A few things about today.

 I'm getting around to catching up on mail. I have new postcard stamps - including the additional stamps to bring the "apples" up to the new price of 34¢

My new pink and red mailbox is a pequeno regalo from N. today.

A nice reminder to put things in the Mail and a tidy place for some of my new postage stamps.

 We received mail from Katerina in Greece and didn't wait for the 14th to open it. It's our first Valentine's day card.

I've got a few more cards to alter but I'm spending a bit of thinking time on what I might do for a new series.  More on that soon.

 Here's Bizoo checking out the non-activity in our back yard. It's a very wintery garden, not many plants still alive, and our beautiful tree cut back so much that it looks like it'll never bloom again. Oh dear.

Bizoo got very sleepy being the studio cat. A big yawn to show us how tired he got guarding the packing plastic.

Our grand came to visit today but we were too busy with her to grab a photo. Z was very interested in Bizoo who was hesitant but curious about her.

Since we don't have a photo of Z from today's visit, I'll show you Z at Stella's with Katrina in the kitchen. Stella's is our fave Greek restaurant.

We're hoping that she'd leave there with the recipe for galactoboureka!

I was the mentor for the month of January for the International Union of Mail Artists. This is the welcome image that I created for it, using one of my collage images. I continue to welcome people as they join. It's become a practice.

Mail Art & some more

#14

 I awoke and went back to sleep early in the morning, the other day. I envisioned this card as I was drifting off to sleep again. I don't know why it did, as I don't remember having Mail Art images pop up like that before.
So here it is. A head on the lower left of the rectangle.
By the way, these cards are all standard postcard size - 4" x 6" (10cm x 15cm)

#14a

Using a larger head for this second one changes the relationship in space. The paper behind the heads had a nice corrugated texture. Does this make the cards "haptic?"

#15

Here's a variation of the head in the corner theme. The random letters make this "asemic."
I never had run across either "asemic" or "haptic" until I became part of IUOMA. I love learning new things!

  The shelf had reappeared on the light pole on the corner. It was a very substantial structure - like an open-faced birdhouse. It was quite nice. Since we don't have a dog, I don't walk around the neighborhood much and I forgot to take a nice photo of the shelf to report on it, and then one day last week, it appeared by our front door with a note from a neighbor. It said that she's found the shelf knocked down & the contents strewn in the street. She knew I'd be able to return it to the maker. And I did.

I went by the pole and was able to take this photo with my phone. I think the finder of the destroyed shelf put the note up, and passers-by made the comments. I'll go by it again today and see what else has happened. I'll keep you updated on developments.

Here's an image of my table when I got back from Chicago. Lower left, cards I'd made while away. Upper left, the pale green handled scissors I'd bought at Walgreen's in Chicago, which did NOT get confiscated by security at the airport! Also, a lovely little mail box stamp dispenser from my dear friends T & B in Chicago. Upper right, some of the postcards about water that I'll be altering, and lower right, some CDs (sent to me by B) which will be collaged and sent out.

Mail boxes, tiny art, and something new

 I took a few photos of mail boxes while at the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. I'm still in a state of happy from visiting that museum. This is a small mail box that I remember from my childhood. You could only put regular letters into it as anything bigger wouldn't fit into the opening. A problem with that design.

 Here are a few of the examples  of Post Boxes from other countries that were on display. Have you seen any of these in person? What countries are they from?

 Today, we went back to the Think Small show at ArtSpace. The work was to be no bigger than 3" (7cm) in any one direction. The wall piece is by a friend of ours. There are lots and lots of tiny artworks on display.

 There were many pieces that we liked a lot and wanted to own. If you're in the RVA area, check it out before it goes down on 18 Dec. 
Update on the local Art-o-Mat: my piece, my honey's piece, and my son's piece, have all sold out. YAY!

Something new!! I got myself a Kindle in preparation for my two months in Paris.  I've purchased 3 books so far - IQ84, Reamde, and The Night Circus; and I've loaded on some classics, which are free. Want to know what they are? Take a guess and let me know what you think I chose.