Legal Tender Sender

I recently went to a party hosted by a new friend, who mentioned he's into letter writing and mail art. So of course I sent him a pretty fancy thank-you for the evening's fun (and I'm kicking myself that I didn't photograph it, because it was my first fine piece of my own mail art in 2014, but oh well), and he wrote back immediately with this creative offering. It's a letter on a two-dollar bill! I got one heck of a kick out of that fun idea. I've received a lot of letters on lots of different items, but this is my first time getting a letter written on currency. Cool.



He decorated the envelope quite nicely as well, with random little cut-out quotes. This was a literary sort of party, you see...



... and he included this lovely postcard. It looks to be original artwork, hand-drawn and painted, and I wonder if he did it himself. I'll have to ask him, in my response.

Fabulous mail to kick off 2014

Already 2014 is a fine mail year. I've spent a good chunk of my free time writing, and have received some spectacular mail in return.

Above, a handmade gocco postcard from the fabulous Carroll, whose mail art and artwork always just astounds me. This postcard is going up on my bulletin board right above my writing desk! Have a look at her own photo of this artwork, which she sketched from her ink storage shelf.



Next up, brilliant bat mail from Donovan of the Letter Writers Alliance. Wow, does she ever know me, and is she generous, or what? It's a light wooden bat ornament, which is probably also going to somehow fly from my writing desk bulletin board. It came beautifully and soundly packaged, and I was able to preserve that loveliness with some fancy fingerwork with my special craft knife, which I had to use to open it. I love mail challenges!



Finally, I have acquired a new pen pal. Normally my pen pal roster is closed, but the 3-year-old 4-and-a-half-year-old son of my dear first cousin wrote to me. He actually wrote me FIRST, out of the blue, and I haven't even seen this fine young fellow in more than a year. So of course I wrote back, and he's now written me a couple of times, most speedily - and he always mentions cats (which just wins me over even further). Here is one of his annotated illustrations from his latest missive.

And now... off to write some letters!

Bats cheer me up

This week I got a lovely letter from S., a pen pal in Germany, and she drew this fantastic bat on the back of the envelope! I love how the bat is holding her return address label (which also has a bat on it). What a treat! This really cheered me up. S., I still need to write you back...

Thank you all for the good wishes on my broken thumb. I wish I could bring good news, but in fact it is healing very badly, so I am having surgery on it tomorrow in hopes that I can regain mobility in the joint. I had hoped the healing process would be well underway, but now with the upcoming surgery, I am looking at another two months in some kind of cast or splint, and a lot more fresh pain tomorrow. So please forgive me if I continue to lay low here, and on Twitter... I've got my hands full just trying to deal with this injury. Thank you all for your good wishes.

Meanwhile, everyone enjoy autumn (at least those of us in the northern hemisphere), and may you all get wonderful mail in general, and especially Halloween mail.

Crazy Postcrossing: Have a Nice Day

I received this wonderful Postcrossing card from Ukraine yesterday, UA-288738. (Yes, it really did take 3 months to arrive!) Normally I don't post the backs of written cards - or at least, not too often - but this one is pretty spectacular.

If you want to read the lovely text, view this photo larger on Flickr. My favorite quote: "Materialize your imagination."

On another note, my apologies for again taking so long to post. My summer is over, I've gone back to work, life is crazy busy again... and I'm still dealing with health issues. I haven't had much time for mail, but I'm trying to devote as much time to it as I can... I'm off to write some letters and postcards now, but I wanted to reassure readers I'm still around, and will still aim for posting once or twice a week at least. I'm doing my best!

Helping kids send mail: Scribble It! Postcards

I've blogged before about my favorite (and youngest) pen pals. They are still both writing me regularly, and their letters and postcards are among my most cherished mail. I always give them mail-themed gifts at birthdays and such - usually stationery. The two girls are great about sharing their stationery with each other, and one of the gifts I gave Scarlett for her 5th birthday was such a hit that I had to blog about it.



Scribble It! postcards by Taro Gomi, published by the fantastic Chronicle Books, are a magical way to encourage kids to send mail, even if they can't write yet. I thought the gimmick was cute so I sent it along with some other stationery, but being a foreigner to most interactions with young children (with a few exceptions, like these lovely young ladies), I hadn't realized what a hit it would be. Each postcard has a prompt on the front for artwork and such, and room on the back to write. Scarlett chose the "Her pet is so cool" postcard, and drew me a lovely cat... and captioned it "That is a cat." I'm glad she specified - now I know for certain! :-) She added one of the stickers I'd also sent her for her birthday into the artwork. So it's clearly mixed-media: crayon, marker, and sticker.



This was a 5th birthday gift for Scarlett, and she is in pre-kindergarten. She has previously dictated all her letters to her mom, and her mom handwrites them -- but this was the first item I've received from Scarlett that she wrote all by herself! I was so impressed. She and her sister both used stamps I sent them, made via Zazzle, featuring a photo of us last summer when I visited them and we all went to a petting zoo together.



Her older sister, Annalise, is 7 years old and in 2nd grade - she is my original pen pal and we've been writing for a couple of years now. She writes very well all by herself, though her mom sometimes helps with addressing envelopes and return addresses. She chose the caption "What an interesting hairstyle!" and created a fun hairstyle, with the addition of another sticker. I love the stripes in the background! I would never have had the artistic sense at that age to fill up the space like that.



She wrote a very colorful postcard, changing colors every line. Her thanks for keeping her letters was in response to a question she'd asked me about whether I kept the letters she sent, and I assured her that yes, I keep every one of them! Her handwriting is always so neat. I wish I could read all my pen pals' handwriting this easily.

Not only did I want to share these adorable postcards with you, my blog readers, but also to encourage those with children in their lives: start 'em young! My mother made me write thank-you notes as a child, as soon as I could write, and other adults in my life gave me gifts of very cute stationery to make that process fun. And so, my love of mail was born by the time I could write. If you're looking to encourage some kids to send mail, I highly recommend these Scribble It! postcards. I'm linking to Amazon instead of Chronicle Books here because Amazon lets you "look inside," and you can see a number of the cute prompt options. The postcards are large enough that there is room to fit some writing (even large writing from small hands) on the written side. They are over 4x6 so they require first-class letter rate postage and not postcard postage, but they're well worth it. This is now my favorite go-to gift for young children!

Want a hand-drawn letter?

Want your own hand-drawn letter by the creator of this fantastic painting? You might have time to get one.

Bop on over to yourhandwrittenletters tumblr and check out her offer. The artist will draw you a letter from the alphabet and mail it to you like the letter it is, and all you have to do is fill out her handy-dandy form.

I've admired her artwork before, and this seems like a lovely little project that will brighten people's mail days and encourage more letter-writing along the way. And yes, it's the newest blog linked among my letter blogs now. I'll be following her progress regularly.

L'Shana Tova / Happy New Year 5772

Today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, 5772 in the Jewish calendar. Blog reader and lovely pen pal Rusty created this handmade, textured card featuring the traditional Rosh Hashanah symbols of apples and honey, sweet foods for a sweet year. She even sent it to me in time for it to arrive before Rosh Hashanah! I am touched by this lovely handmade artwork, Rusty, and delighted to share it with my readers as the mail image for this joyous holiday.

L'Shana Tova / Happy New Year 5772! Wishing a sweet year filled with joy and peace for all.

Dark on Red

This offbeat and exquisite blog reader letter came from Lithuania, a country from which I don't receive mail too often. I wish I had taken a photo of the letter, because the sender has excellent and interesting typewriter-like handwriting, and she drew a couple of illustrations on the letter as well.



This artwork on the envelope was the most detailed and eye-catching. Can you tell that the background in the window is "dark" repeated many, many times? I like that use of words as texture in the drawing.



And here's a closer look at that Tall Ships stamp. I really appreciate that the sender included the continued panel next to it, for the full picture! What lovely postage, and other than a tiny rip at the top, it survived the journey well.

AMAZING writing bat postcard from Carroll!

If you know me at all, you know I absolutely plotzed when I saw this postcard. It came to me in my own Monster postcard swap, and the amazingly talented Carroll. Oh my gravy. A bat, holding a fountain pen and writing a letter to me? Incredible! And what a fine bat it is!

You can't tell from this scan, bit it's like this was a painting painted right on canvas. Carroll worked her magic somehow to make this beautiful yet tough, and it arrived in my mailbox today in absolutely gorgeous, perfect condition.



And here's the back. Of course she used bat postage stamps! She also used a wonderful hand-carved stamp of a skeleton holding an envelope, and I'll wager that is bound to be Carroll's own handiwork. If you've been following my blog for a while, you may have seen some of her hand-carved stamps featured here...



...most touchingly one she carved for me showing my dear cat Memo ("Memo guards the mail") which I received just a few months before he died.

Carroll, you have outdone yourself once again!! What a treat!

Sleepy Soda drawing

I frequently claim that I can't draw, which I still think is pretty true, but I'm trying to be more creative and free up that inner critic. I want to draw, and sometimes I like to draw, so... yeah. Trying to just practice for fun.

The fantastic International Girl aerogrammes (I've blogged about them quite a lot) have a little box that says "draw picture here." Ever one to follow instructions, I usually give it some kind of try. So one night I had Soda sleeping at the edge of my letter, and I drew her. It doesn't really look all that much like her, but it is fairly apparent that it is a cat, and for that I am proud of myself.

She's sleeping on the couch near me now, actually, but all curled up this time. Awww.

Bats, wheat, sunflowers

This patient and very artistic pen pal had a fun concept: she wrote the letter in summer, but due to my backlog, assumed I'd respond to it in the fall. In fact I don't think I managed a response until January (eek!), but she incorporated both summer and autumn themes in her letter art.

The bats are just for me, since I love them so, and the wheat and orange were for autumn themes. To open the letter, I moved the little sunflower bit aside.



It looks like all of these embellishments were hand-drawn and hand-cut; what a touching amount of effort to put into making a letter beautiful and unique!

Bobberdilly's cat conversation

I met this pen pal through Swap-Bot... amazing mail art, heartfelt and real and unique letters and it's just such a joy to exchange letters with this incredible artist. I probably don't deserve Bobberdilly's patience, because it took me about 6 months to respond to this letter...

You can see other letters Bobberdilly's sent me or go right to the artist's blog to see more of this fabulous artwork.

Oh yes... and Happy New Year!
May 2011 be a Good Mail Year for everyone.

Cat drawings from Germany

One of my pen pals from the German pen pal site Letternet is also a cat lover, and an excellent artist! I love the perspective of the cat whimsically batting from above.



Another cat said goodbye at the closing. The use of white on the brown paper is really cool, I think, and I was thoroughly charmed by her feline artwork on this letter.



It even had a cat to hold my address on the envelope! Note the cat is holding down the Luftpost sticker... good move, as we all know air mail is prone to flying away.

Speaking of flying away... I've removed my sent statistics. They served their purpose as an interesting experiment and examination, but I feel they've taken the focus away from the letters themselves. It doesn't matter how many letters we write, just that we are writing them... don't you think?

Glorious glittering bird

Wow, was this ever a sight to behold! This fine pen pal is (obviously) a fabulous artist, and I've been treated to her wonderful artwork before. The explosion of color on this hand-painted stationery is so exciting!



I hope I am not misremembering, but I believe she called this bird a quetzal, a tropical bird with brilliantly colored plumage.



I know you wanted a closer look at those glittering feathers! Her use of glitter accents is ever so masterful.



This beauty came packaged in a handmade rose envelope. I could almost smell it...

Watercolor Soda by Sirpa

This amazing watercolor of my cat Soda came to me from Sirpa, a wonderful pen pal and mail artist from Finland. Sirpa's letters are always a work of art, with frequent hand-painted details, but this one captured my heart like no other!

Using a photo that I posted on this blog of Soda in a box, she painted this watercolor image of Soda! I need to get this framed.

The entire letter was beautiful, and she detailed it on her own blog - you should check it out, especially the whole sheet of fairy stamps used on the package!

Also after my own heart, the card that featured the watercolor of Soda was written TO Soda. Of course Soda appreciates that. (She is purring on the couch next to me as I type, of course.)

Bobberdilly's envelope critters

Here is another fantastic artistic envelope from a wildly creative and interesting pen pal. He turns stereotypes about Kansas (and hey, a large part of my own childhood was spent in Kansas, so I have a reason for my stereotypes) upside down and all around. His letters are as interesting as his artwork, but I have to say - this is pretty damn unique and interesting stuff! Yes, every envelope is a work of art. (Here's a past example of another envelope he's sent me.) You can see more of his work at his own blog, Bobberdilly.com.

Hand-painted vinta letter

This blog-reader letter just amazed me - hand-painted stationery, right down to the lines! I left some of the text readable so you can see what she says about the design, which is that it features a vessel, from near her hometown in the Philippines, called a "vinta." I love the stylized swirly sun and clouds at the top!



She included some fossilized leaves as well. I've not seen these before, but other than for letters, I'm pretty well out of the crafty scene. In any case, they're awful pretty.

Magnificent Muppet Monsters!

Here's another fabulous letter by my favorite Muppet-artistic pen pal. (I've blogged about his previous offerings, including a Sesame Street artwork postcard and a Shockingly Muppet-licious letter.) The stationery is "Mailing the Muppets Keep-in-touch kit," released by the U.S. Postal service in conjunction with the Jim Henson/Muppets stamps in 2005.



The generally disapproving Sam the Eagle guards the back of the envelope.



Around the edges of each page, inside of each little orange square, he drew his own monster doodles...



...inspired, as he writes, by Walt Kelly, Dr. Seuss, Jim Henson, etc.

Need a closer look at those doodled dudes?



I know I do!



What a treat!

The Letter Tree

Some lovely artwork I received in a letter from an artistic pen pal. I like the idea of plucking letters from trees... It seems especially appropriate for summertime.

Dancing Lemur's letter

I was pretty taken with this artfully addressed pink envelope from the mail artist who calls herself, charmingly, Dancing Lemur...




...and I was even more charmed by the artwork!

Is this a Dancing Lemur in boogie action?