Have Mail, Will Travel!

Mail Art On The GO!

I received this most delightful package from my twin sister for my birthday some time back.  Of course it was immediately LOVED.

Have you ever used an aqua brush?  I had not.  But I quickly discovered it's amazing feature of its "portability".  It TRAVELS well!  You see, the shaft screws on and off and hold the water.  This eliminates the need for a bowl of water to clean your brush so all you really need it a bit of paper towel.   I took this set of brushes with me to camp in the mountains this summer, it also went with me on a trip to  the Potomac River.  I now include them in my portable writing box along with a baggie of paint tubes.  

Here was the Thank You postcard I mailed to her.  What did I send her for her birthday?  Agggrrrrrhhhhhh!  I still haven't sent her anything.  UGH!!!  She totally stumps me.  I just don't know WHAT to get her, any ideas?

The Craftier the better!
Happy Snailmailing,

Pam

DIY: Making Post Cards

Turn Your Art Into Post Cards

Do you like to make your own postcards, or have you never tried?  I enjoy postcards, and I am a member of  a great group called Post Crossing.  This is a great organization for receiving and sending postcards from around the world.  If you find your mail box more empty than full these days, sign up at : Post Crossing and get that mail box full!

DIY postcards might be better suited to Swap Bot  (another great organization), as Post Crossing usually requires purchased cards.  Whichever route you decide to take, making postcards for your personal pen pals is great fun.

When I purchase a product that I am really pleased with, I want to share it with others.  Here are the details of my most recent purchase.  I received this rubber stamp in the mail the other day from an order I placed online from Hobby Lobby. Just a side note:  I was pleasantly surprised by the online sale of 40% off which almost gave me free shipping.  It is quite large, as far as rubber stamps go.  

Here is the back side of the rubber stamp--just in case you were interested.  

I didn't have a stamp pad large enough to lay it down and stamp the ink, so I improvised and just wiped my stamp pad ,seen here, across the rubber.  It worked just fine and I was VERY pleased with the quality of the stamp.

Now these post cards can be sent out properly.  If you are one to make your own postcards, you might want to consider  one of these stamps.  I had been meaning to get one of these for quite a long time and now I am glad I made the purchase.

The Craftier, the better.

Crafty Snail mailing.

Pam

Watermelon Mail!

Snail mail Themes

Did you know that August 3rd was National Watermelon Day?  We eat LOTS of watermelon around here...so yummy!  Its the quintessential summer food, right?   I found out about this national day of celebration a bit late, but decided to get some Watermelon mail sent out anyway!   So out came my watercolors and envelopes!  I ended up making 2 envelopes and one postcard.  Fun...yummy delicious mail!

I like to use graph paper to write my letters .  Have you ever tried thought of that?  It gives your letter a nice , loose, casual fee.    Decorate with washi tape and doodles with your jelly markers.  Haha...how do I possibly NOT have any watermelon washi tape?  Impossible, but true! This letter is going to a new pen pal in the state of Oregon.  So Beth...be on the look out!  ;-)

Write Letters,

Write Often!

Lady Pamela

Camp Mail...and Art Journaling

Don't Forget To Send Mail  To Your Campers!

This one was sent to Matthew...he is actually a counselor this year!  He is leading the Archery and Air Rifle  activities for little boys.  I had to keep this one sort of "manly"  LOL!

This one went out to my daughter who was a camper for the first time at this particular camp...

Back side!

Did I mention that I have been to camp already this summer?  I spent two weeks for the teen weeks at Bethel Bible Campgrounds.  It is nestled or rather perched on the top of a mountain in the Blue Ridge!  Lovely, lovely place.  I decided to take my Bible journal with me...and my water colors. I had never tried to do any water colors in my Leuchtturm 1917 but decided to take it  along with me and try it out.

I have a fascination for colorful clothes lines!  This is a scene of the cabin I stayed in to the left and a storage building  to the right.  That is our cabin's clothesline.

The swing in front of the lodge...and the tether ball set.

My home for two weeks.

This was my first water color.  It is not finished and I am least pleased with this one...but it still depicts the lodge, with the ARC behind it and the  metal bell that rings for meals...and other activities.  As a beginner, you learn by doing.  Don't  be afraid to try!  You'll make discoveries along the way that will  aid you in a future  projects.  I know I learned  so much by just getting out there and trying.  

Anyway, I was pleased with how well the Leuchtturm 1917 handled my water color experiment.  I will be returning to camp in two weeks for my final week at camp....and capturing a few more scenes around the camp.  Don't forget to send YOUR camper some mail.  This could mean the world to them!  

Write Letters.

Write Often.

Lady Pamela

Snailmail and Water Colored Envelopes

I got inspired by some art on Pinterest...

I love watercolors.  I want to be able to spend more time on this pursuit.   Here is how I am teaching myself with the help of pinterest artists.

Pinterest is my "go-to" place for water color inspiration!  My method is a simple, tried and true process  used through the ages for instructing artists.  Simply put:  Imitate other works (with credit to the artist, of course!).  I have found  wonderful watercolor artists that have pinned their works , so that is my starting place.  I also try to  watch video  tutorials when I can.    I absolutely love  Cindy at Yapping Cat  Studio's ( yappingcatstudio)  style.   I love how she letters her words with a brush, and her folksy feel.    This  envelope was on her website ....I just had to try it.  It encouraged me to think of original designs for future projects.  I like the splash of color  with this basic monochrome scheme.    She is so talented.    I hope you will visit her site, maybe you too will be inspired.

When I  contacted Cindy of yappingcatstudio to get her permission to post this copy of her work  gave me the history of the original envelope.:  

     

     I had wanted to send a thank you to a friend and wanted the envelope to be really pretty.  I had       taken several photos of her home, her yard etc.  Blue is her favorite color, the cat's  name is Jasper (just one of her 3 orange tabbies) and the flowers were in her yard.  

Wow.  How about  THAT for customizing an envelope????

Cindy was really sweet and encouraging of my watercolor endeavor. I plan on sending this to my sister who is also interested in watercolor.  We are trying to keep each other inspired!  How about you?  Have you been trying anything new in the creative realm?  

Write Letters,

Write Often.

Lady Pamela

Making your own Postcards...trial and error...

Making Postcards...the journey begins!

Let's see ...a while back I was majorly into sewing...mainly from necessity...then it was (and still is...my obsession with letter writing and everything that goes along with that)... and then is was  (and still is..learning to play my beloved fiddle!)...then it was (and still is...Latin and Greek studies..)...then it was (and still is...fiber arts--crochet and knitting...)...and THEN I decided it was time for me to get serious about learning  what I could of watercolor painting.  Usually my first step into a new arena is to gather information...as much information as possible!  I begin my new passion with study...for me this usually means books, as I am hopelessly old-fashioned and actually like to glean my information from  something I can hold in my hand ( and I must say, yes you can hold a tablet but I like turning paper pages!). Here is my watercolor painting "library" so far.  These are very basic books, exactly what I need!  My favorite basic book is the  "First Steps" book--pictured in red below. 

Watercolor painting  library!

I don't know exactly why I thought I needed expensive brushes ( I guess I just got caught up in all the excitement of it)...but I got them...now I need to use them! In case you are wondering...places like Hobby Lobby, Michaels, A.C.Moore all have great art supplies at very reasonable prices.

I really want to just do small projects with watercolor painting.  I thought that the postcard size would be just perfect for my little "studies".  Yes, yes...I know that this (above)   is a very amateurish start...but hey!  Whatever!!!

I want to share my beginnings with you all  because many of you are like me...not really an artist,  and definitely not on a professional "artist" level, but still desire to explore  the "artsy" side of  our brains! I already  have 2 people  ( Ha ha! Never mind the fact that they are my sisters!)  that are  ready to do a  watercolor postcard exchange with me, so I am really excited to get started!

 Here are my thoughts for watercolor studies...

1.  Start sketching areas of interest in  my county (Amelia Court House, VA ) particularly old buildings.

2.  Use my Kokeshi doll collection for a definite "series"...(see below for my first catastrophe!)

3.  Whimsies (see above--they look rather stiff, don't they???) no matter...I love whimsical paintings...you can find tons and tons of ideas on Pinterest

4.  I can't think of more at the moment...why not leave me a comment with some ideas??

Here is Ms. Kokeshi...with a rather large, uneven eye there...

Unfortunately...I didn't stretch the paper before I decided to do my outstanding ;-), wash...hmmm...I think that maybe there is more to this watercolor thing than I first thought....

It's ok  if I fail...I have 29 more blank watercolor paper postcards!  Besides that, the folks I'm sending these little "gems" of "art" to,  love me!

Have you thought of trying something new?    Maybe it is watercolors...or Spencerian  writing... whatever you do, just have fun with it...and get out there and do it!  And oh, don't forget to put your very short letter on the back of your postcard!

Write Letters

Write Often

Lady Pamela