Winter exchange part 3

This beauty arrived from Candy. The design is taken from one of her paste papers she made, and the snowflakes are embossed, which adds texture. I love the way the serifs on the first 'i' and the 'l's form a diagonal, echoed in the flourish on the 'h'.

This is what the scanner thought of it on first scan. Really crazy how it likes to invert the colors when it senses certain ones. It left the snowflakes silver, though.

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Cathy sent me this outstanding take on a Christmas tree. So many clever things going on - the small basketballs as ornaments, Wilt placing the treetopper, the tree itself, and the ornaments with my name that reflect the ornament stamp.

And the note inside has amazing cutout-snowflake edges - delicate, too, you can see where it tore during scanning.

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This envelope from Christy is one of the most beautiful of this exchange. The colors of the vintage stamps are perfect for the envelope and script. Thank you.

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Winter exchange part 2

I love the snowflake stamps from a few years ago. They look fantastic on Jan's envelope.

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Clever wreath placement from Saba.

And a neat piece of washi on the back.

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A cool snowman from Chuck. Amazing shading!

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I love this modern take on a Christmas tree from Elena. It looks so effortless, that I would like to try it, however I bet it is a bit tougher than it looks to get the proportions right.

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Jack sent a sharp envelope. I love the tree, and the red stippling behind 'Phillip', and the slanted 'i's. Really neat to have Jimi Hendrix on a winter/holiday envelope.

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And a designer snowflake from Eric. I always thought Eric was a graphic designer, but he is not, just self-trained on the computer.

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Like the last exchange, Chuck K used the whole envelope. I like the way the mail barcode added to the design of the address.

Winter exchange - test envelopes part 2

Hester sent this test envelope, but as far as I am concerned it is the real deal. It is made from a sample of wallpaper! Sadly, even though the stamps are carefully hand canceled, they didn't escape a cruel scribble.

The back, with intriguing instructions on how to open - just as well, as otherwise I would have been confused. Love the birds in their Santa hats.

Hester made this neat resealable flap. And even the inside is beautiful.

And the note was written on this - I think this is also wallpaper. A very cool start to Winter exchange mail received!

Winter exchange - test envelopes part 1

I had been thinking about doing all the winter exchange envelopes on the computer. Unfortunately the printer wasn't feeling too cooperative, and wasn't giving me the results I was hoping for.

Here are two test envelopes that I sent to Jean. You can't see them very well (or at least I can't see them that well on the monitor), but there are fainter 'stars' in the background of the envelopes.

Winter exchange - the Magi

I'm not much of a traditionalist, however I love the colors and camels on the Christmas Magi stamps.

Winter exchange - Charley Harper

Hester sent me a postcard using one of the Winter Fun stamps. The cardinal stamp is probably my favorite, although I'm not sure what he has to do with Winter Fun exactly.

Turns out it wasn't a postcard after all, but a comments card from one of Hester's favorite bake shops.

I had been planning on sending this Charley Harper calendar envelope to Hester even before I received her card.

Stamped and addressed.