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.

Handmade, hand-sewn card

This beautiful handmade card came to me from Henderica of Letters to a Vixen. The layers are quite intricate, I believe done with spots of glue, and the cut paper images (of course I love the cat in the window) are perfectly lined up.



And check out that stitching! I've said it before and I'll say it again, I do not sew at all, so this is a marvel to me. The thread is multicolored, and the paper is sort of opalescent. A beautiful offering, and I felt spoiled to receive it.

Update on Walltype

A couple weeks ago I blogged about a new postcard exchange site I'd just discovered, Walltype. I thought I'd follow up and share my experiences of the past couple weeks with you.

I've sent 11 postcards through Walltype since I joined on June 19, and have received 8. I have every reason to believe I'll get a postcard for the last 3 I've sent, since some are inevitably coming from foreign users whose postcards will take longer to travel.

One factor is that it seems to be a very small group of users who participates regularly, nothing like Sendsomething.net or of course Postcrossing and Swap-bot, but to balance that out, I'll note that nearly everyone I've encountered there is dedicated and considerate. They really will read your profile, and most have sent me something really great and interesting. Unlike many Postcrossing users, they're also game to write a fair good bit on the back of the postcard. And it seems a lot of people have joined lately, so the more people that get active there, the more variety there is among senders.

I really only have two complaints:
*The character limit on profiles is severe. It's hard to write much. Most people link to their Postcrossing or Swap-bot profiles, and that's where I find real information about their likes and dislikes. The profiles allowed on Walltype really are super-tiny. But, as I said, you can link elsewhere for more info.
*The "contact us" page says "We try to read all messages same day," and maybe they do, but they don't bother to respond. I sent a couple of questions and comments to the site admin(s), and still haven't heard a word back. So prepare yourself to be in a fairly unmoderated database system. (Or the mods are having email/contact trouble and don't know about it.)

The postcard I used as an image for this post is one I made, for someone who really likes handmade postcards. I don't tend to make my own postcards, but sometimes it's fun when I'm in the mood, and I had fun with this one. (I hope rubber-stamping and a bit of coloring makes it hand-made!) The recipient is someone I'd happened to swap with recently on Swap-bot as well, so it was amusing to encounter her in two different realms like that.

So there's my Walltype wrap-up. My verdict? I enjoy it and will continue to send postcards there from time to time.

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!

Edward Gorey smorgasbord

A blog reader sent me this wonderful array of Edward Gorey mail art. The envelope is decorated with Gorey illustrations, and she included handmade Gorey cards with handmade Gorey envelopes. What a treat!

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.

Meta-mail post stamps

Just a closer look at the fabulous hand-carved stamps from DumpsterDiver, included on the card in this previously-blogged-about Tin of Wonders. I think the red and blue ink make a nice touch.

I love the mailbox so much!!

Troll Envelope: Making a handmade envelope

Welcome to my most photo-heavy post ever! (I think. 12 photos. I didn't really count past photo stats on posts, it just feels like the biggest.) This will serve as a report and review of my fun new products from Paper Source:
Envelope Template Kit
6" bone folder
Lick & Stick Envelope Glue

So yesterday I posted about this wonderful mail art that I received. That, too was a photo-heavy post, and at the end I promised to show you today what I sent in response. Of course I had to send something I made myself, it had to be some sort of mail art, so this seemed the perfect opportunity to really dig in with the items from my recent PaperSource order.



Here we see the envelope template centered on the page of a children's book (Favorite Tales of Monsters and Trolls by George Jonsen - this is the troll under the bridge in The 3 Billy Goats Gruff). I will note that I deliberated over this template kit for a long time - some people are really crafty but I'm not one of them, and I need all the help I can get. What really sold me was the fact that you can see through the firm plastic, so you know exactly where you want to center it, and the long holes are places where you can use the bone folder to score for folding. This kit is really, really handy. I will just say right now that I love it.

So in this case I wanted to make sure that the troll's face showed up on the front of the envelope, and that the awesome bird on his hat came out on the back flap. This template is just a wee bit bigger than the page (and it's the smallest one in the kit), but it's okay that it overlaps the page in a couple of places - those irregularities will be totally covered by the folds. My spatial-reasoning challenged brain would not have known this without the aid of the template.



Here we see the page, the template and the bonefolder. I traced around the edge of the template with a pencil, and used the pointed end of the bonefolder to score the page. (That means to put little indentations in it that aid in the folding of the envelope.) Sorry about all the shadows from my windowpanes - it was a directly sunny day, and they couldn't be avoided.



Now I understand why people have craft mats - the bonefolder actually made marks in my table. Good thing we don't really care! It's already got cat claw marks, ink spots, and all kinds of other marks of our lives. But I shall be a little more careful with the bonefolder in the future, and maybe put something underneath it when I am using it to score.



I figure the cutting part is pretty obvious - just cut along the lines traced from the edge of the template - so here we get to the folding part. I didn't photograph it in action, but you can also use the bonefolder to get really sharp creases on the folds. Trust me, it works better than a finger, and even better than the side of my letter opener, which is what I had used previously for such a purpose. So here is the partially folded envelope...



...and more folds, pre-glue. I did not photograph the glue process, but let me just say that the Lick & Stick glue is probably the best value. It's only a couple of bucks, and that stuff is glorious. You can use it wet as normal glue, of course, but you can also let it dry so that you can lick and seal the envelopes later. This is fantastic if you are making your envelopes ahead of time, before you are sealing them, or of course if you are making them to give away or sell. I have heard tell that you can mix up your own solution for this sort of thing, but again, that's not my temperament. The Lick & Stick is easy to apply, with a spongy applicator, and I've found it's also good for reinforcing the glue on vintage stamps. Hooray for Lick & Stick!



Here's the front, before the final fold. I just so dig that bird on top of the troll's hat.



Here's the back, when the envelope itself has been glued together but the flap hasn't been sealed.



I didn't photograph it before I cut it, but one of the strips from the page I used for the envelope had this really cute scene on it, and it was cut away from the final envelope. I decided to cut it out and glue it on a piece of paper (yay Lick & Stick!), so the "stationery" matches the envelope. You can also see my morning cup of coffee there in the sunshine.



Here's a closer look at that little scene glued to the paper.



And finally, the finished product! Here's the back...



...and here's the front!

All things considered, I am really happy with these PaperSource purchases, and I'm sure they'll see a lot of action. The Envelope Template Kit has a great video that demonstrates their use; though it is a bit annoying to watch, it is useful. It has templates for 4bar, A2, A6, A7, and 5 3/4" square envelopes.

I hope you enjoyed the heavy documentation of my creation, and found the info useful - zowie was this an intense post to write! But good mail is worth it.

I Heart Mail Art: a mini-book

This is gonna be one heck of a photo-heavy post, folks. I just can't show off this beauty, from "Canadian artista extraordinaire" Jennlui, without showing you every little bit.

Of course, as seen above, the envelope is handmade, and includes but a small note. ("Welcome to the IUOMA" references my fairly recent membership in the International Union of Mail Artists.) We will forgive the multiple-produced (I doubt it's mass-produced, really) nature of the mini-book and the paucity of the personalization of the note, simply because it's so damn groovy.



Okay, here's the book! I Heart Mail Art! Hooray! It is a specially folded color photocopy with inserts, a really fabulous construction. I guess it's sorta like a zine that way. Let's turn through every page of this lovely item, shall we?



I love mail art because... fill in the polka dots.



This is especially squee - the little Top Secret envelope included the artistamps shown below.



Here's a closer look at that page...



...and a closer look at the little enclosures in said envelope. The bottom one is a little business card that references her mail art blog, From the letter love files.



The golden rule of mail: send mail to get mail!



Finally, here's the back of the booklet, with her address carefully noted. I ADORE this vintage postman, and if he is available as a rubber stamp, I MUST know where to find him. I am really, really coveting that image.

So that's the mini-book - wow! It was such a joy. I forgot to photograph how it came in its own little envelope, too. It was like a gift.

In my next post, I'll showcase what I sent back!

Handmade meta letter envelope

I made this envelope for Carolee, one of the fabulous authors of Good Mail Day, in response to one of her lovely notes. I found this page in an old book about how things work - this page came from the section on how a letter gets mailed. I loved the fountain pen, of course.



I still feel like such a beginner at making my own envelopes, but it's a lot of fun!

Catnip postcard for my cats

A wonderful, astute new blog reader send me this absolutely fabulous postcard for my cats! It is a handmade wonder "From Dr Purrington's Cat Toy Laboratory." This catnip-infused postcard has a catnip-infused piece of red yarn sticking out of it. That's what's underneath the piece of tape with the little paw/yarn drawing on it.



I don't know which I love more, the fact that his cats sent it to my cats, or that his cats are named Fleabane and Danderfluff. Best cat names EVER!



Some of my correspondents who read my blog mention that they didn't even know I HAD a tabby cat named Magic, because she appears on this blog the least. She is rather shy, and she also does not insert herself into my letter-writing process as Soda and Memo often do. So it was great that Magic was the first one to approach this postcard. (Her track record as a total catnip addict helps. I'm sure she smelled this one coming.)



I made a whole photo set of her first encounter with this postcard because the series of shots is just so darn cute, but I had to post the two cutest ones here. Dr. Purrington, your postcard has generated much feline fun in this household!

Long handmade envelope + ostrich

Here's another fantastic handmade envelope from a blog reader. I like the floral background with the address name right at the bottom in a skinny strip. It arrived totally intact, though I got another handmade envelope in the mail today, also made from the pages of a magazine, that was not at all intact. One never knows if magazine pages will survive the mail or not, I suppose. Anyhoo, I am totally in love with this ostrich sticker!



My favorite part of the back is the quote: "the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." I know I've heard this before, but I'm not sure who said it. I bet one of my readers will know.

Handmade condolence card

This lovely handmade condolence card came from a blog reader, now correspondent. It was really touching.

I am always impressed by handmade cards. You can't really see in this photo (how many times do I say that??) but the envelope is sort of opalescent.

Strong coffee, strong hairspray

This lovely handmade card and envelope set came to me from PostMuse. The envelope is a larger version of the little lady on the card, who says "I am only as strong as the coffee I drink and the hairspray I use."

Reader letter with handmade card

A couple weeks ago I posted photos of this lovely blog reader letter with a handmade envelope featuring a summer porch scene.

I didn't do justice to this post, because I took those particular photos before I even opened the letter. When I opened it and responded, I took the photo above: she also enclosed her own handmade card and envelope, for me to use! It features this embossed beehive stamp. What a lovely treat! Of course I wrote her back on that sweet card.

Handmade envelopes aplenty!

Apparently my post on my own handmade envelope has inspired a slew of blog readers to send me theirs, with letters, too - what a treat!



This one is from someone who really has a quality template: dig those folds and classy corners! Much better than my own "just tape it on the sides" method.

Hand-bordered paper

More from one of my very artistic correspondents who always makes her own cards or stationery. I love the borders. This makes use of a great pattern stamp, and the crow at the top is a marvelous touch.



I still can't believe she does this with a ball-point pen. I'm having artistic envy.