This Time It's Japan

Hanging out in the studio on a rainy afternoon......who should I send on a trip this time?

I love passports -- have I already said that? Well, it's very true. I love the covers and I love the stamped pages even more. It's a sad passport with no stamps in it. (But no worries, I can add my own stamps to cheer things up)
This one has seen some travel.

I'm finding, with making my altered passports, a lot of the stuff I've collected over the years is coming together.
So great to find the perfect use for things.....like this old Japanese paper...

First off, I always change the passport photo to one I like better...I added in the black & white photo.

I bought an old family photo album from Japan at the Pasadena Flea Market years ago and found the perfect use for some of the photos....they pop out very easily and are moving in to their new home...

See what I mean?

I might add in some Japanese language flash cards too....you never know...

My faux passport stamps are getting a good workout  this afternoon....

I always leave the real ones alone.

Here's an almost finished page - turned out quite nicely I think.

All this Japan travel (in my mind) make me really need some ramen so I had to go off to Japan Town and get a bowl.
I wonder where I will go when I work on the Russian passport?
We do have Russian markets in SF and I bet we have a Russian restaurant too.
But first I need to finish up with Japan....

A big thank you and shout out to DD, JU and GM for giving me some passports to work on. You guys are just so great. 
I don't feel happy unless I have some passports sitting around waiting to be altered.
I am seriously looking for a French passport. I'm just putting it out there.

So, I've been busy altered passports, going to co-op meetings, making mail art, visiting Scrap hitting the Hero Arts Flash sale....

& You????
What are you all up to these days?
Do tell.

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Just in Case!

I really enjoy gift giving. I like birthdays and surprising my friends for no reason.
I'm not a fan of Christmas these days. It starts too early and I think it is too commercial.
I usually get in the holiday spirit a week before December 25th and by then it is too late to make things for my friends.
If you like to make things and get started early -- here are a few ideas for you.

Mail Art Address Book
My pal Miss Polly recently had a birthday and I figured she likes paper about as much as  I do.
I mean, we COULD have all our addresses on our iPhones but really, what fun is that?
My address book has everyone I have ever traded with ..... some folks there was only one trade and others have gone on for years. It is a nice record to have. I put little notes by each name like the date I started mailing to them, their birthday, things they collect...

Just buy an address book -- at a Dollar Store or a place like Scrap or anywhere you can find one -- and cover it with cool paper. You can add some washi tape....

....and rubber stamps on some of the pages....

I punched a hole in the back cover and added that pretty ribbon to tie a bow around the address book...

And, I added a library pocket to keep some postage stamps in. If you can't find an address book, you could make one from a plain notebook by adding tabs and rubber stamping the ABC's on them...

Another nice little gift is a six pocket origami folder. They are easy to whip up but you need a BIG piece of paper to make a nice size one. I use those Cavallini posters to make mine. Or use a nice big map.

After you fold it up (in about five minutes) the fun part is filling all the pockets with little paper treasures..
You can see how to make the origami pocket
RIGHT HERE

Little booklets are fun to make and fun to give...

I love to re-cover everything -- these are some of my datebooks from the dollar store. I cover one every year with pretty papers and save them since they are like little diaries. I buy plain notebooks and cover them with maps to places I'm traveling too....I always have a notebook in my bag.
I bet your friends would like things like this too.

Remember my coin booklet tutorial?
I love making them. This little series is a holiday one and the the little pockets are filled with vintage Christmas seals. Who wouldn't like that? You could put vintage postage inside too.
Or, make a little booklet for a friend with some small $5 gift cards in the sleeves for coffee at different coffee shops....

See? Vintage seals in tiny glassine envelopes.....

After making the booklets the fun part is filling them up..
Coin Booklet tutorial is
RIGHT HERE
Well, look at the post -- you will have to click the link within the post to find the tutorial -- but you can do it.

So, don't say I didn't give you a head's up -- if you're into the whole holiday thing you better get busy. But the nice thing is, if you aren't, these little ideas can work for birthdays or random acts of mail art kindness.
I did make one other cool thing but shhhhhhhh I can't show you till AFTER December 25.
That project will be for the new year.
Celebrating the new year is always fun too.

So, what do you think? Are you going to make things?

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