You're Going to Want to See This......

Want to make some books?
My friend Margarete showed me how to make this.....

and she can show you too......

I had such fun working on this I knew I had to share.....
Margarete taught us how to make these at an SF Correspondence meeting.
And then she came over to my studio to play!

I love it when my friends come over to my studio and play. And I really love it when they arrive with show-and-tell.
Just look at these wonderful FAT and happy altered books.
I couldn't want to get my hands on them -- want to see inside?

My friend Margarete made them all -- and I now you are going to want to know more. Lucky for you, she has a blog and she does tutorials on YouTube!
Here are her YouTube tutorials
You can see how she makes these beauties.....

I love all the different papers and textures she puts in for pages....

This is her RED book -- and it is charmingly small -- just about postcard size. And I gave her the  vintage red roses to include inside.....I'm just saying...

Of course, my favorite pages were the postal pages with vintage stamps and glassine envelopes and pages from old stamp albums.

Check out the cool pockets she makes.....

She also made a whole book from a Priority Envelope she received and the entire theme was postal....

Here's another spread with two kinds of pockets on either side....

Check out her blog too
The little red journal is featured on there right now.

And here is Margarete herself.....I didn't make her work the whole afternoon.....I had some show and tell too and we we walked down the street for lunch.
The day flew by!
That's what happens with art and friends.
Please let her know I sent you if you visit her blog and/or YouTube videos, OK?
It's nice to pass the word about artist friends and I now you (out there in cyberspace) told me you wanted to see more tutorials so here you go!

Now, get busy and watch what she does and go make a book!

SEND GOOD MAIL -- GET GOOD MAIL

Barcelona Beauty

MAIN POST OFFICE BARCELONA
If you ask me, the Spanish really know how to build post offices....

CORREOS = POST

Don't you just want to mail something?

You walk in the door and see this! Nothing like any USA post office I've ever seen...

Built in 1929 but looks to me it is much older..

And they had postal products! 

The very friendly postal INFORMATION lady helped me buy these little postal beauties...PO Box key chains and a PO Box Bank.
Why doesn't the USPS get with it and have things like that for sale?

And I somehow managed to buy these beautiful stamps all by myself...
The clerk was quite amused by my wild enthusiasm over these food stamps. I was all ready to buy some other stamps for my postcards when I spied these and of course I had to switch. He was really nice about putting back the first stamps and I picked and getting these out......

They still use bikes to deliver mail....(but this one is an oldie).

Most people don't pose for photos with PO boxes but I do!

LOTS of those yellow CORREOS trucks outside too.....

......in multiple sizes....

There go the postal ladies...I stalk letter carriers all over the world....

Love those yellow PO Boxes and yes, I did feed a couple of them. And, I mailed postcards to myself from Barcelona, Madrid and Fes and I got them all. I found Post Offices in Sevilla and Madrid too but couldn't find one in the medina in Fes.

Hope you enjoy the visit and if you get to Madrid, check out this beauty for yourself.
I'm working on making things and wrapping things and a trip to MY PO is coming up soon to mail off some surprises to friends...
And, what are YOU guys all up to?
Has the crazy holiday season started in for you?
I'm trying to keep it all very calm....

SEND GOOD MAIL ---- GET GOOD MAIL

Red, White and not so Blue

I am thinking
red, white and blue this weekend.
Of course, I always like airmail stripes and envelopes.

Here is the USA many postal related things
(stamps, airmail envelopes, stickers)
are red, white & blue.

Old Glory appears on lots of stamps. I made a bunch of stamp cards with these but didn't get around to mailing them out. There's always next year....

Give a listen to Van Morrison singing "(It's Almost) Independence Day". He wrote the song while living here in the Bay Area (San Anselmo) and he wrote about some local places. 
I love that song.

Some old air mail letters in my collection.

Stickers

These little beauties were made by Donovan Beeson

Donovan's Etsy Shop

Check out her shop. I don't think these stickers are still available but she makes
all kinds of wonderful postal things.

Vintage labels and stickers from back in the day.

OK, this is French -- but it is red, white and blue. The Tri-Color shares it's colors with
our flag. The French also share a July Independence Day
and everybody knows I am a francophile so there you go.

If you're flying or driving or walking or biking, be safe and have a great
4th of July Weekend.
Have some fun.

This is a re-post from another 4th of July. (2011) Just came across it and loved the red, white & blue so much I thought I would re-post for the holiday weekend.
We are looking forward to our usual chilly, foggy Independence Day tomorrow here in San Francisco. We don't get heat and humidity and BBQ.
I am tossing a brisket in the slow cooker with BBQ sauce and hot links and taking a long walk from house down Market Street to the Ferry Building.
Maybe lunch and a swing through Chinatown.
Independence Day SF style.
And what are you all doing?
Whatever it is -- have a wonderful day!

Write a letter.

Get a letter.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

A PO in Poland

The Post Office in Krakow -- I think I'll have to go inside.
Want to come along?

Guess what? I could take photos at the Main Post Office in Krakow, Poland.
Yes!
Poland and Russia are postal-photo friendly.

Want to come inside with me? Looks promising, doesn't it. And I have a couple of secret weapons. I took my Postal Love zine with the Polish translation asking to get airmail stickers (for free) and buy local stamps. But just in case that didn't work.....
A very special friend of mine lives in Krakow and she escorted me to the PO and was my official translator.

OooOoo this was a really nice post office, as you can see...there was a special section for postal supplies and a whole room for philatelists.  I explored the whole place.

You just take a number and wait your turn....

We didn't have to wait for very long. US Post Offices would do well to have you take a number and have a place to sit to wait. I just stood in a very long line waiting to mail some Xmas boxes here in San Francisco.

Poczta Polska shopping bags? I might need one. 

Actually, I just might need two or three....

Besides buying the regular, local Polish stamps there were displays of special stamp-collecting stamps to ogle. And of course there were all those free postal forms I like to load up on for booklet-making and Postal ATC's. I think you knew that already.

This Polish Postal worker really didn't know what hit her when I showed up. At first she was kind of mystified but with the help of my zine, my pal's translations and of course, my charm, she really got into the spirit and started pulling out stamps for me to buy. And she let us tear up the sheets to get however many I wanted (picture that in a USA post office). And she gave me a bunch of (free) air mail stickers -- in Polish. Maybe she'll see this post. Wouldn't that be nice?

She didn't seem to mind me snapping photos like crazy. And she took my zine!

Thank you to my special friend. You know who you are.

This is the old main post office right down the street....I kind of wish they kept that one but the new modern one is pretty nice too.

  

And, here is another little PO right around the corner from our hotel.

Post a letter and buy a Pretzel -- one stop shopping.

If the day wasn't great enough already, after the PO tour and stamp excitement , my friend gifted me with her childhood stamp collection album.
How lucky am I?
I will certainly treasure it and think of her every time I page through it.

I think these are stamps commemorating the Polish Postal Service --  with post office building on them.

I have lots of happy Postal Memories from Poland!

SEND A LETTER --  GET A LETTER!