Hello darling!

I took this photo of a glittery rose sticker on the back of a pink envelope with a scalloped flap (from the French Kitty Breakfast at Tiffany's correspondence set) just because I liked the way it looked.

And I hoped it would be a very cheery thing for the recipient to pull out of her mailbox.

Happy time handmade postcard

I got assigned a rare Postcrosser who likes handmade postcards, conveniently at a time when I could actually make a postcard - so I broke out some rubber stamps and stickers for US-1248400 to Australia. I got a kick out of making this one. The mangled English stamp reads "Happy Time: flowing of waited interval is itself time." Deep.

Unicorn postcard swap update

Remember my Unicorn postcard swap? This is what I sent. I jazzed up the back because I know the recipient, and she really likes rainbows, too - so I tried to incorporate those on the stamps. And of course, glitter and stickers. The silver borders were made using silver washi tape.



I did indeed use this fabulous rainbow unicorn postcards by Pagey on etsy for the swap.

Hope everyone else who participated loved their unicorns! I got a really perfect unicorn postcard for the swap, myself, but of course forgot to scan or photograph it.

Red + black&white washi tape

I'm really into washi tape lately! Washi tape, for the uninitiated, is decorative Japanese masking/paper tape. You can just tear it with your hands, you don't need scissors, and it's really easy to handle. You can even remove it and replace it, and the variety of designs is really lovely. I myself am partial to the black and white patterns, but there's a lot of different options out there. I get my washi tape from Pretty Tape on etsy. I also used an official Letter Writers Alliance mailing label, but I can't link to it directly because it's a members-only purchase. (Go join!) Oh yes, and some cute cat stickers and a little sparkle-pen embellishment.



I sealed it with a sticker from Glitter Old-Time Cats and Kittens sticker book, which is full of weird gems like this one.

I've blogged a lot about postcards lately - and while it's true I've been doing more postcards than ever, I still write lots of letters, too! (It was high time for this letter post.) For a little statistics break - I don't post my sent stats regularly any more, but I still keep them for myself - June was an unusually post-ful month. I sent 104 postcards and 48 letters.

Happy summer mailing, everyone!

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...

Handmade from Sweden with cats

The same Swedish pen pal who sent me the fabulous Swedish postal museum postcard also sent me this handmade card. The textures, layers, and glitter are lovely, but I think the cat stamps are my favorite part!



Here's a closer look at those awesome stamps.

My name in sparkly red letters

This fine handmade envelope came from the lovely Zoë. I am so taken with those sparkly, puffy red letters! They were sticking on very well, and must be low-profile enough not to cause problems in any sorting machines. I was a bit surprised they came through so unscathed, because they definitely have a texture that sticks up from the envelope.



Zoë made this envelope herself, and she has become quite the devotee of making her own envelopes: she even has a fairly new etsy shop, strandedhero, where she sells her handmade envelopes and photo postcards.

A Very Special Giveaway: rubber stamps and glitter pens

Update: congratulations to Sirpa, winner of this giveaway!



Next in the June blog giveaway extravaganza is a variety of letter embellishment tools: rubber stamps and glitter pens.

Now, before I even go into detail about these items, let me first say why this is a very special, and a very unorthodox, giveaway: this one is just for my blog reader letter writers. I know I'm going to get some flak for this (and if you'd like to share your flak, please comment on this post and not here), but I always think, when drawing a giveaway, "ooh, I wish this could go to X," and X is inevitably one of my pen pals who's entered the giveaway. So the rule for who's eligible for this one is pretty simple: you must have written me at least one letter or postcard in the past, and I must remember you. It's my blog, I make the rules, and I want these special items to go to someone who I know is a letter writer, and this is the best way I know. No good if you send me something this week - I have to have received it before this post has been published. I don't think that's a super big deal, because the majority of my readers and regular commenters (and participants in giveaways) fall into this category anyway, but there's my reasoning and I'm gonna stand by it.

Okay, on to the goodies!



I confess that I opened the glitter pens package, but only to test the pens and make sure they all work. They do. They're pretty sparkly. They're nothing fancy, I can't guarantee they'll work for ages, but you'll get a variety of glittery gel colors out of 'em.



These are 4 brand-new leaf stamps, still in the package with cellophane. (I didn't open these to see if they work.) I won them in an eBay lot with other stamps. I would probably enjoy using these, but I am out of storage space for my stamps, and I've got to get rid of some of them, so the ones I use the least are going - the ones in this giveaway. They should go to someone who would use them, rather than sitting at the bottom of my stamp drawer.



This is a huuuuuuuge frame stamp, great for bordering envelopes. It's actually bigger than many of my envelopes, but works great for a standard-size greeting card. Yes, the top is stained from other stamps being on top of it, but it still prints a fine impression.



This is a smaller frame stamp, and I admit that when I bought it, I hadn't made out the design, and thought it was to be used horizontally, like for a return address. But then I got it home and figured out that the dark patch on the left is actually a person, looking down. It's clearer on the stamp impressions than on the artwork here.



Here's the back of that frame stamp, where you can see the etching of the person a little more clearly (I hope).



And here's a little Art Nouveau corner stamp. It bugs me because it's not a perfect 90-degree corner, and the rubber stamp isn't quite mounted perfectly to line up with the artwork on top. If you're a good stamper, that probably won't be an issue for you, and if you're not so anal about lines as I am, you won't mind that it's not a perfect 90-degree angle within the stamp.

So there are the goodies! And now, on to...

THE INEVITABLE RULES!

1. HOW: To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post. One comment/entry per person, please.

2. WHO: As stated above, this one's funky: you must have written me at least one letter or postcard before. I will approve anonymous comments as long as it's clear to me who you are. If you have a blogger profile name and I might not associate that with your letter-writing name, please make that clear, too. One presumes if I've had a letter from you in the past, I'll know how to contact you, but I have been known to lose addresses... if you are in doubt, leave an email address or link a blog where I can comment. I will NOT approve comments from anyone I don't recognize, so if you keep trying to comment and it's not showing up (remember that I have to approve comments anyway, so wait a day to see if it shows up), that means I must not recognize you, and either you're ineligible, or I need some clarification.

3. WHERE: Anywhere on earth, as long as you meet the requirements in #2!

4. WHEN: The deadline for comments/entries is 11:59pm (Eastern Standard/NYC time) on Monday, June 21. I will choose and announce the random winner on Tuesday, June 22.

Good luck!

April Benevolent Postcard Society offering

This was my final item sent in the Benevolent Postcard Society project. I sent 8 - one each month, dutifully sent on or very close to - the first of the month, and was supposed to receive one each month, too, but I have only received 3. I suppose April's could still yet come. In May the organizer suspended for a month to re-evaluate membership, and I decided not to continue. I had requested for months that a reminder that the postcard should be marked Benevolent Postcard Society (or BPS) be included with the address info email each month, but that didn't happen. I suppose I could have received more BPS postcards, and would not have known, if they hadn't been designated as such - I get a lot of postcards and all.

Anyhoo, I had fun with this one. I used a vintage cat postcard that a pen pal had sent, and altered it with some glitter, metallic gel pen ink and rubber stamps.



Perhaps you can see the glitter, and the blue metallic gel pen ink making the kitty eyes sparkly blue, a little better in this ultra-bright-sunlight shot.

Ice cream valentine

This February blog reader letter included some great paper and mail art, a lovely little letter, and even a handmade valentine!



The silver feather card really captured my fancy, and she also included a handmade Edward Gorey bookmark. The smaller envelope sealed by the rose sticker is the valentine.



Here's another view of the contents, where you can see the front of the valentine.



More valentine, complete with - ooh la la - red glitter!

Elvis-worthy snazz

I jazzed up this already cool envelope from the Hammerpress Notecard Book (currently out of stock at Chronicle Books) with a little bit of mail-artsyness.

The silver border was already on the brown paper envelope, but I added some bling with Stickles glitter glue and a fountain pen rubber stamp. I thought the Elvis and Okefenokee swamp stamps went nicely together, too.

Dunno why I really love brown paper envelopes, but I do... Oh, and incidentally, the little blog icon (whatsitcalled, a favicon?) for my blog is taken from the back of one of these brown paper envelopes.

A pretty package

Here's another recent use of the lace deco tape I got from orientalflea on etsy. This here is the silver glitter installment, which I foresee using even more than the rest. It was the first one that merited an "ooh, must have that" thought when I saw it. Oh yes, and this silver-outlined-in-purple writing on the package came from this Pentel deco outline marker. Fun stuff.



Gotta love how a slight change in angle will totally change the glitter of the bling. You can see that this is a larger version of the lady cat sticker I got from Janetstore that I featured in a blog entry last week; the stickers come in a bunch of different sizes on one sheet.



I love this sassy winkin' kitty. I took these closer photographs so you can get a better look at the design of the deco tape, too.



Here's the bottom bling.

The package's lovely recipient blogged about it recently, so you can get some more views of it (and of the contents, which I did not photograph but probably should have) there.

Gorey glitter fairy envelope

I got some brown paper envelopes to go with my moo.com photo postcards, and I really dig the look. This one got some decorative touches from my Edward Gorey rubber stamps, a Stickles glitter glue dot border, and Glimmer Mist glitter spray. Above is the photo taken without a flash...



... and here's a photo with the flash. I think I prefer without, but that glitter can be mighty persnickety to photograph well.

Incidentally, I realize my blog postings have been very heavy on the received and lacking on the sent, so I'm trying to even that out.

Metallic ink powder calligraphy on black paper

One of my pen pals is an artist who writes every letter in calligraphy with a flexible-nib dip pen. She often uses these marvelous metallic powders (dip pens only, not for use in fountain pens) for sparkly flair.

After a conversation on The Fountain Pen Network (FPN), she sent me this letter, which was even more a work of art than usual!



The theme at the time, of course, was Halloween - I love the artistic embellishments!



I'll end with two different views of the same section, so you can see the different sparkles and the orange undertones of the metallic powders (I hope).



And in case you're wondering... NO, I can't do this myself! :-)

Bejeweled princess kitty postcard

Yes, Virginia, you CAN get pen pals from Postcrossing! This fantastic postcard came from a German postcrosser with whom I've struck up a correspondence, and she sends me AWESOME postcards like this one. I love the photo of the crowned woman with her white kitty, and it's made even better by this sparkly ornate frame.



AND, how awesome is this postage?? I had to include the wide shot because the train station is so lovely and evocative...



...but THIS stamp has to be one of my favorites ever! Happy lady cradling her mail! Love it! Does anyone know a little more about this stamp? I am just ever so fond of it. The caption, "...Post...Post...Post.." evokes that happy-mail feeling for me.

UPDATE: The sender read my post and provided further info!
"The stamp is one from a series of a total of four stamps that German Post issued in 2007 to promote the advantages and joys of letter writing in our modern times. Below you can see the other three stamps. [She embedded the images in an email and I was unable to lift them for you here, sorry folks.] The one on your postcard is called “Recipient” and the ones below, from left to right, “Mailman”, “Mailbox”and “Sender”... put in the correct order they are supposed to show the way of a letter from being written, posted, delivered to being read."

So cool!

Anachronism mail art swap

Sometimes it's fun to decorate an envelope with a theme. The Anachronism Mail Art Envelope Swap on Swap-Bot seemed right up my alley, and here you see my creation. It seems a lot of my rubber stamps already fit this theme, and of course I tried to use postage stamps to fit the theme, as well. I colored the typing lady's fingernails with red glitter glue for a bit of bling.



On the back, a vintage air mail label and some more fun stamps. For reasons I can't even explain, I think this carriage scene looks like a fairy tale.

It's ironic, this Swap-Bot thing. I really, really spent a lot of time on this envelope, which I thought was pretty fantastic, but the recipient did not give me a heart. I don't expect hearts, but I get them for something as silly as a simple postcard. Hmm.

This is why I've decided I'd rather spend time away from Swap-Bot, but it's still a fun diversion. And I get to share the pretty mail with you. :-)

Fishing for letters?

A pen pal sent me this fun "A Jolly Halloween" postcard (yes, she did send it in time for Halloween, so you see how behind I am with blogging as well as letter-writing). What is the little witch doing? Is she pulling letters out of the pumpkin, or putting them in?



This was a mistake shot with the flash, but I'm posting it anyway because it really shows off the glitter accents.

Hand-painted peacock stationery

The amazing artist over at All My Hues has done it again - she sent me this gorgeous hand-painted peacock stationery!



See the gold glitter in its tail? Isn't it AWESOME??



I just had to do a close-up on that glitter because I love it so much.



I'm very fond of peacocks, and this is one of the finest representations I've seen. I'm so floored that it was painted just for me! She blogged about it in detail when she made it, in case you'd like to learn more about all the wonderful materials she used; I'm not an artist, but I do know she did this on Crane paper.

I am SO honored to receive this gorgeous work of art - and she wrote a really great letter around it, too!