Mail Art (attempts)

My obsession with envelopes goes quite far, as you can see here. They were mostly collages and always in the back of the envelope as I was afraid the post office wouldn't allow it in the front.

Apparently you are allowed to go crazy with your envelope (so I will see when these reach their destination).  I have taken a clue from the stamps I recently got and went all out with my markers, which I haven't used in a while.

The envelopes are traveling at the moment so I'm not sure whether they made it or not.

This Chinese edition of the Japanese book E Futo O Okuro by Satoshi Kitamura and Motoko Matsuda was purchased a while back here. It is such an incredible book to look at, obviously I have no idea what it says, but I don't need to. This book is Kitamura's collection of mail art, and the book below is Flugge's.

This one was bought on my trip to NY and I got it here. All the envelopes in this book were addressed to Klaus Flugge a publisher of children's books. It is a real treat because all the envelopes are from famous illustrators of children's books that worked for Andersen's Press.

Is mail art something that interests you?? Or you much rather focus on the content inside the envelope? I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter.

Have a lovely start of the week,
Giova

Nesting Envelopes

What is better than receiving an envelope in the mail?? Well, receiving lots of envelopes!! I was thinking of the Matryoshka or nesting dolls and how they fill perfectly inside of each other. And then of course my brain went into envelope mode. I already had the biggest and the littlest one, so I went from there.

I made a total of 8 envelopes the smallest with the heart  is from Nouveau Nancy. You can make as many as you would like, but I think the more the merrier. Just imagine the face of your pen pal when she opens envelope after envelope, and that will be enough to make you carry on.

There are many ways to make an envelope, but here is one I did a while back. Just make sure to paste a piece of writing paper inside each envelope so that you write your letter on the actual envelope and not add extra layers, besides I think it will be too confusing.

Making envelopes is quite relaxing and fun (at least for me). I can see my sister's face right now and going hahaha. Maybe I'll send her these so I can slowly convert her into an addict letter writer.

 Don't they look super cute all nestled like that? For more snail mailing ideas make sure to check the Flat Project.

This weekend we are driving down to Italy with some pit stops along the way. It is only 12 hours total, but with kids in tow it can feel like a million. Finally we get to experience what a real summer is, and not these 2 warm days that we got at the beginning of the week.

I still have some posts prepared for the next week so this is not a goodbye, yet!

Wishing you a great weekend, and hope to see you next week!

Giova

Accordion Envelope Using Paper Bags

I think I should change the name of my flat project to the envelope project. For some reason I keep coming up with envelopes, but I must admit that envelopes are a weakness. More so, than the actual writing paper. 

This is a very easy and simple project. It is a little folder where you can fit almost anything flat that you wish to send to your pen pal. And you have a nice envelope made up with all those leftover paper bags (I'm assuming you have leftover bags, but I think if you only have the brown paper kind, they will look very nice too).

Here is what you'll need:

• paper bags, any kind (I got mine at Paper Presentation, and St. Augustine Paper Co.) 
• glue stick
• washi-tape if you want to re-enforce the lower part
• scissors or x-acto knife
• nice paper for the back (the bird one is from Sukie, the red chevron is from Igloo letterpress)

The glue goes in 2 places: On the lower part of each bag so they get stuck together, and on the last bag which a piece of paper will be glued to make the flap of the envelope.

I haven't sent out one yet, but I don't think it needs extra protection. Seal it with wash-tape instead of the twine and you'll be set.

Wishing you a lovely and crafty weekend.
Giova.

Another Type of Envelope

Hoping you had a most excellent Easter surrounded by family, and as Jillian says; with lots and lots of chocolate!!
Here is a little craft I want to leave you with, before our break. This won't take too much of your time, except the letter (of course).

This envelope or  folder or holder, I still don't know its name exactly, fits perfectly in a 23 x 16 cms envelope. It does have to go in another envelope otherwise it won't make it in one piece, (redundant, I know) but I'm pretty sure your pen pal will love it so much!

You will need:

• A doily cut in half (for the upper and lower flaps)
• A piece of thick paper measuring 21 x 14 cms
• 2 pieces of paper (for the right and left flaps) measuring 21 x 7 cms each
• Extra pieces of paper for the inside pouches
• and washi-tape 

Envelope closed

When you open the" holder of things" you will find; a letter, tea, and a quote.

The left side holds the tea, the right side the quote, plus the date (very important for us pen pals)

This is how the back looks. Not too much decoration, but you're welcome to.

The doily is from Talking Tables, the bird paper used for the envelope is from Sukie, and the one for the letter is from Uguisu, one of my favorite web stores!!

We'll be back in a week or maybe two. My older one will be on vacation for 15 days (yes 15!!), and we are trying to figure out, how to best entertain a 2 year old and an 11 year old together. Quite, quite difficult sometimes.

Wishing you much creativity and craftiness!!

Giova

Sending Tea to Pen Pals

This project is not as elaborate as the one I did before. Quite simple really. But who doesn't love a very simple project that can be done in one minute?

What you'll need:

• A doily (mine is from talking tables)
• washi-tape in your preferred color 
• and thread if your using the sewing machine (it would be quite funny, a sewing machine with no thread!!)
• rubber stamps just in case you feel like writing on the doily, and if you don't have your writing will be just as nice.

 Cut the doily in half.

Then fold and either close it with washi-tape or by using the sewing machine.

Stamp or write your message.

 So why not try both versions? 

I told you it was simple! So if you ever get one of these, don't throw it away, just find someone else that likes tea and send it to them with your favorite tea! At least that's what I would do!!

Hope you have a fun weekend. Here the weather went back to normal, i.e; cold and grey, so we'll see what crafting adventures we embark on, I guess the Amsterdamse Bos will have to wait!

Wishing you all the best!
Giova

Sending Tea to Pen Pals

Since February is the month of love (or so I like to think) I couldn't help myself to keep on making more hearts. I'm always trying to come up with ideas, "flat" ones that are not too heavy and fit perfectly in an envelope. As an avid snail-mailer, I need cute and handmade things to send to my pen pals without breaking my wallet. The post office here in Holland is quite expensive, especially for bulky packages. This is a nice idea if you want to share some of your favorite teas with your friends.

What you'll need:

• a favorite fabric (mine is from Nani Iro)
• felt
• scissors 
• thread and needle
• favorite tea (this one is from Pukka)

Cut a heart (other shapes can be done as well) in the appropriate size and trace on fabric 

Sow onto the felt leaving the upper part of the heart open

Put your favorite tea in the heart pouch and send it via snail mail

Your pen pal can now enjoy not only the tea, but also use the heart pouch as coaster.

Happy Mailings!
Giova.

Handmade Envelopes

One of the sponsors for the Alt Summit conference was Citizens of Humanity. They are a company that specializes in jeans. For the conference they brought a very beautiful magazine, and I grabbed one thinking; "Yeah, I can take this, no problem!" Well, no! It was heavy and very big, but did I mention beautiful? And the paper was just too amazing to throw away, so I did the best I could to save the nicest  pages thinking they would be perfect for envelopes, and since I'm a "snail-mailer" I'm always in need of envelopes. It is the simplest activity. Here are some instructions just for fun!

Gather the pages of your beautiful magazine, the ones you don't feel like parting with.

Take apart an envelope, in my case it is a size A6 from Paper Source and trace it.

Cut it.

Fold it and glue it 

Write your letter and adorn the envelope as you wish

Here is my collection of "new" envelopes. I'm admiring them a bit longer before sending them out!

"To get a letter, you must send a letter." It is the Letter Writers Alliance motto. If you are in need of a pen pal check them out.

Have a very crafty Sunday!
Giova