Passing the Afternoon Most Pleasantly......

There are lots of ways to spend a pleasant afternoon.....and one of them is to go to a SF Correspondence Co-Op meeting....

You can sit around and socialize...and you can make things at the same time.....

I like to collage...and take photographs.....and inspect the swap table.

Just look at this fabulous two-tone bird made with rubber stamps from Paris....

It takes two stamps and two ink pads and look what you get....oh lala!

I packed my special mail pouches up for the meeting.....The one on the left from the fabulous Dori Singh and the one on the right from my pal CeCe in NYC.
I'm pretty lucky.

Another rather delightful way to spend an afternoon is at the Vintage Paper Fair,
some thing I did just last weekend.

How could I pass up these postcard folders for $1 each? I couldn't.
I love the old graphics and they are fun "as-is" or to cut up for collage or use in travel journals.

One seller was selling old snapshots for .25-cents each. I don't know what they go for where you live, but around the Bay Area they are A LOT so I sifted through two large boxes for a stash of old photos to use in collage and cards.

And envelopes! Oh yes please. I just love vintage envelopes. (One day OURS will be vintage!)

Old handwriting? Old stamps? Cancellations?
What's not to love?

They really new how to make good letterheads back in the day, didn't they?

Picked up a few face value stamps too...

I think these are my favorite finds. Tiny little pictures of fancy ladies all dolled up with great hair and hats.....

These are going to work perfectly in those passports I am altering...

So, now another way to spend a perfectly pleasant afternoon is to stay in my studio and make things using all these great paper finds.
One thing leads to another, right?
I have lots of ideas.

You have a favorite way to spend a pleasant afternoon?
Do tell.
SEND GOOD MAIL -- GET GOOD MAIL

It's All About the Envelope!

I recently shared a link on the Blog's FaceBook page about making envelopes. It got me started thinking about how much I like envelopes.
Vintage envelopes, handmade envelopes, tiny ones and large ones, envelopes that are sewn together and (especially) altered vintage envelopes.

So, of course, I got started working on some envelopes.......

Altered Envelope
I love to alter vintage envelopes using cut out faces (usually from postcards) and images torn from old books and rubber stamps and some splashes of paint.

Altered Envelopes
Here are two I really like....I'm sending that bottom one to Virgo in Russia. It says Vargo on the envelope which made think of Virgo.....The top envelope was sent from Russia to the USA.....maybe it will make a return trip.

Altered Envelope
I added this guy and some additional postage and rubber stamps to this one. A red envelope is a bit unusual to find.
In fact, it is hard for me to find old envelopes to alter -- any of you out there have a cheap source? If any of you have an old envelopes you can spare or trade I would really appreciate it.
SPECIAL REQUEST
I am looking very hard for cancelled passports with ZERO luck. I have lost all the eBay auctions.
If anyone out there can send me one passport or more I would be so happy.
I am trying to work on an Altered Passport project, which isn't easy to do without being able to find passports to alter....
We thank you in advance
I can pay a reasonable amount for them or make you stuff in trade....

(New) Altered Envelope
When I can't find vintage envelopes to alter, I just make some new ones and pay with them...I thought this guy would like a Levi jacket...you think??

(New) Altered Envelope

(New) Altered Envelope
This one just might have to go off to Russia...I just love that onion dome building...

Tiny Vintage Envelopes
Going through my stash of old envelopes to alter, I found these teeny little envelopes..

They aren't even close to the minimum size that the USPS requires now...

This is to give you an idea of the scale....I put the tiny envelope on top of an envelope I recently received and one underneath...see what I mean?

And here's a quiz for you -- when is an envelope not an envelope?

Why, when it is a letter folded up into itself to make a envelope....very common in France..way back when...and so cool.

OUTGOING MAIL
I always have a stack of outgoing mail and that stack always has a few handmade envelopes going out.
It is really easy to just make a trifold and use double stick tape on the sides.
I never measure.
The link I posted on the FB page had templates and some long, involved, complicated way to make an envelope.
Get over it!
Life is too short to make a huge production out of sending good mail.
We are busy people, right?

Tomorrow there is an big all day ART FIELD TRIP.
There will be a full report.

SEND GOOD MAIL -- GET GOOD MAIL

And please, if you have old passports or envelopes sitting around, think about what I could do to them.
Happy May Day.

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