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

Mail Art Meet-up!

Things have been busy around here -- yesterday was our monthly mail art meeting of the
San Francisco Correspondence Co-Op.
And we had a job to do.....

We agreed to work on Tofu's Hide Art in a Book Project
and make small piece of art to send out into the world asking people to hide the art inside a book.
That's Tofu on the left-hand side in front. He comes up with the best ideas.

We all brought ideas and supplies and ephemera and got down to work.

No food or drink in this library conference room -- made it a little easier to concentrate -- but maybe not quite as much fun. We all like our snacks and treats.

A lovely surprise when Dori dropped in. She is visiting from Southern California and has been trading mail with GinaVisione in our group and commenting on my mail art FaceBook page so it was  really fun to meet her.
And I brought Millicent's fabulous hand sewn book ( a birthday present for me!) which Dori is holding -- and as it turn out, Dori and Millicent also trade mail art.
Small World!
Karen's Mail Me Art blog
is also something many of us have in common.

This wonderful work was made by Dori -- who just dropped in to the meeting with no idea of the project we were working on. I think she certainly caught on very quickly,
don't you?

Artistamps by Maureen and cool passport cover too.....

Maureen was busy pasting the stamps into our passports and signing and dating them.
This month's stamp was a beauty! Thanks, Maureen.

My supplies -- My idea for hiding art in book was to use some old library catalog cards and some of the "Due Date" stamps in collages....you know...book art....(thanks for the supplies Kelly P and Jennifer U).

Here are some of my little finished collages. I will put them in glassine envelopes and send them out and ask that they get put into books to be found later on.

Anyone want one? Leave me a comment if you do and I will send them out until I run out.
If you like what you see, you can make some mail to hide in a book too.

Sally W is one of my favorite artists and she brought one very large sheet of joss paper and worked on it....

Then she cut it up into small pieces for the project....
I love how everyone's work is completely different. We set our pieces out and all walked around the table to see what each other made and it was remarkable how different all the art work was.
I wish I could show you everything.

                                                    This Just In -- Update on Tofu's Blog

Besides the Co-Op meeting, there was also the SF Library Big Book sale and oops I did it again and bought more flash cards to play with as well as some books to (gasp) tear up for collage.
I can't help myself.

And then there was the birthday festival!
I may be just a little spoiled but we don't need to talk about that. I took photos of the projects I have been working on in my studio since I got back from my trip but this post about the co-op meeting ended up so long i think I will save them for another post.
I'll show you next time....
Now get busy and make some mail art!

Let me know if you want to hide some art in a book.

Clean Slate

Vintage Paper Fair

January may be a clean slate, but the top of my work table isn't....The fabulous Vintage
Paper Fair was this past weekend and I had so much fun I forgot all about taking photos . But I've posted photos from previous fairs so you have seen some already.
It seems I spent about two hours at the 25-cent guy tables and came away with some
great old cards to use in my travel journals and to mail off while traveling...

Back to the Studio

So, I lit a few candles and got busy in my studio....I have been feeling a little
deprived with the holidays interrupting all my art-work fun...
(very big thank you to Alice S. for mailing me that fab Thai postbox)

Good, cheap fun..

I am so easily amused....this 25-cent book from 1944 and a box of old snapshots a pal
gave me has kept me happily tearing and pasting and making collages for hours.

Joan Crawford Envelopes

I grabbed a bunch of these envelopes from the 25-cent box to tear up to use in collages.
When I got home and turned them over, I was quite delighted to see who sent them.
I posted these on the Cappuccino & Art Facebook Page and it is true, Joan Crawford lived at those
NYC addresses.
Too bad the letters weren't inside but pretty fun for a quarter.

Travel Journal

When I wasn't tearing and making collages I worked on my travel journal.
Picked up some vintage Venice postcards on Saturday at the Fair to add in. Almost done but I am trying to cram in as much ephemera as I can inside...

ITALY

I have been looking at Mary Ann Moss work on her fabulous journals on her online class
Ticket To Venice

I recommend her class if you'd like to learn how to make travel journals in her style,
travel along with her to Venice (via videos) or just enjoy watching her work on her journals and get inspiration.

Venice Pages

Turkish Chocolate Bar

I had to eat the chocolate bar in order to get the box -- duty called!

A letter?
No.....my IPhone case. Pretty nifty for a mail-obsessed person, wouldn't you say?

Stacks (and stacks) of trip photos.....Now I've got to get busy and design and make a book to put all my trip photos in. This will be quite a project. Better get it finished before the next trip.

Then there's all that mail to answer and catch up with....I'd say my work is cut out for me.

January 2013

But January is blessedly free of holidays and commitments.
Well, there is a Postal Tea coming up next weekend. And Lunar New Year  and
Valentine's Day mail-art exchange...
totally do-able

Santa Cruz Post Office

I thought this PO was quite creative with the bright pink paint. Normally hot pink isn't a USPS color, is it? I like it.

Check out my LA: Then and Now book made for Susannia -- right here -- and her lovely mail blog too

So, Happy New Year to all of you lovely readers and mail lovers.
I do hope it is a good year for the world.

PEACE IS THERE IS YOU WANT IT

Be kind. Try some random acts of kindness. Send a lot of mail.

Books, Stacks, Tearing and Pasting

Studio Time

I've been slightly AOL in posting because I find it hard to get out of my studio to do other things.
I am on a collage binge (among other things).
I have always loved this painting of San Francisco's hills and cable car.

STACK of Books from the SF Library Book Sale

I did leave yesterday to head on over to the Big Book Sale.
Oh yes. I scored a bunch of great stuff to tear up and collage with. IF I can
bring myself to tear the books.
First I have to examine them carefully...(and why yes, that is all washi tape in those drawers in the background..)

French-Spanish Vintage dictionary from France....OohLaLa
The fact that my French is horrible and I can't speak Spanish doesn't stop me at all..

Look at this page -- examples of cursive writing. 

Handy Atlas
Love that red cover and the maps inside are a perfect size for postcard collages.

Turkey....yes, I will be needing to use this one very soon....

I found a few handwritten notebooks by school kids -- two were in Russian (why didn't I buy those Russian flash cards?) and one in English.
They were working these kids...
This one made his very own set of tabs -- clever!

...and he wrote in lovely cursive writing....did you know they aren't even teaching kids cursive in US schools anymore...that is just sad.

And on the back cover the kid handmade this cool chart of various time zones.

La Lettre

Oui, J'ai mis la lettre a la post.

A reproduction of a very old Sears catalog - printing in 1969 so it is kind of old
itself...and there is page after page of wonderful drawings..

TIME is running out...
I can't even fit all the photos on the post so I will post some over on the
Cappuccino and Art
Facebook page if you are interested.

Chinatown Score
Vintage booklets printed in Hong Kong for school kids --
ALL about writing letters and the post office.
So cool. A friend read it to me and it explains about the various ways you can send mail,
etc
Can you see the postman on the cover?

Collaged Postcard Series
I tore those babies up and have been collaging ever since...

Inspiration

I have been collaging for years but recently heard about this book
The Collage Workshop
by Randel Plowman who blogs at
A Collage A Day

I am really enjoying the book. I like his style of collage and he has lots of interesting tips and ideas.


That about wraps it up from here, folks. Gotta get back to tearing paper and glueing...
What are you all up to these days?

SEND GOOD MAIL -- GET GOOD MAIL