Just Letter Rip

Book of Days 2012

2012-02-15T03:17:00.003-04:00

Besides letter writing and mail art, my next favorite activity is art journaling. Here is the front cover of my 2012 Book of Days. I'm following along with our fearless leader, Effy Wild. Here's a link to her Book of Days site. The basic program is totally free. There is also a Facebook group to join if you like.

She provides two or three videos per week where you can watch her create pages in her own art journal. Very helpful for those like me who have a huge gap between the idea of my page as it exists inside my mind and what I actually translate onto on the paper.

I won't be posting the journal pages here, but if you are interested you can follow me on Pinterest. It amazes me that I have 60 followers already on Pinterest, but I've never pinned anything to a single board! Who are these people?

Security Envelope Trees

2012-01-01T13:43:00.001-04:00

If you know me at all, you know I love to use security envelopes in my mail art. See my post Never Buy Another Envelope. Imagine my delight to find this Christmas card in my mailbox. It comes from Marguerite Keen of Piccadilly Post. Check out her blog post Trees Galore! to see the much larger piece she made and donated to a museum fundraiser.

So Marguerite, thanks so much for the card and for all the other mail art you've sent during 2011. All the best to you and all my other blog readers in the new year.

Not Your Run-of-the-Mill Post Office

2011-12-31T10:16:00.000-04:00

Can you imagine checking your P.O. box here? Or sending off your mail art and Postcrossing cards here? I received this card through Postcrossing. It's from China and shows the General Post Office of Shanghai. WOW.

Team Ginger Sure Can Run!

2011-12-12T21:16:00.002-04:00

Good thing I had a heads up from Pen Thief and LWA to keep a lookout for the Gingerbread Man because that he sure is making the rounds.

I spotted him at a 5K Run to benefit St. Jude's Children's Hospital. But he wasn't alone this time. He had teamed up with two of his cousins. Just as I approached them, the race started and Team Ginger was out of the blocks in a hurry. I heard the GB Man laugh and shout, "Run, run, as fast as you can. You can't catch me. I'm the Gingerbread Man."

He was right. I didn't catch him or either of his cousins. But then, I probably couldn't catch them even if it was Februrary and they were drenched in molasses.

This postcard sighting is off to Mrs. Schindler's Kindergarten Class at Nottingham Country Elementary of KATY, TX. Hey, there, Limner...do you know this school, this kindergarten class, Mrs. Schindler? If not, they must be close.

An Equation For Fun

2011-12-06T17:50:00.001-04:00

Hmmm, that picture doesn't show up as well as I'd hoped. So here they are one at a time.

Get your favorite pair of scissors.

Then gather your junk mail, you know, all those credit card offers, subscription renewal requests, and catalogs. Next, snip out your address from a few. Wasn't that nice of them to send you free address labels? But, they're sort of plain.

So while you have those holiday catalogs and store ads from the Sunday paper handy, clip a few Christmas images.

Bring on the glue stick!

Adhere your address labels to the appropriate spots and you have holiday return labels for all your seasonal mail. Aren't they cute!

Just the Way It Is

2011-11-20T17:11:00.001-04:00

Yesterday's outgoing mail included these four envelopes all made from Hardees' bags. The only time a bag from any fast food joint gets chucked around here is when food stains the bag. Fries are usually the culprit.

Just Letting 'Er Rip

2011-11-16T01:39:00.000-04:00

One day a couple of weeks ago I blew the dust out of my Photoshop program figuratively and out of my laptop literally and started making some address labels for my Postcrossing cards. One of the prototype prelims morphed into the envelope you see above. It's now on its way to a new correspondent in Canada.

This post is dedicated to Limner who had begun to fret a bit about my slackness online, but now she's over it. She's catching fish faster than JC can throw 'em in the sack and trying out new recipes in her head and generally having a grand ole time. I'm glad.

More Gecko Goodies

2011-09-25T23:12:00.001-03:00

Ahhh, the Gecko. I just love this little guy. Thanks go out to Speck for sending me a nice selection of Gecko images for my project. I'm particularly fond of the one with the pencil and numbers. Must be the math geek in me sneaking out!

Two of My Favorite Words -- MAIL and ART

2011-09-11T23:55:00.001-03:00

Just as I was getting used to loading my photos in reverse order so they would appear in the correct order, Blogger ups and fixes it in the new interface. 'Bout time. This post concerns my love of and never-ending search for two words: MAIL and ART. I prefer to cut them out of junk mail and magazines, but sometimes they are difficult to find. Then I have to resort to alternative measures. This first photo shows hand-drawn letters I clipped out of an ad for a man's shirt in the L.L.Bean catalog. I like to glue these words onto my letters, just in case there's any doubt. Sometimes my ART is brought into question.

One thing I know for sure is that it's a heck of a lot harder to find the word "MAIL" than it is to find the word "ART". That is, if one discounts the word on all those Business Reply Mail cards and envelopes. I use them sometimes and you can see a few in the photo above, but they are not a good size. All the rest I had to piece together ransom note style.

The word "ART" is much easier to spot. It hides in words like Kmart Smart, in magazine titles such as Smart Money. Even Martha Stewart helps the cause with art hiding in both her first and last names. And we all know how ubiquitous Martha is.

Then, check out all these instances of the word. I found all of them in a single school supply catalog.

Finally, with all this talk about mail art, I thought it only fitting to include a piece. This one adds to my MailArt 365 count. I'm woefully behind.

Mail from Michigan

2011-09-11T00:01:00.001-03:00

Today I received my first letter from Kate and Sara Howarth, the sisters behind the 365 letters project. The letter traveled in style in one lovely handmade envelope. They included the Lake Huron postcard where they vacation every Labor Day weekend. Awesome mail, girls. Also, it's good to hear you are enjoying your snail mail hobby. Isn't it fun!

First Ever -- Zippered Envelope

2011-09-10T20:45:00.022-03:00

Have you ever received mail in a zippered pouch? Thanks to Elle, I have! She sent me this neat "REST" eye mask when I was recovering from surgery. I'd never had one before until now and when I wear it, I feel like a movie staaaaaaaahhhh, daaahling.

A Busy August -- Part One

2011-09-01T18:35:00.008-03:00

Here are the postcards I received via Postcrossing for the month of August. With back-to-school, continued recuperation from surgery, and the canning and freezing of garden produce, well, all that is kicking my can. Seriously. Perhaps I can catch my breath over the Labor Day weekend and come back and enter some captions for these cool cards. I apologize to the senders. Thanks so much for these bright spots in my hectic days.

Fun Pop-Up Mail

2011-08-21T19:11:00.010-03:00

Miriam in Florida sent me this fun mail. It appears she used file folders to cover some sort of advertising mail. The theme is West Palm Beach. LOOK! Yikes, an alligator. BEFORE YOU LEAP! Great advice.

This shot shows the business pages of the card, the place where the fun stuff happens. The round target on the left side of the photo pops up as the card is opened.

Here's the pop-up part that was cut out of the view in the last photo. The target's base is a CD I assume came affixed to the original mail.

The back cover shows one last pic of WPB, a water park. I want to go! Well, maybe not to the water park, but certainly to West Palm Beach.

Thanks for such fun in my mailbox, Miriam.

Green Theme Going On

2011-07-31T13:00:00.007-03:00

Thanks to Garci for the all the Gecko images. I've got a little project going on, so if you happen to have some Geico Geckos you are not going to use in your own art, please send them along to me. I would love to have them and would try to reciprocate with items you might need.

Check out all the green on the back of this envelope. What fun. I especially love the S&H Green Stamps.

Humps Haven Gazeteer

2011-07-30T13:06:00.009-03:00

Our very own Humps Haven Chapter of the International Union Of Mail Artists (IUOMA) met Thursday, June 23 at the home of Mrs. J. Thorndike Ripplecrest. "Nobody told me the meeting was at my house. A phone call would have been nice," Mrs. Ripplecrest said, shown above seated at her typewriter. "They descended on my house like a gang from the lunatic asylum." Some of those in attendance were Canai Sinhg, who serenaded the artists on his instrument, and our favorite twins, Milly and Tilly Sturmunddranghauser,daughters of our favorite local storage unit owners. When asked if their mail art turned out identical also, the twins answered in unison: "What do you think?" The Humps Haven Chapter meets monthly. New members are always welcome. Call Milly and Tilly at 123-4567 for more info, or as Milly and Tilly like to say, as one, "You can always send a request in the mail!" Their mailing address is c/o Stor-it, Hear? 365 Trout Squiggle Run, Humps Haven. Staff Photo by I.C. Hugh.

What a fun piece of mail from MABB (mailart365). Oh, in case you're wondering, that's supposed to be me Pensive Patty, in the lower left-hand corner by the file cabinet.

My Motto

2011-07-28T19:55:00.012-03:00

Make your own graffiti here.

Get Well Mail

2011-07-26T01:34:00.007-03:00

At first I thought the bird was chirping "Sweet". When I looked more closely, it was actually "Tweet". This "Sweet Tweet" is from Debra Robinson, one of Heidi's co-workers.

Check out this funny Cat in a Hat from Rachel Bouc.

This one just makes me smile. Kami and Debbie, two other teachers in the math department at school sent this cute, Cute, CUTE little froggie card.

Misty Davis sent me her treasured Stick "Singing in the Rain" card. Isn't it adorable! No one could blame her if she'd kept it, but I am honored to receive it. It serves double duty too by reminding me that one doesn't have to be one of the old masters to make art. The charm of this card lies in its simplicity, don't you think?

Becky left a paper trail from Pennsylvania to Crockett with this lovely vintage card. I'm a sucker for old-fashioned floral prints. Love it! She also included some fun stickers and ephemera which will soon be incorporated into some outgoing mail art pieces.

Doris and Bill Akers, my daughter-in-law Maranda's grandparents, sent a similarly styled card, chock full of prayers and cheery thoughts.

And, to wrap up this set, a mail art card from Rusty StoneZebra. Chocolate + Strawberry Ice Cream = A Cure for Many Ills.

Thanks to all for the get well sentiments. By George, I think they're working. If I missed a missive you might have sent, well, it's probably around here somewhere. My routines are all topsy turvy and I'm not yet firing on all cylinders. More mail posts to follow in the next few days and plenty of replies to keep me busy while I mend. Thanks again so much. It means more to me than you can know.

Now This Just Makes Me Sad

2011-07-23T09:45:00.004-03:00

Could someone please tell me what happened to the photos of missing children? Aren't those pictures supposed to be on milk cartons? Isn't that a law or something? No? Well, it should be.

When did we become more concerned with finding words in a puzzle than finding missing children? That depressing milk carton looked right at home on my breakfast tray with its reconstituted egg substitute and soggy Rice Crunchies.

Not my idea of a fun day

2011-07-17T23:14:00.002-03:00

Emergency appendectomy. OUCH!

Call Me Fishmail

2011-07-08T11:31:00.005-03:00

The recent spate of fish-themed mailart over at mailart365 reminded me of this piece I had done and never posted. It surprised me to note that I scanned it almost exactly a year ago.

It was a fun piece to do and went to Carolee, one of the authors of Good Mail Day.

Rachel B Checks In

2011-07-07T19:55:00.004-03:00

Rachel and I touched base a few months ago, but it seems my letter to her went missing. I'm so glad she got in touch again via this postcard. I've answered and she may expect a letter in her mailbox in a few days!

Spoiler Alert: Don't Look, Limner.

2011-07-04T07:21:00.006-03:00

I usually forget to scan outgoing mail, but as the post office is closed today, I have time. This Independence Day envelope goes to mail pal, Bobbie. The return address and flag cutout on the bottom left come from one of those mailings seeking donations for veterans. The flag postage stamps are ones from my most recent order from Errol Murphy and my red and blue pen work on the address complete the theme.

Now, everybody sing along with me and The March King.

The Stars and Stripes Forever
Hurrah for the flag of the free!
May it wave as our standard forever,
The gem of the land and the sea,
The banner of the right.
Let despots remember the day
When our fathers with mighty endeavor
Proclaimed as they marched to the fray
That by their might and by their right
It waves forever.

Happy 4th of July!

Walltype-- Sent One, Got One, Plus NL-690084

2011-07-02T23:30:00.001-03:00

Thanks to Missive Maven for the heads up on Walltype. I registered and here is the first card I sent out.

And, I already have received my first card as well. Check out this gorgeous scenery from Colorado, courtesy of Dede.

Also in today's mail is this postcrossing card of Kathedrale Basiliek van St. Jan from The Netherlands.

Purple Coneflower

2011-07-01T13:37:00.006-03:00

Check out this First Day of Issue postcard by Elle. Lovely, just lovely.

Greetings from Virginia

2011-06-22T16:46:00.005-03:00

Back in late winter, I went to Cracker Barrel to buy postcards to use in my Postcrossing mailings. They no longer sold postcards. :-( Sad Face

Imagine my delight when I found bundles of 5/$1 at a local flea market. I bought all they had....about 7 packets of them. Many of them are duplicates, but I have enjoyed sending them out. I love the retro look of the photo letter ones. How about you? Any great finds lately?

One Good Envelope Deserves Another

2011-06-20T09:02:00.012-03:00

Or, four will get you five! Elle over at Art of a Letter requested a set of the Laura Ashley wallpaper envelopes I'd offered a while back. I sent them and look what she sent back...five GORGEOUS handmade envelopes. I love the patterns on all these papers and am having a difficult time choosing a favorite. I've narrowed it down to the first two, but am leaning toward #2, the pale aqua one. They're all lovely and I will enjoy using them in my correspondence.

However, the envelopes weren't the only thing sent. Check out this lovely postcard on which Elle sent her message. Isn't it beautiful? At first, I didn't see the sunglasses nestled inside the foliage. One certainly doesn't need rose-colored glasses to see this is a great card. Thank you so much, Elle.

This Just In: Davy Crockett Surfaces in Bermuda Triangle

2011-06-17T09:35:00.006-03:00

Bobbie Cade, aka Limner, sent me a letter a few weeks back. It was dated May 26th. She went all out on the Davy Crockett envelope you see above, even going so far as to persuade the postal clerk to cancel the stamp with a Crockett, TX postmark. (For those of you who don't get the connection, I live in Crockett, VA.)

Well, the letter was missing. I kept waiting for it to arrive. Bobbie kept trying to track it from her end. Nada.

This morning I mentioned the missing letter to my husband. He asked, "Have you checked in the Bermuda Triangle?"

I had not. But, I did. And, voila...the missing letter has surfaced.

The Bermuda Triangle (Crockett affiliate) is located in my vehicle. Nissan calls it a Door Pocket. I have lost, AND FOUND, my cell phone there twice, as well as various and sundry other items. I don't know why I don't just check there first when something goes missing.

Or, stuff it full of something so items don't fall into it.

~~Or, stop driving like a maniac, careening around these curvy mountain roads on two wheels, making items skedaddle across the passenger seat only to land in the abyss.~~ Not likely to occur.

Greener than Green Mail

2011-06-13T20:02:00.009-03:00

Back in March, I sent a letter to Donna Parker in Mexico. I used an inside-out envelope my bank statement came in, collaged a few bits on it and sent it on its merry way. You can see the envelope in the stack of mail pictured on my blog post dated March 14th.

Donna, whom I have dubbed "The Green Queen", collaged it some more and sent my return letter back in the same envie.

Here's the back side with its extra embellishments. But, she didn't stop there!

Check out the letter. The writing on this side is mine to Donna. I added the car in the background and Barbie over to the side. The new images in the foreground are the ones Donna added. She answered by writing on the flip sides of all these pages which were blank.

What a fun letter to receive. It reminded me of some letters my piano teacher let me read when I was a young girl. Those letters dated from Civil War times...but that is way off subject and fodder for some post in the future.

An Expired Postcrossing Card That Worries Me

2011-05-27T22:29:00.006-03:00

Mail sometimes does go astray. Sometimes a postcrosser forgets to register a postcard. Things happen. I understand that. Usually an expired Postcrossing card, one that has been traveling more than 60 days, doesn't bother me much. The one shown above does.

It was sent out on March 6th and it returned to me this week. So, it isn't lost. I know exactly where it is and exactly where it has been. If you look at the photo closely, you may be able to make out the postmark.

Nagareyama...

JAPAN

Now you see why it's worrisome. A postcard returned to sender appears to be an isolated, almost insignificant event. However, the ramifications of what that returned postcard could indicate are troubling. I rechecked the profile of the user...a young 32-year-old woman with a husband and a 1-yr-old daughter. She wants to see the aurora borealis. Some of her favorite things are dogs, coffee, spring, and stamps. She was last seen on Postcrossing over two months ago.

Aya, I hope you and your family are safe. I hope the reason you haven't been online is that your electric service has been disrupted, or that you've relocated to a shelter or to stay with family or friends. I'm concerned, but won't think the unthinkable.

Kailey Teaches Nana

2011-05-20T22:31:00.004-03:00

In my last post, I talked about Kailey's Mail Art pictured above and mentioned there are lessons to be learned from this 3-yr-old. Well, here they are.

#1 Work quickly. From start to finish, this little mail art project took maybe a total of 3 minutes. Probably less.

#2 Work intuitively. When I handed her the plain, white 4 x 6 inch piece of
cardstock to use for her base, she immediately ripped it into two pieces. No boundaries for Kailey's mail art.

#3 Work with what you have. It didn't bother Kailey that the materials I gave her were things I didn't really care about. She was happy to work with the items I'd put in her very own box of treasures. No extra items needed, no trips to Michael's, no specialty orders required. She worked with what was available.

#4 Don't worry about what others think. I can say quite confidently Kailey didn't give a second thought to what others might think of her work.

#5 Think outside the box. What box? The 4 x 6 in base card didn't box little Kailey in. Her art didn't have to fit within those confines. Notice both the heart sticker embellishment and the main image extend outside what was left of the original 4 x 6 in box.

#6 Be happy. When I asked her who she was going to send her mail art to, Kailey looked at me and said, "To you, Nana. I need a stamp." So I helped her write Nana on the back side (dots to trace), and then let her choose whatever stamp she wanted from my REAL postage. She chose one and enjoyed licking and placing the vintage stamp. Then she solemnly placed it into my mailbox and raised the flag. We each have mailboxes where we correspond. Her mailbox is Cinderella-themed, while mine is a more sedate blue box with white spatters (thrift store finds).

Are there any lessons you can learn from Kailey??????

Crockett's Got Talent

2011-05-14T18:51:00.003-03:00

Yep, that's right. Crockett's got talent. No, I'm not talking about me and my attempts at mail and journal art. Crockett's got talent when Kailey, my 3-yr-old granddaughter comes over.

During her last visit, she asked what I was making and I said, "Mail art."
She replied, "I want to make mail art, too."

So I handed her a blank white 4 in x 6 in card to use as the base for her art. She immediately ripped it into two pieces and began looking through my box of already cut images for one to "blue" down with her own bluestick. (G's are hard to say when you're 3)

She chose the Max Headroom photo, used her very own scissors to whack off the lower right corner (obviously it didn't belong there), blued it down, and finished off with the heart sticker embellishment.

There are lessons to be learned here. More on this mail art later.

A Mailbox Trifecta

2011-04-23T10:14:00.006-03:00

This may be a first for me...three, count them, three wonderful pieces of mail in the same day. Well, the same day, if you count part of Thursday and part of Friday as the same day. Anyway, all three are from Bobbie Cade, aka Limner. If you don't read her blogs, you are missing out.

First up is my favorite, this long handwritten letter. Isn't her handwriting lovely. Sigh.

Next, was what see calls Cross Over Art, wherein she repurposed some of her scrapbooking materials to make this personalized card just for me. I feel special.

To complete the trifecta, Bobbie sent me these three gorgeous photo notecards with envelopes. I'm fairly certain these are made with her own photos.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. These seem like such little phrases for mail that makes me so happy. How about you? Any happy mail brightening your days?

How Cool is This!!!!

2011-04-16T03:58:00.004-03:00

If you're a regular reader of Just Letter Rip , then you might recognize that all the words in the word cloud above are from previous blog posts.

I spent hours choosing the words, deciding which to emphasize, and setting up the layout in Photoshop. Whew, I'm tired.

NOT!

Wordle did it all for me in about 2 seconds. All I did was type in the URL for my web page, hit Submit. And Whoomp, there it is.

You can also cut and paste text into Wordle or type your own list of words and phrases.

I use this little word generator all the time at school and my students love it. Wordle has been around for a couple of years now, but I'm still amazed that not many people seem to know about it. How can all this coolness be hidden?

Put in the lyrics of your favorite song, or a recipe, or a passage from the Bible, or your favorite quote. See what happens. You can tinker with different fonts, layouts, color combos. It's addictive and you can spend hours there before you know it. You've been warned!

True Story

2011-04-13T01:57:00.005-03:00

This arrived in my mailbox yesterday.
:-) Happy Face.

It was from a new correspondent.
:-) Happy Face.

It was empty.
:-( Sad Face.

Moral of the Story: Glue is fickle. Use tape.

A Couple of First Evers

2011-04-10T20:41:00.005-03:00

Here's my very first handcarved eraser stamp EVER. I was so proud and showed the carving and my first stamped images of it to my husband.

Me: Look! My first handcarved stamp.
Him: What's wrong with his pecker?
Me: Uh...that's his hand.
Him: Looks like a pecker to me.
Me: It's his hand. So he can hold a letter. I'm going to make another stamp of a mailbox.
Him: He looks like a mailbox. (Pause) With feet. (Another pause) And a pecker.

What do you think? In my first ever poll, cast your vote in the sidebar at right.

Envelope Templates

2011-03-29T21:14:00.009-03:00

Several people have asked how I made the Laura Ashley wallpaper envelopes. I use the Kreate-a-lope templates from greensneakers. Three or four years ago at a sale, I found a set of about 8 templates for $8. It was 8 bucks well spent. I use those templates all the time. They work really well. And, by the way, I don't work for Kreate-a-lope because if I did, I wouldn't say that I'd have a really hard time coughing up the cash they're asking for these babies.

Check out the video below. The only difference is that I usually trace out the template and cut it out instead of tearing. I prefer the clean edge look.

Edit: I was so proud of embedding a video. This was my first time doing this. But, now I see it's out of whack and encroaching on the right sidebar's space. I don't have time to figure this out right now, so it will just have to stew on the back burner for a while. Grrr.....

Silly Me

2011-03-25T21:18:00.004-03:00

Yesterday I pulled this piece of mail out of my mailbox, looked at the writing, and thought. Wow, somebody's handwriting looks remarkably like mine.

Then I realized why.

It was mine! I'd ordered some stamps and included a self-addressed stamped envelope.
Silly me.

Mail Register: Keeping Track

2011-03-21T23:26:00.003-03:00

Different people have different systems for keeping track of their mail. Misty Davis posted about her system here. Still, she continues to have a bit of trouble knowing which items have been responded to and which still need answering, etc.

Let me tell you about the system I use to keep up with my incoming and outgoing mail. I base it on a system I perfected years ago for my sewing, crafting, and crocheting projects. My main problem then was that so many of the things I wanted to keep track of fit into more than one category. For example, I had a crochet heart pattern that used red, white, and blue yarn and resembled an American flag when completed. Would I file it under crochet, or hearts, or Patriotic/4th of July??
Do you see the dilemma? No matter which category I picked, I was afraid I wouldn't remember it could be an option in the others.

After much trial and error, I finally worked out a system that made sense to me and was manageable. I could locate instructions for any pattern in seconds. And that was the goal, after all. I catalogued all of my items with a simple numbering system, 1, 2, 3... New instructions were labeled with the next number and everything was filed in numerical order.

Next I made an index file with cards for each type of craft or activity. Birthdays, Christmas, Crochet, Hearts, Patriotic, Valentine's Day, etc. Say item #32 was that crocheted heart I mentioned above. On the index cards for Crochet, Hearts, Patriotic, and Valentine's Day I'd list #32. That way it could be filed in several categories all at once.

Conversely, if I wanted to make a heart, I could pull out the heart index card and find all projects that dealt with hearts listed by number, so easy to find. Oh, and to jog my memory, I typed up a master list, also in numerical order with a description of each item so I didn't have to dig through the actual files. Does that make sense?

I have a similar system for my mail log. All my correspondents are listed by name on individual index cards. The card contains name and address, email, and website info. Sometimes I include the person's birthday if I know it and a few notes about their hobbies or interests. Every time I receive an item from that person, the number of that item of mail gets written on his/her card.

As I open the day's mail, I assign the next numbers in sequence to each new item of mail. I also note the date it was received. Next I update each person's index card with the newly assigned numbers. As I answer back to each item, I list that on the envelope as well. If I want to locate all the items of mail Misty has sent me, I simply pull her index card and fish out the numbered items from the files.

Works for me. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to try to answer them.

Adirondack Rainbow

2011-03-21T21:44:00.004-03:00

Every morning on my way to school, I drive by Yoder's Woodcrafts. And every morning these colorful Adirondack chairs catch my eye. They have been a welcome, cheery sight on many a grey, dreary winter morning.

One day last week I finally stopped and took a few photos. Don't the colors look crisp, clean, and refreshing? I could just imagine me and you and a few of our friends sitting in these chairs on a balmy summer's evening, sipping ice cold tea, talking and laughing well into the night. Come on over, have a seat. But, not in the yellow one! Dibs on the yellow one!

Update on Laura Ashley Envelopes

2011-03-14T22:37:00.005-03:00

Okay, here's the deal. Last week I sent out the first batch of envelope requests. Lauren Jones, Maria Medford, Sharon C., Anita Elmore, Shannon Cartmill, Angela Jewell, Lisa Vineyard, Clare Wolfe, and Laurel Clayson should have received their packages by now or in the next day or two.

The photo above shows the next wave ready to post tomorrow. These go to Michelle Neuman, Elle Mental, Pat Bowman, Maria Ford, Rin Dawson, Stephanie Hauser, Wanda Dean, Karen Cameron, and Rosa Townsend.

Did I miss anyone?

Four Free Envelopes for the Asking

2011-02-27T20:55:00.006-04:00

Are you like me? Do you love Laura Ashley prints? Yes? I thought so. So, you completely understand how I could not leave these rolls of wallpaper shoved into a corner of the Salvation Army Thrift Store??? Of course, I rescued them. And, in the spirit of sharing the love, I'm offering four envelopes made from this gorgeous pattern to anyone who asks.
That's right. Everyone is a winner. Just make sure I have your address. Email me privately if you like......stardust4821@yahoo.com or justletterrip@gmail.com. Enjoy.

P.S. All envelopes are the same size, approximately 5 inches by 7 1/8 inches. (made with green sneakers template)

Mail Art Madness January Edition

2011-01-30T10:59:00.023-04:00

The two pieces of mail art above come from Jennie Hinchcliff. Yes, THE Jennie Hinchcliff of Good Mail Day and Red Letter Day fame.

Andrea Jay sent these two similar pieces. The stern looking lady reminds me of my 5th grade teacher. Yikes!

Sue Wood and I are traveling companions on The Crazy Train. If you compare this scan with Sue's original here, you can see the Octopus disembarked before the train pulled into The Crazy Barn at Crockett.

PostMuse of the Orphaned Postcard Project sends this one and writes that she is enjoying making mail art using some of her old postage stamp stash. Great idea!

Recent (and not so recent) Incoming

2011-01-30T10:00:00.004-04:00

Check out this hand-decorated envelope by Sirpa. She also decorated the pages of the letter in a similar fashion. I admire doodles. I'm not a very good doodler. You can view much better photos here on her blog.

This cheery polka dot one comes from Anita in Tennessee. Hugs and prayers to you, Anita, on the passing of your mom.

It's always neat when someone connects from out of the blue. Linda found my address or my blog and just decided to write. Love it!

News from Wasilla

2011-01-29T11:21:00.004-04:00

No, I don't know Sarah Palin and this post isn't about her. It's a letter (plus some pretty awesome goodies) from Tanna, one of my newish pen friends who happens to live in Wasilla, Alaska. I must admit though, in my first letter to Tanna, I did ask her if she knew Sarah Palin. She replied, "No, not personally... but I can see her house from here."

Still makes me laugh.

Introducing Farley

2011-01-13T11:00:00.006-04:00

Meet my new friend, Farley. My pen friend, the lovely and talented Cari Polena, created him and sent him my way. How Sweet Is That! Check out her blog, Swanky Lifestyle, for cool mail art posts and more, lots more. She's made an entire finger puppet army you can see here.
Stay tuned for more posts from Farley.

Reflecting on 2010

2011-01-09T14:16:00.003-04:00

Overall, I met my goals. Write 365 letters...check. Publish more blog posts...check. (not a LOT more, but hey, 49 is more than 41) Shoot for 100 Followers...check. 112 Woot!

The only real goal I didn't meet (again) was the whole Getting Organized thing. I guess that one is a Rollover Goal (again) for 2011.

Contest A Bust -- But Winners Nonetheless

2010-12-18T11:50:00.000-04:00

Well, the Happy Accident Hat Contest is officially over. I left it posted for quite some time. Only three people requested a hat to decorate, so those are the three winners. All three will receive the same prize package consisting of the items shown below.

These are math chart stickers. Use the whole chart or cut them up and use only the parts you want.

Next we have a few die cut shapes...a cupcake, a present, a balloon, and a birthday cake.

A couple of sheets of Heidi Swapp arrows might come in handy to decorate some envelopes. The white arrows on the red, white, and blue set didn't show up, but, trust me, they're there.

Finally, I've included three note cards with envies, some mini playing cards, a pen, and a little mini composition book.
Oh, there are also 3 rolls of paper tape, but the scan didn't turn out well, so I didn't include it.

Congratulations, girls. I hope you enjoy the goodies.

What Got Ripped This Week

2010-12-08T15:58:00.013-04:00

First up are two cards from Postcrossing. The pink flower card is from Maartje (NL-500846) who says The Netherlands is famous because of its flowers. True, but hey, these aren't tulips. The other card comes from Russia. It shows the Metro Station at Taganskaya. Isn't the architecture grand!

The next three are general mail. First off is a first day of issue postcard from elle.mental. Someday I hope to have my own cards with an issue date. Maybe that can be a New Year's goal. Next is a letter from Angelia of A Year of Letters fame. Sorry, Angelia, I'm a repeat and don't count towards your total of 365 letters to DIFFERENT recipients. And last, but by no means least, is my art letter book from the awesome Caiti Wefler.

Finally, here are my first three Christmas cards of 2010. Predictably, the first one is from my daughter Heidi, who has her act together. The next one is from Elizabeth to Santa, but in care of, yeah, that's right....ME! And last, we have one from Greenway Creek Golf Club, where my husband is a member. He's retiring at the end of the month....but I'll save that for another post.

Have You Ever Done This?

2010-12-07T10:56:00.004-04:00

For those of you who think I'm crazy, here's another piece of evidence. Today is a snow day, meaning no school for me. This makes the second day in a row. I'd rather have gone to school both days, as now we have to make them up on Dec 20 and 21...sigh. But, back to the post.

Even though it is a snow day, I set the alarm clock (on my cellphone) last night anyway. Never mind that it is not necessary. I wake up and get up without an alarm. And, always earlier than 6:15. But, it makes me happy for that alarm to sound and for me to be able to smile and shut it off. It is one of my life's little rituals.

How about you? Have you ever done this?

Duck-Duck-Duck-Duck-Duck-Goose

2010-12-06T10:05:00.004-04:00

Travelers Insurance sent this set of six cards, 5 with orange cars and the 6th one blue. The five orange ones had the word "duck" on the back and the sixth one said "goose" to symbolize the 1 of 6 drivers without car insurance. I thought the cards were clever and sent all six out via Postcrossing.

Here I Go Again

2010-12-01T20:03:00.007-04:00

There I was, just minding my own business; chugging right along on my goal of writing 365 letters in 2010. The end is in sight, my goal almost realized. I had begun thinking about next year. Would I commit to another 365 letter writing campaign?

I was thinking....probably not. Oh, I certainly intend to keep on writing letters, but maybe take it down a notch to say, maybe 200 or 250. Then I read Angelia's post over at A Year of Letters about something new on the horizon.

Hey, I could get in on the ground level. I wasn't behind yet. It seemed like fate.
Yeah, I went. I saw. I caved.

So, here I go again. MailArt365 if you'd like to follow along and/or join in on the mailart fun. There are several signed up already. It's not just me on the Crazy Train.

A Krispy Kreme Halloween

2010-10-28T18:18:00.005-03:00

Today's postcards are brought to you by me and Krispy Kreme. Kids at school were selling doughnuts for a fundraiser and the box was just too cute to throw away. So I did what any self-respecting mail artist would do. I cut it up and made postcards from it. The odd-shaped one above is an experiment. I put regular postcard postage on it and plopped it into the mail drop box. We'll see if it makes its destination.

These two are quite postcard-like and will probably have no trouble traveling to the correct mailbox.

For these final two cards, I used the packaging from a decorative flag my daughter was going to throw away (gasp). Maybe one of these is headed to a mailbox near you. BOO!

Week 2 : Art Journal Gypsy

2010-10-02T12:15:00.000-03:00

For this challenge, we were given a list of 24 things to find and cut out. I wrote out the list by hand, worked in one room for a while, then moved to another (there is only so much of the Outdoor Channel a girl can endure), forgot the list in the other room, and then just winged it.

If there's a theme going on here, I don't know what it is. I'll leave it for the art critics to figure out after I become famous posthumously.

Wednesday Pick-Me-Up

2010-09-22T08:18:00.007-03:00

It's Wednesday and the weekend glow has long since worn away and Friday still looks a long way off. So, how about a mid-week mail pick-me-up?

This letter comes to me from Jessica Armstrong, a new correspondent from Canada. She was kind enough to include a postcard and some Halloween stickers. Thanks!

Next is a letter from Lizbeth Meredith, my most regular and faithful correspondent. Check out her cool printed stationery. I'm wondering if she designed it herself or if it is available for us to steal online somewhere. Lizbeth?

Lastly, two postcards. The top one is from postcrossing...NL-433017. The ring on the middle finger reminds me of Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker. He wore rings on the middle fingers of both hands. For some reason, that used to annoy the heck out of me every time I would notice it on the show. I'm over it now and enjoy watching the reruns.

The other is a Picasso offering from my postcard pal, Chris Overstreet in Georgia. You're welcome for the latest card I sent and I'm looking for the extras that haven't been written upon. When they bubble to the top of the Crap Cauldron, I'll fish them out and send them on their merry way.

Art Journal Gyspy Week 1 Spread

2010-09-19T10:23:00.003-03:00

Vale McFadzean of Art Journal Gypsies is once again hosting the weekly art journal prompts. Click here to check out the fun and join in if you wish. The more the merrier. My Week 1 work is shown above.

Envelope Adoption Programme

2010-09-08T00:01:00.000-03:00

Like I really need more envelopes! But I just couldn't resist. These come all the way from Hong Kong through the generosity of Vicky Ng, aka Ms. Five. Check out her Envelope Adoption Programme for some beautiful goodies similar to those shown above!

A Mysterious Card

2010-09-07T06:30:00.000-03:00

At first, I thought the card above must be one from the Postcrossing exchange. But, apparently not. There is no ID# and no return address. Ah, well...

This lovely card of Masquerade Procession on St. Isaac's Square, St. Petersburg comes with this cryptic message:

Hi, misterious person!
Here's a misterious card for you. :-)
Have a good day,
Nataly

Why, thank you, Nataly. Have a good day yourself.

Here's A Mail Art First

2010-09-06T16:55:00.002-03:00

Elizbeth Meredith sent me my very first frozen dinner mail art. Stouffer's Fettuccini Alfredo. Yum! What's the most unusual piece of mail art you've ever received?

Outgoing: Playing Catch Up

2010-07-14T09:33:00.014-03:00

I must have been tired when I addressed this envelope to Melody. It's rather plain. I mean, less is the new more, right?

Ahh...look at the little mice writing letters, aren't they cute! These are three foldables I found mixed in with a packet of postcards I bought.

These big, bad envelopes are the ones the bank statements arrive in. They are huge and just the right size for letter sized paper folded in half. Plus, they have enough space for larger sized clippings. Don't you just love the big mailbox?

Top postcard is of Cecil Rhodes who mucked about making his fortune in the south of Africa, Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. The lower one shows the changing seasons at Peaks of Otter along the Blue Ridge Parkway, not too far from Roanoke, VA.

Multiples, multiples...cane toppers and mailboxes now dress up the envelope from my car payment statement.

At the risk of sounding like Ed Grimley, this envelope is a Stellar One, I must say.

The magazine page seems too flimsy to use for an envelope on its way to England, so a clear plastic sleeve is in order.

On this one I face a dilemma. On the one hand, the envelope is pretty nifty and made from good quality paper. On the other hand, I have five fingers. Sorry. On the other hand, I don't want to promote tobacco use. The Surgeon General and I warn you about its evils. Who is the Surgeon General these days? Hmm, whoever he is, he's no C. Everett Koop. Or she/she's.

Notice the enclosure. One Happy Accident Hat. Have you requested yours?

Incoming Postcards

2010-07-13T13:26:00.004-03:00

Sarah sends this fun, colorful card from Victoria, Australia, AU-74663. The card showing the green pastoral scene is DE-598023 but the scenery is from the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

Alanna from Great Britain sends this beautiful card of stately Oxford in England, GB-140951. Rene' mails a card showing the Brazilian Congress Building. Isn't it gorgeous lit up at night? Card ID is BR-102463.

I love postcards that show views of the city. The top card is from Shaula from The Netherlands NL-317564. Card CN-200572 shows figures from a very popular cartoon in China.

The upper card PL-81621 comes from Evelina in Poland and the lower one, TH-42435 is from Jirat in Ayuttha, Thailand.

This cool mail art card comes to me from Mad Madge via the Good Mail Day Call for Scribblers, Mail Artists and Pen Friends. Beneath is Postcrossing Card FI-754133 from Marjatta in Finland.

Heidi mailed these last two postcards to me while they were vacationing in Myrtle Beach. She wrote that the campground has its own post office!

The Happy Accident Hat Contest

2010-07-09T08:21:00.008-03:00

Last week while seeking bargains at the government surplus store, I found a box of 100 envelopes. They were a weird looking size, but, hey, weird works for me. And the price was right, 10 cents. So I bought a box.

Mistake! Turns out they weren't envelopes at all. Instead, they were paper hats, the kind worn by food service industry workers in some erstwhile era. I set them aside. Notice I did not say I threw them away. I set them aside. They were, after all, paper. A day or two went by and every time my eye would light on them I'd think, "Mistake!"

But, then one day I remembered the Bob Ross quote, "We don't make mistakes, we have happy accidents." That made me smile and I began thinking.

TA DA! The Happy Accident Hat Contest was born.

THE RULES:

1. Your hat must be decorated with a Letter/Mail Art/Postal related theme.

2. A picture of your hat must be submitted to me and I'll upload it into a gallery set up for that purpose. You may model the hat. You may traumatize your children, grandchildren, and/or pets by forcing them to model the hat. Or you can save yourself the hassle and use a stuffed toy as I did.

3. Only one entry per person is allowed.

4. Prizes (TBA) will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place entries, plus a People's Choice Award.

5. To enter, leave a comment below expressing your interest. Then email your mailing address to me at justletterrip@gmail.com.

6. Most important rule: HAVE FUN and Just Letter Rip.

***Note: You don't have to be a follower or spread the word about the contest, but both, or either, would be greatly appreciated. If you do blog about it, or post to facebook, or tweet, or whatever, please send me a link.

A Passel of Post -- Part 2

2010-06-28T12:50:00.009-03:00

This one is going out to a new potential pen friend. The collaged clippings are from a junk mail catalog.

Given the volume of mail she must receive, I don't know how Bianca keeps up with it all. But she does, and her letters are always so much fun.

Speaking of Bianca, she included this lovely brown/black envelope for me in her last letter. I added the dice and addressed it, but it was too small to include a couple of extras I wanted to send Tillie. So it all got repackaged into a clear vinyl envelope I made from the pouch my colored pencils came in. That should hold up well on the trip to New Zealand and may keep the customs officials from having to open it as well.

Here's a cut-out from a fishing magazine that I altered a bit.

Three quick notes on real stationery cards. Hallmark Expressions, no less. But you probably know me well enough by now to realize I didn't pay full price. They were in the batch from the surplus store. I love that place!

Here's another envelope made from that Belgium calendar. Photos of houses are among my favorites.

This one I mailed last week sometime and has already been received.

The three photos above show the fronts of two cards and one of the backs. These are the first greeting cards I've seen that don't have an envelope. They were in a batch of cards I picked up at the government surplus store.

I got some of those sample idea cards in the junk mail and instead of tossing them into the trash, I tossed them into this letter to Amanda.

Yikes! Watch out for this one.

A Passel of Post -- Part 1

2010-06-27T14:13:00.008-03:00

Now there's a word you don't hear every day. Passel. Perfectly good word; passel. Apparently, passel originates from the word parcel, so it's doubly appropriate, 'cause I got a passel of parcels and postcards to post.

Let's see. Postcards, first. These 5 postcards (actually, I sent out 8, but some were duplicates) are all for fellow Postcrossers.

It finally dawned on me that I had some outgoing Postcrossing cards en route that should've arrived by now, so I logged in to check on them. I had 5 cards traveling and all had been traveling for the same number of days -- 41. Uh oh. Oh yeah, those alarm bells went off and I began searching. Sure enough, I found them on my dining room table buried at the bottom of one of many crap piles. So, I apologize, I guess to myself, because these folks don't know they're supposed to be waiting on mail. Anyway, the Highland County sheep are outgoing cards, US-636131 and US-636134.

These three of the Highland Inn in Monterey, VA are US-636133, US-636135, and US-636136.

The Eastern Bluebird, my favorite little birdie. Despite the fact, or maybe because, they are so persnickety about their nesting spots. US-738547 goes to Julia in the Russian Federation.

This one would make a nice 4th of July card. Note to self: hold that thought. And the winner is......Anna of Ukraine. Postcrossing ID: US-738557

Lastly, this one, US-738561, goes to Sarah in Sydney, Australia. This is another postcard I picked up in Monterey. If I ever knew who the statue depicts, I've since forgotten.

This one goes out to my daughter Heidi who sent me a couple of postcards while vacationing at Myrtle Beach.

This mail art goes out to a newly found pen friend. This card has an alias; aka Flotsam & Jetsam #27.

Crap Pie

2010-06-23T09:35:00.003-03:00

Normally, I would title this post Flotsam & Jetsam 25, 26. But that just doesn't grab one's attention quite as well, now does it?

Here are two more of those subscription reply cards. These were for CRAPPIE (a kind of fish) magazine. Yuck. Who wants Crap Pie?

WOW!!! THAT'S A LOW PRICE!!!

2010-06-22T00:01:00.003-03:00

My daughter Heidi had her eyes peeled and snapped up this bargain for me at the annual Country Club Yard Sale. She knows what makes me happy. Well, both my daughters do. Sharon, in St. Louis, has some things for me as well. I'll pick them up when I fly out there next month.

Can you believe it? Ten, count them, ten cards (with envelopes, not shown) for 10 cents! There were originally twenty of them, but who cares. SCORE!

More Out The Door

2010-06-21T15:10:00.010-03:00

Purple and green...my two favorite colors. I love this envelope.

Sorry for the long delay, Lizbeth. I do treasure your letters.

Another CAUTION envie made from an AUCTION flyer.
Snip, snip, rearrange, glue, glue. All done.

Nadiah holds the distinction of having the longest address of any of my correspondents. When I find out why it's so long, I'll let you know.

This is my first letter to Paige, a new follower of Just Letter Rip. Welcome!

Just kidding, Aaron. But I couldn't resist.

Annie signed up for the Good Mail Day "Call for Scribblers," so I scribbled.

See your zip in this last batch??? Yeah, I admit it. I got in a hurry trying to beat the mail carrier to the box. I won.

Flotsam & Jetsam 22, 23, 24

2010-06-18T14:23:00.006-03:00

Here are three Flotsam & Jetsam cards I mailed out yesterday. They all use those postage paid reply cards as the base. All three are collaged from magazine and catalog clippings.

I'm A Letter-Writing Envelope-Making Fool

2010-06-17T13:04:00.011-03:00

Fast food bags make great envelopes and I find myself skipping the fries because they are so likely to leave grease spots on the bag. Who knew mail art could be healthy for your diet! This one from McDonald's is one of my all-time faves.

This one is made from a page from a paper sampler my friend Treva gave me. The name of the company slips my mind, but it is based in Rochester, NY. The black bear envelope last post came from the same sample book.

These two above, to Jennie and Carolee, are two more envelopes I made from the Belgium calendar I picked up at a thrift store. These envelopes were fun to make and the paper is quite sturdy so they should hold up well in their cross-country trek.

And, lastly, this one heads out to Nebraska and is a repurposed envie from the junk mail stash.

Red Flag Up

2010-06-16T09:59:00.007-03:00

The red flag is up on my mailbox. Please stop, Mr. Postman, and pick up these letters for my friends.

First up is a letter to Sally in one of my handmade envelopes.

The NEA is notorious for sending solicitations by mail. Jamie receives one of their repurposed envelopes.

Love those decorative tapes, but hate the price? Make your own as I did on Cat Wrangler's envie.

PJ states she will send one of her drawings to anyone who writes. I'm excited and can't wait to see what she sends me. I always envy people who draw well.

Misha gets a Gumby & Friends fold and mail.

Katie's letter is written on Glamour Girl stationery. "Real" stationery is becoming quite the rarity for me. I find myself using more and more recycled/repurposed junk mail and the like.

Here's my entry for Meet Me At Mike's Envelope Project. Wow. Can you believe one super lucky person will win EVERYTHING?

Brian's envelope is made from the cover of a calendar of buildings in Belgium.

More later this week. It's good to be back.

The Reports Of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated

2010-06-15T19:44:00.010-03:00

Hello Everyone. (if I have any readers left after my 3-month hiatus!)

I'd forgotten how overwhelmed I always get in the Springtime, with after school remediation prior to state-mandated testing, then the stressful testing, post test remediation, retesting, end of six weeks grades, semester, and yearly grades. Whew.
At last, the school year is over. Yesterday was our final day. Yippee! Now, back to our regularly scheduled mail blog.

First off, I'm not going to try to document the months of mail I missed. I didn't send out as much, but I didn't completely quit either. So, I'm just going to jump in where I am as of now.

Over at Good Mail Day they have a "Call for Scribblers, Mail Artists, and Pen Friends." Do you fit any one, two, or perhaps all three of those? Then, head on over and sign up to send and receive some cool mail.

Yesterday I received my first two items from that list and guess what? They were from Jennie and Carolee; can you tell I am super excited about that?

Jennie Hinchcliff sent this mail art postcard. Drat. I just noticed I forgot to peel that little postal bar code strip off.

Not to be outdone, Carolee sent these photos from the 70s. They have peel-off strips on the back so you can attach them. She also included a couple of Good Mail Day Special Delivery stamps. How cool is that!

How Did I Miss These?

2010-03-08T22:57:00.003-04:00

Apparently they've been around for years. Where was I when the Friendship Book craze began? Oh, yeah. I probably lacked friends. That might explain it.

Anyway, I recently joined my first FB swap on Swap-bot and these five beauts are ones I received. My address info filled up the cute one with the kitty cats and it is my privilege to send it along to the person it was made for. What fun!

In the Outbox

2010-02-27T18:54:00.006-04:00

This may be my favorite envelope in this batch of outgoing mail. I made it from the store directory map I picked up at Target. To be truthful, I actually picked up another three or four. They were just too cute. I couldn't help it.

This one features a retro fan in the shape of a cat. It is such an odd item that I find myself wishing I had one.

This one is an introductory letter going out to someone new.

This one is made from an Arby's bag and also contains an introduction.

Yet another Arby's bag envie with yet another intro.

This one too.

This one of the Mad Hatter comes from a poster advertising Barter Theatre's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.

Veel Liefs

2010-02-18T13:44:00.005-04:00

Well, my mailbox did get a bit of Valentine's Day Love. The first card comes from Monique in the Netherlands. Monique says "Veel liefs!" means "Much love!" in Dutch.

This cute handmade envelope comes from JLR reader Sue from Illinois. She also made a matching card with the same paper. Thanks for writing, Sue. And good luck with your mail art adventures. Isn't it fun!

Finally, the last 3 photos are of outgoing envelopes. They are made from the front covers of the USPS Philatelic catalog, February 2010 Nordstrom catalog, and American Balanced Fund annual report.

My Very First Mini-Zine

2010-02-09T00:01:00.001-04:00

It doesn't show up very well in this scan, but I made a little pocket to hold the zine from 3/4 of a sealed envelope. Many sites show you how to fold an 8-page mini-zine from a single sheet of paper. Here is the link to one of them. The background page I used for my zine is from The Scribble Project.

Covers--Back and Front (Pages 8 and 1)
Pages 2 and 3
Pages 4 and 5
Pages 6 and 7
This little zine was so much fun to make. Oh no, I think I feel another addiction setting in.

Solar Mosaic Cats Agree

2010-02-08T12:11:00.004-04:00

Snail Mail Rulz!

These are some of the collage and mail art elements on today's outgoing mail.

Snip & Scooch

2010-02-06T09:28:00.003-04:00

About once a month or so, a local AUCTION company mails a flyer advertising an upcoming auction. Snip out the letter "C", move it to the front of the line, then scooch the "AU" over and the anagram now reads "CAUTION." Attach it to an envelope flap. Break out the markers and a new envelope is born. TA DA!

Tag Heart Tutorial

2010-02-05T18:14:00.023-04:00

Here's a little tutorial I featured on my art blog a couple of years ago. I'm running it again in case anyone wants to include one in a Valentine.

Step 1
For this project you will need two tags and scissors. A pencil and ruler are optional, necessary only if you want perfect measurements. I cut these two tags from magazine pages using my Sizzix, but you could trace your tags and cut them by hand if you like.Notice I have chosen one patterned paper and one that is mostly solid in color.

Step 2
Overlap the tags as shown. Use a pencil to place a mark as shown.

Or, if you don't like marking and measuring, you can skip this step.

Step 3
Use the ruler to lightly draw a line marking how deep your cuts need to be.
Or not. If you skipped the last step, you can skip this one too.

Step 4
Draw lines from the bottom edge of the tag up to the line you drew in Step 3. You need to do this on only one of the tags. First, draw the center line of the tag. Then, draw the center lines of those two halves. (You will draw three lines which divide the tag into four parts.)

Align the two tags, one atop the other. Cut on the three lines just drawn.
Or, if you didn't draw the lines, just cut freehand.

Step 5
Weave the strips of the two tags together using a simple over-under-over-under technique.

Step 6

TA DA!

Your woven tag heart is now ready to glue into your next project.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial. Please leave your comments below. And, be sure to send me a link to your own woven hearts!

Today's Found Stationery Is Brought To You By...

2010-02-05T09:17:00.003-04:00

Last night's supper! Chili beans make a tasty, hearty main dish for a cold winter's eve. And the labels from the cans are a nice change of pace from the magazine pages I usually find. One of the envelopes from today's blog posts contains these labels. Wonder whether it's yours?

Outgoing February 5th

2010-02-05T09:04:00.004-04:00

Perhaps I should retitle this as Outgoing February 5th - MAYBE. It's only 8 AM and we already have about 5 inches of new snow. It's really putting it down out there. I'm not sure the mail carrier will make his rounds today, and even if he does....I'm not sure I'll walk to the mailbox!

All Dressed Up -- But Nowhere To Go

2010-01-30T17:41:00.004-04:00

I was all excited. I found out about the Penpal Party and sent an email to sign up for Round 3. Then I started working on a page I intended to include in my letter to the penpal I got matched with.

Finally I got an email with Penpal Party in the title. I was hoping it would include the address and maybe some other info about my new penpal partner. Instead, the email read,

Hello friends!

You wrote to inquire about a round 3 of Penpal Party. Unfortunately the project has been shelved for the time being -- at least in its current form.

I am so disappointed. See, I even had my party hat on. Dang, just my luck.

Bianca's Giveaway

2010-01-27T20:30:00.003-04:00

To celebrate her 100th follower, Bianca Jagoe at Goodnight Little Spoon is having a giveaway. She is including some of her awesome handmade envelopes, acrylic stamps, stationery and assorted other goodies. Check it out!

Found Stationery

2010-01-24T13:25:00.004-04:00

I often use "found stationery" to write my letters. Letter #21 is one of those. I just finished it, using magazine pages as my stationery du jour. The letter begins on the reverse side of the page shown above. The other side is a mostly white page and those are the ones I use most often. Sometimes I do the opposite and write on dark pages with a white pen.

Find yourself some stationery today and if you don't have anyone else to write to, you could WRITE TO ME! Address at top in the righthand sidebar.

Mail Art Sticker and Stencil Courtesy of Triple A

2010-01-22T12:55:00.009-04:00

Saving stickers that come in my junk mail is second nature for me, but sometimes they languish in a keeper pile for months. This sticker from Triple A auto club is one of those. I happened across it yesterday and was determined to use it and started looking at it. I kept staring at it trying to think of an A-A-A acronym to make it work. Then I saw it. I grabbed my Cutter Bee scissors and snipped out the cross bars of the first two A's to make the M A logo you see above. Mail Art! (You could snip the 2nd and 3rd crossbars instead to make A M for Air Mail.)
I peeled the sticker off and stuck it to an envelope. Voila!

As I was gathering up the scraps to throw away, I noticed I had a pretty fair stencil
left from the sticker backing, so I saved it too. Below, you can see the stencil and the logo I made using it. How cool is that!

World Revolutions

2010-01-18T18:00:00.007-04:00

When I get new followers to my blog, I always click on their profiles to see if they have blogs of their own. So this World Revolutions card goes to a new follower whose main focus seems to be mail art.
The base for the card is one of those magazine subscription reply cards. The collaged paper bits came from an educational videos catalog. So, this is another of my eco-friendly cards.
I hope she likes it.

Outgoing: Numbers 11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18

2010-01-17T19:42:00.002-04:00

Whoa, today's the 17th. And I have Letter Number 18 written. How did that happen? I'm actually ahead. For about 5 whole hours anyway.

These will go out tomorrow. Make that Tuesday. No mail tomorrow for MLK Day.

Do you see your name, your town, or maybe your zip code peeking through?

Outgoing: Numbers 6-7-8-9-10

2010-01-17T18:44:00.005-04:00

These went out one day last week. Maybe one of them is heading your way.

My Round Robin #7 Cards Are Home

2010-01-16T12:54:00.006-04:00

Show Me The Money
Tee Time
Ballerina
Flip Flop Fun
Sunny Days
Big Top Circus
America the Beautiful
Watermelon
Anything Goes
One of my very favorite Yahoo! groups is Gluebots and one of the fun activities we do there are the round robins. Each participant starts with a 4 x 6-inch background card and glues one image to it. The cards are passed along with each new recipient adding an image until the cards make it back to their owners. Such fun. Above are my cards from the latest round.

That New Year Smell

2010-01-13T08:50:00.007-04:00

2010. A brand spanking new year arrives. You can tell it's new because it has that new year smell. You know, the smell of new hopes, new resolutions and new possibilities. That new smell is everywhere...all over TV, in magazines, Bloglandia. Even in your old car.

It's everywhere, I tell ya. Even in my mailbox. After sitting empty the whole first week of Twenty-Ten, some letter love finally wafts its way to Greek Miller Road on the 9th. Isn't that smell intoxicating? Four items in one day. Yay!

Quick. Somebody close the hole in the ozone layer. You're letting the new smell out.

Holiday Address Labels: A Three-Word Tutorial

2010-01-09T06:53:00.008-04:00

Cut and paste.

Toy Story 2 Fold & Mail

2010-01-05T20:48:00.003-04:00

Foldables are fun and quick to write. Just the thing when one is playing catch-up. And thanks to the aforementioned SNOW DAY, caught up I am.

I finally remembered to scan before I addressed this one. It's a little surprise for someone I know peeks at this blog from time to time.
5 of 365

McDonald's Bag/Envie -- Part Deux

2010-01-05T20:33:00.003-04:00

Today is January 5th and already I am lagging behind schedule in my letter writing resolution. But, never fear. Today also happens to be the very first SNOW DAY of the school year.

So that gives me the chance to get caught up. Here is the envelope for Letter #4. It is made from the same McDonald's bag as the one a few posts back.
4 of 365

School of Visual Arts

2010-01-05T13:27:00.006-04:00

A School of Visual Arts poster was destined for File 13 at school. Rescuing it gave me four free envelopes including the one you see above.

The address label is also eco-friendly. It is made using a junk mail find for the template.
Victoria's Secret has some lovely things, and though their brochure no doubt sold a lot of underwear, I didn't add anything to their bottom line. However, I was quite happy to use the nifty template/coupon to trace and cut out a few address labels. It's a sturdy little thing and I can see it living in my mail art box for quite some time to come. 3 of 365

McD's is Giving Away Free Envelopes

2010-01-02T16:46:00.006-04:00

Guess what? McDonald's is giving away free envelopes. I couldn't believe it. They gave one to me the other day when I drove through and ordered a McChicken sandwich from the Dollar Menu. Woot.

Careful though, if you order fries. Those crazy teenagers think that envies are food bags and are not very cautious about the grease spots.

For those of you counting, yep this is Letter #2 of 2010. And even though I couldn't count it as a letter, it gave me great pleasure to send a belated Merry Christmas card to the ACLU. 2 of 365

Outbox -- First Letter of 2010

2010-01-01T11:31:00.009-04:00

One of my unwritten resolutions, and therefore not very resolved?, is to write 365 letters in 2010. I looked in my correspondence notebook from 2009. From the time I started my blog at the end of June until now I have 182 entries. But some of those are postcards, so don't really count. Still, it doesn't seem too daunting. We will see how it goes.

I used my security envelope standby, minimally decorated with a pink highlighter. On the back I circled my favorite DIRECTV channels, not that anybody cares. 1 of 365

On the Importance of Printer Settings

2010-01-01T08:56:00.005-04:00

Picture this. Crockett, 2009. The day after Christmas. Mike buys oysters only at this time of year and wants to know how to cook them. I am the last person on the planet you'd want to ask because I don't cook things I don't like. And I don't like oysters or turnips. For much the same reason, they're slimy.

Anyway, back to the post. This is what happens when you attempt to print a recipe called Fried Slimy Oysters (yes, I added the descriptor) and don't check your printer settings. I thought it should have been titled, What a Waste of $60 on a Gallon of Slime that Nobody in his Right Mind is Going to Eat Anyway, but what do I know.

So that it is not a total waste of ink and photo paper, I'm calling this postcard Flotsam & Jetsam #22 and mailing it off to some lucky recipient, who most likely will say that not only is it a total waste of ink and photo paper, but also a waste of a perfectly good 28 cent stamp.

I Forgot..............Again!

2009-12-29T19:31:00.004-04:00

I forgot two things actually. First, I forgot to scan the envelope before I addressed it and so had to cover the address. Then, I forgot to rotate the photo and so it is oriented the wrong way. I'm not starting over, so you have a few options.

1) Imagine it is rotated.
2) Turn your head sideways.
3) Rotate the computer screen.
4) Embrace imperfection.

A Couple of Fold-Ups

2009-12-28T10:21:00.006-04:00

Surfing the web is always fun. Look what I stumbled upon the other day. Printable letter fold-ups!

Print out the design. Write your letter on the other side. Fold along the dotted lines. Address, stamp, and mail.

What could be easier!

Origami Wreaths

2009-12-22T12:51:00.006-04:00

My Christmas tree isn't up. My shopping isn't complete. Not a single present is wrapped. The stockings are not hung, even carelessly.

But, do I look worried? Do you see me dashing around in a frenzy? No way. I'm sitting quietly at the dining room table, looking out at the snow, cutting rectangles from assorted junk mail catalogs, folding origami wreaths for Christmas cards, and thinking all is well in my little world.

Should you wish to make your own little bits of happiness, you can find the folding instructions here.

Gecko Greetings: Flotsam & Jetsam 21

2009-12-01T01:01:00.000-04:00

Am I the only one who thinks the gecko is way cool? I love using this little guy in my art journal pages as well as on my mail art.

Speaking of which, if you generally toss your Geico gecko junk mail into the trash (perish the thought), would you consider saving him for me? My address is at the top in the righthand sidebar. I'm also collecting the image of the money with the googly eyes if you want to toss those in as well. I've got an idea for a project, but I need lots of images. Thanks so much.

Yoohoo... Free Uhu

2009-11-10T08:26:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone!

Check this out. Who knew Uhu had a free Sample-of-the-Month feature?

Not me. But now I do, and you can bet I'll be a regular visitor. To get these free items, you must live in the USA or Canada, have a blog, and promise to do an honest review of the products you receive. How easy is that!

I've seen a couple of decorated clipboards posted on the site, but I have a different idea for mine. Stay tuned for a future posting. Details for the samples are here: http://www.gluewithuhu.com/