And One Thing Leads to Another

Rubber Stamps from SF Scrap. Somebody stop me!

I admit it...I have a rubber stamp problem and Scrap isn't helping...

The $1book sales aren't helping my studio space either. I have SWORN OFF going. But I was at the farmers market and ...well...I had to walk by on my way to the streetcar and I just took a little look.....ok, I bought ONE book but only one and I went right home and tore it right up. Now I have 25 beautiful Chinese drawings which are perfect to use in my Chinatown Altered Book project.
One thing leads to another...

The World of Stamps is a page for my altered book .....

My pal Dori needs more pages for the book I made for her and she likes joss papers so I played around a bit one night...

And, here is what I ended up with -- like it? I hope Dori does. I actually liked it and wanted to keep it for my book. But good behavior won.

Chinese inspired book pages made me think of Chinese food....and if you like it, SF is the place to be (unless you're in China).

The clouds parted one day and I tried out a little cyanotype printing. I have some ideas for that too....if we get summer sunshine any time soon. It was 55 degrees here the other day. In July.
We really are different here in SF.

Card for my pal The Artful ReCrafter. She recently got a beautiful old six burner (yes, gas) stove and this ad made me think of her. I'm sure she'll want to make that lovely hot dog casserole.

Re-purposed card made by mail art friend Judi K. She cut up and re-worked an envelope I sent to her and sent back this card to me. I love it, especially how she cut that slit in the mail slot and stuck the little card in it. This was such fun to receive.

The Rolodex Project
The cards are coming in and I am loving each and every one. These two from the talented Connie Rose. 

HEADS
For some reason I am obsessed with cutting out all these heads from my old French and Spanish dictionaries. I can't stop. I have an Altoid tin stuffed with heads.
Why? I don't know but I am quite sure I will think of something to do with them.
Any ideas? What would you do?
I've been clearing -- and cleaning -- my studio. It was time. Those $1 books really add up. I put boxes of books out front on the sidewalk but i still have enough to fill up a brand new bookcase my sweetie installed for me.
Then, I started cleaning out the closet. 
Right now you'd never know how hard I've been working but things often get worse before they get better, right?
I hope so.
I'm getting tired of cleaning and I want to play.

When I'm done you can all come on over and we'll have an art party!

SEND GOOD MAIL -- GET GOOD MAIL

Let's Make an Origami Wallet

ORIGAMI WALLETS
(NYC City Bakery flyer with NYC ephemera tucked inside)

Origami wallets are so fast and easy to make -- and fun to fill up and mail.
It really takes only four easy steps to make a wallet and I can whip them out in a minute.
Want to see?

STEP ONE
Take a sheet of double sided paper (maps, pages torn from an Atlas, magazine pages, menu, flyers).
Look it over and place the side you want on the outside of the wallet  FACE UP.

Fold the TOP of the paper down about 3/4-1" like this.
AND FLIP THE PAPER OVER
with the folded part on the top face down (as seen below)

STEP TWO
Then, fold each of the (short sides) about 3/4" like this. Press them down with a bone folder.

Now your paper looks like this (only with the sides pressed down)

STEP THREE
Now (fun part) fold the top down a bit less than halfway like this.(That very first fold you made at the top will be showing).  This will become the top sleeve in your wallet.

STEP FOUR

Now you will fold the paper up from the bottom to make the bottom sleeve like this.
You want to tuck that top corner right in to that bottom corner there on the right side....and then tuck it the same way on the left side, which will create the bottom sleeve.

DETAIL (Photo MONICA LEE)

See? Tuck the TOP (blue) into the bottom (Black)

DETAIL (PHOTO MONICA LEE)
**I hope this doesn't confuse you -- the wallet is flipped in these two photos. Remember you are tucking the TOP corners into the bottom...the black is the bottom here and see who the top corner is getting tucked in to it?)**

And there you are -- see the two sleeves? If you do it wrong you won't have two sleeves so just try it again.

Now your wallet looks like this.....
Fold it in half and you are done.

Origami wallet
It looks harder here than it actually is. Once you get it, you will be making them so fast you won't believe it....

By now you all know I can't leave things alone so I had to add some washi tape and dots and a cut-out from an old dictionary.....

And, of course, you can't send someone an empty wallet, can you?

Wallet from a flyer I picked up at the library around San Francisco...

Atlas page wallets

You can make origami wallets when you travel and tuck in business cards and souvenirs  from your trip. Make one with a flyer from your home town for a friend who is coming to visit...or use menus or atlas  pages or anything else you might think up...
it's fun and it is creative re-use.

I have had this ready for a long time but didn't post it since I couldn't be sure the instructions were clear enough. They seem clear to me but I already know how to make the origami wallets so what do I know? Let me know if you figure it it (I hope so!). They are really fun.
Hope you all (in the USA) enjoyed your holiday yesterday -- BBQ and fireworks and heat. It was a chilly 60 degrees here in SF.

Speaking of that, check out my favorite creative re-user, Monica at
The ArtFul ReCrafter
to see what origami tutorial she has for you!

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Just Playin' Around

MY Rolodex card project is rolling right along.
I made these Mr Zip cards -- with unused Zip Code stamps -- because Mr Zip has got to be included in the file.

I got inspired by my favorite set of stamps -- the USPS eight-cent series of postal workers -- and decided to make ten rolodex cards using each of the ten stamps.

I got out my postal supplies and got started....

Ten cards!
Those Rolodex files are BIG so it is going to take a lot of art cards to fill them up, even with the help of you guys....I've got to make cards too.

The backs have to look good too!

Since I was busy making cards, I got inspired to make four Paris ATC's as well.
(like that little Altoids box of heads?)

I made four French ATC's but only photographed two. C'est la vie!

(Photo by Ryan Tamares)
My little stash of stuff at the SF Correspondence co-op meeting....

INCOMING Rolodex Art Card
What have we here? Looks like good mail.

(Photo by Ryan Tamares)
Look at this beauty by Miss Millicent! She sewed up a little Rolodex pouch and tucked a little girl inside. Sweet.

I have been getting some wonderful cards in the mail and many thanks to all of you who have been sending them. I will try to post pictures of all or most of them. I have already been posting them on the 
Cappuccino And Art Facebook page and on Instagram (PamelaArtsinSF).
Check it out!

So, back to the work table -- I've got more cards to make.

SEND GOOD MAIL -- GET GOOD MAIL

Come over and I'll Show You How to Make Something....

Lately I've been trying to straighten things up around my studio. Problems are that I like to have everything on display and I also seem to work better when ephemera is out all over and I can look at it and get random ideas.
I love those little stamp bundles (above). I wonder who has the patience to put the stamps in bundles like that? Not me.

There is a special spot for my wonderful Dori Singh mail.....

Mail boxes and mail art - oh my!

Tickets always come in handy for various projects and they are nice to look at too.

I like pretty tin boxes for storage. These beauties are from France (cookie boxes).

Recently added to the vintage wooden ruler collection. Thank you to Scrap.

Hummm....I better get these plastic boxes of stamps off the floor....

$1 at the book sale -- could you resist?

Airmail envelopes and some vintage stationery from Scrap.

See that china bowl with the gold rim? If you are relatively new to the blog you might not  know I received it in the mail. Unwrapped and covered with stamps and my address written on it in Sharpie. Found on my front step - delivered by the USPS.
Coolest mail art ever.

So, you want to see how to make that booklet with no glue or staples?
Here's how I do it:

Tear five pages out of a discarded book. Or, just any five pieces of paper you have (all the same size).

Fold them in half like this.....

Cut ONE of the sheets of paper like this.

See? You cut a slot in the middle of the fold..

Then cut the FOUR remaining sheets like this -- little notches at the top and bottom of the fold.

This is totally easy to do but difficult to take a photo of....You roll the paper with the slots (one at a time) and insert thru the cut in that first sheet and then line up the folds...
then you just tuck the notched part in and the top and bottom...easy really...

I'm just pushing the paper through the slot and when the middle folds line up the top and bottom will just hook in...

And viola! A little booklet you can decorate and send out in the mail.

Go ahead and try it -- it is really easy. Or, just come on over to my studio and I'll show you.
I love company and making things with friends. I hope these instructions are clear enough for you guys to make the books. 
(Shout-out to Monica for showing me how to do it)

You could use three - or five - or seven pages, I think....I make little books and filled them with vintage postage stamps and rubber stamps and tiny collages...

So, let me know how you do, OK?
Have fun!

MAKE SOMETHING EVERY DAY!