Postcard Project Moves Forward

After I finished the fronts of all 20 postcards for the swap sponsored by iHanna, I started thinking about what I would do with the postcards I receive in the mail next month.

I didn't want to stick them in a box or an album - but what about an altered book filled with pages/pockets where I could tuck the postcards?  YES!

A while back I had removed the book block from a copy of Buzz Aldrin's book (thrifted copy) and added a three ring binder mechanism to the empty spine.

Water color paper cut to size and hole punched worked perfectly for the pages while folded/trimmed pages from a vintage atlas became slightly oversize pockets for the 4" x 6" cards.

(my postcards are tucked into the pockets until it is time to write on the reverse sides and send them on their way)

Here's another page . . . 

But then what to do with the book's solid black cover and the spine's blue foiled text?

After a bit of pondering it was obvious what I needed to do.  The postcards all feature postage stamps which told me I needed to use more postage stamps on the cover.  

The photo above shows the book's newly collaged front cover.

Here is the spine (no more blue foil lettering) . . .

. . . and here is the collaged back cover.

This is a photo of the opened cover.  I love how it totally honors my guiding words - liberated, eclectic, scrappy, and colorful.

* * *

While I was still at the paper art table, I went ahead and made my shipping tag for week 18 of the Full Deck Challenge 3 (see Shanouki Arts on You Tube).

Next week's prompt will be JUNK.  Going with the very first idea that popped into my head, I collaged my tag using torn bits of an old book page and added a four ransom letters.

This is the back side of the tag.  

Now it is time to go play with fabric!

Quiltdivajulie

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"Painting calmed the chaos that shook my soul."

Niki de St. Phalle

Catching Up Before Binding Begins

A few days ago I signed up for the international Spring DIY Postcard Swap organized by iHanna (link with the graphic below).

Knowing myself, I set out to create the collage portion of the 20 postcards before I started binding the placemats.  If I had waited, I would have procrastinated and had to rush to get them done.

These are collaged on 4 x 6 card stock (colors show on some of them).  I am making extras so I can use my 20 favorites to mail.

About all those postage stamps:  Originally they were sorted by color when I was making my ROYGBIV journals).  Now they are sorted by categories like people's heads, aviation, architecture, animals, dogs (too many not to keep separate), birds/butterflies, flowers/trees, etc.  Why?  I got tired of having to search through each color to find a group of themed stamps.

I'm glad I did that because the new sort made life easier when pulling these eclectic groups together.

Some of the cards have quote stickers on them.

And some of the cards have stamps on a collaged background and/or a saying stamped on them.

(I have only a few rubber stamps because I rarely use them - the ones I have are mostly postal themed)

Once all the cards are flattened in my book press (thank you DH), I'll add a soft coat of matte medium to protect the many stamp edges - then go through the drying and flattening process again.

Here's one of the graphics for the postcard swap with the link at the bottom (click HERE).

Sign up ends May 20 and mail date is May 25.

After I mail my 20 postcards to 20 different recipients, if all goes well I should receive 20 hand made postcards from 20 different senders.

I also took time to bring my shipping tags up to date for Full Deck Challenge 3 (check out Shanouki Arts's you tube channel for more info).

The theme for Week 16 was "Sew" - I pulled one of the last two tags I made early on since it has both hand and machine stitching.

This one is also the last of the tags I prepped with sewing pattern tissue on the reverse - another reason it was just too perfect not to use.

Week 17's challenge will be "Blending" - this is the final card I had made ahead and all I needed to do was add a bit of white gesso to soften some of the lines.

I rarely use gesso and while I used it here, I will not be using it on any of the future cards (so say I now).

I re-did the back using a piece of paper someone had gel printed (another thing I don't do).  

This means I don't have to make a tag next week - more time to work on the placemats/utility mats for May and June and maybe even get Shirts and Such back on the design wall (last post for that project was HERE). 

Quiltdivajulie

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"Creativity is a continual surprise."

Ray Bradbury

Stormy Weather Projects

Like many others in the Central US, we've had very stormy weather for the past two-three days and we have two more days of the same still ahead of us.

Rainfall to date is over 6 inches (or as Lynne put it "that's over two feet of snow") and they're predicting another 3-4" of rain on Saturday.

SO . . . even though I had planned to quilt Repose, I've been doing other things.

(I don't like to use Max during thunderstorms - and yes, he's on an updated surge protector, but why tempt the fates?)

First up was updating this vintage frame from its former pale flat lavender chalk paint finish to this new fun look.

I used the updated frame to showcase this colorful and studio-appropriate page from a Pete the Cat book.

Next up was dealing with a box full of glass beads I've accumulated over the last several years.

The finished string doesn't photograph particularly well but this photo gives you a sense of its scale.

Here's a detail photo - the two largest beads in this group are some I made during a class at the Folk School.

I ran across a You Tube video for ways to use vintage slides in junque journals.  

I used bits of tea bags under the postage stamps for this test group, but I have other things I want to try with the next batch from a large box of abandoned slides.

(there are several YT videos on the subject, but this one should give you a good idea or two)

I strung the second group of purchased beads with large holes (from a long abandoned project) onto a length of sari yarn.

Here's a detail photo.

I'm very happy to have both sets of beads out of their boxes. 

Finally, I made my shipping tag for Week 13 of the Full Deck Challenge 3 (you can find the playlist for this ongoing challenge on You Tube - Shanouki Arts).

The prompt was crazy colors with black marks.

This is the back side where I used one of my black pens to draw around the circles.

Week 14's prompt is Turquoise with something stapled.

Back at the very beginning on the challenge, I made a whole group of tags and this was one of  them.

I added the stapled quote and the front was complete.

This is the reverse side with the week's number sticker.

Not shown here - I plan to add a fun focal point of some sort on top of the turquoise pieces salvaged from the inside of a tea bag box.

* * *

Hopefully once this storm system moves on, I'll be able to get back to my free motion quilting.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Sometimes, carrying on, just carrying on, is the superhuman achievement."

Albert Camus

In the Mailbox - Finished (photo heavy post)

I've been stashing bits and pieces for this journal since sometime last year.  Last week I finally sat down and got busy and now that the volume is done, I'm very happy with it.

The pages are envelopes (flats and the folded-in-half flats) trimmed to fit a book cover that I emptied long ago for a since abandoned project.

Having the security prints and the windows as part of the design kept things interesting and fun.

(these photos were taken in the shade on a very bright, sunny afternoon - hence their slightly blue tone)

Scraps of mail art found their way into the pages along with a limited number of graphics found online.

The front of a card that my sister sent to me became a tuck-in (with happy mail stickers on the back).

The vintage envelopes and handwritten letters came from a batch purchase from an online seller which gave me a wonderfully large variety of items to consider/incorporate.

This quote really resonates with me.  

Not sure about you, but I get awfully tired of finding nothing but statements, limited time offers, notices, and so much advertising junk in my mailbox.

One of younger son's all-time favorite books growing up was Postman Pig - so when I found this graphic online, it was a done deal that I would include it in this journal.

Look closely at the small type in the graphic . . . 

And the vintage stamps -- again, from a large mixed batch purchase from an online seller (or two) yielded so many options.

There were three air mail envelopes addressed to "Stanford University, Stanford, California" - one from Seoul,Korea; one dated 1950 from Deutschland; and one dated 1959from Lebanon.  I tucked them inside each other on this page.

Many of the vintage envelopes were glued into the journal using their flap so that I could easily tuck things inside.  

In this case, the envelope contained a sheet of tissue thin pink paper so I added this vintage photo inside.  This photo of an unknown girl is one I've had for close to 40 years, so you know she captured my imagination.

A corner section of this Kraft flat mailing envelope became a pocket to hold a no-longer-blank postcard.

The "image" side features Mickey as a mail carrier and a lovely quote by E. Ruder:

"The written letter is something personal, organic,  unique, and spontaneous.  It mirror the character and the personality of the writer, and often his mood of the moment." 

The "address" side of the postcard features this graphic and an iridescent Halloween postage stamp.

Some folks send mail using multiple stamps to achieve the value needed or simply to decorate the envelope.

This air mail envelope came from Vietnam and went to Laos.  Its contents were long gone so I tucked a vintage postcard inside.

Vintage space themed postage stamps . . .  did your parents let you stay up late to watch the very first moon landing like mine did?

Mr. Zip is featured on the back inside page.  

Did you know the "ZIP" in zip code stands for "Zone Improvement Plan" and that zip codes became a reality in 1963?  

There's so much more inside this journal but you can definitely get the idea from these photos.  

And I did find myself visiting quite a few"rabbit holes" while creating IN THE MAILBOX - National Card and Letter Writing Day, World Letter Writing Day,  one woman's Thousand Postcard Project from 2018, learning about Write Me Back cards, and discovering all manner of past letter/card writing challenges.

As a result,  I've realized it isn't enough to just think about doing a better job of sending cards and letters.  To that end, I've enhanced my stash of blank cards (purchased and homemade) and I'm making their use a much higher priority.  Want to join me and start sending more Happy Mail?

Quiltdivajulie

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"The letter suddenly seemed like my most important possession, and like all the real, handwritten, postally delivered letters these days, an instant relic from a previous era, before time and space collapsed and we started sending messages to each other's pockets."

Anne Gisleson

Yellow and Orange

This is the inside front cover of my "finished" yellow-orange journal (glue book) made from the daily quilt making log I kept in 2022.

I say finished because there is plenty of empty space to add more yellow and/or orange bits in the future.

This spread tickles me - Young Man didn't like the story about an orange cat who claimed the giant tiger was his uncle (and I didn't enjoy reading it much either) so it became fodder for my journals.

This seems like a much better approach!

The pocket contains one of the woodcut photos from my 2023 desk calendar and a two-sided coupon that deserved better than being glued in place (along with three very cool postage stamps).

Chihuly glass on the left and the warning sticker that came on the cutting blade of DH's food processor.

Not sure where I found the snippet in the middle but it makes me smile.

One of the unused single-sided rolodex cards became a pocket and the sun behind the cards came from another cast aside children's paperback book.

My mom saved both Top Value and S&H Greenstamps so this sheet is a nod to all those my sister and I stuck into the redemption books.

Young Man graciously gave me one of his Pikachu cards which I tucked into this pocket.

This greeting card made me laugh out loud so it became the inside back cover of the journal.

Here is the finished front with both ribbon colors.

And a 99 cent greeting card from Trader Joe's became the journal's back cover.

* * *

There will be four more books in my ROYGBIV series - blue, purple, warm low volume, and black and white with shades of gray.  I'm not sure which one will rise to the top of the list but I'm good no matter which way it goes.

And even with another busy week ahead, I'm hopeful I can get Macnas pin basted and at least partially quilted . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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"A stash should not be a museum with everything behind glass forever.  It should be a restaurant with a revolving door and changing menu."

Amanda Leins