Today's Outgoing: August 29, 2014

Headed out to Ariel in Massachusetts again!

Wonder Woman

Believe it or not, 50 markers still isn't quite enough to get just the right blend.   Credit to this edition.

Calvin and Hobbes

Review: Creative Correspondence

Recently I had the opportunity to peruse Creative Correspondence by Michael & Judy Jacobs which I stumbled upon at my local library. I was excited because I knew the book included "15 unique card and envelope projects" and I hoped it would help me learn some new tricks. They also focus on recycling found materials for their projects, and emphasize that correspondence art is highly accessible to everyone (meaning materials and postage are very affordable and  creating a project like this doesn't have to require a lot of time).

 Although the initial premise did look promising, my overall impression was that this is a book to definitely borrow, not buy.  There were some ideas I liked, but altogether it didn't feel like it fit with my style.

The card/envelope projects  were unique as promised, but  a few of them that added personal photographs came off as a little creepy. They'd be super appropriate for children to send school pictures to grandma; or maybe, MAYBE even to send in a long distance love letter, but that's really all I could come up with. Most of the special techniques to embellish the cards and envelopes such as rubber stamps, colored pencils, and stickers frankly were already obvious to me. They also suggest bubble marbling (see "Bubble Painting #1") which did have some novelty as it was an elementary school activity once participated in and long since forgotten, but  I'm not really interested in exerting that much effort just to get a cool background when I have a massive trove of patterned scrapbooking paper already.

The Jacobs also suggest re-purposing what would be otherwise trashed and giving it a new life as a component of your work of art.  On one hand I think that including your ticket stub would add some extra visual interest when you're telling your friend about your review of a recent movie. When my sister was in college I received a letter whose envelope highlighted someone's goofy looking face she had constructed out of a magazine ad. (I still think that's one of the coolest envelopes I've ever been given.) However, I feel the Jacobs take it a little too far when they suggest taking a walk around town and not stopping until you find some interesting material in a local gutter. I get that that is in part the essence of found object art, but I really can't see myself spending my day off searching for actual garbage to pack up and ship to my friends around the world.

My final bone to pick with this book has to deal with their philosophy that great correspondence art shouldn't take long. In fact, they even suggest to spend no longer than 10 minutes on a piece to avoid interruption from your "inner critic". If you struggle with perfectionism or obsessive compulsive disorder, this may very well be some excellent advice for you. Nevertheless, it left me with the impression that the Jacobs spend 10 minutes slapping together some literal garbage supposedly elevating it to "art" status, and sending it off to fellow "artists". (For the record, I do have a very broad definition of what art is, so this does qualify, but it's really not my favorite style. I find works that are difficult to craft or take a lot of time and effort to achieve are more rewarding.)
In my experience the more time invested the better your work of art turns out. Although critiques can be humbling and sometimes painful experiences, they allow you to improve your work. I can understand that your inner critic may come across as crippling self-doubt instead of constructive self-help; but for me, smothering your inner critic almost sounds like smothering your conscience, and good things don't happen when you do that!

Snoopy

I'm so glad I had this idea! Snoopy is very simply constructed which makes for a quick draw that's still got a good wow factor. (Or adorable factor. That's probably it.)

Today's Outgoing (August 18, 2014)

Sending out to Nikki In England and Jessica in GA!

I love the ridiculous contrast of stamps on Nikki's letter. "ALOHA, Draco and Bellatrix!"

Fortunately I am just about out of postage, and new stamps are on the way. I even got some special ones that are worth more than 49 cents, so should have new pictures and more accurate postage soon!

The Most Fun Letter You'll Ever Get (AKA: sending collage letters)

Everyone loves to find their mailbox occupied by something other than bills. Discovering a snail mailed letter is a highlight in itself, but that feeling is greatly magnified when the sender put a little time into creating a unique or colorful envelope that stands out.
But why should it stop there? Why waste all that anticipation generated by your zesty envelope only to  tear it open and realize there's just a boring, white, visually blank sheet of paper inside? Hopefully the words make it colorful and interesting in their own way, but maybe we can do something more to make it come alive.

Not long ago I stumbled upon a great way to summarize or condense a whole bunch of information by jotting down a trail of ideas in little clumps. (I'll also say that if you're like me and have a tendency to get behind in your correspondence, this is a great way to cover the main points without falling behind another week as you try to just get it all down on paper).

Now, what does that have to do with that eye candy we were talking about? Easy! Add some simple illustrations or diagrams to go along with each of your main points, and then you have one of these babies!

I call it a collage letter.

Here's an example. I whipped this up to send to my new (and first overseas! *squee!*) pen pal Nikki in England. This is our very first letter so it's focused on introducing myself instead of sharing news, but you can't deny it knocks the socks off the usual drab, same-20-questions introduction. (And before you decide I'm a complete narcissist, be aware page 2 contains all my questions for her!)

What do you think?

Today's Outgoing (August 13, 2014)

Headed out to Ariel in Massachusetts and Jessica in Georgia!

Elmo

Elmo and Ginny Weasley... Not the ideal combination, but it did get delivered! 

I wish there were more variety in stamps. This one's not too bad, but I dread the day when I have some sweet schmancy antique design to mail and I only have Disney and Pixar stamps left. I don't know why I cant bring myself to buy flag stamps for this very reason. It seems like every time I buy postage the flag stamps just seem to scream their lameness at me and I walk out with the more goofy fun ones.

Princess Anna

I also did this one at work, and it turned out much better than the Snail Love envelope. However, it unfortunately opens upside down.

Olaf

Who wouldn't want a happy Olaf letter?

Snail Love

Did this in my down time at work, thus the shaky speech bubble. I'd recommend a ruler!