Booklets & Zines -- Oh My!

The oldest stationery store in Chinatown. A fixture since 1908.  This shop has been a goldmine for me for the last year or so. The woman who bought the shop has been been
cleaning out the basement and brought up a treasure trove of vintage
paper ephemera, greetings cards in both Chinese and English, Xmas wrap,
vintage erasers, onion skin paper......the list goes on....

Sadly, the run has just about come to an end and the shop is no longer a stationery shop but  just another Chinatown shop with scarves imported from China just like about 50 other shops...
But it was sure fun while it lasted.
There were a few more pre-Cultural Revolution school children's booklets left this week
and I couldn't resist picking a few up.
And my rule is -- if I bring stuff home I've got to use it for art and not just let it pile up
so.......

I got inspired...
I love the colors of vintage papers....and I love the characters and the drawings in these old booklets.
Even if i can't read them, they are much appreciated around my studio.

I decided to make some booklets using the various paper ephemera I had around . I settled on using these pretty envelopes for the covers and making pages inside of joss paper
as well as vintage paper from that shop I mentioned above.

Cutting out the pages......

Some of the finished little booklets....quite charming don't you think? 

Then i got busy and made a new little zine called -- Let's GO to Chinatown -- what else?

My favorite part of the one-page-wonder zines is embellishing them at the end of the whole process....I stuck Chinese postal stickers on them and some real Chinese stamps....

And I decided to put each little zine in a special Chinese good luck envelope and add some other
ephemera so it's a nice little package...
I think I'm going to sell them...

You know you want one.

Tell you what -- I only made 15 -- I think I'll do a give-away for one of them.
Here's what you do --
leave a comment on the blog and tell me what you are interested in seeing on
Cappuccino and Art.
I need ideas. What do you like to see? What don't you like to see?

I will pick a random number and if your comment is that number I'll send you a Chinatown zine.
The next post will have the winner.

OK? Is that a deal?

Another little booklet that went out to V.B. and it seems to be taking an awfully long time to get where it's going...

Incoming
It's been a good mail week for the most part. My trusty and loyal mail art pal,
Kelly P Fearless Mailer
sent me some vintage stamps from Hungary since she knows I'm going there...
These are going to look great in my travel journal.

Lunch
You didn't think I made all those trips to Chinatown without stopping for lunch, did you?

INCOMING
This beauty is from Karen Ann. The picture doesn't do it justice. That mailbox is on both sides of the envelope -- hand painted, I think -- and my address and the stamps are on the other side.
So cool.
That was a good mail day.

There's Nothing Wrong That A Letter Won't Cure!
My sentiments exactly.

SF Correspondence Co-Op meeting tomorrow. SF Zine Fest next Saturday. Expect updates!

See you in the mail.

More On Mail

Here's a little more mail for you.....
We all like handmade envelopes. We've established that. And I am pretty partial to airmail envelopes too.

KISS
(Keep it Simple Silly)
Just using airmail envelopes and vintage airmail stamps is simple -- and makes quite a nice mailing.
Wouldn't you like to find one of these in your mailbox?

Making more envelopes....I'm up for anything with a postal theme (as you may have already guessed).

Bow-ties anyone?

Or maybe some coffee?

I work in my studio all day most Sundays and I love to have a stack of outgoing mail ready to ship out on Monday morning.

How about an adult beverage envelope? This one was fun to make...

Joss paper envelope.....you know there has to be some joss paper when I'm around...

OUTGOING stack on my trusty postal scale....when in doubt add more postage....it seems to work well as a theory.

Yes, I did say my next post would be showing some of the booklets I'm making. And I have been making booklets and photographing them and sending some out (hello Vizma) but since that post isn't finished I thought I'd show you some more of my envelopes...(booklets next time...)

Handmade Envelope Swap on Mail Me Some Art
a little eye candy on a Sunday morning?
With coffee.

What are you all working on today?

SEND GOOD MAIL -- GET GOOD MAIL

Postally Yours in California Wine Country

Sometimes I've just got to get away from the fog and chill and gray that is summer in San Francisco.
Don't get me wrong -- if I had to choose between high temperatures and humidity and our cool gray city I would take SF.
But a little sunshine would go a long way to cheer up my spirits...

So I spent a couple of days up in Sonoma County -- California wine country.  If you haven't visited our wine county you really should. Grapes in vineyards must be the most beautiful crop that there is. Flowers and farm stands everywhere. And -- oh! -- did I mention the wine?
And it isn't bad around there for a mail artist either....

We stopped for lunch at the Jimtown Store in Healdsburg. It must have been the thrill of eating outdoors because at first I didn't even notice that sign.

Postal Station?
I'm in! There were a number of postal treats there like that vintage mail box (above) and this sign...

...and peering through the door to the kitchen I saw a United States Postal Service bin sitting right by the the pots and canning jars...

Outside is a PO Box in the vineyard...

Now this is what I'm talkin' about.....these grapevines were fully loaded with grapes.
No little wine bottles though.

Cruisin' down the country road I spied this mailbox out of the car window. And yes we did have to turn around and go back so I could investigate. Now someone is really feeling some postal love...
Isn't that fun?

I spied loads of fabulous old typewriters in the antique shops and stopped to photograph them all.
I put most of the typewriter portraits on the
Cappuccino and Art Journal FaceBook page
but in case you missed them, here's one to swoon over.
No, I didn't buy any but I wanted to.

Of course I brought along the mail art kit and managed to do some cut and paste even though I didn't have a whole lot of time...
It wouldn't be a fun trip without doing any mail art.

Altered some free (my favorite kind) postcards.....

And to top it all off we got to have dinner outdoors too....considering in SF I am usually wearing a leather jacket and scarf and tights at night in August
dinner outdoors in wine country was a real treat.
Ahhhhhh.....
Back to SF now and we had such drizzle this week I saw umbrellas but I have my sunny memories..

A mail art pal of mine Connie Rose published this post last week about FeedBurner soon stopping supporting blogs by allowing you to subscribe by email. If you read
Cappuccino And Art via emails
please read Connie's post and consider signing up for BlogLovin'. I put a link on the blog (top left) and made it easy for anyone interested to sign up for BlogLovin'.
In fact, I did it myself and I've been very pleased with the reader. I have all my
favorite blogs in one place and can easily check them out when I have time.
Try it --I think you'll like it!

Today is Mail Art all day long and I've been making lots of booklets.
I'll show you them next time.
In the meantime -- Send Good Mail to Get Good Mail!

What kind of mail art are you all doing? And what kind of weather are you having?

Vintage Paper Fair -- My Favorite!

My favorite event is happening right now here in San Francisco --
The Vintage Paper Fair

If you live in the Bay Area there's still time to get yourself there.
It is still happening tomorrow in Golden Gate Park.

If you aren't local, I suggest getting on the email mailing list and start planning your 2014 visit.
It is definitely worth the trip for mail artists and paper ephemera lovers.
Check the web site for other California locations as well.

One of my favorite vendors is always in the same spot, right as you walk into the paper fair......

And here she is now -- Michelle Lutsky is part of the team who makes this whole thing happen and she always has a lovely smile to welcome you as well as an amazing array of wonderful
things I guarantee you will want.

For example....there were several boxes of wonderful old snap shots for only 25 cents each...
I managed to limit myself to 50 of them...
Oh...fun with collage....

And there were boxes of really terrific 25 cent postcards as well.......
another 50 or so purchased...
And guess what? I got about 30 vintage postcards of post offices!
Swoon...

It is just such fun to sit and sift through all those postcards.......I heard a number of people say "I could stay here all day long"....and some probably did..

After I finally tore myself away from Michelle and Hal's tables I came across some other wonderful  papers as well....

And right around the corner was a vender selling beautiful vintage stamps at face value -- don't mind if I do....
He let me sort through his folders and pick out what I wanted...
I wanted these...

and I do believe I wanted these too...
Well, wouldn't you?

So much lovely paper ephemera and so little time..Actually I did have the whole morning to drool...er..look at everything.

The lovely thing about the paper fair (besides being surrounded by lovely old paper) is there are many great things to buy at very reasonable prices. Postcards and photos for 25 cents and face value stamps
and....

an entire box of lovely old wedding photos.....

Yes, you really could spend the day looking.

What better than a visit to the paper fair in beautiful Golden Gate Park? And right up the street are loads of great places for lunch only about a block away. And coffee places if you need a little jolt to keep you going all afternoon..
Who's going to meet me at the next SF Vintage Paper Fair in 2014?
You know you want to.

Postcards are calling your name...
I'll show you what I bought on the blog next time....or you might see some of it in the mail....

Vintage Souvenir Scarf

This caught me eye but I really had to GO HOME. I stuck to paper and stamps and went back home a very happy mail artist.

I don't have any association with the Vintage Paper Fair, other than just loving to go every time it happens in San Francisco. Hope I see some of you next time.
We can all say hello to Michelle and go out for a great lunch in between paper shopping.

SEND GOOD MAIL -- GET GOOD MAIL