Mail Art Monday: A Three Week Surplus

What happens when I wait three weeks, rather than two, to post about mail art? I play catch up with an enormous post!

In their postbox...

Belinda received another colourful package which included art prints, stamped sheets made with cork stamps, paper ephemera, stamps, stickers and a few prints from my first arthouse sketchbook.

Catherine recently had her first child. I rifled through my collections and found a few paper bits that had images of a mother and child. I also included a few of my art prints, stickers and some Canadian stamps.

For my next package to Sarah, I changed things up a little and sent her mail art supplies along with a letter. Several sheets of colourful stickers and a few sheets of my kozo washi paper were tucked inside a handmade envelope.

Barbara has been sending me beautiful drawings of flowers and this time I returned the favour with a poppy painted using gouache on canvas paper and a columbine with watercolour. I pressed a small flower from our yard (a buttercup, perhaps?) and found a couple of flower postage stamps. I was finally able to print some of my photographs so I tucked those in along with washi paper, watercolour circles and a bumble bee sticker.

In my postbox...

Jessica's next postcard arrived along with a new set of material for my reply. Her nifty envelope included mini scrabble letters affixed near the address. I'm nearly finished her reply and should be able to send it off this week.

Jill's delightful package arrived with a bit of the ocean tucked inside. A piece of pottery with smooth corners, a full, tiny shell and pieces of another shell were all tightly wrapped inside a small envelope with a ribbon. Postcards, stamps, stickers, paper ephemera and drawings were also included. I will have to go on a beach combing trip to find a few small bits from my side of the pond for my reply.

Sarah is featured again! Her royal-themed package arrived in a flash. Upon opening the union jack envelope, I was greeted by a personalized, engraved jubilee medal. This girl is crazy generous. The whole family is a big fan of Wallace & Gromit and, frankly I'm a fan of the royals in general, so this package was an all around hit.

Gardening seems to be at a manageable level these days. I'm going to squirrel away a few hours this week to work on mail art, a new painting and a very exciting trade. What are you up to?

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Mail Art Monday: Colour and Postcards

This week had a colourful package arrive to a dear friend. My first collaborative postcard and a small surprise arrived in my mailbox.

In their postbox...

Kye received the most colourful package I could gather together. I enlisted the help of my minions children to paint some cards as a thank you for the little mail art bags that Kye sent to them. I decorated a couple of small envelopes to match and tucked then inside a larger envelope with prints, stamps and clippings.

In my postbox...

The first postcard in our new exchange arrived in an intimidating timeline. Jessica's first piece shows a masterful use of materials, balance and restraint. The words on the card read "you and I the entire species represented in paintings". Lovely, right?

Her package also included a wealth of ephemera including clippings, stickers and string for my contribution.

I have been working on her reply and it appears that I may need a few rounds to get my collage kinks out. I don't seem to have Jessica's talent for balance and restraint. The fact that it makes me a little uncomfortable is a good thing. It's a challenge and it's making me push my limits a little.

Catherine put together a delightful collection of items shortly before welcoming her first child into the world. Along with pictures of boats and sheep, she included a card with her first repeating pattern.

 
My orphaned postcard from Post Muse arrived this week to my surprise and delight. I sent her an email in September and had long since settled on my email being lost along the way. This fountain in NYC holds a special memory for my husband and I. We visited the fountain on one of our two trips to New York in the Fall. On this occasion I didn't feel like battling any crowds and we spent two glorious days walking through all of central park.

 
This next week will be a mix of mail art, scanning and mailing my Limited Edition Sketchbook, and lots of gardening, if the weather permits. What are your plans?

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Mail Art Monday: Prints and Ephemera

This week saw three packages arrive to their new homes. Two in Canada and one in the UK.

Barbara received a handmade envelope with a map of British Columbia from an old atlas. Inside she found several prints of my recent work such as my washi paper sketches and a test print of my Coneflower silhouette. Since Barbara sent me original prints and a page from her sketchbook, I sent her several small prints of my college work and dug up some college sketchbook pieces. A few clippings of gardens and flowers as well as stickers and bits of ephemera rounded out my first reply.

Barbara wrote a lovely post about my package. I'm so happy to hear how much she enjoyed my envelopes inside of envelopes.


Catherine received a letter full of Canadian ephemera. She lives in the UK and I thought she might enjoy a Sooke postcard, Canadian stamps and a cover of a Parks Canada stamp set. I also included a few prints of my recent work as well as stickers and a card.

I've mentioned this before, but I love to send Rhya random bits of ephemera to see how she might use them in her journal. This time I filled a small handmade envelope with circle punches from scrap pieces of paper around my studio as well as a few stamps and an anchor punch. Inside a robot envelope (made from an IKEA catalogue page) I put several small prints of my washi paintings and some leftover embroidery floss. A print of a colourful sketchbook page and a clipping of a gorgeous tandem bike finished off the package.

Jessica received a varied assortment of prints and clippings inside another British Columbia atlas envelope. A few of my printmaking prints from college, a skull, polar bear, cougar, Roughrider, photography and 'young loaf' clipping were included along with stamps, a washi paper heart print and a bright postcard I received from Carol Whitley.

This week should see a few more packages arriving and I'll put the finishing touches on a few more.

... J

Mail Art Monday: Astronomy and Owls

Catherine Stone may have set the record for the fastest overseas reply. I could have sworn she only just received my package when a brown envelope full of astronomy and stamp goodies arrived in my mail box. Catherine set me several beautiful stamps including a heart shape and moose, not to mention a book page with several more examples. A small sheep print, a pin and postcard were included along with several solar system clippings and cards.

Sometimes when I go through magazines there are certain things that scream out someone's name. In this case, the Canada Geese clipping jumped up and shook me while yelling "Jessica Gowling." My Mail Art mentor, Jessica, received my owl envelope this week. It was stuffed with a lure watercolour print, an owl clipping, a letter on brown paper, several magazine clippings including a t-shirt with a "F-cking Awesome" print, a circle garland and a hunk reply. I've noticed that I have several visits to my site under the "70s man hunks" search term. Whether the individual is sweetly surprised by this or disappointed is a mystery to me. Ha!

On that note, I'd love to know the strangest search term that has been used to visit your site. Let me know in the comments!!

... J

Mail Art Monday: Clothespins and Anchors

When I finished Valeria's traveling journal I decided to send it off to Kimi Kobashi. Since I was sending her the journal anyway, I felt compelled to add a few extra goodies. I drew a maple seed onto dark brown paper, using a peach coloured gel pen, a dinosaur and lily watercolour print, handmade stickers and a pretty clothespin photo postcard from Oakmoss were all nestled inside the handmade envelope. The postcard proved to be the inspiration for the staging of her post about my package.

Sumi Senthi received my bison envelope in very good time. Inside, she found a letter on brown paper, adorned with plus stamps, a watercolour tag, a circle remnants piece and a mixed bunting line full of astronomy clippings, washi tape and stickers. I also included a nude figure postcard I've had for ages, a lure print, part of a bookbinding postcard, stamps, stickers, an anchor punched paper, a clipping of a sperm whale and a 'drop your anchor, stay for awhile ' card.

When Catherine Stone requested mail art partners recently, I quickly took her up on her offer. For our first exchange I decorated a sheep envelope and stuffed it with a camera, lily and ship print, stickers, stamps, paper ephemera and a letter on brown paper, stamped with pluses.