Creating Mail Art

Someone commented on my last blog post, asking how to make the Mail Art envelopes. Well, I'm certainly no expert, but Mail Art seems to be like most any other art form...the details are up to the artist. The one above came in the swap packet from the recent Mail Art swap my daughter and I participated in.

Here's what we do at our house: We either start with a store-bought envelope or we make our own envelopes. Then, we use a variety of art materials to adorn the envelope. We use markers, rubber stamps and ink, words or phrases we print out or clip from magazines, pictures we clip from books or magazines, glitter, etc. We try to match the words or art to the envelope. For example, if we made an envelope from a page of a fashion magazine, we might paste down the words "Let's Go Shopping!" (Sort of like the notecards and fashion envelopes in my Etsy shop — see the link on the left, if you're interested.) Some envelopes are simple with just one or two elements; others are covered in images, words, glitter, stickers, etc. It's up to the artist.

Now, to make our own envelopes from art paper, magazine pages, newspaper, etc., we start with a template. There are plenty of free templates you can download on the Internet, or you can simply carefully deconstruct one of your favorite envelopes, flatten it out and use it as a template. I often trace the template onto an old file folder and use the heavier weight template for my envelope making.

There also is a template that you can buy, the Kreate-a-Lope, that looks easy to use. I've been interested in getting one, but I don't see them in stores. And to order just the basic template, the shipping is almost double the cost of the item. So, I've been putting that off. Maybe someday.

But, no matter how you make the envelope or the Mail Art, the point, I think, is to have fun and to make the letter-receiving fun, too.

Wonderful surprise

Saturday's mail brought a nice surprise...a package of mail art from Barb Nelis! (That's all the stuff she sent in the picture above.)

I say it was a surprise because I didn't know when it would arrive, and I didn't know it would be so fun. This was my first swap of any sort.

After reading about Barb's Mail Art Swap on the Passion for Letter Writing blog, I decided to participate. I sent my 10 decorated envelopes to Barb and hoped that they were good enough for the swap. I didn't think to take a photo of my entry before I shipped it off, but if I remember correctly, I sent some handmade envelopes made from magazine pages. Some were decorated with pictures that I drew. One or two were made from graph paper, and some were adhered with some cool yellow tape that looks like a tape measure.

But the package I got in the mail was much more exciting! In her note to the swappers, Barb thanks everyone for the "gifties" and notes. Now, I did send a letter to Barb, but I didn't know about "gifties." The cool package Barb sent includes some zinnia seeds, some recipe cards, some paper for crafting and some mints, as well as a personal letter from Barb. Now, I know! I'll be on the lookout for some cool stuff to include with my next submission.

Oh, yes, Barb already has another swap on the calendar! Her next deadline is Sept. 30. If you're interested in participating, I'd suggest you e-mail Barb at rubberfish@roadrunner.com for all the details. And, then, get busy decorating some envelopes!