Week of Swaps--Day 5

This is the last of swap postings. The day has been dedicated to making envelopes. These envelopes are approximately 6 by 7 inches. They are made from an old book that was left out in the elements by a Goodwill store. Many of the pages were water damaged or warped so I took the book home hoping that I would be able to do something with it.

I cut the spine open so I could separate the pages without getting a jagged edge. This is important because you need all clean edges because of the size of this envelope.

For this swap, you send your partner a postcard that you want returned to you. You place the postcard in an envelope and then address and stamp the envelope. Your partner will take the postcard you have addressed to yourself, write something on it and place a stamp on it. The card will receive local postmarks and stamps. Of course, rather than send a plain envelope I had to send something special and I included some miscellaneous items for my partner to keep.

More envelopes

Even more envelopes

Week of Swaps--Day 4

Today's swap was a homemade postcard swap. Since I post about coloring often, people always send me coloring sheets like the above. I have hundreds of them. Unfortunately, many of them are patterns that I don't care to color. For coloring, I tend to gravitate to larger open areas that I can work on technique or amend with my own doodling. I am always looking to find something to do with these coloring sheets.

The first step is to design the color palette. I used three yellow/orange shades for the random teardrops/dots.

I used four green/blue shades for the smaller amoeba shapes. For the larger  amoeba shapes, I used a reds, greens, blues, and purples. I used five shades of each color to complete each palette. Granted I could have stopped here, made one postcard and have been done.

Color palettes completed

I chose to continue using the same color palettes but reversing darks and lights. Once the top half was completed, I could have stopped which would have provided several options for a single card.

Top half completed

I continued to fill the entire sheet. The goal was to make two separate postcards.

Full page complete

I then ran my postcard watercolor stock through the Xyron machine and mounted the cards to the coloring sheet using a light box to get the best placement possible.

Two postcards

Postcard front and back

All I need to do is clean up this mess of a desk. As you can see, I keep notes for reference during the project. I also keep all of the markers out and available until the project is completed. After getting to the end of the full page coloring, I realized that I had forgotten to color a single teardrop shape. I had the gold yellow marker still available. If I had to search for it, I would have taken a few more minutes to locate it. This is the main reason why I always keep a project reference sheet. Could you image trying to find the exact color that was used if I hadn't kept notes?

Time to mail out some postcards.

Week of Swaps--Day 3

Bunny Postcard

This swap was for two handmade postcards to a single exchange partner. I really like using postcard blanks because they are guaranteed to be an appropriate thickness to send through the mail. My partner like bunnies and coloring.

For the postcard above, I simply ran the postcard through my Xyron machine and then applied the card to this cute Japanese paper. I rounded the corners of the paper to match the postcard blank.

For the second card, I took one of my smaller stencils and used a extra fine tip Sharpie to trace the pattern onto the front of the card . Since my swap partner likes to color, I left it as is so she could provide the color and send it out to someone (should she choose to).

A quick and easy swap.

Week of Swaps--Day 1

Japanese setting sun

This week, I wanted to share with you some of the swaps that I have completed on swap-bot. The first was a postcard challenge. The theme was "put a map on it. " My swap partner has an aversion to anything purple so I had to get creative.

My partner likes blues and greens though. I knew that I wanted to do something with some scraps of Japanese paper that I had laying around. First I used my stencil that simulates the Japanese setting sun. I used alcohol inks to provide color. The layout worked in reverse than I wanted. Rather than start over, I simply decided to reconsider.

To simulate the sun, I decided to use my paper scraps to represent the sun's rays. I chose three coordinating papers and used the stencil to cut out the rays.

Sun's rays

I wasn't quite happy with the half-round shape that I achieved. I took a red crane piece of scrap paper and used a hole punch to punch a circle. I pasted it in place and trimmed so it was flush with the card.

Much better

The upward flying crane is a symbol of good luck and it seemed appropriate.

I still needed to add a map so I took the circle punch and added the two maps to fulfill the theme of the swap. One was in black and white and I was sure to use a non-purple section of the Tokyo Metro map. I added three other images from a free guide booklet to complete the front.

Getting there

I had picked out some postage stamps to use but I just couldn't figure out where to put them. The front of the card still needed something so I dug through my stash of decorative papers and found this metallic speckled mulberry paper. It is a see through paper normally used as an overlay in Japanese gift wrapping. The gold and silver flakes are supposed to be good luck for the recipient. I ran the card through the Xyron machine and placed the paper on top of the card. Unfortunately, you only get one chance to get this right. There was a lot of deep breathing during this stage.

Finished card front

Mulberry paper detail

It then came time to concentrate on the back of the card. I had the perfect stencil to use--a koi stencil. I used my alcohol inks to create the koi. Remembering that my partner liked blues and yellows, I used those colors to fill in the background. My partner also collects used postage stamps so I added some Japanese stamps from my collection. I used the US-Japanese Cherry Blossom Forever stamp to apply postage (since the card is oversized, it requires first class postage).

Finished card back

I hope my swap partner likes the card. It is on its way to Belgium.

Envelopes Part 5

This is the final entry in Envelope Week. This is one of my favorite papers from India. This is a pretty spider mum pattern that comes in three different color settings: purples, pinks and chartreuse/white. This is a thick and fibrous paper which doesn't hold a fold very well. When you line the paper with card stock, the creases hold much better. I have several of these but it just seems too painful to send them out so I tend to hoard them.

That it for this week. Have a great weekend and I will see you next week with some items that I have been sending out via swap-bot.

Envelopes Part 4

Maple Leaves 

Continuing with Envelope week, this is one of my favorite envelope manifestations. These are envelopes made from decorative paper that is too thin or non-sturdy enough to go through the mail. They are reinforced with card stock so they will easily pass through the US Mail System. With all of the pretty papers that I have, this is so very satisfying for me. For example, this Maple Leaf paper is made in India and has a beautiful metallic ink that just glimmers.

The interior is lined with a patterned card stock in a complimentary color. Everything is secured with double sided tape.

Envelope Interior

Here is another example. This is a crepe printed paper from Japan. The thickness of the paper is equivalent to a crepe paper streamer. Alone, the paper would never make it through the mail.

Envelope Front

This envelope is lined with a thicker patterned card stock by Bazzill.

The biggest difficulty with these envelopes in how to address them. I suggest that they be used as part of a paper suite for special occasions where they are used as an inside, non-addressed envelope. I have used these in the past but have addressed the flap side of the envelope with a label. This allows the front of the envelope to maintain its presentation.

Another NYC Postcard

This was another postcard swap. This is the last piece of the vintage subway map that I had in my supplies. I have always loved the Guggenheim so I decided to do a cut out and put it on the front of the card. I was lucky to have an Andrew Lloyd Wright used postage stamp that had the Guggenheim in the background (top left postage stamp). I continued to fill the page with NYC postage stamps.

For the reverse side, I used a different NYC stencil that had NYC locations in print. I added color to the postcard with alcohol inks. I used the same wax seal from yesterday to divide the salutation section from the address section of the postcard.

NY Post Cards

Today's entry is a postcard swap that I did. The theme was sender's choice and I had some scraps of paper from a subway map that I had left over from a previous project. I glued the paper to a watercolor card that I had cut previously. I used a NYC stencil set have several manhole covers, bricks, and the letters NYC. I used a extra fine tip Sharlie in black. I filled in the bricks and letters to create some dimension. I used a yellow marker to highlight the letters of NYC. I then used my new NY wax seal to create the raised button on NYC manhole covers. I stamped the seal with gold pigment ink before pressing into navy blue wax.

For the reverse, I used alcohol inks to create a Tokyo manhole cover. The manhole system in Japan is world renown and the Japanese people take extreme pride in them. There are many special covers and many covers are designed specifically for the local market. There are an estimated 6000 manhole covers in the country of Japan. If you want to find out more and see pictures, please visit here.

To add interest to the reverse side, I found some amazing used NY postage stamps from my collection to tie the front and back together.

Here is the wax seal page for the new NY wax seal.

A Day for Gift Wrapping

Today's entry is dedicated to gift wrapping. The above image was a Mother's Day gift wrap. The paper is from my stash. The wooden rose is from Michaels. The sheer ribbon is adorned with Mizuhiki from my stash.

The above wrapping was another of my homemade wrapping papers. This was a care package sent to a Yankees fan. The above is the outer box. The below images are the actual gifts. When I mail packages, I always use baker's twine rather than ribbon. Because I am not around to fluff the ribbon, I find it easier to use twine. Each package always contains an added surprise on the outside of the gift.

The below gift was a going away gift for a co-worker. It uses a metallic Japanese paper. The gold paper is considered good luck. The Mizuhiki is used in a very traditional way here. For good luck gifts, the cords are always wound in a clockwise direction. The beginning of the loop is always hidden and the final loop always finishes in an upwards position (which symbolizes an upward move). Money is always included on the outside of the package--either a money envelope or a coin for good luck. The ribbon used is a double sheer ribbon in black and gold.

The below gift was a wedding gift for a friend who was getting married for the first time at the age of 60. We wanted to give an elegant wrapping with a fresh white rose which was represented in her bridal bouquet. The first image below is the outer wrapping.

This is the inner wrapping. We made a handmade photo book for her to use. Here I used something from the outer wrapping and used it to coordinate the wrappings by repeating it on the inner wrapping. Here I used the beads for both uses.

The image below was a specialty wrapping. It was a calendar which is usually difficult to wrap due its thin nature. This is the envelope wrapping technique that I have discussed before. I really like the colors and the  highly saturated colored ribbon.

The final gift was a mother's birthday gift. The brief was Country Garden. I used some embroidered paper from my stash. The wooden flowers and the butterfly are from Michaels. I used a sheer wire rimmed ribbon to finish off the design. This is the outer box wrapping.

The below image was the actual gift which was a hand decorated photo frame. As you can see, I used a related element from the outer wrapping to duplicate on the internal wrapping--in this case, another wooden rose from Michaels.

A Personal Piece of Art

Today, I wanted to share a commissioned piece of artwork that I did for the graduation of my friend's daughter. The brief was something Celtic-inspired that included the child's name. I adapted this tree image that originally included a Celtic knot as the roots of the tree. I then added the name in relief. I also added the stained glass background.

I colored the image as a mock up. The reds and oranges represented the sunrise/sunset, the blue represented the sky, and the browns represented the earth. The green for the name represented her Irish heritage.

When I presented the rendering to my friend, she balked at the colors. She said that it wouldn't go well with her daughter's color palette for her new dorm room. The daughter's favorite colors where shades of purple.  So this is what the final version looked like.

I decided to make some homemade wrapping paper to present the gift. I used a Celtic Knot stencil for the paper. I specifically left the paper unadorned so the daughter could color it in and then use it for a decoration in her dorm room. Maybe she could color in the sheet with her new roommate and they could create something together.

To finish the wrapping, I simply used a double belly band in two different colors and weaved them together. I tied two bows in sheer chartreuse ribbon and I was done.

More Mail Art

Today is dedicated to postcards. There were cards that I sent out as part of various swap challenges. The first card is a version of a screen printed card that I had in my stash. The theme of the challenge was Mostly Purple. The card is made from duplex heavy paper. This has a Columbia Blue reverse side. The images were printed with my Gocoo Printer.

As you can see, I was in a NY state of mind. The above card was a sender's choice. I had some bits and pieces leftover from a subway map reprint. I glued it to a blank watercolor postcard. I then cut out a larger version of the Statue of Liberty stencil in the first card and then used it to hand color the image. I also used an NYC stencil in the lower left hand corner.

This swap was an interesting topic--Altered Text. The goal was to take a printed text and make a poem out of the the words by indicating which existing text should be read. We were to use the original text as the basis of the design. I found an old book that was being thrown away outside of a second hand store. Most of the pages were brittle and water damaged so I salvaged it for this swap. I stenciled over the page with two separate stencils in red and blue.  The poem ended up reading: trying to remember, Mother's hands, she smiled a wonderful smile, There was no one like her, Nana died, gently, sweetly, as an old lady.

The reverse side was stenciled with the same two stencils, in red and blue, but opposite from the front. I always like to clearly delineate the salutation section from the address section on a handmade postcard. I just find that it is easier for the letter carrier/post office to know how to process it.

Smail Mail

Since the demise of the Iron Craft Challenges, I have returned to Swap Bot to try and find a creative outlet. Most of my swaps have been affiliated with Mail Art, Postcards, and Envelopes. This is a postcard for a swap called Mostly Green.

When I read the recipient's profile, she was a fan of postage stamps and Monet. The color palette was inspired by Monet's Water Lilies series. The card is made from cold press watercolor paper. The paper was laminated with a scrap piece of decorative paper and the remnant of a map. I chose stamps that had the green and mauve theme of the Monet palette.

The obverse of the postcard was treated with my handmade alcohol inks. I like the pointillistic look of alcohol inks in a spray bottle.