Artistamping!

At the last  Correspondence Co-Op meeting the lovely and very talented
Ms. Red Letter Day herself
gave a demo on one way to make artistamps.
And, believe me, she knows how.

We all paid close attention (much more attention than we ever paid in school).

Miss Jennie whipped these babies out in five minutes. I swear!
Some of us may need a little more tutoring.

I know I have mentioned Good Mail Day before but if you are looking for Jennie's instructions on how to make artistamps it's in the book.

Another happy stamper!
These Co-Op meetings are just too much fun.


And now, another mail artist, Mike Dickau shows how he makes artistamps

How I Make Artistamps/Mike Dickau

Check out his great video by clicking on the above link.

Some of the artistamps Mike has sent me -- a very talented and generous mail artist.
And, man, he knows his stuff.

Snail-Mail stamps are popular.
Left are some snails by GinaVisone and right are Mike's.

Burning Man Postmaster, James Cline, made these Burning Man stamps.
Pretty cool, don't you think?

These blue beauties by Maureen Forys -- love 'em.
She put one in my Co-Op passport  -- which I unfortunately forgot to take a photo of for you guys.
Imagine it.

Mail It!

Hope you enjoy seeing an assortment of artistamps and Mike's video. I am still working on figuring  out how to make them myself.

A little note to all my pals and blog readers on the other coast -- I have been thinking of you all with first an earthquake and then a hurricane. Hope everyone is dry and safe. Take care.

Anybody else have any tips on making artistamps?
Feel free to leave comments and share.

Write A Letter Today!

More About Mail

More About Mail
The previous post got loads of views and I got lots of questions and e-mails
so I am adding a couple of ideas about getting mail.
Or giving mail.

You would probably like to have a glorious pile of letters like these on your desk, right?
If you would like some German correspondents,
try this
Letternet
This "pen pal club" is sponsored by the German Post Office.
Can you believe that?
I really think the US Postal Service ought to do this too.
Support your local Mail Artists!
I have had tons of requests from people in Germany (Hi Heidi!) to correspond
and recommend this site if you are interested.

Paint by Number Vintage Postcards --
need I say more?
Score!

Incoming
A Decca record from the amazing Kelly P
and a lovely fan from a Cappuccino and Art fan.

Incoming
A couple of beauties...ok...maybe not a beauty but another fabulous envelope from Kelly P (bottom) and from Julia in Germany, an envelope with a bow (!) and coins glued on.
Two out of the three coins made it to SF, Julia. 

Typewriter keys for sale.
Did I mention I went to a fantastic flea market over the weekend?
Typewriter keys and paint by number postcards
and some old card games with great graphics and old photos.

Humm.......see that bracelet made of the typewriter keys?
I could not resist all those "P's".
My husband said "Just think how many typewriters had to die for your bracelet".
Sorry guys.

A Mail Box on steroids -- I have never seen any mailboxes like this before.

Outgoing
More mail tips -- be sure to write your return address very clearly on the envelope and inside.
I get a lot of mail and if I don't see a return address I don't have time to hunt for it. And sometimes, the address on the outside gets postmarked and isn't legible so it is a good idea to write it inside too.
After I know I will be corresponding with someone, I add their address into my special mail-art-only address box.

Outgoing to the famous Kelly P

 Another tip, if you are doing a lot of mailing, invest in a scale to calculate postage. I got a food scale as a gift and use that. The USPO has a lot of rules about postage - more postage if the envelope doesn't bend (I don't ask why) and more for odd shapes. I always add extra postage after weighing my mail and so far -- knock on wood -- it seems everyone has received everything. 

Outgoing

I am back from a little tiny mini vacation and came home to find some lovely mail waiting for me. Almost takes the pain out of coming home so thanks for that everybody!

Back in SF in time for the next Correspondence Co-Op meeting.
The Zine Fest is coming up and summer tomatoes are at the Farmers Markets.

So, people -  get out those pens and start writing to each other and have fun!

Write a Letter to Get a Letter!

You Want Mail?

Quite a lot of people have been e-mailing and writing letters to me and asking about getting pen pals or how to get more involved in mail art.
So, I decided to write a post about it.

Everyone who reads this blog knows how much I love to get mail.
To get good mail you really have to send good mail.
I've been writing letters and corresponding with people all over the world for just about my whole life.
It takes some effort to get started and some people won't write back but just keep trying.

I know it's been said already, but people just don't save email like they do letters.
Look at these old beauties.
These letters weren't even sent to me but I love reading them.

And you don't get gorgeous stamps like these on emails.
But I know I am preaching to the choir.

If you are looking for mail artists and/or pen pals, get yourself over to Carolee's blog
right this minute and check out all the folks who are doing the same --

Make Every Day a Good Mail Day

It will take some effort to read through all those blog posts but I guarantee you will find people who love mail on there.
 I have gotten quite a number of wonderful correspondents from that post.
My suggestion is, write some letters! Don't just add your name to the post and ask people to write to you. 

Mail Art Received
If you are interested in mail art, you might try joining IUOMA -
International Union of Mail Artists or join up with the Mail Art365 group -- a great bunch of people who are committed to making and sending a mail art card every day for a year.

Mail Art 365

Another thing to try, how about writing letters (and asking questions) to members of your own family? Moms and Dads and grandparents would most likely be thrilled to get letters and if they write you back you will have a lovely stack of family history to save and share.
I treasure all my letters from my mom.
This envelope is from her -- every time I see that rubber stamp giving the finger I laugh. (I wish I had it)
You could say she was kind of anti-establishment. 

Try to make your mail interesting. Enclose some extras things inside the envelope - photos of your town, a great recipe, bookmarks....anything local and interesting to share. As you write and get to know people you can send them things you know would be interesting to them - a book or a movie review etc.

Another site to check out is

Send Something

There are some mail art blogs on the left side of this post and a special favorite of mine is
Make Every Day A Red Letter Day. Go over and click!
 I hope you all know know about Jennie and Carolee's book --

Good Mail Day

You can look online and google "mail art" for ideas and stimulation, start your own mail art/letter writing group and meet up every couple of weeks or one a month to exchange ideas and write letters or
make art, check out Pininterest and search for mail art, join the

Letter Writers Alliance

read letter writing and mail art blogs, write a whole lot of letters, keep trying, check out mail art on FaceBook.

You can leave comments on this blog post if you are looking for others to write to -- you can leave your name and address (if you are OK with that) and write something about yourself or an email address and maybe some new mail art connections will be made right here!


If you have any ideas about getting mail, please add them to the comments!
I bet there are some more really good ideas out there that I've missed. Remember, Cappuccino and Art Journal is also on FaceBook and I post "extras" on there - links and photos - so check it out.
******
Let's make every day A GOOD MAIL DAY!


Updated News
Some nice comments from Missive Maven
Missive Maven

and another link to this post on
Good Mail

Finds from the Paper Fair

Saturday was the Vintage Paper Fair here in SF.
Way too much fun.
Some of you will be seeing these SF vintage postcard folders in your mailboxes.

Aren't these fun?
I found some old cards relating to letter writing. I am going to have fun with these.

Another find -- Handwriting Analysis Game!
Who wants to come over and play?

Lunch followed after the Paper Fair --
Shanghai Noodle House.

Hum.....came home to find this in the mail.
What is the USPO trying to tell me?
I don't think it's good news and the mail didn't show up on Saturday till almost 5PM.

OUTGOING
Mail going out to SuperHero, Julia in Germany, Barbara W, Shelita and Christine H.
Ripping up those old Life magazines is so much fun
(thanks Fast Eyes)

OUTGOING
To Russia, to Phyllis and to Stephanie R in NYC

OUTGOING
(this will be a surprise)

A letter inside a book

My Photo Studio (one of them)
Lovely, flat, filtered San Francisco light in the morning under the arbor -- this is one of the spots where I set up a little photo studio.

Paper Fair treasures, Chinese noodles, Outgoing mail -- a good weekend in SF.

Happy Mail Day
Send Good Mail to Get Good Mail

Supply List

I keep seeing "Back To School" ads everywhere.
What's on your list?

Some cigar boxes for storage?
Cut-outs?

Certainly you'll need a pencil case and some scissors.
And maybe a really old book to tear up,
or doodle in.

Why would you put plain old tape on your list when you can get
washi tape?

Of course flash cards are always very handy.
Math wasn't my favorite subject in school but I love math flash cards.
Some language cards are good to have too.

Beautiful old wood rulers?

And, of course, you know you need to cover all your books like I covered mine.

The teachers aren't the only ones who can have have rubber stamps.
Ink pads in lots of colors on the list?

How about a date stamp?
Handy for homework, n'est pas?

Back-to-School is so much fun, especially when you don't actually have to go back-to-school!
And for mail artists, it is a great time to get pens and pencils and glue sticks and all kinds of stuff really cheap.

Some of my outgoing mail.
Hope everyone got them -- I found out you are supposed to put twenty cents extra
on see-thru envelopes. Who knew?

Outgoing postcards

Incoming
All nice and neat in an old wire bin I found lurking in my closet.
And, now to answer......

Hope everyone is having lots of good mail days.

Don't forget to tell me what is on your list?