ATC Swap

I'm getting ready to send off my mixed media ATCs for the swap over at Mail Me Some Art.

Since October is my very favorite month and Halloween my favorite holiday, how could I resist?

It's not too late for you to join in the fun...

Mail Art Swap

Getting my postcards ready to mail for the first swap I've done in AGES.  I'm so happy to be back into it - just another of the many perks of retirement. This swap challenge is to use paint chips (those free color sample cards you get at paint departments) on your postcards.  I'm sure that the folks at my local Home Depot now have me on a watch list because I went in the other day and literally took a huge handful. Better not go back there for a while...

If you'd like to participate in mail art swaps, check out Karen Isaacson's  blog, Mail Me Some Art
She does an amazing job of hosting LOTS of swaps!

I'm Back!

Yes, after an inordinately long hiatus, I have returned to Blog-land. So many things have happened since my last post (over a year ago!) that I'm not sure where to begin.  I guess the biggest and most wonderful news is that my husband and I retired from teaching in June. He taught for 20 years and I survived taught for 24. No, we do not miss it. Yes, we are enjoying our freedom. No, we're not bored. In fact, I'm busier now than I was when I was teaching. I understand this is a common condition among the retired. Yes, we are very blessed to have been able to retire early and I thank the gods daily for it, especially each morning when we have our leisurely coffee in the front yard (also known as "the morning room") and the rest of the world is racing around getting to work.

One of my longstanding whiny refrains has been "Working cramps my style. I don't have time to work on my art..." Now that I HAVE time, I figured I'd better stop whining and start creating.  So I am pleased to announce the opening of my Zibbet shop! Some of you may not be familiar with Zibbet. It's much like Etsy, but I find them a bit friendlier to use. At present, I'm focusing on upcycled/repurposed stationery and mail art and have already made a sale! Stop by for a visit, when you have the chance: Enveloped In Art. Here are a few examples of what you'll find:

Halloween envelopes

Kokopelli postcard

Winter Trees postcard

Autumn Stationery Packet

Halloween Stationery packet

There's been a definite learning curve involved in the computer part of this.  I must say that I find the art part much more engaging! But, I'm determined to become part of the 21st century and find my way around technology. At least enough to get my work out there. I suspect it takes me three times longer than it would someone who knows what she's doing.  So much of my life is trial and error...

There are other adventures going on around here (like reworking our city plot of land into a permaculture homestead - click on this link to see some folks who are my heroes and role models), but they will have to wait for another post!

Upcycled Envelopes, or Art Materials in Your Mailbox!

I love to write letters.  And I love to make art.  This project combines the two, plus adds a little bit of sustainability, which is the whipped cream and cherry on top.  You know all that junk mail you still get, even though you've put yourself on every "Do Not Mail" list in existence?  Well, this is where the free art supplies come in.  Don't just throw that junk mail away - open it up and pull out any return envelopes they may have sent (and any plastic "pretend" credit cards).  Keep those and put the rest of that mess through your shredder.  On your next trip to the compost pile, dump in all that shredded junk mail because it adds "brown" or dry material to your pile.  This is helpful to us because there aren't a lot of leaves in the Mojave Desert.

Now, here's what you need for this mini-project:

Unused return envelopes; acrylic paint - any kind, cheap stuff from Michael's or JoAnn's is fine; an old credit card or gift card; rubber stamps, a stamp pad (I use black because it shows up better through the layers of paint).  Oops! not shown: some bubble wrap, a brayer and/or a piece of sponge. These are optional.  You DON'T need a bowl of walnuts or a nutcracker.  Unless you get hungry.

Step 1:

 Begin by putting two small drops of paint on the front of your envelope.  Make sure they're small, or you'll get paint all over.  You can always add more. And if you have too much, you can put it on another envelope that's close, so really, no worries.






Next, use that old credit card/gift card to scrape the paint over the front of the envelope.

They are THE BEST paint applicators I know of.  Plus, when you reuse them you're keeping stuff out of the landfill.  You don't have to use two colors at the same time; you could apply one,

 let it dry, then apply a second color:

Be sure to do the fronts and backs.

Now eat a couple of those walnuts while you're waiting for your envelopes to dry...

After they're dry, stamp random patterns all over the front and back of your envelopes.

Your envelopes are beautiful and could be used right now.  All you need to do is add a label for the address and it's good to go.  BUT if you want to add a little extra pizazz, here's the optional step:

Using a contrasting color (I like metallics, but I'm just that kind of bear), brayer a little paint onto the bumpy side of the bubble wrap.

And press it randomly over your envelope.

Or, if you'd rather use a sponge, tap it into the paint and gently tap over your envelope however you please.

And there you are.  Welcome to mail art!.  Now, clean up your workspace and go write some letters...

This post has been linked to Homemade Mondays.  Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways

What I did this weekend...

Spooky tree ATCs

Spooky tree envelopes

Announcing: A New Page

Hi, all -
After looking at my poor, neglected mail art blog, I decided to just get rid of that blog and create a new mail art page on this blog.  I figure that if it's on my regular blog, I might be better about posting things.  This is the idea, however optimistic it may seem.  I will try to do better.  Anyway, on this page you will find pictures of cool mail art I receive and cool mail art I make.  And anything else I think is interesting and pertains to snail mail.  So don't forget to check it every now and then if this is something that interests you, OK?  The tab is at the top and says "Mail Art".  If you can think of a better name, let me know...

New Classes for January

I thought I'd post my new schedule of classes, just in case any of you are in the neighborhood this month!

Sunday 1/8:  Altered Books - Puzzle Board Books, part 1
Using a variety of mixed media, students will alter board books which contain puzzles.  All materials supplied, however, if you have ephemera you would like to use, by all means bring it.  1-4 p.m. $35 

Sunday 1/15: Altered Books - Puzzle Board Books, part 2Using a variety of mixed media, students will continue/finish altering board books which contain puzzles.  All materials supplied, however, if you have ephemera you would like to use, by all means bring it.  1-4 p.m. $35

Sunday 1/22: Upcycled Art JournalHave you ever wanted to create an art journal, but felt intimidated by the blank page?  Fear no more, because we'll be making   these journals from old magazines.  This is the first in a series of workshops where you'll learn a variety of techniques using mixed media to create your own visual art journal.  All materials are supplied.  1-3 p.m. $25

Sunday 1/29:  Mixed Media Valentine
Use paper, paint, fiber and a variety of embellishments to create a one-of-a-kind tag card and slipcover "envelope".  All materials supplied.  1-3p.m. $25

Tuesday 1/17:  Mail Art:  Envelopes
Learn to make several kinds of envelopes of different shapes and sizes using a variety of media.  All materials supplied.  5:30-8:30 p.m.  $35

Tuesday 1/24:  Mail Art:  Postcards
Use a variety of mixed media techniques to make several different postcards.  All materials supplied.  5:30-8:30 p.m.  $35

Tuesday 1/31:  Mail Art:  Tiny Treasures - Inchies, ATCs, Tags and Bookmarks
Use a variety of mixed media techniques to make miniature works of art that you can send through the mail.  All materials supplied.  5:30-8:30 p.m.  $35

Tiny Treasures Class

Here are some pictures of the beautiful creations from my latest mail art class:

This is a background for a series of autumn-inspired ATCs I'm working on (watercolor).

Here are some lovely ATCs in progress by the women who attended.

These are inchies done on black paper with metallic gel pens.  Quick fun.  Other things not captured on camera (because we were too busy laughing and talking and creating AND I didn't think about it until too late!) were bookmarks and watercolor inchies and ATCs.  As usual, I overplanned and we didn't get to finish everything, but I think a good time was had by all.

In January, I'll be repeating this series, probably on Wednesday evenings and will be doing an Altered Book series on Sunday afternoons.  I'd  love to see you there!

More from the Mail Art Class

Just a quick post to show off some wonderful postcards made by the artists who attended last week's mail art class.  Tomorrow we'll be creating inchies, ATCs, bookmarks, and tags.  Now I'm off to finish the examples for tomorrow's class. 

Am I ever going to have time to decorate for the holidays???

Snowy Night Envelopes

Here is one of my completed envelopes.  The color is kind of wonky, but you get the idea.  Going down to 29 degrees tonight.  Wishing for snow...

Mail Art Class

My first class this past Sunday went so well.  I had three students and we spent the afternoon creating some beautiful envelopes.  Below, you can see the back of one of Sara's envelopes:

I wish I'd taken more pictures, because the ladies who participated made lovely work.  But we were so busy creating that I didn't think about the camera until it was too late.  Those three hours flew by.  Just a reminder to anyone in the Las Vegas area that this coming Sunday we'll be making post cards.  I'd love to see you there!

A New Adventure

Well here's a cautionary tale about being careful of what you ask for...for quite a while now, I've been thinking that I'd like to try my hand at teaching art workshops to adults (read as:  people who want to be there, not a captive audience).  A few weeks ago, I mentioned this to a friend and it seems like the universe just took me at my word because last week there was a call for teachers at a local gallery (CITY OF THE WORLD in the arts district here in Las Vegas).  I spoke with Roz Knight (an amazing artistic force in this city) and within minutes I found myself "signed up" to teach classes there!  I'm excited and slightly terrified as I begin preparing for three 3-hour workshops to be held on the first three Sundays of December.  We'll be doing "Mail Art".  Each session will consist of different techniques and ideas.  I finished a couple of flyers and will begin hanging/handing them out this weekend.  Woo-hoo!  Hopefully people will show up...