A few altered postcards

 I always write a little story on the reverse. Something about what's happening in the image like, the legs in the first image look like tap dancers so I made a story about the noise, and in the lighthouse how the giant shell appeared and the effect it had on tourism. Can you guess what I might have written about the stamps falling from the sky at the new post office? 

That Post Office building now houses the U.S. National Postal Museum and I'm happy that I was able to visit it several times. It's located right by the Railway station. This postcard is one of the ones they offered for free, so I scooped up a few, okay, maybe more than a few. I can't wait until I can travel again and visit the museum.

New Mail Art collages

Circles at hand #11 2019

This one went to someone in the U.K. who joined my circles group on IUOMA.

#13 2019

This one I wrote a long caption - Something like this: The appearance of the large painting disturbed the tranqility of the lake. The observers were quite perplexed.

Ha ha ha

#14 2019 

Entered in a Mail Art Exhibit

For #14, I wrote something like, the postage stamps fell to earth like blades, causing dismay.
This was an not a natural phenomenon. I sent it to someone in Belgium so I wrote the caption in French.

ha ha ha

The freaking looking animal creature, was made for an exhibit about fakes, frauds, or something like that, in New Hampshire.

I amuse myself with these collage Mail Art pieces. Do they make you laugh?

More in the JFK series

#79

The Mail Art on the left with the Kehinde Wiley painting as the background is the most recent of my JFK collages. I'm really fond of how it turned out. I'm, also, using old postage stamps in these collages.

Number 80 was made today, to send to an Internet friend, who found out she had a life threatening illness.

Butterflies always bring some joy into the world.

I don't know why the image of that Mail Art moved down below, but it did, and I can't move it back up here. Dang parameters of this platform. Dang.

  I included a photo of the commemorative postage stamp sheet that the JFK images are coming off of.  I scooped up a bunch of them when we were doing a mailing for a friend of mine, who's running for political office locally.  I have lots of them, so let me so you'll be seeing this series a lot in the coming months.

The stamp sheet

#77

#78

#80

More altered collages and some ATCs

Here's a group of three ATCs that I did in early April. For some reason, they made me smile. An old-time quality with the old stamps and illustrations.

These two postcard collages are from the early 2000s.
I altered them by adding a circle and a stamp to one,
and a single stamp to the other.

This feels very satisfying.
I have more of these old collages to alter and mail out.
If you'd like to be added to my mail list, send me your postal address via a comment on this blog or to my e-mail address in contact on this blog.

First day of a new month!

#113

#114

Mail Art by Miss Z

Arms and Art

Arms and Lips

PINK

The grand girl, Miss Z, was sitting at the studio table with me while I was making Mail Art. She wanted to make some, also, and used what she found at hand. She's really good at using a glue stick and a burnisher (she's only 3!!) and know what she wants regarding composition. She, also, has a sense of humor!
    The Arms are a part of my eMail Art series. I'm having fun with it and when I don't have Global postage handy, I can send one of these.
   Pink is an old card of mine from 2004. I'd printed up some of my collages into cards and I just found this one this morning. I altered with a pink postage stamp and am sending it to the Pink Mail Art call by Tofu.  Find more information HERE.

Stuff and other stuff

 My niece sent me a photo of some old art work of mine that she'd discovered in the last, little house my mother lived in. It's a lithograph that I'd made when I was in graduate school. Rather than having my niece return it to me, across the miles, and years, she's keeping it to hang in her place. Yay.

 Here's the Mailogram that Keith Bates made for me. I'm having a rubber stamp made of it and of the Ray Johnson Bunny name piece. I can't wait to use them. I've been printing this on adhesive paper and having a rough time peeling the backing off. Well, not that rough, but a stamp will be easier.

 Here's one way I've used the Mailogram recently. I started an add-n-pass, which I may never see again, but it's fun to think of this being changed up.

If I ever get it back, I'll let you know.

 Here's the treasure trove of stamps that a friend gave to me. She had no idea how excited, happy, elated that I'd be. Jackpot!! Lottery winner!! so happy. I've enjoyed using them and practicing my math skills.

We lost another good Mail Art friend last week. Lee Ashraf El Masry, Camel O-Rama, Poison Label, and most recently Veneno Estampo. He was very dear to a lot of us, very active in our Mail Art community. We are so sad for his family. My last conversation was in end of April on Facebook Messenger. Chit chat chit chat. How sweet to read it again. RIP my friend.

Catching up on Mail Art, again.

#68

#69

 This is an odd assortment of Mail Art, not in any series, though done on either the same day or successive days.

This one was only three bits but it needed more so I added the black square. It works.




 #70 is a collaboration done for #CreativeSprint. I was on the train headed north to Washington, DC, for the day when my friend Shelia got in touch with me about doing the collaboration for that day.

#70

We came up with a plan. I sent her some photos from my trip to give her something to work from, she photo shopped an image together, and I added collage to it, and voila, she suggested it'd be a good Mail Art piece.  It was fun to do this, as we had no idea what we'd end up with. 

#71

#72

I found that I had some Kandinsky stickers, and managed to keep one before our Grand girl used them all on her collage.
I had an idea for using it on some Mail Art and like the way it turned out.

 Here are some stamps that I bought at the Post Office in the National Postal Museum. The blossoms were no longer blossoming, so we didn't get to see them in person.

I love this part of the National Postal Museum, people getting excited about being able to take home stamps. A mother and two children, in this instance. And C and I chose some, also.

Mail Art, Little Free Library, and more

#98

#99

 I made this Mail Art to send to someone who sent me a lovely piece of Mail Art back in March and I've been sooo remiss in responding to people. I feel awful about it. Slowly I'm getting mail out. Oh everyone who sent me Mail Art, please know that I loved getting it.




I made this altered card using a postcard that we got at our most recent visit to the National Postal Museum on my birthday last week. I added the colorful old postage stamps to it. It's going to my niece and nephew in Wisconsin. They'll get a kick out of getting real mail.

#100

I've been having fun punching out circles from old Art magazines. I'm preparing for a workshop that I'm going to do in two weeks, and I'm going to offer up a tin full of these circles as part of the project. More on this after it happens.



My workshop last week went really well. It was on Artist Trading Cards. Super fun to share. The participants were all teachers, grades kinder through end of high school, all different subject areas. 

#101

So these two cards are the start of some fun for me, as I plan to make use of the circles, also.  I like circles a lot, and these are so planetary, and minimal.

 I'd seen this Little Free Library a few weeks ago when driving by the Richmond Ambulance Authority building. How cute, I thought, and today, with a book to deposit, I stopped there on the way home from playing with my grand-girl.






This is beautifully crafted and painted to look exactly like the ambulances.  It had a nice amount of books in it, not crowded like some of the other smaller LFLs. I hope that more people pay attention to it.

Do you have any LFLs in your neighborhood?

 My niece and her husband joined us to celebrate the American Independence day, 4th of July. She brought head bands for all of us to wear. Here she is modeling one. Cute, aren't they?

 Bizoo waits on my bedside table every morning waiting for me to wake up. He taps my head sometimes, and other times just sits patiently. The treats are in the top drawer!!
He knows it, as does our grand-girl, who likes giving the cat treats. We did, however, find her munching on a few herself, yesterday.

I just had to share these flowers with you. They were among the bunches at Amy's farmers' market stand last week. Gorgeous, like a painting, yes?

Mail Art, a blatant promo, and something else.

 Yet, another Cactus and Lily card. After I took this photo of the card, I "cancelled" the stamps with a rubber stamp. It looks better with that addition, but this is good, too.

 I made this collage to send to a friend, not that she needs a reminder to enjoy!

 Here's the cactus with a new "friend." Lily has gone the way of cut flowers. What would be a good caption for this scene! ha ha ha

 Bizoo keeps watch while I sleep. I opened my eyes to him the other day - I grabbed my phone and caught this. "Treats, I want treats!" I can read his mind!

BLATANT PROMO -
So the daily practice of making a skull every day for a year, set my son on a path that grew into something he didn't expect. Part way through he got a book deal - which became his first book SKULLS.   Since this book captured less than half of the project it was a dream of Noah's to have a book with the entire year's worth of skulls. Now, that's going to be a reality.
A new SKULLS book has been developed and it's on kickstarter now. It's going to be so good. If you like skulls (and we all should since we all have one) or know someone who does, then -
Be a supporter HERE.  

First Day Covers

 I'm still not sure about what to do with all the First Day covers I got from a friend.

Here are a couple more that I've collaged the fronts of , and added current postage but left some of the original postmark visible.

 I put a card inside with the saying "Creativity is a Practice."

I hope that somehow the stamps and the recipients connect.

What would you do with these envelopes. I appreciate any ideas you have.

Here's my kitty, Bizoo, with his favorite morning thing. A heavy duty plastic zipper bag.

He's so pleased, if a cat can show that, when I bring it out in the morning from the closet where I stash it over night.