mail art | kimberly ah

Nov 19 2014

crafty adventures, snail mail, Thanksgiving, vintage

Thanksgiving Invitations 2014

Thanksgiving crept up on me this year. My mind has been occupied with other things and I didn’t have any real inspiration for an invitation. So, I went with leftovers…fitting, eh?

A few years ago, I made our Thanksgiving place cards with this Acorn kit from Paper Source. I had some leftovers, which I saved and used as a garland or something last year. Anyway, one acorn got a new life as an invitation. I typed out a basic note on vellum and cut it out with a circle punch. Then I tied the vellum on with a little gold and white twine. I used a vellum envelope embellished with some squirrel and leaves washi tape and I used one of my “vintage” Thanksgiving stamps (a purchase from the Stamp King of Chicago.) Seriously, that stamp is a cornucopia of postal goodness. (If you’re interested, here is a little article that shows the USPS Thanksgiving stamp offerings.) Here it is, all packed up.

And now…back to cleaning and menu planning!

Tagged crafts, diy, holidays, mail art, snail mail, vintage, washi tape

Nov 03 2014

7 Comments

crafty adventures, Halloween, Office Supplies, snail mail

Packing Tape Postcards for Halloween

I started reading blogs in 2007 when a coworker told me about Angry Chicken. Angry Chicken is a personal blog by Amy Karol where she shares a variety of things from homeschooling and sewing projects to homemade deodorant and cake recipes. I love that it’s an unpredictable range of topics and that there are no sponsored posts. (Not that there’s anything wrong with sponsored posts…it’s just nice to have a break from them once in awhile!) I was so fascinated with her blog that I stayed up late one night reading all of her posts from the beginning. It’s one of the few blogs that I continue to read after all these years.

Over the summer, I was inspired by this post about packing tape postcards. I love how her three girls sandwiched anything and everything between two strips of packing tape and made it a postcard. Simple, but genius. I thought it would be fun to try but I was out of packing tape and kind of forgot about it until last week when I broke out my Halloween mail stuff. I have loads of confetti and ribbon and some chunky copper glitter that I felt would make a perfect Halloween packing tape postcard. I only made two, but I hope to make a few more before fall ends. I forgot the glitter in Margaret’s, which is fine…there’s no right or wrong, but I love how the glitter pieces fill the void. I also didn’t write messages on them, but next time I will. My postcards ended up being about 5×7 inches so I used a Forever postage stamp on them (stuck on the outside of the packing tape!) And because I didn’t write a message or sign the postcards, I stamped my return address on them with StazOn ink, pretty much the only thing that will dry on the slick packing tape surface.

I can’t wait to make more of these! It would be fun to make one with bits of ephemera from a vacation or an event. For now, I’m just hoping to make a few more fall-themed ones.

P.S. I finished my 31 Postcards in 31 Days project on November 1st! Yay!

Tagged crafts, Halloween, mail art, office supplies, snail mail

Oct 01 2014

8 Comments

crafty adventures, snail mail

31 Postcards in 31 Days

You all know that I love a good month-long challenge. So of course when I heard about the 31 Postcards in 31 Days, I had to jump in. (Thanks for tweeting about it, Marissa!) The “challenge” was started by zine-makers but anyone can participate. The most exciting thing to me about 31 Postcards in 31 Days is that you can send the postcards whenever you want. No need to do one per day and feel guilty when you get behind. As long as you’ve sent thirty-one cards by the end of the month, you’ve completed the challenge. Easy enough, right?

I had wild dreams of making all my postcards, but I think I will lower the bar for myself and just try to send thirty-one cards to thirty-one different people. I have a lot of postcards from Japan, from Oak Park, from sets I’ve bought over the years and this will be a good time to spend out.

Are you participating?

(And can you believe it’s October already?! Presley is really excited for this.)

Tagged mail art, snail mail

Sep 26 2014

1 Comment

snail mail

Rural King Popcorn Bag Becomes Envelope

The last time I visited Rural King with my parents, I accidentally dropped an unused popcorn bag on the floor. Instead of adding it back to the stack for another person to use, I kept it for mail art. One of my pen pals, Shannan visits the LaSalle/Peru area from time to time, so I thought maybe she’d get a kick out of some Rural King mail. I wrote my note on a 5×7 inch card and taped the bag closed with a couple of layers of washi tape. I think the actual “envelope” ended up being around 5×8 inches. (Maximum dimensions for a letter are 6 1/8 x 11 1/2 inches, according to the USPS website.)

Simple and quick, and full of Central Illinois charm, right?

Have a good weekend! Speaking of my parents, they are coming up tomorrow and my dad is going to help us hang a cabinet in our bathroom. Yay!

Tagged mail art, parents, snail mail

Sep 19 2014

Kiwi Congratulations

patriotic mail art, vintage stamps, USA, New Zealand My pen friend April just became a citizen of New Zealand. I wanted to send her a congratulations card but of course, finding a “Congratulations on your New Zealand citizenship” card in the U.S. was a challenge. But I knew Hallmark would sell a U.S. citizenship card (Hallmark sells every kind of card.) so I dug around in the Congratulations section in the store and found a one. Naoto was with me, shaking his head. He didn’t see the brilliance in my plan. I figured if red, white and blue worked for a USA citizenship, it would work for a New Zealand one. I printed out a New Zealand flag and pasted it over the American flag in the forefront. It didn’t fit perfectly, but I was okay with that. It’s not like I was trying to hide that this card was modified. And I felt that the American flags in the background were a nice touch since April is an American, too.

I added some New Zealand flags to the envelope and went through my vintage stamp collection to find some red, white and blue postage stamps. I had such a great time digging through my stamps and adding up my favorites for this envelope. April often uses an eclectic mix of New Zealand stamps on her envelopes so I *think* she will appreciate the themed vintage postage.

Have you ever altered a greeting card to make it suit your needs? Or are you shaking your head along with Naoto?

Have a good weekend!

Tagged celebrations, mail art, snail mail, vintage, washi tape

Sep 18 2014

6 Comments

crafty adventures, Honor Flight Chicago, snail mail

Honor Flight Mail

A couple of veterans from my hometown went on Honor Flight recently. Neither went with Honor Flight Chicago, so unfortunately I wasn’t able to see them off or welcome them home at the airport. They each flew on different flights with other Illinois-based Honor Flights. One veteran, my Great Uncle Tom went this year and the other veteran, my old neighbor Bud, went last year. When it comes to thank yous, I employ the “better late than never” rule.

This summer I came across an offer from One Canoe Two (and a sponsor, Veterans United) to get this 3-pack of military cards for free. I ordered a set because I knew two of the cards would be perfect for these guys. And, I had a couple of extra Honor Flight Chicago pins from when I started doing mail call a few years ago. (Maureen gave me several pins and told me to use them to “spread the word and good cheer” about Honor Flight.) At Saturday’s letter social, I wrote notes inside the cards and tucked a card and a pin inside some old notecard boxes. This is a trick I learned from Donovan who is the queen of reusing things in the name of mail.The clear plastic packaging just happened to be the exact size of my A2 cards and left room for the pinback. I had a good time decorating the boxes with patriotic washi tape. At the letter social, we weighed the package and it was 1.5 ounces. There was some disagreement about whether it’s a letter or a package, so I came home and looked up the specifications on the USPS website. It’s technically too thick to be a letter (the box is 1/2 inch thick, the letter limit is 1/4 inch) so the postage came to $2.32. I happily used my Inverted Jenny stamps and a flag forever stamp. I hope Bud and Uncle Tom like their mail surprises!

P.S. That’s my Uncle Tom above with his daughters and son-in-law during his Welcome Home Celebration.

Tagged celebrations, crafts, Honor Flight Chicago, mail art, snail mail, washi tape

Sep 17 2014

LWA Social at the Forest Park Library

On Saturday, I attended the LWA Letter Social at my public library (as mentioned in this post.) As usual, I regret not taking more pictures. Kathy and Donovan had an amazing spread of stationery and mail art supplies, an array of rubber stamps and four fantastic typewriters. I used the Tippa pictured above and it typed like a dream! It moved like butter (or buttah!) I wrote a letter and two special thank you notes (which I will be sharing soon!) and had a great chat with all of the other women writing letters. (It was all women, a coincidence I just realized.) A few of us came back to our place and enjoyed Negronis and funny conversation. After everyone left, I wrote some more letters and postcards until dinner. I’m officially staying on top of my to-be-returned pile and it feels great!

Tagged adventures, cocktails, forest park, mail art, snail mail

Sep 16 2014

4 Comments

adventures, crafty adventures

Renegade Craft Fair 2014

Last year, we were in Japan during the Chicago Renegade Craft Fair and I really missed it as part of my “end of summer” routine. I love going to Renegade, so when it rolled around again this summer I knew to keep the weekend open.

I didn’t buy very much and as usual I had “non-buyers remorse”. I wish I had researched better before we went. I usually comb through all of the sellers’ sites and make a wishlist of things to look for, but I didn’t do as much investigative work this year and I missed out on a couple of things that I wish I’d seen. We got about two-thirds of the way through the fair and the crowds were picking up and we were hungry!! So, we skimmed through part of the fair, which was fine by me because tacos were waiting for us at Naoto’s office. Plus, there’s always the internet…I picked up a lot of business cards and can purchase from the comfort of my pajamas!

So, what did I buy? I have been eying this Peg & Awl bag for almost a year now. (Mine is a slightly larger version of this one.) I love its polished rustic feel–it’s neat and tidy and not too bulky, but also has a worn, casual feel. I love the waxed canvas and the antique deadstock red gingham fabric trim. When I read that the straps were made from antique WWII gun slings, well that sealed the deal. So far, I’m loving this bag…it’s the perfect size for my planner and my wallet and a few other necessities and the front pocket is perfect for my phone and a lip balm (the real necessities!)I should also note that the bag makes an excellent cat nap mat, according to Presley. (Thanks for leaving your fur behind, cat!) The Into the Night postcard set from New Academy Press is so good that I came home and ordered two extra sets (because I couldn’t imagine parting with this one.) The set comes in a screen printed folder with a screen printed band. I’m thinking I will be able to turn it into a tiny staple-bound notebook when I’m all done with the cards. It’s just too fancy to throw away! The postcards are gorgeous screen prints that create a scene together and also work really well as a single card.We are going to frame this set for our bedroom wall. (The bedroom is lacking in wall art, style and creative direction.)

I also bought a paper tape (which is less than exciting) and a small gift (which I will share after Christmas). All in all it was a great Renegade. The weather was perfect–cool and sunny–and the company was wonderful. It’s always fun to meet the creative people behind the wares.

If you’d like to read more from Renegade Chicago, Rebecca from Hugs are Fun has a great post on Renegade with detailed shots of some of the booths and Robyn from Robayre has a lot of great stuff to share too.

OH, and if you missed Renegade, Show of Hands is coming up on November 22 and 23. Karen and I went last year and it was as great as Renegade, only smaller. I highly recommend is as a kick-off to your holiday shopping!

(My 2012 Renegade post is here.)

Tagged adventures, crafts, diy, mail art, Renegade Chicago, shopping, snail mail, summer

Sep 10 2014

3 Comments

adventures at the library, Forest Park, Oak Park, snail mail

Guess Who’s Coming To Forest Park?

On Saturday (September 13) the Letter Writers Alliance is hosting a letter writing social at the Forest Park Public Library!

I love attending letter socials and LWA events and it’s even better when I can walk to one! The social goes from 1:30-3PM and more details can be found here on the library website.

Since I sent out twenty-five letters earlier this month, I’m not sure I will have anything in my mailbox that needs a response by Saturday, so I plan to write some friends and family just because. Those are the best kinds of letters anyway, right?

To see what to pack for a letter social, go here.

Tagged adventures, forest park, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail

Sep 09 2014

2 Comments

crafty adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail, Uncategorized

Handmade “Aerograms”

I’ve had these stamp information sheets since this LWA RSVP series in 2012. I found them in my vast paper stash while I was geting my desk organized (which is still an ongoing project–so many drawers, so many decisions.) The stamp sheets have pictures and educational bits on one side and are blank on the other, so I figured I could write letters and fold them into makeshift aerograms. The paper is thick and sturdy, perfect for handwriting or typewriters and I knew if I used some washi tape to seal it all up, that the recipients could (hopefully) open their letters easily without cutting into them. I hand wrote a letter to April on the “Postage Stamps of New Zealand” sheet. Then I folded the sheet into thirds, paying attention to how the back would look. I wanted the title part (seen at the top photo) to be the feature.I folded some red paper tape (from Target) over the two ends. Then I used thick washi tape (from Japan) to seal the top. I wrapped the thick washi tape around the front of the envelope and stamped the ends with an “OPEN HERE” stamp (from a set of postal-themed stamps that I bought it Japan). Hopefully, the little directions will prevent the sendees from tearing open the aerogram like an envelope. I had so much fun making these and spending out some of my paper hoard. I’m thrilled that I found my letter writing mojo again!