Mountain Musings...And Letter Writing

What is your source of inspiration?

These pictures are from a vacation a year and a half ago. I had been meaning to write a blog post using them but never did.  But looking at these pictures (in my draft file) got me thinking about a subject that writers often talk about.  What is the source of your writing inspiration?  If you are a letter writer, you are a writer. And letter writers, like book,or magazine writers, get into slumps.  What do you do?  Well, whenever there is a vacation planned, I take the opportunity to use that time to "recharge" .  I try to  reflect a bit and see what is new in my life or maybe what I have learned.  Even a change of scene is invigorating! Maybe that will get you thinking in a new direction!  Maybe it will slow you down enough to actually spend some quality time  to write letters!  Look at that view we had EVERY DAY!  This was just a breath-taking view and plain awe-inspiring.  If you are curious, this was in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.    It was a family vacation, and the house was HUGE!  It slept something like 40 people, but we "only" had 27 of us, I believe.  That included I think 11 or so grand kids, so just imagine Legos and all sorts of kid toys scattered everywhere on this carpet.  Ha, ha, I swept them away temporarily for the purpose of this photo.  :-)

This was the summer that was just after  the Pigeon Forge fire...literally 5 months.  Up the treacherously steep and narrow road (which gave me a near panic attack--no kidding!) there were countless slabs of cement where recently stood majestic cabins.   The above photo shows how  the fire had nearly  surrounded this house.  This mountain top was just to the left of our house for the week.  I wanted to shout, "HALOOOO" to our mountain neighbors....

I took along my tea stash and literally just enjoyed sipping my tea and gazing at God's glorious creation. It's nearly impossible to see this site and not think about God and his goodness and mercies.  I also took my mobile writing kit and did pen a few letters.    What about you?  What keeps you focused and writing?

Give Your Brain A Vacation

Go visit a friend

take your tea

Enjoy!

Pam

A little Christmas Holiday Cheer!

Christmassy Outgoing Postcards....

Hi EVERYONE!!!!!  Just sharing a little bit of what I just sent out to all of my local yokel friends and family (stateside, not international!)  I normally send postcards out to my international  postcrossing community...but instead I sent locally...why not?  So, in addition to the  "real" Christmas mail...my token family picture card...I thought I'd send out some fun stuff!  YAY for me!  :-)

I thought I'd do a flat lay , so you could see the different stamps I used.  Some of them are such cute vintage ones...that I hated saying goodbye to them.   But, I do hope they bring a bit of a smile on the receiver's face! Some of the stamps are not Christmas stamps (like the West Virginia and Alabama. state stamps, and the traffic light!) , but have a prominent red and or green.   

Hoping your Holidays are

Bright and Cheery

Love to you

Always,

Pam

Pen Pal Kit

Merry Christmas...and look at these cards!

Merry Christmas 2018!!

I recently attended a wonderful card making workshop.  This was open to all ages at my church and we had some that were as young as 3 and 4.  I was stationed at this particular styled card.  The more "advanced" card making was at a different table.  We had so much fun, and the children did an amazing job!  The cards were destined to be delivered to a local nursing home.

We signed each card...

I just adore the work that Rachel (6) did on her Christmas trees...and her older sister Lydia decided she wanted to do a different tree altogether.  So creative!

One thing I wanted to share with you is the dual tip brush pen I found at the Dollar Tree which  I saw  on my last trip.  They had a good supply with various colors but  I only purchased one so I could "test it" and not waste money.  I was hugely surprised!  These are  made from a Japanese company

"Marvy"...and let me tell you...they are MARVELOUS!  They have a nice firm tip and are "juicy" so they allow for different levels of color. The marker tip is very fine and works well too.  When I was at the check out, the cashier was gushing about the pen.  He said he did calligraphy and they were great. I should have run back and swiped all of them, but I didn't.  

Here is a closer look...

Needless to say, I went back and bought several more in various colors of what was left.  Evidently the word got out about this product...I hope they get more in!  Moral of the story...trust your Dollar Tree cashier...they know what they are talking about!

Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas

and a Happy New

Year!

Pam

Pen Pal Kit

Envelope Watercolors...Autumn

The air is cold and crisp.  The trees are losing their leaves faster than I can rake them up, and I find myself drinking hot tea by the gallons... It's time to get out the paints and start dabbling away.  First, I must caution you.  I am a complete amateur, I really don't know what I am doing...but hey!  Watercolor is a friend to all.  I must warn you also, that trying to do any blending on regular paper is next to impossible.  If you try your hand at watercolor (and I completely urge you to do so...) you might find yourself a bit frustrated because if you work on anything but watercolor  paper you will have a big puddle of wavy paper.  So, this is about the best I could do with the paper envelopes I had.  I did find a link to watercolor envelopes, but they were outside of my budget for now.  If anyone wants to go in halvsies let me know!  :-)  

Here is one going out to Sheryl!  The nice thing about pumpkins...they are so naturally irregular that they are very forgiving to budding artists. :) I love the postage on this letter!

 

 

 This particular study.... I'm pretty sure that I overworked it a bit.  Ah...there is always next time!

I love this sweet little watercolor birdie with its cauliflower bloom  on it's breast!  haha.  Oh the joys of watercolor!  I think that the postage on the birdie envelope is my favorite!

Here is some of my top pics of  washi tape that I am using right now on outgoing snailmail!

 

 I do almost all of my work at my desk.  It's not usually so neat and clean, I think I dumped everything onto the floor for this picture  so you wouldn't see how messy I really am.  

Well, I think that wraps up the autumn themed snail mail that I sent out this week.   What are you sending out?

Happy Snail Mailing,

Pam

P.S.

Free Shipping on all my letter writing kits through December!!!

Pen Pal Kit

How To Make A Calendar Envelope

Re-Purposing Calendars into Mail!

I was in Dollar Tree today and I happened to see the boxes of calendars for sale.  I like making envelopes from calendars so I took a closer look.  try to find pictures that have a small to repeating design, so that it will be able to be used on an envelope. Florals usually work well, and I have made some with landscapes.  The problem with land scape calendars is that they are hard to get the center of the picture where you want it. I I liked what I saw so I picked up two.

My smaller template for envelope making has been missing for some time, so I decided to make an envelope template out of this thin sheet of cardboard.  I took an envelope size that I thought would work with the size of my calendar sheets, then opened it up to trace around the envelope.

Here is the finished template.

Don't forget to make the folding guide piece for your envelope. This is the template that is the size of the finished envelope.   It will help you to make the folds where they need to be.

You can use a creasing tool to make sharper folds.

Then a little glue to glue the flaps in place.

First batch of envelopes are just about finished!

Since the envelopes are so flimsy, I decided to add a liner to the envelopes.  Just use any paper that compliments the envelope's primary color.   A.C. Moore carries the sturdier , thicker paper calendars for a dollar , but I haven't seen them out yet...check that store after the New Year.

Here is the second batch of calendar envelopes.  I really like how this one turned out, a very nicely centered yellow rose!

All done!  24 envelopes made in just one sitting!

I thought I was done, until I noticed the back of the calendar pack.  I thought maybe I could do something with the mini pictures of the calendar pages...

I'm rather undecided as what to do with them...book marks?  Tags?  What would you do with them?

Hope this gets you interested in making your own calendar envelopes.

Happy Snail Mailing,

Pam

*Available In The Shop*

Sunshine Mini Kit

Birthday Mail and Parcels!

 My Pen Pal Spoils Me...

I had a birthday this summer, and she sent me a large box filled with...

All sorts of goodies all wrapped up, so charmingly!

Look at all of this goodness!  The English Tea Shop Tea was on my amazon wish list...how did she know?  I love the Yankee candles, and her gorgeous photography that she makes into cards is just amazing.  Thank you dear Sheryl!  My birthdays are always so much better when something comes through the mail.  

Make someone's day bright,

Send them a letter written by you!

Pam

Incoming Snail Mail, and Louvre Art

Mail Art in Progress...

I've had some lovely incoming mail lately!  It was time to get working on some return mail!

Here is some Mona Lisa mail that I sent out to Patti.  I used some collage techniques on this envelope.

Kim is getting this letter from me.  It is another piece I cut out of my Louvre book of art.  I don't remember who the artist is...but I do like this painting.   I tried to pick up on the pale pink of the bow in the stamps.  

Still a lot more outgoing to get working on!  What are you working on?  Let me know!

Happy Snail Mailing!

Pam

Incoming Happy Mail from Patti!

Incoming:Vintage, Postal Themed Mail!

The envelope was only the start to a wonderful what was to come!

Just look at this gorgeous hand made, zippered pouch from the Tim Holtz postal fabric made by my new instagram friend, Patti! Super for keeping a stash of postal goodies , especially good for on the run letter writing! You can find her on instagram as:  pmarti5.  You'll want to check her out, she makes fabulous mail art!

The note card is so amazing!  Made of thick , cotton-y like paper...lovely!  And write back...I did!  You'll see my letter to Patti in a future post.

Coming soon!  A photo tour of my recent trip to the National Postal Museum  (Washington DC) with new friends that I have made on Instagram.    Stay tuned!

Happy Snail Mailing!

Pam

Summer Sale!

Hurry on over to my store to catch the Summer Sale!  Check out new listings and all the Letter Writing Kits available.  This is a great time to stock up for Birthday gifts or other events!

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

The Real Life Of A Letter Writer

Real or Perceived?

This my dear friends, is REAL.  I am terribly behind....AGAIN on letter writing.  I could give you all the sad details, you could hear me bemoan my bad habits,  but short and sweet, I over commit, then become mentally exhausted,  my creativity is drained, then you guessed  it, no letters are being written.  But life seems to get one corrected  in one way or another.  My life's correction came by means of my husband being  very sick.  Changes needed to be made in my life so I can focus on him, and so I did.  Not only does he benefit but I've noticed a huge change in myself, more relaxed, rested...and I've noticed that I can look with REAL interest in that pile of letters.  

Perhaps that is the REAL reason letter writing has been on the decline the world over?  Are we all just too busy with life that we are mentally drained and can not focus on the quiet , thoughtful repose of letter writing?  It seems to be  a definite link for me.

Now, not to get too serious here....I thought I would interject my perceived  (Romantic) ideas about letter writing. We have 4 desks in our home, two of them being mine.  This desk sits in my bedroom.  It is very small so in order for it to be productive, it must stay clean.  Ha, ha,  That is a difficult task for me, but I do tend to keep it neat.  This is my "Pinterest"  perception, in other words, what I want you to think goes on all the time.

And here is my my REAL  "work horse desk".  I love the fact that I have a large area to spread out and get...messy.  But I first must get it clean, so that I can think.  But, it doesn't stay that way for long.

Before you know it , it looks more like this.  I really do get messy, but there is a method to my madness...most of the time.

Sheryl sends me the most gorgeous cards made from her own photographs.  She uses Shutterfly, but I'm sure there are others as well.  It's a great idea if you are a  photographer like she is.  

Finally,  I wanted to share with you the little Pen Pal Information sheet that Sheryl sent in her last letter.  Isn't it great?  I love the homey hand- made feel.  It is so simple yet it covers all the major questions.  I have made some copies of this and have started sending them out.  I plans on using the completed forms  putting them in a binder.  On the back side I hope to put a log showing when I sent or received from this pen pal.  It should be very helpful.  I hope that those who I send it out to WILL send it back, completed.  

Must get back to Letter Writing.  If you have written...I am getting to yours.  I have already written 7 letters and hope to get at least that many over the weekend.  Thank you for your patience.  

Clean that desk, and get writing!

Pam