Becky Sunderman: mail art swap!

I received more envelopes today, check the sidebar list to see what has arrived. Two more of Becky's mail art pieces came in, so I now have a complete set from her. Becky sent in 3 wonderfully creative fabric postcards, protected in a clear plastic sleeve, and one zentangle style envelope. Thank you so much for the extra piece for me, Becky! You can read more about her mail art on her blog: Shades of the Ozarks.

 Click on any picture for details . . .

very cool!! 

Sarah Boblit: Mail Art Swap : ^ )

All of Sarah's envelopes have made their way to me in Florida so I will share them with you now. They are spectacular! Sarah created her envelopes in the Zentangle style of drawing, I just love this!

Front

Back

Inside! 2 tangled tags!

 These are just incredible! I have not really gotten into learning zentangle patterns, just a little bit. But I love to do it and find it so relaxing. It was Sarah who introduced me to the art form last spring with one of her 4" x 4" tiles for the Roads & Paths swap. It is delightful to see her treat her mail art envelopes this way!! Looking forward to seeing YOURS!

mail art swap envelopes

I have been quietly busy behind the scenes, getting a good start on the envelopes I've promised to send home your mail art swap returns in. You can read more details about the swap HERE. All mail art is due in my hands by December 4th, 2010. Now . . . making, stamping and decorating envelopes is one of my favorite things to do so I'm very happy with this project! I feel good that I have started this task of creating or decorating about 55 envelopes, 3 weeks before the due date. Most of the envelopes below are not complete yet as I will add rubber stamping or a bit of collage too - but here is a peek at what I have been doing:

I have created envelopes out of double side scrapbook paper with my favorite Kreate-a-Lope template (top) and also by simply folding scrapbook paper in half and sewing up the sides, see below. 

It's fun to use various stitches!

Template envelopes above, and below you will see I also made a couple of oversize envelopes. I've done  collage on top of a regular manila file folder, which was cut down in size a bit and then re-folded. See below for some fun examples-click on each photo for more detail. 

The front of the envelope

the back

I got this idea for making a large envelope out of a file folder when doing research for this swap and finding a video on altered mail art by Roben Marie Smith. I will add the video below for you to watch, after showing you a second large altered mail art envelope -hope you enjoy!!  

The front -ready to add a participants name!!

the back

"Official MAIL ART" - I love this rubber stamp from CatsLife Press!
Here's Roben-Marie's video . . .

Altered Mail Art from Roben-Marie Smith on Vimeo.

swap stats . . .

I received partial delivery of envelopes from Sarah Boblit and Leah Povloski today, but no complete sets to share with you. Enjoy a peek at their mail art above! I've also started creating envelopes for the swap returns; I am going to make a variety of different kinds. As they get completed I will share glimpses of them . . . as I have over 50 to make and share! 18 return envelopes are now about 1/2 way done. I love making envelopes and doing mail art, so do not worry about me. I will enjoy this! And yes, I am continuing to leave the swap open at this point. The due date (in my hands) is December 4, so that would be the only thing to keep in mind. If your pieces do not arrive in time I cannot include them.

As of today (November 12) here are this swaps stats: We have 10 international players and 44 participants from 1/2 of all the states in the US. That means we have representation from 25 states out of 50, so amazing! You can see where everyone who is participating is from on the sidebar list ; ) This makes me happy! Thank you for your support and enthusiasm for this exchange.

no mail today!!

One of my many decorated mailboxes over the years!
This one was located in East Granby, CT.

I almost forgot the Post Office here in the US gets a holiday for Veteran's day -So there is no mail for me in my mailbox today : (  I will catch up with you tomorrow! You can always check the sidebar of the blog to see how many pieces I have received from each participant. Now I am off to start making some mail art envelopes myself, to send your swaps home to you in. I hope to share some of these envelopes as I complete them. Have a great day!

Susan Stewart: Mail Art swap!

I only met Susan recently at a local ATC swap, but I am so glad I did! We got together recently and shared our fabric and other art and then to my delight, Susan joined our mail art swap! I don't know how much experience Susan has had with mail art, but she has created some fabulous envelopes -see for yourself below.

front & back

front & back

 WOW!! Thank you Susan!
Susan has a new blog she has just started and you can view it here.

Jo Ann Reichert: mail Art swap!

Jo Ann has been very patient! It took her envelopes some time to reach me from Pennsylvania . . . one envelope traveled for 10 days before arriving in Florida even though another sent on the same day arrived in just 3 days! It was worth the wait. Jo Ann has created some incredible mail art.

click on any scan for more detail

Thank you Jo Ann! 

See more of Jo Ann's art on her PictureTrail.

Barbara DeLisle: Mail Art swap

Barbara DeLisle from Florida has sent in four lovely mail art envelopes handmade out of thick brown paper with swirls of gold paint, yum! I am sure she will be telling us more about them on her blog. ; ^  )  I received 4 envelopes from her today and this time, all envelopes arrived on the same day!

very cool!  Thanks for participating in another creative swap, Barbara!

Teri Calia: one more!

Three of Teri's envelopes arrived last Saturday. I thought her mail art set was complete as 3 is the required amount, so I posted all three envelopes here in an earlier post. But one more arrived today, an extra envelope for me! Thank you so much Teri, it is beautiful.

Visit Teri's etsy shoppe too!
: ^ )

the best mail day yet!

Today I received 11 envelopes in my mail box for our Mail Art swap - yes, 11! The stack was this high:

I received 4 envelopes from Barbara DeLisle, 4 from my new local friend Susan Stewart, one from Monica Smith, and one each from Teri Calia and Jo Ann Reichert -joining the other three I had already received from both of them, hooray! Three of Teri's envelopes arrived in 3 days and the one that arrived today took a week. Two of Jo Ann's envelopes arrived in 3-4 days, one took a week and the one that arrived today took 10 days!! (mail early!)

In my mailbox November 10, 2010

I came across an interesting website today called Postcrossing, a postcard crossing/exchanging project. It looks quite intriguing and I have bookmarked it to join later. One thing that caught my eye was a post on their blog about how the Mail is sorted. Since we are in the middle of this swap with the sorting of mail so relevant to our project, I thought you might like to take a look at this post and video on Mail Sorting. The video is really very interesting & funny, take a look if you have time.

I will be back soon with photos and updates on Barbara, Susan, JoAnn & Teri as all of their mail art pieces or safely with me now!

Teri Calia: Mail Art swap

I received three envelopes from Teri Calia today, whoo whoo! I am so sorry that Jo-Ann Reichert's other two envelopes have not arrived yet . . . she sent 3 out to me on Monday and on Thursday, one arrived. All I can say is that sometimes the regular mail can take a week to reach me, so make sure you mail early. Everything has to be here by December 4th to count for the swap!
I created a new blog header today and used one of Jo-Ann's envelopes-you can see the top of the blog!

Now on to Teri's wonderful envelopes:

beautiful handmade envelopes!
Thank you, Teri!

The backs 

love these! Such awesome handwriting Teri has.

I guess I will decide to open these envelopes as they come in and I see what the situation is! I could tell Teri had enclosed something . . . she used a type of masking tape that seemed re-seal-able and I was curious, so I opened one of her envelopes. She enclosed a card with some of her artwork the (the main image is not shown here) and some cool die-cut pieces. Very sweet! I may not open your envelopes unless there is an extra one for me - or it seems do-able and something is inside. Then I might open one. Remember, you may send them empty! You can always email me instructions or write your wishes directly on the envelope. It is going to be a delightful month for me receiving your mail and soon I will start working on all the mail art envelopes I will need to create to send your returns home in. Looking forward to it! 

Let me know if you have any questions, : ) lenna

mail art update

I'm just checking in to let you know I have received some beautiful envelopes besides the 4 Frieda made (which I posted about earlier) but I will wait until all 3 or 4 envelopes sent in by each participant is here, before I upload them to the blog. I have 2 envelopes from Jo Ann Reichert in my possession, as well as one envelope each from Marianne Baugher and Marjorie Jumisco. I think my Mailman is going to be quite busy! We have learned so far that while you can mail your envelopes or postcards on the same day, it is possible they may arrive on the same day (Frieda's) or they may NOT arrive on the same day (Jo Ann's). Do you think they are being admired along the way?? Quite possibly!

mail art postcard by lenna

As of this date we have 48 participants registered for this swap from these US States: Arizona (1), Arkansas (1), California (3), Connecticut (2), Florida (3), Georgia (1), Illinois (1), Indiana (1), Iowa (1), Maryland (3), Massachusetts (2), Michigan (1), Minnesota (2), Missouri (2), New York (2), North Carolina (3), Ohio (1), Pennsylvania (2), Rhode Island (1), Texas (5) and Wisconsin (1).
We also have international participants from Norway (1), United Kingdom (2), Netherlands (1), Australia (1), Scotland, UK (1), France (1), Germany (1) and Canada (1)!!!! wow. I am very impressed! Of course, if you live in Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, or Wyoming . . .  or another international spot I have not mentioned, we would love for you to join us and help us be even more well-represented with our mail art!!

I am extremely happy with the turn-out for this swap and know it is going to be a lot of fun and inspiring. Yes, if you are in this swap I do want you to send your envelopes and postcards to me sealed, with the proper postage and a return address visible. Put them directly in the mail and send them individually to me. Think of your envelopes and postcards as a piece of art, mail art, and not as an envelope that will most likely be used or re-used. If you have any questions about the swap, please email me! If you have NOT registered and would like to to, guess what? I am still taking registrations! Please see the side bar to register and for more information.
Thanks!! lenna

Frieda Oxenham: mail ART swap

The first complete set of mail art envelopes have landed in my mailbox all on  the same day, from my very good friend Frieda Oxenham in Peebleshire, Scotland, UK! We were wondering if they would arrive on the same day, or not? I found them all in my mailbox today, along with a beautiful Halloween envelope from JoAnn Reichert. Last week I also received one envelope from Marianne Baugher and one from Marjorie Jumisco. I have added Marjorie's and Marianne's envelopes to the blog header and when all of their swap pieces come in I will share them in a post! Here is what I feasted my eyes upon when I saw Frieda's envelopes:

The postage stamps she chose are really cool!!

I love the fact that the envelopes look like a quilt -- Frieda is an award-winning quilter!

The backs are wonderful! 

Frieda went an extra mile and made fabric postcards to go inside her beautiful envelopes. Just the envelope would have been just fine! The recipients of these envelopes will be so lucky! Frieda sent 4 envelopes when 3 is the requirement, so I got to choose one to keep for myself. I had to pick blindly, not knowing which postcard was inside -I had seen them all on Frieda's blog post. Funny thing was, when I opened the envelope, there was one of my favorites! Thank  you so much, Frieda. : ^ )

What a lovely way to start showcasing all of the mail art swap pieces! I cannot wait to see yours! Remember to add your return address and if possible, either email me & tell me, or write a note on your envelope if it is EMPTY and should not be opened, thanks! Also, all of your envelopes and postcards should be mailed separately, sent directly through the mail, to me. Have Fun! I am thinking I should send 3 envelopes to myself from the local post office to swap out with the rest!!