Put a Stamp on It!

A good pal of mine gave me a big bag of stamps and it has been such fun sorting them and playing with them....
Can you ever have too many stamps?
(the correct answer is no)

There are so many categories to sort them into....by country, by color, air mail, postal related, birds, flowers, horses, heads (of course!).....

It's a good thing I bought a lot of these clear boxed with compartments at Itchi-Ban-Kan.
Even I have to admit the sorting can get a little tiring so sometimes you've just got to play....

Stamp Head time!
I made four stamp head postcards for a Mail Me Some Art Swap.....
Here is the swap!!!
You will have to work fast and get yours in the mail by January 11 -- Monday -- but you can do it, I know you can.
I whipped mine out fast.

Adding some dialog is always fun too. I try to imagine what they are talking about...

This guy is reading a book...(I tried to find an animal stamp to put on that lower left lion (or whatever he is) but I ran out of time...

The "Heads" get their very own box. I can tell you, white males get the most stamps....I'm just sayin'. If you aren't a queen and you're a woman your chances of being on a stamp don't look real good. I love the Eva Peron stamps though.....I am sending her on some good trips.

Helen Keller on a stamp from Spain. Sorry, Helen, I just couldn't resist......

INCOMING
Here's what Christie Juhasz sent me using some old stamps -- pretty great, don't you think?

What would YOU do with an airmail envelope filled with stamps?

Why don't you tell me? I am going to close my eyes and pick one name from the blog comments and I will send one person some stamps,
Who collects stamps for art projects? What do you make? What are your favorite countries for stamps? How do you store them?

I have more stamp-related projects and I'll show you soon. In the meantime, I am back to sorting and playing with stamps.

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I Like My Messy Work Table

No matter how many times I clean up my work table and studio, it ends up a mess by the end of the day. And, you know what?, I like it that way.
I love the random connections I make when I am sifting through all the ephemera I have cluttering up my table.
Random Connections....a good title for a book....

Sometimes just seeing two things near each other gives me a great idea....an idea I wouldn't think of if I were neat.
(OK, sometimes I can't find things in all the mess but that's just a part of the whole process).

A good frined of mine gave me a big bag of cancelled, old stamps and they are sitting in piles all over my studio....They have been giving me hours of pleasure and so many ideas for projects...

Another friend sent this little ad (because she knows I have a thing for typewriters) . I've been wanting to make some more series of ACT's and seeing this little typewriter ad gave me an idea to use all the various little ads I have collected on the ATC's along with corresponding rubber stamp images and bits of paper....(I do wish there were more postage stamps with typewriters on them).

Right now I would give anything to have some of those plastic boxes with the small compartments so I could organize my stamps...but it is pouring rain and I am too cozy at home to go out and try to buy them...plus there are too many holiday shoppers out there.....the organizing will have to wait.

I added some stamps (rubber & postage) to my outgoing mail........

Put a Bird on it!

See what I mean? Back to messy again....

Ok, I found pages from a bird book and bird stamps in the mess on my desk so what do you get? ACT's with a bird theme. These are still in progress but they are coming along...

I did have more to show you but this is one of those crazy times that Blogger is NUTS and not working right so I think I will give up and go back to sorting stamps.....much more relaxing than having my photos disappear from the post....

Playing in my studio all day for two very rainy days has been my reward for getting all my shopping/making/wrapping/baking all done.
I have had paint and glue all over my hands and it has been so wonderful.
I hope you guys are seeing the calm at the end of the (seasonal) storm and you are all going to enjoy the rest of this week.....

Merry Christmas (to those who celebrate).
and
HAPPY MAIL to all and to all a good night!

It's All About the Stamps!

It's All About The Stamps!
I could play with them for hours....

....and I often do...

I just love looking at them. Tiny little works of art. I sort them into piles of the same colors...or subjects....like air mail or flowers or states...

Or HEADS -- for Stamp Heads. There are sure a lot more men on stamps than there are women. I'm just sayin'.

Here's a Stamp Head now -- hello George.  Did you know he enjoyed playing cards?

Sometimes you just find the perfect stamp to fit the body (but it's hard!).

A nice couple, don't you think?

These red, white & blue flag cards might be good for a 4th of July mailing.

I scored some cool Japanese stamps...

These were all stuck on one envelope...someone cut them out. I think it looks kinda like a collage..

The postmark is very cool too -- I have never seen such a long one before.

Some more cards I made featuring stamps -- both postal and rubber.

Stamp Inspiration...
On the right is a vintage book a pal sent me about making little pictures using cut-up stamps. Quite charming.
And, on the left, an article my pal Monica, the artful recrafter, passed on to me (via her sister who sent it to her).  It has some great ideas for using cancelled stamps but sadly there is absolutely no trace of what magazine it came from....and believe me, we tried to figure it out. We think it was written for a parenting magazine because it seems geared to kids. 

Here are some vintage stamp craft cards I picked up at an antique shop...right after my friend gifted me with that vintage stamp book. It was kismet. 

And, here are some cards from that article I mentioned. I think these are very cool, especially the Eiffel Tower.....
anyone want to make me one?

And these two are cards made by Monica -- aren't they cool? I took photos of a whole bunch of photos of cards she made she made using cancelled stamps and I have been been bugging her ever since about doing a post on her blog (link above) about making them. She finally told me I could show you these on my blog -- probably to shut me up. But I bet if you go over to her blog and comment and ask very nicely we might be able to talk her into a blog post about what she does with stamps.

I'm not actually a stamp collector...well, not the type who just sticks them in a book and looks at them....I like to do things with them...but I do have a few books of stamps I picked up at flea markets in my travels...I'm only human...

I love triangle stamps.

From the mysterious article....

Stamps just look cool!

These guys probably thought they looked cool back in the day too. But, I've gotta say, not so much....
Stamp Heads here I come!

There is so much more to say about stamps -- storing them, collecting them, soaking them off envelopes....
So what are you all doing with your stamps???
I know there have to be some ideas out there that I haven't thought of.
What else can we make?

PUT A STAMP ON IT!!!!!

Business (Almost) As Usual

Back to normal?
Whatever normal actually is. Back to making mail art.......one of my favorite things to do.

OUTGOING

And making a few more Stamp Heads....you can never have too many....

This never gets old....
Miss Millicent sent me some stamps for Xmas and I am back in business making Stamp Heads..

Still working on these....painting and stamping these vintage photos is a lot of fun. I keep wondering about the people in the photos...what were their lives like?

You can't have all play and no work -- time to write some thank you cards to all the elves and mail art pals who made/sent me Xmas presents.
I bought a new, bright red fountain pen which really helps me write all those thank-you notes.

Yes, I am just a letter writing fool!
And, my pals know it -- thanks Miss JH for the gift!

Another amazing gift from my incredibly talented pal Dori Singh.....she saw on my Letter to Santa I love Mr Zip and she made me some Mr Zip surprises....

Mother Russian-San Francisco collage postcard set made to send to my mail art pal Virgo in Russia.
I love trading mail with people all over the world.

I was thinking January would be a lovely, empty blank slate after the craziness of the last few months (with holiday after holiday, NYC and LA back-to-back trips etc) but
I see some things are filled in already. But they are GOOD things.

The January SF Correspondence Co-Op meeting is set for January 11 -- a great way to kick off the new year! And The SF Film Noir Festive is on for a week in January -- we love the constant feel of dread....
And my most favorite -- The Vintage Paper Fair is in January. You'll find me at the .25-cent table pouring over old postcards....
Oh! And my son's birthday is in January too. That's pretty sweet. How can be so grown up?
So it looks like January is a good month to look forward to.

Wishing you all a terrific 2015
filled with GOOD MAIL (of course) and good friends and good food and good health.
Enjoy the simple pleasures.

Happy New Year to all!

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