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!!!!!

Stamp Head ATC's

It doesn't feel like the cold season here in San Francisco what with the blue skies, sunny days and incredibly mild temperatures we have been having.
But I've been down for the the count the last few days. Haven't been able to summon enough energy to do much of anything.
But ATC's are small....

Stamp Head ATC
Karen over at Mail Me Some Art is hosting a Stamp Head ATC Swap. Since I love anything and everything postal I thought I'd make some....
but these are harder than I thought they'd be.
I am hearing I'm not the only one who thinks they are kind of tricky to put together which makes me feel better.
I thought maybe it was just the bad cold....

Stamp Head ATC

I don't like using "new" paper so I cut up a vintage children's game I bought at the flea market in
Prague and used the people on the cards as the base.
Added a couple of old postmarks.
I think they work.

What do you think?

This one works well....that was my favorite stamp.

Stamp Head ATC
These may or may not be finished as I am still looking at them sitting on my work table...

Stamp Head ATC's
These two were made using a vintage French postcard....

And this one has a stamp head on a vintage photograph.
See what I mean? I like everything old.

How did this one sneak in here? Not a stamp head...but made from a Russian postcard from a flea market there and Hungarian photo, stamp and paper ephemera.

Stamp Head ATC
After all this work I am not entirely sure I can part with the ATC's now....well, at least not all of them.

Two Soldiers.....
Stamp on vintage photo (this needs a little something else).

Stamp Head ATC - Dinner Time!

Typewriter ATC
The Stamps can't have all the fun, now can they?

So, what do you think? Do these work? Are they worth all the time and effort? The jury is still out.


And, on another note, I have a special offer for Cappuccino&Art blog readers from a friend.
My pal Anissa runs an ETSY shop
LePaperCafe
There is quite a lot of washi tape on sale in the shop and if C&A readers place an order for $10.00 or more (excluding S&H) Anissa will include a special washi sampler of one yard of each of five different tapes with your order.
Just send her the code "mailart" in the "message to sender" part of the order and viola - an extra gift for you.

Ok you all, just remember you've got to SEND MAIL to RECEIVE MAIL so get busy and have some fun.

Vintage Paper 2014

It was that time of year again -- Vintage Paper Fair time! I look forward to these events every year.
It is so lovely to go and be surrounded by all that vintage paper ephemera.
I think there is something there for every paper lover. Postcards start at 6 for $1.00, many at .25 cents each but they go right up to highly collectable and expensive as well.

I always head for the cheap cards -- I like to use them for mail art or collage.

I enjoy buying postcards of places I will be traveling to so I can use them in my travel journals or to mail out in mail art....
I wonder where I'll be heading off to next?

Besides the postcards themselves, I find the stamps and the messages on the backs interesting  -- and even the postmarks are interesting.
Have you seen a postmark like this one (with the 1)?
I never have and I'm wondering what kind of postmark it actually is.
Anybody know?
(I asked on the Cappuccino & Art FaceBook page and there are some interesting comments)

Besides postcards you can find maps and pages from books - great for collage - and these were selling for 3 for $1.00.

I spent three hours browsing the ephemera but I could have easily spent more time (and more money).

Uh oh....I was on the verge of getting out of there without very much damage to my wallet when I spied this box.
A whole box of sheets of face value postage stamps?
Let the buying begin. But really, I am going to use all this postage so I wasn't really bad at all.

Lots of sheets of stamps as well as loose stamps -- and a very nice vendor too.

Postcards, papers, stamps....and photos....

Here is some of my loot...but I did buy some things for  mailing out to mail art friends..

OUTGOING
A Texas flag for a friend in Texas...

You can see on that bag the next Vintage Paper fair is rolling into San Francisco on July 26 and 27.
Maybe I'll see some of you there.
They have other events during the year as well but they are all in Northern and Southern California.
Check out the Vintage Paper Fair's website to find the locations and dates.
You can sign up for emails -- and they also have a FaceBook page.
(no, I don't work for them - I just really enjoy the VPF)

LUNCH
You all knew they had to be food involved, right? After all that excitement at the VPF, I went to lunch with two of my pals...

......I can highly recommend a calming lunch after so much paper ephemera fun!
Hope you enjoyed all the eye candy.

Next up -- a studio visit with Red Letter Day -- and some Q&A about Ex Postal Facto.
I've got to get busy working on some mail art now and use some of those cards and stamps I bought.
Lots more to come...
Hope I'm going to meet some of you in February at XPF and maybe in July for the VPF...
Why should I be the one having all the fun???

SEND GOOD MAIL --- GET GOOD MAIL