Mountains of Collage Materials

You can never have too much paper ephemera for collage

That being said, you know where I stand. So, of course I had to go to the Library Big Book sale not once, but twice, again this year.
I had my coffee this morning surrounded by birthday presents and old books. Not a bad start to the day.

People here in SF are big for standing in lines.I see people in lines all the time but I'm not one of those people. That is, until the book sale rolls around. 

And, if you've got to stand in line, Fort Mason Center is a good place to do it.

I seem to head directly to the foreign language sections. There is just something about book in other languages that I love.....I saw Japanese, Chinese, Greek, Italian, Greek, Russia, Spanish, French, Arabic......and I may have gotten quite a few of them. They often have charming drawings inside -- the older the books, the better.

Photo: Monica Lee
I bought these amazing dictionaries for $1 each. Good thing they weren't selling books by the pound.

The Haul
Not all mine...don't get too excited.....(but actually I went twice so I did get too carts filled with books).

Here we are -- me and Monica Lee -- my pal the Artful ReCrafter. And if you click on  her blog, you'll see her photos and version of our trips to the sale.
The Artful ReCrafter

I am now back at home and overcome with all the ephemera I have for collage. I have enough to last the rest of my life....I am so excited to get started making things that I don't know where to start....

I always look for bird books.....

And I seriously scored on old yearbooks this year.....I love to read all the comments...

How could I possibly resist?

I got these because I loved the colors/covers. I am going to tear off the covers and backs and make altered books from these....

View from the cart
Today was DOLLAR DAY. Be still my heart. There is always still a lot of good stuff on the last day. Monica and I went to the member's preview first trip and back today for the last day -- and I made a whirlwind driving trip to LA in between the two. I am seriously behind on everything in my life at the moment.

And now, it's all over till the next sale...but I am pretty sure I have enough ephemera and ideas to keep me busy until then.
I'll show you what I make. And -- what would YOU make with some of these books?
Maybe you'll think of some things that I wouldn't think of....

SEND GOOD MAIL -- MAKE GOOD MAIL
Oh! And, by the way -- here is a good link
What IS Mail Art??

Looking To Exchange Mail Art?

I love mail art.
And, I know, if you are reading my blog -- you do too. People ask me all the time if I will exchange mail with them and sadly, I have to say, my plate is too full.
BUT
here is a post to help you out if you are are looking to exchange mail art and having trouble finding folks to trade with.....

For me, starting my blog a number of years ago, was a good move. I have received so much good mail that I am running out of room to store it all.
I've made lots of lovely mail art friends and met people all over the world who are interested in mail art.

Here are a few links to get you started --

Shouting at the Postman

International Union of Mail Artists
(the grandaddy of mail art sites)

Letter Writers Alliance

Beautiful incoming handmade cards sent to me by Dawn C

You can also check out Mail Me Some Art where there are lots of on-going swaps posted and you can choose what looks fun to do. If you get work you like in the swap, just write the sender and ask if they want to do personal trades with you....

Incoming mail surprises from Judy K

And, you can check out Extraordinary Penpals too.
And, read and comment on mail art blogs like
Envelope 100 
Heleen Mail Art
Adrienne Mason Art
There are lots of links on these blogs to other mail art blogs.....just keep looking....

Incoming book made by Michelle C

I'm sure by now everyone knows about Postcrossing but I'm including here anyway.

Incoming Mail

Someone mentioned this postcard swap in the comments in the last post
iHanna postcard swap

INCOMNG MAIL
See what I mean? I get good mail. I'd say even GREAT mail. And you can too.
Remember, it's not the quantity that's important -- it is the fun of creating and sharing good mail.

And, look at my pal Monica's blog for eye candy and inspiration and ideas of mail art to send to  all your new pals --
The Artful ReCrafter

Incoming origami wallet -- filled with vintage stamps -- by Sally W

I have gotten new mail art pals through Instagram -- the blog has an IG page so check it out.
If you follow mail artlovers you can message them and ask if they want to trade mail with you.
Same goes for Facebook. There are mail art groups on Facebook, including IUOMA and mail lovers, follow them and get yourself in the mix.

Check out my old post about getting pen pals right here

Still some pretty good information and encouragement here and some nice postal photos to look at too........
(even if I do say so myself)

Most importantly
You've got to send good mail to get good mail.

****Here's the fun part***
If you are looking for folks to trade with, just write a comment and put in your email and maybe some of your interests....it could be a nice forum for finding others to trade mail with.
I can put it up there top right in the blog's Featured Post for a while and maybe we'll get some new trading going on.
So go ahead, be daring!
(You can set up a free gmail account just to comment on the blog and use for mail art)

And if you have any ideas I missed, please share.
And, please do leave a comment even if you aren't looking for new people to mail too. I would love to hear from you all and know that you are out there in cyberspace.
You don't want me to get lonely, do you?
Your comments are all much appreciated so let the mail art party begin!

Send Good Mail -- Get Good Mail

Let the Party Begin

My birthday is this weekend but my friends have already declared this to be my entire birthday week. I really can't argue with that concept. I'm rolling with it.

Yesterday there were presents. And cookies. What's not to like?

I love having my end-of-March-and-almost-Easter birthday. In San Francisco, anyway.
Because there are flowers blooming in my backyard....

My favorites are lilacs. The lilac bush my husband planted for me years ago manages to always squeeze out some lilacs right at the birthday.
Not a lot, but I will take what I can get.

LOOK at this card! I'm in typewriter heaven....so cool. And a certain. lovely and generous someone
(you know who you are) also gave me that great postcard stamp.

Ok, so I treated myself to an art playdate with a friend and we went to SF Scrap and look what I found there. My lucky day.....and yes, I did pick some of these unmounted stamps up for friends too. I'm not a total pig.

Never seen these before....kinda cool.....

And, on a food shopping trip today I saw a big bag of these free Styrofoam  blocks -- ah ha!!!!!!

Let the stamp mounting begin! (There is a tip for you guys). I just cut it up with a mat knife and glue those annoying little unmounted stamps on there and I'm good to go.....

Scrap had a 1968 LOOK magazine in the FREE section with this cool old typewriter ad.

And these will be perfect for collaging on and sticking in all those altered books I am working. These are the large ones....vintage and cool....

I love old and out of date stampers....1987? 1974? 1990? I want them all....

Some postcards from SCRAP -- these look like they need stamp heads to me.

I have been altering more vintage envelopes to amuse myself....

And sending out a lot of good mail.....

My friends know what I like...old paper...airmail...pretty ribbons....
So, the party started early but now that i think about it, the library big book sale is next week and I am meeting a mail art pal to stand in line....hum.....maybe the celebration will continue till the end of the month??
Funny, I have lots of ARIES friend who have their birthdays right around mine so I have been busy getting ready for those birthdays....I must like Aries since I know so many.

***I have a question for you all -- ready????***
People keep asking me to trade mail with them, especially on the blog's FaceBook page and I really can't add any more folks to my mailing list or I may be buried in mail....
They often say they would love to send out mail art but don't know who to trade with.
I was thinking of trying to do a blog post about finding people to trade mail art with -- and you all could leave comments with your email if you are looking for people to trade with.
What do you think?
Would that be helpful to you?
You can just set up a free email account just for that if you don't want to post your personal email.
I will only do this if it seems there is a lot of interest out there so let me know....

In the meantime, I'm going back to the cookies and the fun with friends.

SEND GOOD MAIL -- GET GOOD MAIL

My Peeps

SF Correspondence Co-Op
A mail artist huddle....we had so much fun on Sunday....what happens when you put a bunch of mail artists in a room?

Anything can happen......Someone brought a set of vintage Black Cat Fortune Telling cards....

And, of course, everyone wanted to play.....I want a fortune that says
"You will get lots of good mail every day".

You might get an incredible cool banner made by TheArtfulReCrafter herself.....and our leader Miss JH got flowers and cupcakes to celebrate her five years of service heading up our group.

Bet you couldn't eat just one!

There were artistamps to paste in Postal Passports....

Angelique made the artistamps this month and we kept her busy pasting them in....

Monica and I showed everyone how to make origami wallets and there was a whole lot of folding going on there...

Photo album
 -- photos I took of the Co-Op meetings starting with the very first meeting...

We passed the photo album around the table...

Show & Tell

So, cupcakes & flowers, a cool banner, fortune telling and folding origami wallets, show & tell and a swap table......
Kind of a great way to spend an afternoon, don't you think?
And we get to do it again in April.

I didn't get any mail yesterday and today and that isn't good. My birthday is coming right up so maybe you all are waiting.......I hope so, because an empty mailbox is a sad mailbox...
I spent today catching up on my outgoing.....
I'm not all caught up yet but I'm getting there.

SEND GOOD MAIL -- GET GOOD MAIL

And, if you don't have a mail art group, I suggest you start one up. You will not be sorry.
See you in the mail!