Winter exchange part 1

A fun hotrod-related envelope from Jean.

And the second of the four different holiday franks, even though the envelope was handstamped. Hello, Hermey! 

And from a non-exchange card, Santa!

A very blurry Bumble. If I get a better one, I'll blog it as well.

And here's a Rudolph cancel that happened to coincide perfectly with a design on the envelope:

And the vending machine 'sticker' version:

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And fun script in two styles from Florence.

I also like the style she used on the return address for her own name - I'll have to give this a try, although I bet it is harder than it looks.

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This beauty is from Janet F. Perfect stamp and accompanying scene.

And then you flip it over and it is faux postage and stamp city! Love the year of the horse artistamp.

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Fun envelope from Wendy, including some fantastic vintage Christmas stamps. Does she know that diagonals on envelopes are a feature of mine?

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And one from Karen. The details that she took from the stamp and incorporated/extended onto the envelope, like the tree line in the distance, are amazing.

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A traditional beauty from Smash with vintage stamps. The silver and black script against the dark green background is striking.

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Marti sent this one - a great combination of things, including a vintage Christmas stamp and a contemporary one from a few years ago.

The back of this one is also fun.

And I received an envelope with this vending machine 'sticker' - a forever version of the stamp above.

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.

White mail candy

Adrienne sent this fantastic piece of mail... that's candy on the tongue...

And this beautiful collage was inside.

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And Julie sent this great circus of an envelope addressed in white.

And a bonus artistamp on the back.

And even more inside a neat cellophane envelope.

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Even more white... this time on black, also from Adrienne. And with an amazing variety of vintage Canadian stamps on the envelope that are, once again, uncanceled.

Adrienne included this beautiful minizine featuring her collage work.

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 polar bear and the snow man

May your 2015 be as happy as a polar bear being hand fed sushi.

And may you find time this year to reconnect to language, the landscape, each other, yourself.

Thanks for a great exchange!

Happy New Year!

It's midnight in Columbus - welcome to 2015.

Celebrate with a bonus belated birthday envelope I sent to Jan.

Very hard to see the silver writing on the scanned version.

Here's a photo to compare.

Celebrate responsibly!