On Sunday, my friend Karen and I went to the very first ever Letter Writers Alliance Laboratory. We drank and ate envelope-shaped cookies and an array of other snacks while Donovan and Kathy wore lab coats and went over the basics and tips and tricks about mail art, encouraging us to push the envelope (pun intended) when it comes to sending mail. As part of the class, we each got a mail art kit, complete with loads of envelopes and vintage paper bits, washi tape, adhesives, a map, an envelope template all in a handy carrying case.
You can see some of my bits above. I sat at the seat with the orange mail art kit. (Everyone got a different color.) All of the kits were amazing, but I’m so glad I picked mine. So many of the pieces inside were perfect for certain pen pals and I got the map of Illinois (shown on the envelope above) which has both my current town and my hometown included in it! (My hometown has a tiny population of 1100…it never shows up on maps!!) I only made one envelope from the template and decorated one envelope during our free time…I was too busy talking and listening to everyone’s fun mail ideas. It’s so much fun gathering with fellow mail lovers outside of my mailbox!
For our last mail art project, we each received a giant pencil to mail. We wrote our recipients’ addresses right on the pencil, posted it with stamps and then later dropped it into a neighboring mailbox.
Our pencils dropped into the mailbox with a thump, mingling with all the other pencils from the workshop. I think the letter carrier who empties this box is going to have quite a surprise today!
Thanks for a fantastic afternoon, LWA!
(To see more pictures from the workshop, you can look under #LWALab on Instagram.)
P.S. Remember when I mailed a pigeon?
HAHA I can’t believe you mailed a pigeon!? Brilliant! Love your mail art and those envelope cookies look great too! Mmmm
The pigeon was the BEST mailing I’ve done. So fun. And the envelope cookies were gluten free and completely delicious! I’m coveting the envelope cookie cutter now! 🙂
[…] good word about my favorite farm equipment store. I’ve barely made a dent in the map from the Letter Writers Alliance Mail Art Workshop kit. But at least I can close my drawer […]