Mail Art Monday: Autumn Edition

Did September and October run past you as well? Mine ran past in a screaming blur of school, birthday parties and yard work. Here's what's been arriving in my postbox over the last few months.

In my postbox...

Dana also returned to mail art with a lovely Bert's Bees envelope stuffed full of nautical inspired goodies as well as items with watercolour washes. I am completely smitten with her recent photos of the Praying Mantis on her Echinacea. Aren't they amazing?!

Sarah has a knack for making small envelopes full of interesting ephemera. Her Daffodil drawing was an instant hit for me and the Aurora stickers were quickly confiscated by a certain princess obsessed wee little.

I was in a state of serious Olympic withdrawal when Jill's delightful package arrived and satisfied my British cravings. We are a Lego obsessed house and Jill sent us a Mr Bob Lego. Now I just have to think of an interesting photo shoot for this little guy.

Jessica continued our postcard exchange with an island predator scene. An interesting selection of new material for my turn was included along with some cool stickers and a clipping about my town.

I have several packages on their way to my friends and I'm putting the final touches on a couple more.  The next mail art post should be all about the happy mailboxes across the country and across the ocean.

jeannine

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Mail Art Monday: Summer Edition

I looked back on my last post and could barely believe that well over a month has past since I last wrote about mail art. What can I say other than the lure of warm weather and time spent in my garden or around beaches took me far away from my computer most days.

In their postbox...

Jill had sent me a few pieces from her side of the ocean and so I sent her pieces of my garden in return. I also tucked in a few pictures from my region along with paper a postcard and a few more lovely chickens.

Sarah received a few photos from my visits (or time living in) BC, Nova Scotia & Ontario along with a few Canadian stamps. A petal from my garden, watercolour pieces and handmade stickers were tucked inside with a local postcard.

I returned Belinda's watercolour card with my fish drawings. The white circles reminded me of bubbles and so a few goldfish popped into mind when I started sketching. I returned the favour with a watercolour sheet of my own along with some handmade stickers, petals, a butterfly sticker and the twenty cents I owed her son for his lovely drawing.

Thankfully, the postcard I made for Jessica turned up while she was unpacking after her recent move.
This time I drew a fan on a scrap of paper and cut triangles out of the paper she supplied to create a colourful breeze cooling the air.

In my postbox...

Barbara spoiled me rotten with two lovely packages this summer. The first was sent during her summer holiday and included a sketch, a gorgeous flower photo, British Columbia paper clippings and the most delightful sprout bookmarks.

Barbara's second amazing package was all about waffles! My family has a tradition of having homemade waffles every Saturday morning. Not only did she create an adorable waffle pop-out illustration with a my very own logo, she went so far as to show me pictures of her own waffles... that she used for printmaking! I'm also assuming she saved some to eat.

Kimi sent me pieces of the Arthouse Sketchbook tour to me with her latest package. She was kind enough to check out my sketchbook while she was visiting (and nicking their paper ephemera for me). A print of a recent colourful and happy painting as well as a clipping of a sweet anchor dress were also included. If I ever came across this dress, I'd have a hard time passing it up!

I'm hoping that I'll post about mail art a little more often than seasonally in the coming months. The idea of spending a few hours tucked in my studio on a cool rainy day sounds like the perfect fall day.

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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: Chickens and Vintage Paper

I had two outstanding packages that I have a hunch have arrived but don't know for certain. I'm taking a chance and posting about them this week. Apologies if they are a spoiler.

In their postbox...

Jill sent me an original painting of a chicken so I returned the favour with a clipping I found in National Geographic. Along with the clipping, I included a vintage camera picture with  many circles snapshots. A silhouette postcard, a grasshopper print as well as a local postcard were tucked inside a handmade number envelope. A pile of star stickers and a few pieces of washi paper finished off the package. Jill had sent me some lovely handmade watercolour paper and so I sent her some of the washi paper I've been using lately. I've used her paper for a 4x6 exchange, which I'll be sharing soon.

Jessica recently moved from Australia to America and I'm hoping my package arrived before the trek. Inside the shell envelope I included a sailboat watercolour print, many bits of paper ephemera and a few stamps.

In my postbox...

Belinda's package arrived in another beautiful see-through envelope. A letter was written on vintage onion paper. A slight diversion, if you will. She mentioned that the paper was from the 80s and I, being born in the late 70s and a child of the 80s, have a hard time reconciling that 80s items are considered vintage. That means I'M VINTAGE!! Anyhoo... focus, Jeannine! Belinda's love of colour was apparent in each item she selected. It was a cloudy day when this arrived and my spirits were lifted to see so much happy, bright colours grouped together.

I have put aside my mail art making for the last few weeks in order to concentrate on finishing up my Arthouse Limited Edition Sketchbook. I also signed up for the Map Project. Both are due to mail by the end of April and neither are done. In fact, one isn't even started. Eeps! I should be able to squeeze in a week of mail art before I panic over arthouse... maybe.

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Mail Art Monday: Postcards and Paper

Mail art packages arrived this week from two very generous artist. A gorgeous vintage nautical postcard and handmade watercolour paper made me extra happy on my birthday week.

Carol Whitley wrapped her amazing package with a beach scene on one side and a sailing ship on the other. Inside, I found another tropic clipping and several pages of a photocopied vintage bee story with a simple and beautiful illustration. There were also many wonderful bits of paper including flower patterns, a music sheet and what I think is some handmade paper. There were several postcards including an art card and two ship postcards. The silver one is an antique. It looks as though it was mailed (there's a 1 cent, cancelled stamp on the back) but there isn't a written message. A dragonfly artist's trading card was included. I can't recall if I ever mentioned my special connection to dragonflies. My wedding ceremony was outdoors and during the vows a very large dragonfly perched on my arm for a few seconds. I've since learned that they are a symbol of good luck.

Carol has a new blog up and running featuring her '3' project. She might be accepting more participants, if you're interested.

Slightly off topic but also somewhat related... It looks as though the large tree we moved is going to live! There are buds forming all over the branches. I'm really looking forward to the bee swarm this spring!


Jill Griffin decorated her package with a washi tape Union Jack!! After carefully opening it, I found a wealth of beauty. A Japanese woodcut print, an original chicken illustration, several landscape photos of her area, paper letters, space-themed postage stamps, an art postcard and several bits of doily printed paper. She also included several sheets handmade watercolour paper. I'm eager to try them out on several of the upcoming projects I have lined up.

A flurry of mail art replies this week turned my studio into a disaster. I'm beginning to feel weighed down by the amount of stuff in my studio and so a solid sort and recycle is in order. The stacks of magazines and books I never use need to be repurposed or tossed and the items that inspire me need a proper place on the wall rather than tucked away in a corner. Are you thinking of or doing a clear out of your creative space?

...J

Mail Art Monday: Sunshine and Ducks

This past week has seen some lovely, mild weather with clear blue skies. Since we're all feeling so happy it was icing on the cake that one of my packages arrived in a friends mailbox while a bit of paper sunshine arrived in mine.


Jill Griffin received the first package in our burgeoning mail swap. The duck envelope was stuffed with a lily print, fern silhouette card, handmade as well as star and circle stickers, 'Jill' fuzzy stickers and a few bits of paper ephemera.

Rhya Tamasauskas hinted at a package called 'paper sunshine' coming my way. It arrived this week on a beautiful, warm sunny day. The wee envelope arrived in a small paper pocket. It's often hard to get a good idea of scale in photos so I took a picture with my chapstick. See? So wee and really wonderful!

I'm looking forward to another week of sunshine!

...J