepy Skeleton Lady envelope has been my favorite.  There are real addresses under the paper bits.  Addresses are a fun part of mail art, but privacy is an issue these days.  I like the bits as they add interest to the envelope while protecting the privacy of the innocent.

 

Wishing you a wickedly wonderful

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 

xxx

Annie

Vacation Mail Art

I am having a little visit at "home" for a couple of months.  I'm having the most marvelous time relaxing and thoroughly enjoying life for this short time.  

I have even had time to play with some mail art.

I dug through my old supplies which suddenly looked all new and exciting.  I decided to see what I could come up with after their long almost 5 year rest.  It just needed a little something extra, so I had to wait for the good mail day to bring me the brick wall stencil to finish it off.

Now I need help figuring out where to mail this envelope off to.  Any suggestions?

Then daughter and I went shopping and the raven stamp came home with us.  It turns out that we had both been contemplating that stamp for a while.

I wanted to send him out, but didn't think I could part with him.  So I attempted to recreate this envelope.

You cannot duplicate original art with that background technique.  Which is a very good thing.  I like him too.  But he will fly off to a sweet mail art friend.

I love the envelope mail art best when it has the recipients name and address on it.  That always adds the perfect finishing touch.  

Wishing everyone a good mail day.

xxx

Annie

Spring Greetings

Happy Easter and Happy Spring

to Ruthie

and to Everyone

The bunny is from Nancy Halverson's book titled Easy Does It For Winter.

I really must learn to look at the photo "before" mailing the postcard...that stray fabric thread is driving me nutso!

Enjoy the season

xoxo

Annie

New Man in Town

The inspiration word this week on the Sunday Postcard Art is NEW.

And there's nothing like a new man in town to bring the three spinster sisters out on a mission to be the one that makes him hers.  Poor guy.

I've no clue at all what brought this to mind, but it was fun to play around with a little humor.  Yay I got to play the challenge two weeks in a row!

Keep an eye on your man ladies.

xxx

Annie

BE - Envelope Mail Art

BE ..... 

Sometimes it takes several people and personalities to get todays mail delivered.

I've no clue why I described this envelope that way.  There was no story or hidden meaning behind the design.  I just wanted to take all of my smaller face stamps (that I had at the time) and stamp them on one envelope.  On my blotter pad I noticed that I had blobs of color mixed with stamping and that provided the inspiration to blot on various colors around each image.  When that was done, postage stamps with faces came to mind, so I added them to the crowd.  After that I came across a rubber stamp of all those words, stamped them on tracing paper, cut them apart and spay glued them to the envelope.

Happy Mail Day
xxx
Annie

Happy Halloween

It's Halloween time again, and as usual, I've finished an old project but still pondering the finish of another (old) project.

 

This bunting still languishes with an undecided finish.  But I hang it out anyway.  :

 

 

 

 

 This next old Ghastlie project has been a thorn in my side for a long time.  I've not been able to figure out my next move with it.  But I finally figured out why.  It's the pink!

 

 

Pink is not Halloween for me.  But I put a lot of work into this crazy thing.  I just can't figure what to add to the outside edge.  So I went ahead and bound it so I can consider it done until I decide something to do.  Hey, maybe change the pink with an orange fabric marker!  I'll have to test that.

 



I can't talk myself into appliqueing more branches and birds.  And definitely no more words!  I haven't even done any quilting on it yet (other than the applique).  This fabric has never been a favorite, but I ended up in a Ghastlie blog hop.  So this project has been a self inflicted punishment right from its start.  LoL

 

And finally, here are a couple of mail art envelopes.

 

This next one turned out pretty crazy, but for some reason I like it.  And don't like it.  But like wins over.  Someday I'll figure out who to send it to.

 

 



 

Happy Haunting!

 

Boo!

Annie