Leslie to Grace - Eames grid + blob-critters (Judith Whipple)

Super fun - perfect stamp. The added slat on the back is so cute.

I did a search for ink splat on Pinterest and there are oodles of good ideas. There are some birds that popped up that reminded me of some birds we've seen on envelopes on the blog. Which reminded me of Judith Whipple. She is a local artist I had completely forgotten about. She makes Whipplebirds - and other animals, too.

She states clearly on her FB page that she has copyrights on her designs. As far as I know , she only does sculpture - so I think we'd be fine to do some long legged birds and animals on some envelopes. I think Patience Brewster has a bunch of long legged people. I have not thought of her in a long time - so guess I will head down that rabbit hole.

Link to Whipplebirds

 

Leslie to Liz -- Pink & Green (string art) (fun comment)

 This is a timeless color combination.

Folded pen on the hello - but I am not sure what she used on the versals.

***

Third try is the charm - not only did I find more string art, the link will take you to some videos so you can watch the *petals* appear. They don't all look like petals - but I don't know what else to call them. Swoosh? I feel like Nike now owns the word *Swoosh.* They probably don't. 

Link to videos on how these are made

****

Someone named Terry left a comment on a very old post. They must have found a link to the blog through Pinterest. It's a very fun comment. Thanks for leaving a comment. I love hearing that people are inspired to decorate all kinds of mail. I agree -- the people who open the mail probably enjoy something out of the ordinary.

Terry has left a new comment on your post "rerun friday - christy who started it all": 

Your blog inspired me to start decorating my envelopes - and now the pressure is on to decorate all of them! Even my bills get sent out in decorated envelopes - a nice treat for the person whose job it is to open the mail every day. Thanks for all the inspiration! TE 

Poinsettia G to Gloria / Barry's filled in letters from IG / other flowery letters

 This one might have been better to run later in the year, but I have these two other images that are on my virtual desk top that I keep wanting to try. There is no way of knowing if I will ever get around to it. 

The first one is from Barry Morentz's IG and I know I was going to write about Barry and maybe I did. Maybe I can figure that out. The second one is from alicelovesdrawing on IG

These are fabulous ideas. 

No rant today.

Leslie to Janet - Lucy+football (littleblessingsbyka)

 Brilliant, eh?

Those round Have a Ball stamps are sooo good. But, I think they are mostly sold out. Below is another image that Pinterest sent my way.

I love that gray one. That's probably washiest tape around the edge. Black and white on gray is s once and the three colors are nice too. Pinterest did tell us where the image came from. But, the link did not take us to this image. It goes to a blog with a ton of stuff - but too much glitter for me. I have nothing against glitter and die cuts and K.A.'s style. It's always nice when people find something that they enjoy.

Link to little blessings by ka

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Real time rant/comment. I missed the 1,250,000th page view of the blog. I've also been thinking that my added comments are wacky. And then there are the number of mistakes that I make. We are going to blame it on the pandemic and the numerous ways that our routines have been altered. 

And, I don't think I'm alone - lots of people seem to be wacky. At least it is spring and we might not have any more winter to contend with. Although - this idea is worth saving for next winter. It is not unusual for Des Moines to have one last whopper storm in March. If we have to have one, please let it be snow. One year it was ice and Oh.My.Gosh. we do not need and ice storm. Please. No ice.

To Chuck - Shouting series no 1 (Nov PTEX) (IKEA)

When I came back to post this series in early January, the envelopes looked like they were shouting. That envelope on Friday that was done with the rubber stamp of a stamp shape ended up being the first in a series of 7 or 8 -- those envelopes will be appearing on Fridays. This *shouting series* will be a Sunday series - and I have no idea how long it will last. All I know is that these were done for the November exchange and I put a December envelope inside each one because I did not want to add to the USPS's load in December. Nearly all of the orphan stamps went out the door.

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I'm adding the rant/ponder/celebration on March 1. This is the day that my son is closing on a house. It's been 2 years since his housemate sold his house and they had 10 days to move out. The housemate decided to move into the smaller apartment over his restaurant. My son  put his stuff in storage and has been *camping* whilst looking for a house of his own for 2 years. Part of the time he was camping in our spare bedroom and he is the easiest person to have around - but the amount of stuff that I started saving for him - for when he got a house - started to give me the heebie-jeebies. I'm sending a queen sized bed to his house so I can have more space in the spare bedroom. I might get a trundle bed for the grandkids' visits. So, I was looking at bedding ideas and found this at IKEA. I *heart* anything that looks like alphabets. Here is the link for anyone else who needs some alphabet themed fabric. It looks like it is shouting.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/skuggbraecka-duvet-cover-and-pillowcase-s-white-black-00439053/

Fr Leslie to Nele (string art) (Suzanne's Flickr)

 They won't be all in a row, but there will be several envelopes by Leslie that she sent to non-PTEX-exchangers. Leslie gets extra gold stars for sharing her mail with us.

We've had some previous string art envelopes. And I was going to look (on Pinterest) for some other examples to add to this post. But, Pinterest is really good at anticipating things that might catch my eye.

The first thing was this - which led me to a Flickr album. People who store their images on Flickr are oft times putting a ton of stuff out there for us to peruse.

This one caught my eye:

When I went surfing through the other albums, I saw this one - with a flag stamp. We all know how I feel about flag stamps (unless they go with the colors or the theme) I am not a fan of the giant cross bars on the I and the short middle bar on the E  - but, in this case there is enough other stuff going on that I'm happy to post it. The border is a good idea. What I like best - that I encourage people to try - is the brushy-sketchy quality. It's fun to be a little sketchy and not worry about staying in the lines.

She has a ton of albums. The link goes to *Mail art* - and it will appeal to people who like to fill up the space.

Link to Suzanne's mail art album

Oh, wow. I was not going to spend any more time on her albums. But something made me click on the one labeled *Baby shower*. It is full of fluffy pink photos, a darling invitation in a fun envelope - with coordinating pink stamps. It's a shower for Suzanne's first granddaughter. I scrolled through them quickly and then -WHAM- the last photo seems to be the table where the guests had their luncheon and it is red, white, and blue. Interesting.

If you are Suzanne, and you have discovered this blog - we'd love to hear from you. I'm always agreeable to deleting whatever I find that has no way of contacting the person for permission. We are both *all-over-Pinterst.*

To Rachael - stamped-stamps - No.2 (NASA logo, etc)

 Did I forget to photograph these after they were done?

Whew.

There was a bit of a panic until I found this.

I had a lot of fun on the day I did these - and am having a serious debate with myself about whether or not they are too repetitive to give each one their own day. But, with all the stress of the pandemic, etc. I am going to post one a week - and that will give me some open space if I need to insert rants.

I ran one of these previously - on the first of a month - exchange sign-up day.

*****

This is how surfing works:

Enjoying coffee, hoping to linger a bit longer before working on massive house project.

Click on obituaries in NYT

Find the obit for man who designed the NASA logo

Not that interested, but needed to linger

Oh.My.Gosh.

First - the story about the two NASA logos is really good.

Second - he also designed a star that we've all seen a gazillion times.

Third - further surfings led me to a website with stories about logos that could potentially keep me glued to my computer for the entire day.

Instead, I will put it in my new folder of ReallyREALLYgoodSTUFF

and come back later.

If you love graphic design and logos -- you might like this place:

https://kottke.org/tag/logos

I have not backtracked to find out anything more about Kottke -- I'm guessing it's not Leo - but maybe it is.

Here is the star logo that started out for the bicentennial and ended up everywhere, including on stamps.

Also the two NASA logos and the start and a link to the obit of the designer. There are other obits if you Google him. 

Link to Blackburn obit

If you do not want to surf - the story about these two logos goes like this:

He did the first logo.

Then they wanted something a little more streamlined and he did the second one.

Then after the Challenger disaster, they flipped back to the first one - which bothered Bruce (a lot) 

Happily, before he died, they started using the second one again - whew.

And here is one of the best parts off the Kottke blog - part of a conversation from a meeting where Bruce and his partner were pitching the second logo. 

And here is one of the most interesting exchanges I’ve ever witnessed in a design presentation. Fletcher is the client. I'm not sure who Low is - possibly a rep who is valuable to the process since designers aren't always the best people to lead the discussion.

Fletcher: “I’m simply not comfortable with those letters, something is missing.”
Low: “Well yes, the cross stroke is gone from the letter A.”
Fletcher: “Yes, and that bothers me.”
Low: “Why?”
Fletcher: (long pause) “I just don’t feel we are getting our money’s worth!”

Jean's comment: It get's better

Others, not just the designers were stunned by this last comment. Then the discussion moved back to the strong red/rust color we were proposing. We had tried many other colors of course, including the more predictable blue range, but settled on red because it suggested action and animation. It seemed in spirit with the Can Do nature of the Space Agency.

Fletcher: And this color, red, it doesn’t make much sense to me.”
Low: “What would be better?”
Fletcher: “Blue makes more sense… Space is blue.”
Low: “No Dr. Fletcher, Space is black!”

Jean's comment:  If you go to the Kottke blog and scroll down to this part, there is a link to a longer article about the whole NASA logo design which I have not read - but, I am guessing  it might be really good.

Michelle Ott - The Postcard Machine (Pre-FaceBook Face Book)

 I hope you can click on this and see the detail. During my coffee break, I wandered through a list on IG and found this envelope. Michelle Ott is the artist and I was so happy to read about how she got her start in postcards. She was working in Antarctica and had a large cardboard box. She made the Postcard Machine and it has been many places. I think she lives in California now.

Link to Michelle's IG

Link to ThePostcardMachine on IG

I love this inverted pyramid scheme - with Michelle at the bottom - delighted to make postcards, the reader is in the middle - delighted to send postcards, and then all the people who are delighted to receive  actual mail.

Here is her website if you want to spend some time surfing. I like the [About] section

Link to the Postcard Machine website

The first Postcard Machine

*****

Well, this is just cooler than heck.

Gorgeous books from 400 years ago made by people who wanted an album of portraits.

Link to Books of Faces

It was hard to choose which image - there are all kinds of images - some have more writing.

*****

Most of the people who worked on the bathroom renovation don't get to see the finished product, so instead of emailing each one of them, I put photos on a blog. I don't have all the names filled in yet.

https://bestbathroomever.blogspot.com

From KateR, Faye, JeanR, Jess (Christi's valentine)

 I only recall one other envelope with this stamp - and I think it was from Patty. I've probably missed out on getting any of these stamps. They're really pretty and Kate had a good idea to incorporate the design. The USPS comes up with a variety of cancels and I think this one for October with the scary-outlet-face is adorable. I keep forgetting to mention it. The placement on this one is really fun.

Here are three more from October. These four ended up in a folder and they seem like duplicates - but the mission is to get through all the folders and start my new filing system. The top three are harmonious - color-wise. And the raccoon is fun

From Faye. Rusty items and black tea. I know I have written about this technique previously. Maybe she sent two envelopes -- and maybe that's why I think these might be duplicates.

From JeanR

From Jess - the outlet-face lines up perfectly with the jack-o-lantern.

*****

I did not see this valentine from Christi until a few days after the 14th. Christi's blog is on the quality end of the quality-quantity spectrum - she only posts once in a while - but every post has something steal worthy. She left this comment on the last post that included her beautiful, historically-inspired work - in my response to my questions. Thank you, Christi. 

The romans on the bookmarks are mine, simply developed from years of working with type (computer fonts) and drawing letters I like. The illuminated gold letters are traditional, again years of copying medieval manuscripts, to where the ‘doodles’ of the monks have become second nature.

I reeeeeeally need to try this.

From AmyG in Oct 2020 (loopy pants)

The blog was almost 5 hours late yesterday. I'm not sure anyone noticed. Once in a while I forget to reset the time. 

 This reminds me of Lauren's blueberry envelope to Mr Wilson. There was a note inside telling me exactly what the berries were and mentioned that they had a nice scent as well. Hopefully, I will find the note or an image of the note. Macabre is the word that pops in my head when I ponder the stains and those teeth on the critter on the stamp. I like the rectangle behind the stamps and the partial purple border. There is an unpredictability that is fun. I wonder if there was any specific inspiration -- or if it was just experimenting that went well.

I am currently relocated to a pied-a-terre where I am taking a sabbatical to get my ephemera and envelopes in order. It is Dec 28th. There is a 3 week renovation project at my house and it was going to be difficult to socially distance. So, I'm filling up blog posts and also going through actual paper ephemera that has been around for far too long. Wish me luck. And I fully expect it to take 6 weeks - since that seems to be the way renovation goes. And it is not exciting renovation - it is updating 1949 plumbing - both bathroom and kitchen.

****

My prediction was correct. It was exactly 6 weeks to the day. Whew. I still don't have the before and after photos because we are in day 3 of 3 days of carpet installation. 

My system of posting ahead of time and then adding the rants/pondering has settled into a nice routine. Today we need something silly to balance out the past couple days of serious topics. Fashion is always an easy source for silliness. 

link to https://www.tylermcgillivary.com

I think I found this through an article that said there is a growing number of independent designers who are making small quantities of clothing and selling them online. Not that this is entirely new. But, there are more options than just Etsy these days.

March Exchange - Sign-up

Note to self: have you started a new blog called Exemplarpalooza?  

 To participate in the March exchange email me by the 4th and the lists will be sent on March 5th (or 6th at the latest).

You should receive a confirmation email from me that your sign-up email reached me, If you do not - send another email.

Please send your info - in the following format. 

It is so helpful when I can copy and paste, rather than reformat your information, or find your email.

Add (CARDS) after your name if you wish to exchange handmade cards.

Add (Birthday) at the bottom, if March is your birthday month.

Add (2 Lists) at the bottom, if you are willing to be on 2 lists - if I need to add people to make the lists come out even.

Jane Smith (CARDS)

123 Oak Street

Ames, Iowa 50010

[email protected]

(Birthday) (2 Lists)

Send the above info to me at:

jmwilson411-at-yahoo-dot-com

Additional information about how the exchange works is on the tab that says *envelope EXCHANGE rules*

Or if you have questions - just email.

Five Giant Copic - from Jean (Gray Panthers)

These 5 went out in the October exchange. I was pretty happy with some of my October envelopes because I did quite a few with the Ed Emberley drawings. I can't imagine that I will ever tire of Ed's drawings. The only downside is the amount of time they take, so, I probably had five left and decided to use the giant Copic marker that I love and that I can also refill. These envelopes were really nice paper and they slurped up the ink. They're fine. But, I will indulge in some uber-nit-picking. I need to remember that I have to have something really fun to add to this style of lettering. Somehow a big bold name just doesn't seem like enough.

I like the white space on Sue's, but am not thrilled with the last name.

The second C in Chuck is clunky but the centering turned out nicely with no practice.

So-so.

Grrrr.

Poor planning.

I do not like the stamp placement at all.

Grrrr.

Grrrr. 

Too many things about this one bother me to even start listing them.

*****

My curiosity won and I researched the Gray Panthers. It was so much fun to read (and remember) the history - including the feisty little lady who was forced to retire at 65 and launched the organization. Progress has been made - but there are still lots of issues - as well as new issues - facing elders. The Gray Panthers are still around and you can join one of the local organization. NYC, Detroit, Twin Cities, Boston, San Francisco, East Bay (Berkeley) and Long Beach are the only communities listed. Maybe I should start a Des Moines branch. Decisions, decisions.

If you would like to read more:

Link to Gray Panthers (Wiki)

at the bottom is a link to a FB page.

And while we are on a roll - if you ever felt under appreciated (and/or under compensated) for the amount of work you put in at your domestic duties - here's someone with some ammunition for your next debate.

Link to Silvia Federici article

It is long and full of heartbreaking statistics and information about hardships faced by many people. And I really regret just giving you the *happy note* from the very end of the article. I am only doing it because some of my readers are slogging through hard times and the last thing they need is a long article about hardships. So here is an activist's response to a question from the author:

When I asked, on one dark day last year, what if anything was making her feel the magic of the world, she cried: “Oh! Oh! This.” She waved her hands around in the air, gesturing at the trees, the birds, the dirt in the nearby planter currently being examined by a pair of toddlers. 

Her eyes crinkled behind her mask. “The creativity of nature. And of people. I am very excited about people.” When I burst out laughing in disbelief, she protested. “There is really a lot of beauty, generosity, courage, my God. There is still joy, I see it — there is still a lot of beauty in this world. And I hope it prevails over those who only want to control and tear it apart.”

 

Fr NancyL to Lady Michaela (up-down designation)

Obviously this is halloween envelope, but NancyL kindly sent me several images and I am going to post all of them at once because I have yet to figure out a system where I keep track of what is downloaded and what is blogged.

Very pretty lettering. Love the crows. Raising my eyebrow at the flag.

This style of lettering works at any time of year. There are a couple more halloween designs that are fabulous. Something to look forward to in September or October. It seemed silly that I did not have a system for keeping track of what people sent and whether or not it was blogged - so, I just came up with one. Cautiously optimistic. 

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New idea for these add ons - where I either rant or ponder or celebrate as we continue our journey around the sun. I will indicate if it is uplifting or downtrodden - so that as I fill the slots, I can make it somewhat balanced. Do we all agree that it is better to be balanced? If I am mistaken, I would be delighted to hear of an example where being unbalanced is the better alternative.

A few days ago I mentioned ScaryMommy on IG as a favorite site. This is an example of why I enjoy it so much. Reminds me of my "good ol' days." 

Let's Read a Book (Repost from NancyL)

 

Link to a book about the USPS

I was reading a book, The 99% Invisible City and there was a blurb about the USPS. It was so full of information and mentioned this book, that I just had to check it out from the library.

The 99% Invisible City is chock full of interesting things, none of which I will remember, but they were perfect for distracting me from the thing from which I need to be distracted. That's a tortured sentence. Periodically, I think about studying, How to Write. 

To read or to write. By the time I get my blog posts written, I have exhausted my attention span for writing. 

There is another book on the USPS: Neither Snow Nor Rain -- which is an available audio book. I'll be listening to it and will give a book report when it is finished.

****

This is a repost. NancyL kindly sent me some images for the blog and included this one which I know has been posted, but, it's a good one to repeat because it's a perfect idea if you need to fill some hours and you don't want to plan very far ahead.

I should do a search and see if I can figure out if this is the one that came with apologies for using the flag stamps. 60-seconds later. Nope - you can do a search for *flag stamp* and the envelope with NancyL with the flag stamp will pop up. I was surprised how few hits there were in that search. I would have thought there would be more. Seems like it is a chronic complaint.

Another 60-seconds later. Oh.Wow. A search for just the word *flag* brought up lots more. Plus, it brought up this one -- and yes it does have a flag stamp. But, it is one with a lot of green, so it actually looks very nice. I think there was a set of the flag in 4 seasons.

From Janet to Tracy (tile and plaster oops)

This one -also by Janet- is super stealworthy. I love the little envelopes. I need to dig through my envelopes and see what I can find in the non-white category. I think the little envelopes want to be on a colored envelope

Janet -- do you have a moment to tell us what brand or brands of markers you prefer?

I've been a ZIG person for over 20 years. But, when Jan gave me all her Faber Castell markers, I fell in love with them. Of course Copics are dreamy. Grrrrr. Too much temptation.

****

More ooops from the bathroom project.

First the tile. It's under the sink - so not very obvious and I did not take a before photo. I used Sugru to fill the divot which was smaller than a dime. I need to paint it and add a clear coat. I am only showing it to mention Sugru - which is an amazingly wonderful product. I think you have to order it online. But, it sticks to everything and hardens into a really hard rubber and stays put. Unless you want to remove it.

And then you can get it off with a sharp knife. I have a divot in a quarry tile step that I am going to fix next. The photos might give a better idea of how handy the Sugru is. 

Second oooops. It would have been a long time before I discovered that the bashing of the old tile wall in the bathroom caused a chunk of plaster to fall out on the other side. My 4-drawer stack of envelopes was in that corner and they were heavy - so I never moved them. I only moved them because we were getting new carpet.

 

Two from NancyL - May 2020 (Lego bricks)

A couple more from NancyL. These were not part of the exchange. They are a variation on the exchange envelopes we saw yesterday - using the love stamp. She had the tails on the z and the y to corral the hearts and inserted a swoopy line to corral them on the top. Clever way to organize the elements within the picture plain. I wonder if those stamps are still available. The colors are soooo nice.
 

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Lucky me. I found some of those stamps in MrWilson's folder of stamps. So, I am helping myself to this idea as I complete my exchange envelopes for the month. 

We are still in the midst of house renovation projects - so - the blog is getting haphazard attention. I still manage to surf during the noon cup of coffee and found this heart warming story about someone who was motivated to recycle plastics. I'm trying to decide if I should send this to the president of Lego. I just read an article about him - and also started the video on Netflix -- and Oh.My.Gosh -- if ever there was someone who could dovetail the beloved activity of building with Legos with recycling and housing needs - it's that guy. Can you dovetail 3 things? Maybe that's called a braid.

I dunno -- but I reeeeally feel like Mr Lego needs to hear about this project:

Link to plastic bricks in Nairobi

Five from NancyL - May 2020 - (enduring)

NancyL responded to my call for photos in May. It's so much fun to see a group of envelopes that went out together. She had a layout in mind and you can see how she adjusted it to fit the various amounts of lettering that needed to fit in. The floral details, coordinated with the stamps are the frosting on the cake.

*****

It's Feb 11and we are adding the rants/ponders to previously scheduled posts. We were talking about enduring.

When this pops up this will be the week where I am needing to get my second appointment for my second vaccination. Fingers crossed we have not run out of vaccine. It will probably be chilly. Maybe snowy. I can't think of any brilliant way to do anything other than endure February. 

The standard joke is that February has the fewest days because it is such a miserable month. I hope everyone is finding ways to endure. At my house on the 11th-- we are listening to the final installation of the bathroom remodel and I will be taking a really funny photo here in a couple minutes. The cabinet builder/installer didn't realize that the wall had the final paint - and he wrote a couple numbers above the cabinet.

 I calmly explained that the wall had already been painted. Ooooops. At least it was pencil and I will be able to remove it. If it had been Sharpie - I'm not sure how I would have handled it. Probably beautifully. The only up-side of having things go wrong is it prepares us for things to go wrong.

Pray for the best, expect the worst. That's the Mel Brooks line that I might add to that other list.

The tile oooops will appear at a later date.

I meant to post the birthday envelopes to Viola tomorrow - but accidentally clicked -post-

so they popped up late yesterday.

Scroll down for a bonus post.

 

Viola - Happy 101st Birthday (word space)

Thank you to everyone who sent cards for Viola, my sister-in-law's mother.

This one is from Patty. I love the 101 candles on the cake.

Alyce went with balloons - a popular birthday theme.

Mine is boring.

RachaelT found a very nice font. That combination of letters works very well.

And here is the birthday girl.

Keep in mind Viola beat both covid and pneumonia since her 100th birthday.

And she's pretty determined to get her strength back so she can walk around.

That's not gonna happen, but you gotta admire someone who maintains their can-do spirit.

*****

Unrelated - but I couldn't resist adding this. One of my broken record comments when people ask me to critique their work is --- too much space between words. I think this might have broken the record for the amount of space between words.

The words on the three sheets of paper are Just-be-Kind. I try to be kind when I suggest that words need to have only the width of the letter i between them. The photo is from a real estate listing. I've been spending way too much time looking at real estate listings. It's one of my favorite time-wasters.

I am curious about this room in general. The quilt is a keepsake quilt made out of t-shirts. All black and gold which usually means U of Iowa - but I do not see the Hawkeye logo. If I taught English, I would assign this photo to the class and have people write a story about it. If any of the readers like to write stories - feel free to submit one. I would definitely post them.