HOT day, mail art, and our river James

 It is so hot out and the air is so thick, that it's hard to breathe.  I took N. to the train station this morning, then went to the office supply store and then went to the super market. While I know I'm fortunate to have a vehicle, mine is 12 years old and has no air conditioning. As soon as I got to the super market, the icy air hit me hard, so I picked up a bottle of one of those vitamin waters with electrolytes and opened it immediately.   It helped. I stayed in the store longer than needed to cool off before facing the oven again. I know I'm not alone, but I can't help being amazed - I'ts rare to see my car thermometer read 37c/98.7F.

 I decided to make a couple of series of Mail Art this morning. I haven't made multiples for awhile. I tool two mat boards and covered them with pages from a design/photo magazine.

 I added Washi tape to one of the boards.

 I was able to get 4 standard postcard sized pieces from each board, plus a couple of smaller pieces.

#233b

 Here's one of the finished pieces from one of the boards. I used one of the vintage postage stamps I got in Istanbul, a Blue stamp sent to me by Jenni Hinchcliff, and a lovely open eye. I added the tape because the card didn't seem interesting enough.  I'll work on the others later today.

 On the last day that my nephew and his wife were here, I took her to see some Richmond sites. One is an overlook in Church hill. Andy and I had talked about Richmond, Virginia being named after Richmond on Thames, just a couple weeks ago. On the hill, they've made a little park and put up an informative sign and a photo of Richmond on Thames. Our view must have been so lovely before industrialization. Still, our river is pretty attractive from up there on the hill.

#173s and process.

 Today the world is still with here, and so are we, so I must make mail art! We're all so tired. Last night was the inauguration of our patio! I've hinted at this for a few weeks, and it happened last night. I'll post a few photos soon.

So this morning, I picked out a piece of matt board and stuck some pieces of Color-Aide paper on it. Yellow, pale green, purple and a pinkish color. Took photos with my old phone, so not so clear. 

 Then I used my lovely Washi tape all over the board. Random placement.

 Then I cut the board, looking only at the reverse so I couldn't plan the cuts. I got only 3 standard postcard sized cards out of the board and one square, which I'll mail, and one small rectangle, which I"ll mail in an envelope as a bookmark, to someone.
Next, the cards got a word added to them from my pile of cut out words.

I'm really pleased with how these turned out. They are very energetic!

#170 series, of dots and tape

 This is #170, which I made this morning to sent to Europe to my friend K.L. for his birthday. I'm hoping he will like getting an "a" and reaching the top!

  I got carried away with dots and tape, after making the birthday card. Such fun.

  I got more action in this one, right? Or confusion?

 Interesting how we can believe that something is in motion, right?

I've had the 1/2" hole punch awhile and wanted a larger one. I was delighted to find the 1" size at a craft store and it was on sale, better yet. See my new Washi tape? See my dots? and you get a glimpse of the above cards, that will be going out into the world today.

Mail Art catch up (#166s & #167s) and miscellaneous

 This is #166, playing with tape and words. This is great fun.

 This is my submission for my own mail art call - Skull Appreciation Day mail art. I've numbered it though as part of my 364 project #166a.

 For participating in the wedding of our great-niece, I received a thank you gift of a lovely tin filled with postcards. Really nice cards, with no credit given to the designer, hmmm. Well, I couldn't let the opportunity go by, I HAD to alter them.  This one is #167

 Another of my alterations. #167a. I'm really enjoying the Washi tape, as you can see.

 My friend Phyllis had a birthday recently. She's traveled a lot and this map shows an area that she is particularly drawn to. Technically not mail art, as I just handed it to her. She liked it.

 This is the drain that is NOT draining. Our neighbor thinks the water is going into her basement, but the city guy who came to look at it, and the plumber guy who came to look at it, said "Nope! It drains to the big storm drain under the street." The plumbers are going to dredge it out today. 

Look at what I got from Andrea. She sends fun stuff in the mail. Her envelopes are a wonder to behold AND unwrap.

#163 process and series, and the mystery of the tape solved.

 I decided to use some of the papers that Pamela send me from SFO. I chose a blue matt board and used spray adhesvie on the lacy pieces and glue stick on the others.

 I was able to cut 9 standard sized postcards from the board. I turned it over so that I couldn't control where the cuts came and thereby got some nice random-ness.

 I added pieces of my new paper (Washi) tape to each of the cards. Hopefully, the tape will be more than a design element, holding pieces in place as they pass through the postal machine.

And now the puzzle of who sent the tape has been solved. It was a Mother's Day gift from my daughter. Way better than flowers!

Happy Mail Box

 Someone sent me this wonderful tube of paper tape! I don't know who gifted me with it but I can't wait to do something with it.

 My dear friend Andrea in the U.K. surprised me with this packet of Peppermint tea, which I love and I loved receiving this. Thank you so much.

 Another of my dear friends, Katerina, in Thessaloniki, sent me mail art AND a copy of her son's book. The text is by a woman, but don't read Greek, so don't know how to translate her name. The photos are by Petros Nikoltsou. The book is about Los Angeles. See the Title? Now you can read some Greek.The photos are just perfect for the subject.

A new friend of mine, whom I hope to meet someday, here or in San Francisco, sent me a ravioli box full of goodies. All Asian, of the kind we do not see here in RVA, plus a CD of a local band. An amazing box of goodies.


I am overwhelmed and humbled by the generosity of my friends.

Moving on with Mail Art 365 days.

Tuscan Landscape with eagle and smile

 Today I decided to do some more experimenting with packing tape. I used both the pull the tape off the page method and the soak it in water method. Such fun. Not sure of how the results turned out but I had fun doing it.

Man and Parrot (#34c)

Interstate 270 (#34b)

Coping in Southern California (#34a)

The image of the man that I soaked off of the page was kind of dark so I wanted the card to be colorful. However, it was too something or other on the right so I added the colorful parrot, which somehow works for me with the addition of the sheer circle.






This young boy came from an old National Geo. His face was just so solemn and his gaze so direct at the camera. Somehow, pairing him with calmer colors and a piece of pale map worked as a composition without taking away from his powerful image.







I gleaned these images from an old National Geo magazine of a mudslide in Glendora. A lot of my family  lives in Southern California so I think about the disasters there. Once I was even there when there was a bad earthquake. To say I was shaken up by it, is to put it mildly.