mail art | kimberly ah

Apr 09 2018

Letters & Libations Invitation

When Naoto told me his party idea, my only request (besides meatballs and a signature cocktail) was that he send paper invitations to the party. I love a paper invitation and I’m almost never organized enough to send one. When I saw this moving announcement, I decided to play around to see if we could turn it into an invitation and we could! Naoto took care of the rest. We decided to add two times to the invitation in case people didn’t want to write letters, but almost everyone came during the “letter writing” time anyway so it wasn’t an issue.

Naoto added a festive picture of Presley to the back (because I wouldn’t let him use one of me!) with a little note. I kept an invitation for my “scrapbook” which is really just a pile of ephemera in a drawer waiting to become something…I love a paper invitation.

Tagged celebrations, mail art, office supplies, snail mail

Apr 06 2018

5 Comments

celebrations, cocktails, Office Supplies, snail mail, Write On

Letters & Libations Stationery

As I mentioned the other day, Naoto had special Letters & Libations stationery made especially for the party. He knew that Donovan sometimes makes special stationery for the Letter Writers Alliance letter writing socials so he commissioned her to draw something that incorporated letter writing and cocktails. He met with Donovan to chat about the plan and she came up with a few designs. Because he knew I would probably want to use the stationery beyond the party, he let me choose which one I liked best. This was the winner…a perfect cocktail coupe with a stack of mail ready to go. I love that the top letter has a little paper airplane on it and it’s addressed to me from the LWA. (But that detail is small enough so others could use the stationery without it being weird.) Donovan formatted the image so two sheets of stationery fit on an 8.5×11 sheet of paper. Naoto had them printed at the UPS store, where fifty copies cost $5. (He brought his own paper, Superfine White from Paper Source from my stash at home. I love Superfine papers…almost anything–fountain pens, gel pens, felt pens, pencils–writes nicely on it.)

I now have a nice leftover stash of my own personal stationery and the ability to print more. I’m so excited to write some letters on it this week! (By the way, I’m staying on top of my letter writing this week…how about you?)

Tagged celebrations, cocktails, diy, mail art, office supplies, snail mail

Apr 04 2018

1 Comment

celebrations, crafty adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail, thrifted, vintage, Write On

Letters & Libations Party Decorations

Naoto was a little worried about party decorations so I told him I’d handle it. I love making garlands and I already had a bunch of supplies leftover from last year’s Write On Party.

I just strung a bunch of airmail envelopes from the ceiling and then made a garland with First Day Covers and old postcards from my vintage paper drawer. And for the “centerpiece” I made a giant paper airplane based on this Oh Happy Day tutorial. I just used eco white roll wrap from Paper Source and drew lines with a pink and blue Sharpie. Then I used this tutorial to fold the plane. I haven’t folded a paper airplane since grade school so I needed a little refresher course.

Presley was impressed.

Naoto made a kraft paper tablecloth for me with “post office” written in several languages and he even drew the Japan Post mascot for me! We scattered some airmail envelopes on the table with the stationery and called it done. Simple but on-theme. Presley enjoyed pushing the mail truck off the table. She doesn’t like being left out of the letter writing fun.

Simple, and at the end of the day, everything is reusable (especially for National Card & Letter Writing Month happening now!) and recyclable!

Tagged adventures, celebrations, crafts, decorating, diy, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, vintage

Apr 02 2018

3 Comments

celebrations, snail mail, some stuff about me, Write On

Letters & Libations

For my birthday this year, Naoto threw me a Letters & Libations party, complete with a theme cocktail, letter writing, and lots of friends. It was so fun and a perfect beginning to a new decade. My only regret is that we didn’t get more good pictures… So, about the cake…we got it at our local bakery, Kay’s. When Naoto ordered it, he asked if they could do red and blue (airmail colors!) and draw an envelope on the cake. Simple, right? I mean, and envelope is a rectangle with a triangle inside. (Even I can draw an envelope and I’m terrible at drawing!) They said they couldn’t do an envelope but they could do a pencil and a notebook so he figured close enough…well…that’s what we got. Funny, right? It still tasted delicious. Birthday cakes are my favorite…nothing fancy, just white cake with buttercream frosting.

When Naoto sent out the invitations, a few people wondered what a letter writing party was. I was feeling a little nervous about making my non-letter-writing friends write letters, but it all worked out in the end and almost everyone wrote a letter! I even had some Mr. Rogers stamps on hand for people to use and Naoto had some special stationery made for me. (I’ll share that soon!) I was so happy to see tables of friends writing letters and drinking cocktails at my dining room table. It was really the best birthday gift ever. (Confession: I didn’t write a letter!) We ate Freddy’s meatballs (pretty much a party standard around here) and Lou Malnati’s pizza and salad, cheeses, chips and salsa, and Karen made her famous pimento. Naoto turned my desk into a bar and mixed up a signature cocktail for us…I’ll share that soon, too.

My heart is full, and I’m well-stocked for National Letter Writing Month.

Tagged adventures, celebrations, cocktails, mail art, snail mail

Mar 31 2018

4 Comments

celebrations, In My Mailbox, Office Supplies, snail mail, Write On

Write On 2018

Tomorrow is April and National Letter Writing Month and the beginning of another Write On challenge! I like Write On a bit better than Letter Month because it’s more removed from Christmas card season and the expectation is looser–write 30 letters during the month of April. I’m hoping to actually finish this challenge after my failure in February. As usual, I have a nice stack of letters that need a reply, some thank yous to finish, and a drawer full of stationery. I ordered the Write On party pack again and I’m planning to have a little letter writing gathering or two this month. One of my pen pals is flying in from New Zealand so there will definitely be some letter writing time planned around her visit. Here on the blog, I’m hoping to post mostly mail related things, too. I’ve been saving some things for the most wonderful time of the year!

Are you participating in the challenge? I love the kits (pictured above) this year! Those little mailboxes are perfection.

Tagged adventures, celebrations, holidays, letterpress, mail art, office supplies, snail mail

Mar 28 2018

2 Comments

celebrations, Office Supplies, snail mail

Letter Writing Themed Birthday Gifts

My birthday was last Saturday and Naoto threw me the most wonderful party and gave me such thoughtful gifts. I’ll share more about the party next week. It was a theme party -of course- and it will be the perfect thing to share during National Letter Writing Month.

I’ve had these airmail pillow covers on my wishlist forever. I’d almost forgotten about them until I unwrapped them on Saturday. They are screen printed on natural canvas and you can find them in the Two Hands Two Crowns Etsy shop. I was so excited to stuff my down pillow inserts into them and put them out on the couch for the party. I asked Naoto if he cares that I gave our living room a mail theme and he doesn’t care, so maybe there will be more mail additions in the future. My other gifts were these cute Japan Post stamps from NicoNeco Zakkaya. The little guy is the Japan Post mascot and I love how he’s inside a stamp shape. (I couldn’t find these exact stamps in their shop right now, but they have so many lovely stamps and other things!) I’m looking forward to writing my thank you notes tonight and using my new stamps. As usual, I’m behind on my letter writing, just in time for another Write On challenge! (But I’m hoping to get my thank yous out before Sunday–yikes!)

Tagged celebrations, crafts, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, shopping, snail mail

Mar 21 2018

From Our Herd to Yours…

Last month, I did a custom order of buffalo themed thank you notes for a soon-to-be-mom’s baby shower. I didn’t have any buffalo postage stamps, but I did have this 1960 World Forestry Congress stamp that features a buffalo, a deer, and a hiker. It was fun working on something new. Sometimes I see working with stamps and typewriters as a limitation…I’m limited in the designs I can come up with because vintage stamp designs are somewhat limited. I can’t really use a bunch of neon in my card designs (oh, how I love neon!) because there aren’t neon stamps, or neon typewriter ribbons for that matter. I can’t do a cat card because there aren’t many vintage cat stamps (readily available…I do have some with a cat and a dog though.) But limitations lead to creativity, so I’m trying to expand my bad dad jokes and puns and see how many cards I can come up with in my own style.

Tagged adventures, celebrations, crafts, diy, forest park, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, vintage

Mar 09 2018

3 Comments

adventures, Letter Month, snail mail, Valentine's Day, vintage

Letter Month Was a Bust

Sigh…I only sent fifteen pieces of mail in Letter Month. Sad, right? February was one of those months where it felt like I was constantly preparing for something and then failing to be fully prepared. I kept putting off writing to get other stuff done but then I’d waste time on my phone or “researching” ideas for things coming up in March and garden stuff for the summer. Dumb.

But I did manage to use up plenty of my Valentine stash and I didn’t buy anything new on clearance after the holiday! Though I did finally break down and buy this Martha Stewart stamp set that I’ve been wanting for years…no regrets. And I finally sent some overdue thank you notes and replied to all the mail from January. This month I’m working on replying to the stuff I received in February. I’m planning a little letter writing session tonight once I get all my laundry folded and put away. As usual, I’m glad I participated, even though I didn’t meet my goal, and I’m looking forward to Write On for National Letter Writing Month in April. (I’ve already ordered my kit!)

So, how did you do?

Tagged adventures, crafts, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, shopping, snail mail, vintage, washi tape

Jan 30 2018

2 Comments

In My Mailbox, Letter Month, snail mail

Month of Letters 2018

After being a terrible letter writer in 2017, I’m trying to stay on top of my mail in the new year. February is Letter Month where we challenge ourselves to mail something every day the mail operates. While I know I’ll probably miss a day or two and have to catch up, I’m going to try to send twenty-seven things and spend out some of my stationery stash…my usual letter month goals. I got out my Valentine box so I’m hoping to make some Valentines and decorate some envelopes this week to get a jump start on things.

The Letter Month website is all updated and ready to go for 2018. If you happen to be looking for new pen pals or want to chat with other letter writers, pop over there and check it out!

Are you participating?

Tagged adventures, mail art, office supplies, snail mail

Jan 18 2018

2 Comments

homemaking, Office Supplies, snail mail

2018 Goals, Mail & More…

Is the year flying by, or is it just me? I sent out some New Year’s cards last week and some snow-themed letters this week. I feel like I was a terrible pen pal for most of 2017, so one of my goals is to do better this year.