Mail

I have mentioned that I have a love for sending mail the old fashioned way.  There is something just completely satisfying about affixing stamps and putting a letter in a mailbox.

I can't just leave it at addressing a letter or package though.  I want each letter to be a little piece of art.  

It was this image on Pinterest that got me hooked on the whole art form.  I just thought it was clever and whimsical.

I sent a care package to my niece using the same idea.  Since then I've done a number of packages and letters and I thought I would share a few of them.  I fully admit to being heavily influenced by other's work although I do try to put my own spin on things.  I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to mail art.  

I'm not particularly talented in drawing or painting so I tend to print images and create a collage of sorts.  For the package above I printed the bicyclist on a piece of brown grocery bag paper that I cut to 8 1/2 x 11.  I wrapped the package in the same paper and then just glued the printed image on it. Then I painted the white conversation bubble and outlined it in black and addressed it.  

I have some vellum envelopes that I add a liner paper and then use stamps, washi tape and address labels.  I used to print my labels on proper labels (with a sticky back) but found that just printing on regular paper and gluing it on works just fine and is way cheaper.  I swear by Yes! Paste.  It is brilliant for paper crafts because it doesn't cause the paper to wrinkle or warp.  

I also print directly on an envelope.  I put the image in a MS Word document, calculating the size and placement.  I first print it on plain paper then tape the envelope to the paper, positioning it over the image and run it through the printer again.  This way you get the image all the way to the edges of the envelope.  

My friend had been searching for a favorite childhood book (Runaway Pancake) and I found it for her.  I found the image of the little girl reading and photoshopped a page from the book into the book she is reading.   Janis Joplin and the Virgin Mary.  Those were the only stamps on I had on hand….

I love putting vintage stamps along with the regular postage.  I order them from Etsy.  The sellers I've used have sets by color and I like to coordinate them to my envelopes.  I also order regular postage from USPS.com website because the selection is better than what our post office carries.  

I hope my post office is charmed by my artistic endeavors but I'm pretty sure it just annoys them.  It's not like I'm slapping a label on a coconut and trying to send it through the mail but I'm sure my letters and packages have to be hand sorted.   My pen pal loves my letters so that's good enough for me.