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

DIY - 6 Paper crafts using old books

Now with old books in my house I've been crafting like a mad woman. This little card, was given to me by Julie at the end of the workshop. It is the one to blame, for it has unleashed an "old book rampage."

She used a really beautiful rubber stamp she had made, and just added a string to tie it.

Lets start with some pretty flowers.  How about a bouquet of neon flowers? Perfect to tuck in with your letters, or to add on top of your presents.

As if my house needed more buntings!  I like how the neon color looks against the old paper. The string is just a bunch of scraps and selvedge tied together.

Strings are really my favorite thing to make. I used some hole punchers, and  I just drew the other pieces. And then to give it a bit of weight I added a few buttons.

I left this one simple, but I really want to make one with a lot of rubber stamps printed on the  paper.

Is never too early to start thinking about the Christmas card you'll send to your friends, or is it??

I bought this note pad at the supermarket, ugly cover, nothing special. Now I think it is pretty darn cute.

Simply cover with an old page that has a nice illustration. Then use your favorite washi- tape, and rubber stamps.

And well... you know me. I had to make some envelopes using the paper. I wouldn't feel "complete" if I hadn't made some.

I'm glad I'm putting the pages of those old books to good use. I'm also glad I discovered that crafts using old books are really incredible because not much is needed. The whole beauty is in the old page (is that corny enough?).

Okeydokey, this is it! I promise I won't be covering lamps or tables with the paper. Or that next week there will be a post with 10 "new" ideas for old book pages.

Have fun and a happy weekend!
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