Because everyone likes a nice octopus, right?

I was busy writing a long-overdue letter to a sweet friend of mine and I suddenly started to worry that I was going to run out of interesting things to talk about.  The problem was that I had already taken apart several empty envelopes and trimmed them all to the same size and stapled them back together into a booklet, so I was really feeling the (self-imposed) pressure to fill every single page.

Of course this was before my son engaged in a dance-off with a carnie at a rural festival; before my daughter announced she was mad at God for letting her nana's cat get run over on the road; before my husband came home with a recipe for making mini bombs out of stray blobs of mercury; before I played 'make-up bag' with my sister, and before we met the dumbest waitress on the planet (when four people arrive at a restaurant for dinner, and the waitress asks you how many of you would like cutlery... seriously?!)  So it turns out I would have had LOTS to talk about, but that's fine, because who doesn't like a nice orange octopus? 

*sorry about the facing page still being there - I scanned this one instead of taking a picture, and I couldn't figure out how to get rid of the extra stuff.  I COULD tell you what it says, but isn't it more fun to imagine what I wrote? 

And that's it for now.  I have more but I really have to figure out the technology part before I post this stuff. 

Love Shelley!

So I have this penpal...

She's awesome and amazing and has made me realize something about penpals who turn out to be (or turn into) real friends.  Just because we live far away from each other doesn't mean we have to follow the traditional penpal rules, where she sends me a letter, and then I send her a letter in reply, and then we each take turns ad infinitum writing to each otherNOOOOOOO.  Rules are for people with no imagination!

THIS penpal has sent me three very different items since the last time I sent her anything.  And one of them was a quick-and-dirty thinking-of-you note that was actually just as awesome as the other two more elaborate packages.  Which got me to thinking: that's right!  Every single thing I mail doesn't have to be "ART".  Or rather, it can be, but it doesn't have to be the kind that takes four days to put together. 

In that spirit, I dashed off a note on a long piece of gray heavy paper I'd gotten at the thrift store (a big pile of these sheets for $0.49!!) and added just a couple of embellishments, nothing fancy at all.  Just a quick hello and update on how things are going over here.  Then?  I didn't even put it in an envelope. 

I know!  How much less formal can you get?  Instead I just folded it up and used these Avery mailing seals to keep it together.   

Of course, you kind of have to know ahead of time that you're doing this, so you can leave a clear area for the address, but I think it's kinda cool. Oh, and this also works best if you're just using paper - not adding in little loose things as gifts or anything.  If this does happen to come open, nothing will be lost.  And a mailman somewhere will be highly amused to read the transcript of a recent prayer I sent up.  Win-win, right?

I didn't really do anything fancy with the back, it was getting late and I was determined that this was going to be a quick note, and would be in the mail TODAY.

I'm happy to say: mission accomplished.

Love Shelley!

Giant postcards!!

Sometimes I sign up to do fun things that have nothing to do with my own art journals, just for a challenge and because they're usually a lot of fun. Plus they always result in getting awesome mail in return.

This one was through http://www.swap-bot.com/, and the assignment was to make a giant postcard for your partner.  In the US they can send something up to approximately 6" x 11" (or is it 11" x 6"?) for FORTY-FOUR CENTS!!!  Wow.  If we had that rate on postage I'd be sending out massive postcards all the time.  Oh, plus they can be up to 1/4" thick!!  Just think of the possibilities!

Canada Post unfortunately does not have a separate rate for postcards, so I was going to have to pay the "oversize letter" rate. Which to the US is $2.06, as long as it's not over 100g. I figured I'd better get my money's worth. I made a "postcard" out of a cardboard file marker that measured 9 1/2" x 15". Since it was pretty huge and kind of intimidating, I started off by basecoating it with gesso. If I don't have any ideas for something, I'll often start by throwing down a coat of gesso or paint, just so I'm at least doing something, not sitting there stalled. And more often than not, the ideas do come.  Unfortunately I ended up covering up every bit of the card with collage material afterward, so the gesso turned out to be completely unnecessary.  That's okay though, it got me moving at least.


I started gluing stuff onto the card.

Doesn't that look amazing so far?!   Sometimes my genius is almost blinding.

I collaged a whole bunch of bits and pieces to my postcard: a parking pass, some EKG paper, tissue paper, old receipts, a calendar page, some fabric tape, washi tape, rub-ons, a computer punch card, patterned cardstock, part of a flash card, a photo, labels, magazine bits, a piece from a lottery ticket number picker - really anything that was within reach that was fairly neutrally-coloured.  Then I started stamping - I used a dotted-line roller, a date stamp, a script stamp, and some number stamps.  Oh, also the "UTILITY" stamp that I got at Value Village.  I have no idea what it was originally used for, but it's one of my current favourites!

After that I covered the whole thing in a wash of titan buff paint, to blend everything together.

Starting to look like something, right?  After that I stopped taking progress pictures, because I kind of got into it.  My victim - I mean SWAP PARTNER - likes the number 8, the ampersand symbol, and the colour blue.  So my postcard wasn't entirely made up of random elements.  I tried to make something she would really like.

 The ampersand is actually a thin chipboard cutout, covered in patterned paper and then trimmed and the edges sanded.  I did the lettering by hand, which is why it's not always straight.  But I do really like how it turned out around the ampersand!  It reminds me of an ad for a circus or something. 

It's going out in today's mail.  Hopefully it arrives quickly; mail from here to the eastern seaboard seems to take about two weeks, for some reason.  I sure hope it fits in her mailbox!

Have a fantastic day, you guys.

Love Shelley!

Bad News... and Good News!

This is where I annoy you by finding the bright side in an otherwise-completely-irritating situation:

Next week, postal rates are going up again. 

A letter sent within Canada goes up 2 cents, from $0.57 to $0.59.

A letter to the US goes up 3 cents, from $1.00 to $1.03.

And finally, letters sent internationally go up 5 cents, from $1.70 to $1.75.

The silver lining is that Canada Post has come out with some new low-value stamps, so you can top up the value of the stamps you already presumably have hanging around in your wallet, purse or a glassine envelope prominently placed on your desktop.  (That last one might be just me.)

I was at the post office the other day and picked up a few of each - look!

I know my crappy pictures don't do them justice, but they are really pretty.  Gorgeous bright colours, black edging to make them show up on your envelopes, and of course, they now come in every domination from 1 to 10 cents!!! 

This one's my favourite:

From Canada Post's website:  "In this latest tribute to beneficial insects, five more tiny helpers squirm onto the scene in the form of low-value definitives: the paper wasp, the assassin bug, the large milkweed bug, the margined leatherwing and the dogbane beetle. In 2007, Canada Post celebrated five other beneficial insects that roam Canada’s gardens and marshes: the golden-eyed lacewing, the cecropia moth, the convergent lady beetle, the northern bumblebee and the Canada darner. "

I'm partial to the 9-cent stamp too.  Tiny art to add to envelopes... for PENNIES!!  What could be better?!

Love Shelley!



Nope! Not done with these yet.

Here's an envelope I was working on last night.  There are many, many layers on here since I kept changing my mind on what I wanted it to look like - and it never seemed quite "done".  It's still not perfect but it's going in the mail today anyway.  I was going to show you a second picture - what my kitchen looks like since I farted away the evening working on this instead of washing the dishes... but I don't want to scare people away.  It's enough that you know that sometimes I get sucked in by the craft room tractor beam and my housework goes undone.  Pretty sure the Queen went back to England, so no worries about drop-in company, right?

By the way, this envelope is bigger than it probably looks - it's 5 3/4" x 9 1/2".  I'm just going to add the address and a stamp and off it goes to California! 

Until next time,

Love Shelley!

I love my penpals!

I think my friend Holly will have received this book in the mail by now, so it should be safe to post.  We've been writing to each other for a while, but this last time she wrote to me, she had the genius idea of writing in a notebook so that a) we can comment on each other's letters, and b) so that we can remember what we wrote last time.  Anyway, the front cover was a plain yellow classic scribbler cover, and I decided to alter it.  I hope she doesn't mind.  Moooo hoo ha ha ha haaaa!  Actually at the rate we're going, it will only have to go back and forth one more time and then it will be full anyway.  I think next time it will be her turn to decorate; I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

And while I had all these colours out anyway, I also did a journal page - I didn't take a picture of it yet though, so you'll have to wait to see that one.  Actually come to think of it, I haven't even done any actual journaling on it!  Maybe I should think of something to say first before I start showing it off and calling it an art 'journal' page.  : )

So yeah, that's all for now, but yes, I'm alive and slowly working on a couple of things.  More soon... I promise!

Love Shelley!

Just a little snail mail

Well, this started off as just a manila envelope, and I decided to draw a little birdie on it.  Of course, once I drew the little dude, then decided that he needed a proper tuft of hair, which was soon followed by the scallops at the top, and soon it got completely out of hand.  So much for a simple bird doodle!

This pic looks a little washed-out; it's a bit more vibrant in real life. 

I'm a bit behind on my mail so I'm trying to get caught up.  I'll show you all the outgoing stuff as it's completed.

Love Shelley!

The moose's name is probably Harold

 

 

  

I found, quite by (lucky, eye-poppingly amazing) accident, a how-to video by Roben-Marie Smith, showing how she makes envelopes out of old file folders.  Guess who has old file folders (I DO) so I thought I would try a couple of these.  They were so much fun that now I want to make about 25 more.  The only snag I ran into is that my file folders are pretty cheap ones - I don't remember where I got them from but they're at least   years old; and although at first glance they look perfect for this project... well, they're not square.  So I had to do some fancy folding and cutting to get the edges to all line up.  At first I thought I must be doing something wrong, but I guess my only mistake was buying el cheapo folders in the first place.  (The $20 sewing machine is a whole other story...)

Anyway, who needs files?  These are way more fun, don't you agree?

Love Shelley!

I ANSWER TO NO MAN!*

Here's a sneak preview of a few things that will be going out in the 9am mail tomorrow.  Only one is staying in Canada, and that's the valentine.  The rest are headed south.... where it's a little warmer and sunnier.  Ohhhh, how I wish I was going along for the ride.  Maybe if I slap a red label on my forehead and smile really friendly?  I've seen it work in cartoons...

Fine.  I'll stay here, spreading joy and cheer by telling people it's "almost Friday."  They love that.  Heh heh heh.  OR!  Maybe instead I should start saying, "three more days till the next Lotto Max draw, and it's up to THIRTY MILLION!"  and then give them an enthusiastic two thumbs up.  What, it's better than squawking about the weather, right? 

Love Shelley!

* That was for Kristy.  She wanted me to yell it out the next time Mike asked me to do something but he's been disappointingly agreeable all evening.  Geez.  Men.

Sneak preview of some outgoing mail

I'm working on a couple of things but nothing to show yet.  In the meantime, here are a couple of envelopes that went out today.

That's all for now, but stay tuned...

Love Shelley!

Next thing you know I'll be tagging train cars.

Hi guys!

Here's some outgoing mail.  I've been admiring graffiti-style writing from afar for a long time now, but this is my first attempt at doing any myself. 

Yeah... um, I really REALLY LOVED MAKING THIS!

Somebody hide the spray paint.

Love Shelley!

PS:  The lettering was done in regular sharpie and white sharpie paint pen. 

More Mail Art!

Oh you guys, I had just the BEST weekend.  I got to get together with some great friends and we all sat around and worked on our creative things.  Among other things, I made a couple of envelopes to mail out some goodies (with addresses whited out to protect the privacy of the innocent):

The first one was a plain white envelope that I painted with watercolour crayons, then doodled on a little bit:

And the second one was a plain red envelope (very heavy, lined with gold foil paper, and huge!  I've been saving it for a special occasion) that I just doodled on with white paint pen.

I know you're envying my MS Paint skillz.  Let me know if you want any lessons me to stop it already.

Hope you're having a magical day!

Love Shelley!

Journal page AND mail art!!

So here's the second page, all fluffy and cheerful.  (Wait till you see the cover, yikes.Not fluffy, not cheerful.  May still need some work.  I'll let you express your opinion once I get it up on here!) 

Please note that I kept the language clean.  Instead of "buttload" I really wanted to say "metric shit-ton" but sadly my kid can now read.  Which is kind of a bummer when I'm trying to EXPRESS MYSELF! 

And here is a piece of mail that I made for Ginny at Small Studio:

We don't know each other; I just absolutely adore her blog, so when she put out a call for decorated envelopes, I was all over that.  Of course, I second-guessed myself all the way to the mailbox, but hey, maybe this will lead to a beautiful lifetime of correspondence and I'll get more chances to make pretty stuff for her.  The end.

Yes, welcome to the non-stop dialogue in my head.  How do you like it so far?  : )

I hope you're all having a magnificent day!

Love Shelley!

PS: The art journal is hand-lettered; the mail is stamped and then doodled on.

Are one of these for you?

I've been sending out so many letters lately that I decided to fancy up a batch of four (plain white) envelopes all at once.  The colours are a bit off (they are bright in real life, but not as gaudy as they look here!) but I still think they'd be fun to get in the mail. 

These were a ton of fun to make, although I think I might add a little bit of detail here and there before I actually send them out.  I tried something completely different on the back of one that got me all excited to make a brand-new batch.  One thing really leads to another when you're playing with paper!

I'll keep you "posted".  Get it?  (boooooooo)  HAHA!  The only person who would appreciate that joke is my brother John.  Sorry, everybody else.  : )

Love Shelley!

Way more fun than a phone bill!

Hey! 

Just a short snapper.  (I love saying that.)  

I've always had pen pals but lately I've been meeting some new and VERY interesting people that are also into the postal arts. 

I do have some cute stationery but I usually prefer making something up on my own.  Lately I've been using things that would normally go in the garbage or recycling bin, making them a little prettier, and giving them a second life by mailing them to unsuspecting suckers people around the world who share my love for sending and receiving interesting mail. 

I whited out the name and address on this one but I'm sure some of you will recognize the Timmy's bag that used to hold a Turkey Bacon Club sandwich.  There is only a letter in there.  I ate the sandwich.

Do you love that green carpet or what?  I took these pics at work with my phone.  So I can honestly say these are unretouched photos!!  Okay, sure, that's not necessarily a good thing.  But at least you get the idea.  One day I'll learn some photography skills and then I'll be unstoppable!

Here's another one that just went out this morning:

And here's the back (because I know you were wondering...)  (Fine, you weren't, but I'm gonna show you anyway.)

Aaaaaand that's all I have to offer for today.  Oh, except for this conversation yesterday when I picked up Cameron from the new daycare.

Her: So Cameron and I played cards together this afternoon when all the other kids were napping.

Me:  Yeah, he loves playing cards.

Her:  He knows how to play RUMMY!!       (side note: he's four.)

Me:  Yeah.... by the way, don't play him for money.  That's a free tip.

Come back soon!  I'm working on a journal page and I'll post it here when I'm done. 

Love Shelley!