I like to pass on things I come across that I think my readers will find interesting or inspirational. The Snail Mailer has posted nice examples of letterly recycling on Leaving a Paper Trail. She has reassembled bits of this and that to make some enjoyable postcards. With the ever increasing cost of postage the postcard is a good way to send a short message and the lower cost of postage means we can send out more mail. Below is a sneak preview, now go see what else she's done and get inspired!
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I have a lot to show you from the happy mail box and have not a lot of time before I run off to church (it's Maunday Thursday, you know) so I'll show just a few things and leave the rest for later. A few posts ago I told about my trip to the post office and how I had been a bother when I requested the postal lady retrieve my just-mailed letter from the bin because after pushing it through the slot I received a card from Limner informing me that my seals were never intact on arrival. I had been using glue gun wax and thought I would test wicked wax to see if I had the same problem. I sent Limner a card inquiring about the condition of the wax and she very kindly returned the wax to me so I could see for myself that it had survived. Yes it did thought it was a bit flattened at the top. Still, considering the abuse it likely received at the hands of the postal equipment I'd say that's not too bad. Good bye glue gun wax, you are no longer my mailing companion. Above is the enjoyable mail art I told you about. The upper right and lower left envelopes must have taken some time. "Different is good" and "Welcome to the good old days" are nice slogans for letter writing. Why shoot of an email when you can invest an hour or more in writing a letter, making an envelope, then decorating it? One acquaintance suggested that because I write letters I want to return to the days when women couldn't vote. I didn't quite see the connection but I think what he was trying to say is, "Letter writing is so ANTIQUATED, you should do things the modern, lightning fast way." (This comment immediately followed, "The letter you sent me was the strangest and loveliest thing I've ever received.") So, welcome to the good old days of civil communication. One needs only to go back 25 years to find those old days. And yes, it is both different and good and I am happy to be branded as antiquated though I still do see what women's voting rights has to do with anything. There's more to show and tell about tomorrow so please check in then and in the mean time, have a beautiful evening. I was delighted (is delighted too weak a word?) to find a stuffed mailbox Saturday. I have been showered with mail art offerings and goodies. All I can offer at the moment is a sneak preview because my daughter took the camera with her on an adventure. Details will follow when she returns in a few days. There are some honorable mentions in this stack that mail artists will find inspiring. So, until then write a letter and make someone's day! As promised earlier, envelopes of note with dash of commentary: I saw this video over on Jan's blog and thought I'd pass it on. Mail artists will find it inspiring. This would be a very fun project and can be adapted to envelopes. The supplies shown in the video can be found at Darkroom Door. Enjoy! I have something to show you. This is just in from San Diego, California; or rather, someplace very near San Diego. Jean is a new penpal and is new to penpalling. Like many of us she is remembering the value of and recovering the art of letter writing. I am impressed that someone professing to be new to penpalling should already be an expert mail artist. Just look at this. It is a gift, complete with bow. Just wait till I show you the inside. This work of art frames the green tag in the center (see the picture below). It says, "Hold fast to the dreams within your heart. Believe in their power to make a difference in your life." Penpals often send me quotes and I always feel that though the words are not their own, they are an expression of the sender's own ideas or hopes, something they identify with and have claimed as their own. Certainly, a person can share any random quote unrelated to their beliefs but I do not think that is the case. I believe that when people share either quote or verse they do so precisely because it has meaning to them and for that reason I always feel that such enclosures aid me in getting to know the person who took the trouble to share it with me. Finally, a view at the back. Jean's daughter is starting to draw...a personal touch indeed. I am beginning to understand mail art as self-revelation. As much can be told in art as in letter and naturally, the art can be shared whereas a personal conversation can not be. While I can not boast of being a mail artist, I appreciate those who are. Thank you, Jean; I shall be writing to you today!
The featured letter of this post comes from Melissa of Epistles - Minor and Major by M. Howard. This letter is exceptionally creative and I love its personal tone; we've begun what is bound to wonderful conversation and hopefully a long one. I feel I am learning much about the art of conversation from my correspondents, limping along though I may be. The concern of this post, however, is the creative use of paper so I will post some pictures and begin the tour. Another handmade envelope with a Lord of the Rings Theme. I love the book and came to love the movie when I forgave Peter Jackson for what he did to the story. Here you can see that letters have been cut out and pieced together. I appreciate the time Melissa spent on the envelope alone. You'll hardly believe what she's done with the contents. You can't enjoy it as much as I did but I think you'll appreciate the work and creativity put into it. The letter is sectioned into two parts, each numbered. You can see the maps which serve as the canvas for this work of art. Now for the goodies. The letter itself is written on a variety of things, note cards, recipe cards and even small envelopes and bags which have notes tucked into them. I thought the envelopes and bags were especially fun and gave a treasure hunt feel to reading the letter. This is recycling in the old-fashioned sense at its letter writing best. Once upon a time before we expected that every thing ought to be disposable, people reused things and sometimes turned them into other things. Melissa's letter is a good example of this and shows that any kind of paper can be used for stationery and used well. When all the bits and pieces of otherwise unimpressive paper are united in a letter collage the results are impressive. The truly impressive thing, though, that I want to draw your attention to is Melissa's imagination. This letter started a good, creative idea and makes me wish to be more imaginative myself. Thank you, Melissa for a truly delightful letter.
Many letter writing blogs are oriented more toward the adornment of a letter rather than the writing of a letter. Mail art seems to be a growing hobby and much of mail artists' work is very creative. I enjoy visiting such blogs and seeing what people are creating. A couple mail art blogs you may enjoy if you haven't discovered them already are The Missive Maven and Piccadilly Post. I wonder if those people who write letters just happen to be the same set of people who like creating things. If not all letter writers are creative, then surely most of them are. A letter is a creation after all and a well written letter (as well as a nicely adorned letter or envelope) can be a work of art. And so I want to show off an envelope I got this week. Marian likes mail art and she sent me a letter in this handmade envelope which needed no extra adornment. I appreciate this envelope because I occasionally make envelopes myself and know both the time and pleasure involved. This envelope makes me happy to look at and I think i will leave it out as decoration. Perhaps it will even inspire me to make more envelopes of my own. Now that I'm thinking of it, envelope making is a behind the scenes part of letter writing I miss and would like to get back to. Let the quest for paper begin! |
Letter Matters
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