CappuccinoandArtJournal

Mostly postal but art and other things of interest too.
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Sunday, February 5, 2012

What Came First? The letter or the envelope?

Handmade Envelopes
I've been on an envelope-making binge lately.
It's so much fun to cut and fold and paste.

Many times I design an envelope around whatever it is I am mailing.
But sometimes it feels good to have a big stack of
cool envelopes ready to go.

OUTGOING MAIL
Handmade envelopes heading out into the big bad postal system.

Handmade Envelope (with vintage stationery)
I like to try to match the stamps to envelope if I can...
silverware stamps on this food envelope and bird stamps on the bird envelopes.....

Handmade Envelope
This one is sitting on my mail-scale. A necessity for a mail artist in  my opinion.
I weigh 'em all and so far none of my envelopes have been returned "postage due" (knock on wood).
This scale started off as a food scale but I find it much more useful to weigh my envelopes.

OUTGOING
More handmade envelopes


OUTGOING
The postal workers at my favorite PO are so incredibly nice -- they let me
photograph my outgoing right at the counter after they stick
all the various labels, stamps and customs stickers on.
I'm sure the people in the line aren't as thrilled as I am. I make it very quick!

OUTGOING
This is a surprise for someone!

Lunch!
A country drive on an incredibly beautiful day here in the Bay Area. Yesterday I went to
Point Reyes Station.
Oyster Po Boy for me and chili for my pal.
We will most likely pay for having this mild winter weather and no rain
so we may as well enjoy it.

INCOMING
The fabulous mail from Alice S just keeps on coming. She is too much.
I need ideas on what to send to her.
Anybody?

INCOMING
Another extremely cool idea from Carolee GW .  

Post Boxes

Make someone happy today -- make some envelopes.
Send some mail art!

Next Saturday (February 11) is the Snail Mail Social at ARCH
from 1-4 PM.
See any of you there?

26 comments:

  1. I SO want to go to one of the socials. Maybe next month as I need to make a trip to Sebastopol anyway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Derrick -- maybe you could start up a group where you are. I know some folks who host mail art get-togethers once or twice a month in their homes....The "socials" at ARCH aren't every month.

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  2. What is that you received from Alice? It looks like a cloth wallet type thing filled with goodies! So cool!

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    Replies
    1. Alice sent a fabric folder (??) with a bunch of her mail art zines featuring her postally-inclined trip to France inside. The folder was bought at La Musee de la Poste in Paris......she is amazing...

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  3. amazing mail art, I loved your envies! :)and the person at your post office seem really nice to let you photograph your mail! :D

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  4. You are an envelope wizard. Cool mail all round and lunch looks so good. No snow to be seen but cold 13F this morning....wood stove cranking, chowder on the way! xox Corrine

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  5. I use the digital kitchen scale for weighing my mail :-) It's very accurate, and sometimes I still wonder if I put enough stamps on stuff. When you mail lots of things to other countries just putting on ONE stamp for local mail seems really cheap :D

    I spy my name on a very pretty piece of mail... can't wait for it to arrive!

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  6. I love the thought of you taking pictures in line at the post office. My town postal workers are some of the crustiest old New Englanders on the planet. I prefer to send mail from the town where I work because those folks are lovely, but of course my P.O. box is near home so that's where I end up most of the time. I've been turning on the charm with the oldest and crustiest of the bunch. I think he finds me secretly amusing, but I think his head might explode if I held up the line even MORE by taking a picture.

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  7. I love making handmade envelopes, so your are right up my alley, as they say...lovely! Your outgoing mail looks amazing (as always)...nothing like a PO photo shoot! I don't have the dedication right now to consider having my own snail mail social, but, boy, the idea is quite tempting...

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  8. As always...great mail art! I've not taken any pictures before...but have had fun going into small PO's and asking them to hand cancel a cover for me. Some even let me do it myself! I've only had one who refused to do it...very strange man...

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    Replies
    1. Dave--funny you should mention hand canceling -- I am doing a post on that subject soon. And the lovely postal workers at my PO hand cancel mine mail without my even asking -- they are so nice.
      Thanks for commenting.

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  9. Some beautiful envelopes there. I feel inspired by them and of course also by the Oyster Po' Boy. I reminded myself that we have oysters here too. My cooking has gotten really bad for some reason. I think we must go out more often.

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  10. Ah, and here's comes our SF rain spell for a few days as I write this....
    1. Love all the ani-mules and birdies (old nature book?)
    2. I love your postal-stamp-gal practically matches your broiler gal
    3. I believe the letter pouches are similar to those used eons ago, often hand made (I had one from a friend who started me on mail art in '99, made from a placemat! I gave it away just a few years ago, not knowing I'd get sucked, happily, into the MA vacuum!)
    4. Carolee is just far too clever. Such a cool idea.
    Thanks Bella Pamela.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GinaVisione--Thank you! See you tomorrow at the letter writing social. Save me a seat!
      Yes, I tore up a kids book to make those envelopes. Oh no.....you gave away your handsewn envelope.... well, it lives on in your memory.

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  11. I like the envelopes matching to stamps! Wow.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Anni. I made bird envelopes and used vintage bird stamps on them. Pretty -- if I do say so myself!

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  12. The letter has made it safe over the ocean inside it's very stylish exterior :-)

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    Replies
    1. Annejo--wow--that was pretty quick. Today is Wednesday and I mailed it on Friday! You can use the "envelope" for a pencil/pen case!

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    2. I once mailed a card to Michigan on a friday and it arrived on MONDAY. That has never happened again though :D I love the pencil case, I'm going to put my letter writing Stabilo's in it :-)

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  13. All so lovely!
    Such a treat to see all your handmade envelopes :]
    Thank you for sharing.

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  14. I'm DYING to know where you got that poppy stamp - (that's a poppy right?) Is it US or another country? I love poppies (even had them as flowers at our wedding - today is my 6 month anniversary, coincidentally) and I know there is an old red 3 cent "memory poppy" stamp - I have several of those. If you check out my wedding vid, you will see that our wedding cake was decorated with a sampling of my grandfather's stamp collection).

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  15. Patrick -- I don't think I used a poppy stamp? I don't see one...do you mean the white flower in the first photo? Because I don't think that was a poppy.
    I might be able to find out for you though...I have a stamp connection.

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