Drive-in

Envelope 363.

Mice

Envelopes 640, 642 and 643 sent to Cara, CJ and Karen. Made from last year's unused wrapping paper.

Open wide!

Collage from Karen I.

Monochrome mixed media MMSA

The latest MMSA challenge was to create a monochrome piece of art using at least three different art media/techniques.

I used collage, transparency, and cutouts on computer printed card. This does not look the same when scanned, so these images are not quite what people received. For reference the darkest orange hexes are the transparent parts.

If you have received a card insert in an envelope from me lately, you may have received a different version as I have played around in photoshop with different color schemes. The blue versions appeal to me a lot.

And the ones I received came from people I've connected with multiple times.

Red: Gina

Purple: Carroll

Aqua: Nancy

MMSA 3 element paper collage

The task for this paper-based collage challenge was to only use 3 elements. This made editing easy - 3 pieces and you're done - but made choosing tough.

Here's what i sent in for the swap.

And here are ones I received from Lois M, Honi C and Leslie.

And here's the bonus I sent in for the host.

It's the Year of the Ram! or Sheep! or Goat!

I hope it isn't cheating to have my Sunday Stamps entry a few days early, on the first day of the year of the ram (or sheep, or goat).

Baby mountain goat stamp from Canada, from a series of baby animals. $1.20 is the rate to send mail from Canada to the US. 

The envelope is the real story - this is the most amazing mail I have received in 2015, and one of the all time best.

The envelope has travelled on part of its journey by dog sled - through three towns, each with a postmark on the front. 

Thanks so much, Adrienne.

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I sent this tangram goat to Karen I, host of MMSA, for the first challenge of 2015.

Karen's was stamped with the Wyoming 'Flags of our Nation' stamp, featuring bighorn sheep (and a bison on the flag).

The ones for the swap were additionally stamped with the brand new Year of the Ram stamp, as after I mailed Karen's I realized the 'postcards' exceed the letter size, and thus need large envelope postage (98c, or two Forever stamps). 

I think the Year of the Ram stamps look fantastic in person, however they never scan quite right. Even the USPS image isn't quite the same - the gold parts never look as good as the real thing. 

I used one on envelope 489 to Pamela in San Francisco, where they always hold the first day of issue ceremony for this series...

...and I used them on my envelopes for Jean & Jan's February envelope exchange. The suggested theme was hearts, red, and St Valentine's Day, or personal choice. I am not really one for St Valentine's day, so I sent out Year of the Ram greetings, accompanied with the new stamp.

Don't be shocked, regular readers, but for a change I used commercial stationery and Jean's wrought iron lettering. I think they make a nice set. The one with 3 stamps is heading to the Czech Republic - hope it makes it!

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I also have this mint Shaun the Sheep stamp from the UK. He'd be perfect for mail sent in the Year of the Ram.

And on the topic of British stamps... Royal Mail released this fantastic set of eight stamps today, celebrating Inventive Britain. A pity you can't use another country's stamps on US mail, as they would work with many of my envelopes.

Envelopes 228 & 229 - lights

To Missive Maven & Karen I

Bonus postcards & bonus link

I received this one from MissiveMaven... I couldn't wait until October to post this one, so how about a little Halloween received in January and blogged in February!

And some fun washi tape and sticker action on the back. Great stamp, too, celebrating the bicentennial of the Library of Congress (a stunning building, well worth a visit).

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One from Karen. the outer layer is a transparency of some kind - very cool in person.

And some great vintage stamps.

From Honi C.

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A happy new year from Liberty.

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Nancylee sent this pretty winterscape. Hey, that could be the post office's next 'scape' set, to go with cloudscapes and earthscapes. 

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A bright collage from Jazzie.

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The scan isn't going to do this one justice at all.

Julie created this postcard using five different fabrics, then used a sewing machine to make neat edges. I wouldn't even know how to turn a sewing machine on!

She used the Nevada statehood stamp to complete the theme. 

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Another one from Honi C

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'Stolen page 176'. The flower Hester added to this page makes me think of a strelitzia

Hester used a great Alexander Calder stamp to send this one - even more fitting as the year of the Horse draws to a close.

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Bright orange and fuschia bicycles from Rose.

More color to cheer up a dreary February from Terrie.

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Bonus link to two articles from the designer of the upcoming Summer Harvest stamps, Michael Doret. I think the design of these is great. I wish it had included a couple of the originals - the lemon and pineapple ones in particular.

The first design series, ultimately rejected in 2002.

The redesigned series, currently scheduled for release in June. 

Poets & Insults

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The English language is full of colorful insults dating back centuries - just look at Shakespeare for some creative comebacks. This set of three 20-year old envelopes (from an article on English usage, if I remember correctly) has a few of them.

Stamped with my three remaining poet stamps - I have no idea if any of them used any of these words, though.

Envelope 118 sent to Karen I.

Envelope 119 sent to Karen N.

Envelope 116 sent to Jean.

Jean's came with an interesting liner effect.

MMSA round postcards

The last MMSA challenge for 2014 (and possibly the last one ever), presented the challenge of creating round postcards.

Here are the ones I created (the silver mandala is the one I sent to Karen; the second one is inspired by Jean's post about diatoms):

And the ones I received from Currie, Kathie, Dian and Sheri. They are all so different and cool - I loved this challenge, it made me think really differently about  creating a circular design.

I also scanned the back of Kathie's (the record - clever idea) as she included some fun facts about the recording artists, and Sheri's - I love the weird food-monster she included.