So here they are--the mail art envelopes I made for the Elevated Envelope Exchange, which were mailed out just before May 1. I know at least two of them arrived at their destinations safely as I have had emails from the recipients, and Marilenn of M by Alcantara Design Studio kindly shared my envelope on her blog. I'm going to share her gorgeous envelope in just a few days, so do check back to see what has been showing up in my mailbox!
This is what the back side of the envelope looked like. The Japanese ephemera came from ARTchix Studio from when I was messing about with collage. I still have loads of supplies, which I made use of in making my envelopes. Beware, if you check out the ARTchix site and you like papercrafts, it is a dangerous place to browse!
Four envelopes went to those in my group who were participating in the exchange (I think there were over 200 who signed up and we were then divided into smaller groups), and one went to Tara at Ephemera: The Elevated Envelope who organized the exchange. If you scroll through her pages you can see more examples of really amazing mail art.
My inspiration was the recently released Cherry Blossom stamp commemorating the Cherry Blossom Centennial. I love those stamps and keep hoping that someone will send me a letter with them. You can read about Washington DC's Cherry Blossom Festival here. I've visited DC a number of times, but I have not been able to go when the trees are in bloom, which I am sure are an amazing sight.
Here is some of the work that went into constructing the envelopes. It's harder cutting a nice, sharp circle than I expected (even though I have a pattern). I used clear acetate (or something that is like acetate) for the windows. I made the envelope using a Mennonite Letter Fold, where the letter actually serves as the envelope (I think initially this was done to save money). When I first tried to do the fold I couldn't quite make it work (I found the pattern in a book), but by the time I had finished my envelopes I was very good at it I must say, and will be using the Mennonite Fold in the future, as it is very handy.
And here they are almost ready to go. You can see the little tail that is folded over and then held down by the stamp. Fingers crossed my other three envelopes made it to their destinations safely.
I've received several very impressive "elevated envelopes", which I am going to share this week. After seeing such beautiful work, I now want to learn how to do calligraphy (my handwriting is pretty apalling). Does anyone else out there do mail art? Stefanie and I have been exchanging fun mail for a little while. It's incredibly nice to come home to a mailbox that has a postcard or a letter or even a little work of art like these! And if you're really curious about the elevated envelope and want to try your hand at it, there will be another exchange this summer. Sign up here before June 1 to join in. I think I might just be tempted once again but I want to have an idea in mind first.