Incoming Autumn mail (late post)

My Happy Mail Box!

I am sorry to be so behind on posting incoming mail.  But here are two of my most recent.

This cute little Halloween Letter made it to me rather late because it was sent to my old address.

But, because we live in the most efficient  postal  country in the world...it was delivered to me after a little visit at my former home in the country.   Laura is a Pinterest folllower, and if my stats tell me ANYTHING....there are a lot of you out there! ;-)   Laura is a calligrapher...and her work is beautiful! Thank you so much, Laura, I will be writing you soon!

The beautiful autumn themed envelope was from my dear friend , Elaine!  She is one of my super talented card making whizzes!  I absolutely love to be on the receiving end of one of her beautiful cards.  She has recently started selling her cards locally at a local book shop.  She should do very well!

My Incoming Mail Pile

Is in sorry need of

me to start

writing

back.

!

Pam


Pen Pal Kit

Snail Mail Outgoing...Collage, Flip Books, and More!

A Peek Into My Outgoing Mail...

An envelope using a bit of collage technique, vintage style.

Flip book, bi fold going out....hmmm....what label looks good here?  I wish craft manufacture would produce more VINTAGE items like these.  Does anyone have a favorite craft store for vintage items, online , perhaps?

These are simple to make and just a fun way to use all those pretty papers and die cuts that you want to put to good use, right?  I have folded the letter and put it into a cello bag.  Why?  I'm not sure.  Just another little something to open up I suppose.  Don't we like little packages?  The possibilities are endless.  I try to imagine the recipient  and what joy it can bring to them, so I just try to make whatever I send  out cheerful and fun.  A gift.

A recent letter I sent out.  The envelope is made and lined with scrapbooking paper.  I love the chintz print.

Here's another little flip book , bi fold that I recently sent out... Spread a little sunshine today!  Send out some pretty mail,  write a letter!  I know you can do it!

Happy Snail Mailing!

Pam

Flipping Out With Flip Books!

This is a good way to flip out....

I guess this is my signature flip book style.  I like it because it is a nice simple project...not overly involved, and something that I can approach without  hesitation.  I usually set aside time to make the skeleton's  and then they are ready to decorate  when I am ready or when inspiration strikes!

Here is what it looks like when unfolded.  I make them all different, none of them are the same.

Ha, ha, I love this rubber stamp!  I know.  Random.   Do you have a collection of stationery, note cards?  I am a huge stationery fan, and miss the days of wandering through the Japanese stationery shops in my youth.  They were so interesting, fascinating and just a wonderland!  This summer , I plan to make a few discovery ventures to the local stationery shops in my region.  What summer plans do you have?  

One last thing!  I am having my BIG , all-store , SALE!  This starts today at 10:00 !  So head on over  to the sale!  Etsy: LostArtRevived 

Happy snail mailing!

Pam

Is There A Washi Tape Addiction Hotline?

                                          5 Signs of a Washi Tape Addiction (OK, make it 6)

Now, of course, I am not referring to myself.  No, never.  But just in case there are those of you who may struggle this area, let us check if we can at least see the warning signs.

1.  You find yourself surfing online Etsy late at night, half awake, half comatosed , for pink flamingo washi tape.

2.  It isn't a coincidence that  your budget doesn't include washi tape...must mean "the sky's the limit".

 3.  You buy multiple rolls of the same tape because, you know...you'll run out and they will NEVER  have that same design.

4.  You're doing a teal planner layout and you must have 15 teal washi tapes to make it presentable.

5.  You need to find hiding places to store your stockpile of washi tape , because you are afraid your husband will see it and wonder why you have so much of it.

6.  But , "I don't have any ice cream washi tape!"

 Any of you who may have ordered from my Etsy Store will know that I love mailing out my orders with lots and lots of cheerful washi tape and stickers.  I feel like everyone should get some Happy Mail now and then, so I try to make it special.  And I am really thankful for all of the great sellers on Etsy that make that happen. Check out Cwlcrafts for a great selection of washi tape! But do  be mindful of the warning signs of washi tape addiction!

Send a letter today, and of course, use lots of washi tape! :-)

Pam

*Available In The Shop*

Happy Mail Letter Writing Kit

Verity Snail Mail

Snail Mail from the NEXT generation!

This "SWEET"  mail arrived all the way from Scotland!  This is from "Verity" who is 12 years old.  She made me an adorable flip book, and asked to be featured on my blog.  Well, she didn't need to ask.  She has a great crafty style....just look!

Look at all this goodness she sent my way!

I decided to do a little Pen Pal "intro" page to my letter, to let her know a little bit about me.  Along with my letter, I thought she might like some "Owl Mail"  so I whipped up a cute packet of owl themed embellishments and stationery for Verity.

This is a home made Kraft envelope...lined in matching colors.   This is also a LARGE-ish envelope. You need to be careful with international mail.  They seem to allow rather large envelopes, but you need to be sure that it is no more than a 1/4 inch thick.  They have a little doo-hicky thing that they will slide your letter through, and if it doesn't go through...it will go PARCEL rate, which you don't want , unless you want to spend $14 dollars or more.  So be creative in "flat mail".  I usually put about $3 worth of postage , on average, when sending to the UK.  

On its way to Scotland!  Happy Travels!

Happy Snail Mailing!

Pam

Snail Mail in the NEXT GENERATION!

We can teach them...

And they can teach us a thing or two!

I have received some mail lately from some of my campers that were in my cabin.  I love to post what they have been up to in their very crafty styles.    Here is an envelope crafted by Ella, and I love that she used her wax seal that she got for her birthday!  

Lovely Ella!

And just like a seasoned snail mailer, she included a nice chatty letter and some goodies.

This letter is from Miss Grace!  She made a lovely watercolor impressionistic  sunset...I love this!

Grace attended my paper crafting class at camp, She included a craft that I taught this summer..."Flying Letters".  I need to do a blog post on these...they are adorable!

Here it is , gently unfolded.  But look!  She included a mini envelope  (which she made) inside the  one of the folds.  Nice touch, very nice--Grace!

So cute... a little letter is enclosed.  

I am so impressed at the creativity of young people today.  I have letters going out to Ella and Grace.  I am so sorry it took me so long to get back to writing  to everyone.  Thanks for your patience!

Let's get the younger generation writing and sending letters too,

Pam

Banner mail...calendar mail

Colorful Flags waving in the air...

I was the happy recipient of the Flow magazine banners.  Thank you Limner!  So it was time for me to send my "endless banner mail" on.  There are no letters in these envelopes yet...Just working on the envelopes which takes time.

Here's a little fun with some of the vintage stamps in my collection.

 And have you noticed that AC Moore had their 2016 Calendars on sale for $1 each?  They are those thick , thick textured paper too! So I snatched up several and made some envelopes from  these as well.  

Now that the envelopes are crafted, it's time to write some letters to PUT inside these envelopes.  That's the next step.

Happy Snail Mailing!

Pam

Outgoing Snail Mail!

It feels good to get some letter writing done!  I didn't get a picture before I used them, but have you noticed how beautiful the National Parks stamps are?  I used them on my "Amelia" mail and the craft envelope with one stamp on it.  Nice colors, and pictures.

Sometimes I feel like a bit of doodling is needed...

The above left letter was from a Golden Book:  the Fuzzy Duckling, I believe.  It no longer had a cover, so I took several pages and made sheets large enough to make an envelope.  The music themed mail is a flip book,  It is mailed in a cello bag.

Letting these pretties go...into the deep, deep ocean of the USPS.  Happy travels!

Happy Snail Mailing!

Pam

Making Envelopes!!

You Can Make Your Own Beautiful Envelopes--It's Easy!

Hello everyone!  It has been quite some time since I have posted about making your own envelopes.  Here is a link to a previous post on home made envelopes:  HERE  I made a batch recently and thought that I would share how I make mine.  I do have a Make a Memory envelope maker but I am still not getting quite the results I would like, so  i'll need to study the youtube videos again.  Until then, I have found that using my trusty Kreate-a-Lope  envelope templates is just so easy!  I can't find any like mine on line, but you can do a search for envelope templates and several show up.

I received my set second hand from my niece, several years ago.  It is constructed of a rather sturdy plastic, not flimsy at all.  It offers several sizes and shapes of envelopes.

Here is a close up shot of the company that makes them.  You can find what they have on Amazon.

The templates come with two pieces.  The large one, is the actual envelope.  the small piece, is the guide to help you fold accurately and to get nice crisp folds.

I used  a roll ofKraft paper which I purchased at Walmart.  I like to line my envelopes .  I used a pad of scrapbooking paper that was 8X8, but the 6X6 would work as well.

Here is the envelope that is cut and folded.  I selected my liner piece, used some glue, and ....

positioned it as you see.  It doesn't not have to cover the whole inside of the envelope.  It will not be seen.

Do you have a favorite purchased envelope?  I find those that I enjoy , then take them apart, trace them on a piece of cardboard, then....voila!!  I have an envelope!

This is a great book that has such fabulous ideas for creative envelope making. It can still be purchased on Amazon.   It is published in a large format, and comes with plastic 3 envelope templates.  I purchased mine used, and it only had 2 of the templates.  The author encourages the use of recycled materials to be your paper source for your envelopes.  

I think these food themed envelopes look absolutely "delicious"!

I had to run out today and purchase some supplies for a paper crafting workshop that I will be doing this week.  When I stopped by A C Moore, I noticed (after I had already checked out) that their super nice (thick like wall paper!) 16 month calendars were on sale for $1--normally $15.99.  They make GREAT envelopes!  So, of course, I got back in line and made my purchase!  What a great frugal find.

I hope that this has been helpful to you.  Go ahead, carefully tear apart your favorite envelope and make your own template--then get busy!  And most of all...have fun.

Happy Snail Mailing,

Pam

Sunshine Mail...Flip Book

 Let's Bring Some Sunshine into some one's life!

Here is  another Flip Book that I sent out to Cathy in Sunny California.  You have probably done some version of this in the past, in one shape or another.  I made this flip book in the  dead of winter...so my mind naturally longed for sunny days.  Currently,  central Virginia is under a deluge!  We are "in the running for"  one of the wettest May's in recorded history.  We need sunshine here.  But, making some snail mail sunshine is the next best thing.   There are many youtube videos on how to put together Flip Books of all shapes and sizes if you are interested in more information and tutorials.

 This book has 6 pages, but I have also made Flip Books that are just 2 pages, more like folders.

I had to cut the yellow card stock to be sure they would fit in my cello bags which I will use for an envelope.  

Once you have used washi tape to secure the pages in the book, then you are ready to go as far as decorating each page.  Here is the first page layout.  

Page 3 and 4 Layout.

Pages 5 and 6 layout.  

Here are some of the contents of the pockets, tea, tags,  Sunflower washi sample--isn't it cute? Sticker embellishments, and a Sunflower mail tag card.  

I posted this earlier  on a Paint Chip idea post, but thought I would include it here as it was sent with this Flip Book.

The back side is covered with yellow paper and then stamped.

After making your cute Flip Book....don't forget the LETTER!  I enjoy crafty things too....but the letter is the heart and soul of  your mail.  So have fun, and send some sunshine today!

Oh, and here it is going into the mail slot at the Amelia Court House  USPS...with some colorful postage.  Isn't it amazing that this little packet is making a transcontinental trip?  I can't make a trip to California, but the following quote says it all:

To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.  ~Phyllis Theroux

Happy Snail Mailing!

Pam