Do you send Valentine’s to Your Pen Pals?
Why Not?
A few years ago, I bought a bunch of Kids Valentines (the cheapo kind that kids give out at school) and included them with my mailings that week!
It was fun!
Pen pals add all different types of small tuck-ins into their letters (post cards, stickers, seed packets, book marks, whatever)… why not a silly little Valentine to say you care?
Ok, now maybe I’m getting a LITTLE WEIRD here.. but I love funky artsy Envelopes in the mail box… so no laughing at these!!
Grin!
Do you see what this is? Its a magazine cutout of shoes, funny ole shoes! It’s a free magazine, cut out of anything on any page, and simply used a Dollar Store glue stick to glue it on to the envelope.
The stamps are big foam stamps, kids stamps, I think I got them for a Dollar on a sale rack at Michaels. I love foam stamps, they hold big bold color, instead of having to do intricate coloring work.
I just glued it to the side of an otherwise stamped envelope, just like yesterday’s post. I like it! I do! It’s funky, It’s grungy, I like it!
Stop laughing!
Here is another… its a photo of flowers from a plant catalog. Instead of gluing it on as is, I cut it into different sized strips. and didn’t make them all nice and lined up. I glued them on all oddly so they don’t line up.. I like that.. kinda grungy again!
I like IMPERFECT ART. I really do. Its the visual impact I go for, not something that you don’t want to use because its too perfect to send in the mail.
I made some artsy envelopes for a pen pal gathering a few years ago, where I taught a class on quickie ways to decorate envelopes.
Let’s check out a few and how to make them quickly, efficiently and oh-so darn colorful.
First, IMAGINE your pal (or family member) opening their boring old mail box to see this POP OUT! Whoooopeeee!
The wild red envelope above is simple.. I cut a sticky to the size I wanted to leave blank for writing in the pen pals address and stuck it where the address goes to keep it white. Get it?
Then grab stamps, colorful inks, and STAMP like a CRAZY LADY! Grin!
Everywhere and any where! You can do 10 in five minutes… honestly!
Here is another.. I used several colors this time, just not in the same red family. Even the boring beige color looks nice filling the entire envelope with a pattern, then a few green bugs, and a few RED RED flowers and you are done!
Again, you can make OODLES of these in minutes. Stamp 10 envelopes with the background color. Switch to the next stamp and color, stamp them here and there, another color, stamp stamp. Done.
Don’t think long and hard about it. Don’t make them perfectly placed… its just an artsy colorful envelope. Get it?
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This is my husband, Terry, with our tiny wonder — we think this could be the worlds smallest tomato. It’s long gone, but he just picked another tiny yellow tomato yesterday.. never knew they’d grow this tiny! Grin!
Don’t you LOVE this envelope? I love when kids draw on their pen pal letters!
Great Job!
Check out this cool envelope! I love funky things like this! Click to see any of them better.. very cool!
Now, IF Andrea had known, she COULD have made this much better.. with the word HOPE all over the back. I helped her out a bit here… The third envelope is my enhanced version!
Great Envelope, Andrea! You made my day! Wendy
As the Beatles sang, “Hope is All We Need”….
In today’s economy that is certainly true! But this is a fantastic way for pals to help the USA regain some HOPE!
I do hope you will take the time to read this, and then REMEMBER…..
Write HOPE on your envelopes!
Go directly to the HOPE Website!
Yesterday, I added a page to my website on a gal who organizes a Sticker Collection every year, and mails packages to hospitals…. I hope you will help!
My 17 year newspaper, Inky Trail News, is now changed to a digest-styled newsletter… as of the January 2009 issue. Just something new… and it feels good too!
January 2009 Inky trail News cover
Thanks to all pals who took the time to write and tell me they liked it… your support really helps!
p.s. if you’d like to check it out in a pdf version, emailed to you, can order it here: Inky Trail News
I was so honored to get this postal stamp recently…. thought I’d share it with you!
Thanks to Madeleine Brauer for sending her letter (and thanks to Lesley Sjardin, her New Zealand pal, for sending Madeleine to me!)
Sometimes, often times, its the very small things in life that make life so worth living.. making your heart jump for joy!
