More minions!

This time the minions were stamped with round stamps - the golf ball and the global stamp from 2013.

Aerial views on Sunday Stamps

Perhaps the ultimate aerial view of the earth on the first US international stamp to bear the non-denominational designation, 'Global Forever', issued in 2013, and replacing previous air mail stamps issued with a small plane symbol.

Used on this 'envelope' made from panels of a kleenex box and sent to Eric.

And if the camera turned around, you'd have an aerial view of the moon, issued as a Global stamp in 2016. Tonight is supposed to be a giant full moon, so I hope it is clear this evening. If not, I'll just have to make do with this envelope I sent to Eva, made from a calendar page.

Hopefully I didn't break the rules too much this week. For more aerial views on postage, head over to the links at Sunday Stamps.

Eric Mondays part 19 - the maze

I had thought of this idea fairly early on in the fifty series, however it does take quite a bit of moving letters and connectors around in photoshop to get it right, so it took me a while to get it sent. It might be my favorite of them all.

Eric's street has such a long name that I had to squeeze it all together - so I'm pleased La Poste delivered it without trouble.

Eric Mondays - part (3.)14 - Pi Day

With the US system of writing the month before the date, there is a Pi day every year on March 14th.

I took the opportunity to obtain a special Pi day cancellation for this envelope.

Here's the version that reached Eric.

I also sent one to Eva (without the 50).

Happy 50th Birthday, Eric!

Since I rediscovered mail art, Eric has become one of my favorite people to exchange envelopes and letters with. 

He has a call for the whole of 2016 dedicated to his turning 50, and I decided to send him several items. I'm going to start blogging them here on 'Eric Mondays'.

This is the first item:

I sent this in envelope 583, a replacement reindeer for the one that went missing last year.

Happy birthday, Eric!

The a-maze-ing Eduardo Munez

The final one for Eduardo.

Who is Eduardo Munez - part 7

This is a more 'filled in' version of a previous mysterious Eduardo Munez envelope.

And the same information in a spiral format.

 The first envelope is not corn, or a church, or an electrical circuit, or an air port terminal map. It's not a seating chart, a game, a pill, a button hole attachment or a martian cribbage board. And it's not a football field, or a zipper. The stamps may have been a bit of a red herring, however I used them because the first image makes me think of corn.

It's an abstracted map of the Newcastle metro system. Here's the current official map.

See-through mailarteeth

Another one off to Christophe. This time sent in a clear 'envelope'. I'll be interested to see if this one makes it OK, it was a bit floppy.

Who is Eduardo Munez part 4

OK, Ruth commented that filming doesn't start until March 21st, so step away from the computer *right now* and send an envelope (plus letter if you like) to the man in question and it will arrive in time to be in the film.

I sent him envelope number 575.

Another one to Mailarteeth

It's been a while since I sent anything to Christophe. Here's my first mailarteeth for 2016.

Oz Mega Win

This showed up on my phone when I was playing words with friends.

 Screen captured (but not downloaded) and sent to Eva inside this envelope. Front:

And back:

___________________________________

Bonus reblog.

Last year I sent another Oz piece to Eva. Recently Eva showed the stamped side.

I find the GIANT cancellation fascinating. I have never seen anything like that before. Also entertaining that it ended up in the wrong corner, leaving the stamps unmarked. They even managed to escape the dreaded sharpie.

Update!

Eva forwarded a picture of another received large postcard where the giant cancellation is in the correct position. I wonder if this is for larger pieces of mail that USPS classifies as 'flats'.

And here's the close up

Thanks, Eva!

Envelope 398 to Theo

I was attracted to the conveyor belt graphic when choosing this magazine page for an envelope. I like how the rocket ship kinda points to the earth on the stamp.

Update

Eva suggested a line between the rocket and the earth. I really wish I could print exactly where I wanted onto an envelope, but my printer-handling skills are not fine enough!

Here's what i did on the computer....

Envelope 410: Jumping a hole in the air & Domingo the kunsthund

A while back I sent Heleen a colored-in snail mail she designed accompanied by a few of the Lunar New Year stamps. On her blog she wrote that she 'jumped a hole into the air' when she received it. Such a great expression, a direct translation from Dutch to English - I think our equivalent is 'jumped for joy'.

In response to her gecko, I sent this envelope and letter:

It must have been Euro day when I put Heleen's envelope together, because I sent this to Erni. 

Erni looks after a friend's dog - Domingo - when she is out of town, and this reminded me of the 'kunsthund' (art dog).

And when the two envelopes were sitting waiting to be taken to the mail, this juvenile moment happened that made me laugh.

Envelope 96 - Trams to Theo

One of the original envelopes showed a tram yard - I think this is from an Eastern European city, just not sure which one.

Perfect to send back to Theo.

Interesting faces on the inner flap.

Republic of Whimsy

Spontaneous painted mail arrived from IUOMA Theo, who resides in the Republic of Whimsy (aka Calgary). Check out the fantastic faux postage.

Inside, a comic about aging.

And my first Fluxus Bucks. I'm sure there'll be a future update on what I decide to do with them.

___________________________

My response to Theo was envelope 93 - one of the originals.

A couple of faces inside the flap.

Bananas, kaleidoscopes, brain cells

 Ryosuke turned one of my banana faux stamps into a rubber-stamp shape in issue 911 of Brain Cell.

Like before, I find the whole sheet fascinating, always seeing something new. And also resisting the urge to turn it into cool envelopes!

Using an envelope that I had leftover from test-printing the one I sent to Roland.

I sent 150 banana life cycle labels in for Ryosuke's next Brain Cell.

Rectangular envelopes that look round

It was still cold enough for hot chocolate when I sent envelope 403 to Adrienne. I addressed it in silver, however the scan makes it look grey.

I've sent a few envelopes with watch faces on them in the past, and always regret not putting the stamp in the middle of the face.

So a circular stamp and circular address (more or less) for Eric on envelope 181.

A few days after I mailed it, this arrived from the man himself - coincidence?

Time flies, and so did this card. It was postmarked March 16th, and arrived on the 21st. It looks a bit greener in my scan (or maybe it is my monitor) - check out Eric's blog, the link is on the right, for a better scan and more fun mail art.

Envelope 364 - the other

I sent this photograph in for a mail art call titled 'The Other' - photography exhibit in Thessaloniki, Greece.

I sent the photo in this envelope made from an ad for one of the rebooted Planet of the Apes films.

Blue tones

Number 361 - moon sky

I sent my next potential contribution to Brain Cell in this envelope. I have to say I find the Japanese address system disorienting, and have to check the numbers multiple times.

The scanner made a mess of this envelope, so I ended up taking a photo with my cell phone - so it isn't quite rectangular. Bon voyage, my many-numbered envelope.

_________________________________________

Number 664 - revival

Sent off to Carroll, and it arrived uncanceled, an added bonus.

Blue and gull

This is one of the originals - number 91. There aren't too many left at this point. 

This is one of my personal favorites, however there haven't been any stamps that I felt looked good. Of course I had been overlooking international stamps, and I like the simplicity of the 2013 global forever stamp with this one. I like the blue and white theme - it reminded me of Katerina, as a lot of her mail art from Greece is blue and white-themed. I hope she likes it.

And the back.

__________________________

The mystery continues. Eva is on 1 point for guessing that it is a flag. More points for guessing which flag, and where I sent it.