Dendritic Exchange

The title of this post makes it sound as though I have participated in some sort of medical procedure or scientific partnership.

In fact, I've just done a fun mail art exchange!

Awhile back, I shared with you the process of creating decorative papers using the dendritic painting method I watched at Atomic Shrimp.

Jewels, of Just Tickety-Boo, who first shared the video with me, initiated a mail art swap using the results of our dendritic painting experiments.

From the beginning, I imagined the shape of a person's head made out of the dendritic papers, since they look like neurons or nerve endings.  Then, I wanted to use inspiration from the wonderful collage and mail artist, Lenore Tawney, so I flipped through the book Signs on the Wind, and came away with this postcard to send to Jewels:

In return, Jewels sent me this postcard (tucked inside a fireworks-emblazoned envelope!):

Her use of the dendritic painting is much more subtle than mine, and you can definitely see how it adds to the layers of her background:

I love the vintage woman image--I have been scouring books and magazines for these kinds of vintage images, as I'm finding images of women and their roles from the 1930s to the 1950s very inspiring right now.

As an added compliment, Jewels told me that she chose the dictionary definition of the word "cheery" because she imagines it to be a word that describes me.  I certainly try to hang on to my cheeriness, so this is much appreciated!

I definitely feel some pressure when it comes to doing a mail art exchange, especially when there is an "assignment," such as using the dendritic papers.  But it is so very satisfying once the project is completed, and I have another piece of mail art from an online friend to add to my collection!

Happy Mail!

I have been heading to the mailbox eagerly each day since signing up for iHanna's International Postcard Swap for this spring.  I have not been disappointed, either, and am happy to share with you the artwork that I've received over the past week.

The very first postcard I received from the swap came from Jan;

I think the postmark says Iowa:

Next came this card from Patty in Washington:

 And the backside of Patty's postcard, which is just as fun as the front:

Along with Patty's I received this postcard from Rachel in Texas:

And today I opened my mailbox to four postcards at once!

From Charlotte M in Sweden:

From Julie in Pennsylvania

(clear across the state, but practically neighbors, relatively speaking!):

From Robin in New Zealand:

(I added the label to cover up my street address.)

And on the backside of Robin's card:

From Lynn in Florida:

This means that I have received seven cards of ten for the official swap.  But I got an extra surprise!  When I visited Sarah's blog, I commented on her amazing results with foam stamps, as well as her awesome use of a transfer technique to let the colors show through.  So what did awesome Sarah do?  She sent me an extra postcard that she had made!  My lucky day!

It has been awhile since I've sent and received much mail art, and it has been such a delight going to the mailbox each day to see what might be there for me!  We've had some torrential rains over the past few days, so I've been lucky to rescue these none the worse for wear.  We'll see what the next few days hold!

2015 iHanna International Postcard Swap

I mentioned in an earlier post that I am participating in iHanna's international postcard swap again this spring, and wanted to share with you the cards I will be sending out into the world this time around.

My set of ten cards has a definite theme this year, which I will explain shortly.  But to begin the process, I cut smooth, white Bristol paper into ten pieces, each 4 inches by 6 inches.  I put a light wash of watercolor on them, and then applied distress ink through a couple favorite stencils using wedge makeup sponges:

For my next step, I glued down some of the old cancelled checks I purchased from the Allentown Paper Show, followed by a selection of Depression-era photos from a book I found at a local thrift shop called Nana's Attic.

Each card got a turn under my sewing machine needle, where I used one of three different colors and a couple of different stitches to outline the pictures or make a band across the postcard.

Finally, I used my "new" old typewriter to type the sentence, "We had everything but money," once for each card.  This sentence is the title of the book I used as the source of my pictures.  I know that some people insist that they only cut up books for their art that are so old and falling apart that they had no other life left in them.  I am here to confess that this book was in perfectly fantastic shape, and I purchased it for the express purpose of cutting out and using its photos.  But as I went through it, I read every single word.  What an amazing book!  It gave me such tremendous insight into the lives of people during the Depression and Dust Bowl eras, and such tremendous respect for the people who made it through with such positive attitudes and memories.

After affixing some postage stamps--some from this very era--my postcards for the swap were complete.

My cards, then, are an attempt to show some of snapshots of life from the 1930s:  how resilient people clothed themselves, fed themselves, dressed themselves, educated themselves, fell in love, worked and played and traveled and LIVED in the face of the incredibly challenging circumstances of that particular decade of United States history. 

Here are my postcards, awaiting the final touches to the messages on the back, about to be sent out into the wider world of mail art lovers!

Many thanks to iHanna for her tireless inspiration!

Digging into the Stash: Collaged Contact Cards

I like to keep a stack of cards on hand with my email and blog addresses for times when I meet someone new who might be interested in my art or my blog. 

It makes sense for those cards to reflect my aesthetic, so I tend to create mini-collages with vintage papers and a mail-art theme.

The back contains my name, email address, and blog URL.  Last time I made these, I very sensibly made them the size of Artist Trading Cards (ATCs).  This time, I made them the size of a standard business card.  I'll return to ATC size next time!

You will recognize papers from the Allentown Paper Show used in these collages.  I used the canceled checks from Farmer's National Bank as the foundation for my cards, then added postage stamps and Cavallini mail-art themed rubber stamps to embellish them.  Some of the cards also include the Grand Union Tea Company tea checks and grocery store merchandise stamps. 

And while I had all my cut-and-paste supplies out on my art table (though, really, when DON'T I have them out?!), I got started on another project. Any guesses what it might be?

I'll tell you!  I am participating in iHanna's DIY Postcard Swap, Spring 2015!  It's been a few years since I have participated, but when I signed up, I dug right in and started creating my cards.  Stay tuned, and I'll share my process and my final results SOON!

Why don't you swing by and sign up, too?!

Mail Love & Learning

I just did a fun swap of ATCs and paper goodies with Steph of Steph D's Art & Stuff (formerly Paper Cuts and Lemonade).  Steph's work is always bright, colorful, and graphically interesting, and I was so happy with the additions she provided for my own collage stash:

We communicated ahead of time to give each other a sense of our styles, likes, and dislikes, and Steph did such a great job including the kinds of things I love, while being sure to include some great new colorful items for my supply.  (In searching for things for Steph, I decided that I am much in need of more COLOR in my collection!)

Looking over Steph's package to me, I thought of all the things I learned in just our one exchange:

1.  It is helpful to share your style ahead of time with your swap partner, but it's equally important to include the things YOU love, too, so your partner isn't just getting more of the same as she already has.

2. I tend to send my swap items in a standard envelope, and then "dress it up" with duct tape, papers, and stamps.  I thought it was very clever and fun of Steph to "think outside the envelope," and use a Trader Joe's grocery bag as her mailer:

I used smooth stones from a recent trip to the beach to cover up our postal details!

3.  I love the way Steph used a regular blue name tag label, and made it more decorative and "air mail" style with a red pen.  I've already used this technique for those of you who will be receiving my bookmarklets at the end of the week!

4.  And a final great lesson I learned from Steph's package is to GO BOLD!  I  love Steph's bold and confident handwriting here, and it suits the bright and graphic nature of the papers, labels, and tags she included in her package.

Here are the two ATCs Steph included for our swap:

Fun timing, as I just started reading the book Loteria by Mario Alberto Zambrano.

Here are the two ATCs I sent in my package to Steph:

To see the stash of papers and goodies I sent along with them, check out Steph's Tumblr post. 

I have a trip to make to the PO with my bookmarklets, but I'll have to wait for this "snowpocolypse" to pass us by!

ATC and Paper Goodies Swap

My latest swap with Sue in the UK involved two Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) and a selection of paper goodies.  (You can see my first swap with Sue in this earlier post.)  We established a loose theme of houses/doors/windows for our ATCs.  Here are the two I sent to Sue:

And here are the two ATCs I received in return:

 I love the filmstrip embellishment above, which shows the pictures she's adhered behind it.

And I really enjoy the picture of the homes climbing up the mountainside on this card.  Many thanks to Sue for these beautiful cards!

When I saw the selection of paper goodies she sent along with her ATCs, I decided to challenge myself to use them on some postcards....ONLY the pieces she sent, with no additions from my own stash.  Here are the cards I created (each one is 4 inches by 6 inches), in the order of their creation:

And even with all of these collages, I still have plenty of scraps left over to play with:

Many thanks to Sue for getting me closer to my goal of catching up with my mail art!