As promised here are the absolutely gorgeous and creative mail art envelopes that I received via the Elevated Envelope Exchange. As you'll see there are a wide variety of styles and designs. There was no set theme, just a chance to be creative. I'm posting them in the order I received them.
This first envelope is from Marilenn in California. She decided to do an "ode to spring" envelope and as you can see it's filled with beautiful pressed, dried flowers. The envelope is clear and the flowers are glued down to the card with my address.
The back is a little peek of the goodies to come once the envelope is opened . . .
Marilenn's envelope was filled with many cool treats--loose dried flowers, colorful tiny envelopes, little tags and stickers, which I am sure will come in very handy in future mail art endeavors.
Next up is an envelope which makes me wish I could draw more than sad little stick figures. This elevated envelope is from Cindy in Washington. I love how she coordinated her use of materials and the design. I'm not sure what sort of paper it is, but it looks a bit like the kind of paper used for paper bags, which works well with the stamp that is part of the Go Green series.
Curious what the drawings on the back refer to?
Dandelions! 'What is your perception' is the question Cindy asks on her insert (also beautifully lettered on the flip side). She used the dandelions in her yard as her inspiration. So, weeds or food? Dandelions are edible and she even includes a recipe for dandelion salad. The little yellow square is an envelope with dandelion seeds. I like how the recycle/reuse idea is incorporated into her design.
I love these glassine envelopes (which I plan on looking for in the store) as you get to see inside. Jessica in Connecticut double layered her design--the name juxtposed over the card inside--and the way the swirls of the letters mirror each other a bit.
Just to show you that just about any type of material can be used creatively, Jessica used nail polish to create her note for the inside of the envelope.
And inside she included several heart stickers also made out of nail polish. It's all very striking against the black paper!
I received a bonus envelope from Scriptor Senex in the UK who blogs at Rambles from My Chair. He also participated in the exchange, but we ended up in different groups. Isn't this a gorgeous envelope? As someone who does needlework I can appreciate what a challenge it is to work on linen or other fabric then turning it into an envelope. I love the motifs he embroidered--the distinctive red postbox, a quill and letter.
Knowing my interests he kindly included a reading woman (new to me!) postcard, bookmark and a pair of tiny scissors that can be collapsed and hooked onto a keychain.
For fun I thought I'd show you where Scriptor mailed his embroidered envelope. This is a Victorian postbox outside a Tudor building at Queenswood County Park on the way to Devon. It's fun being able to see where a letter began its journey!
I'm not quite sure how I lucked out to get an elevated envelope from Tara in Washington who hosted the exchange. Since there were over 200 participants she only sent out a dozen of her own envelopes randomly and I was one of the lucky recipients. She is another talented calligrapher as you can see. You can order calligraphic address stamps from her online store (had to throw that in as I am contemplating ordering one, as it may be the closest my envelopes will ever get to having attractive writing on them!).
Tara used faux gold and silver leaf for the envelopes on the envelope, and the little wings were from hand carved stamps. Pretty cool, don't you think? She sent along some dance stamps, which I am sure will come in handy in the future.
Many thanks to all: Marilenn, Cindy, Jessica, Scriptor and Tara. I've been hugely spoiled by such creative and elegant mail showing up in my mailbox!
Whew--this was a photo heavy post, I hope you don't mind and I hope there was no problem loading this page! I know this space is supposed to be mainly books, but I thought you might like to see the very cool mail art that has come my way. Tomorrow it will be back to the books, however.