Tales from Studio Mailbox

Pulsatilla ATC

I made an ATC for a homeopath at my local pharmacy... it made me think I should hang all kinds of cards from my twisty sticks!

When I presented this to the pharmacist she asked if I was interested in dressing one of her shop windows after the holidays. 

I was so pleased by her offer and grateful for her gesture to help integrate me in the community.

I've already hatched a design plan...

RAK Grandma

Is RAK a noun or a verb?  Can I say "RAK Grandma?" Or should I say, "I've sent Grandmother a RAK?"

In any case, for mail art beginners, "RAK" is an acronym for a "Random Act of Kindness."  It's simply a little handmade token, usually sent through the mail for no particular reason except as a surprise for the recipient.

Sometimes I'm so busy coordinating mail outs for my arty friends, I forget some of the other important people in my life. 

In northern Minnesota I hear there's already snow on the ground.  My Gram is nestled into a new assisted living apartment, her cozy home has been winterized and shut tight against the coming blizzards.  I know the adjustment is not easy, and I need to get into a consistent habit of sending her little notes and letters so she knows we're thinking about her.

My favorite part about mail art is the envelope.  In this digitized mass-generated world I love the idea of a hand made envelope passing through the hands of mail carriers who just might pause to consider what it is.

Grandma's RAK was this printed, punched and sewn ATC.  And in case you don't know my BBF concept, get informed here.  That's right, the tiny pic is the backside of the card!  That paper was painted with an old German rubber wallpaper roller and stamped with my hand carved initial stamp.

Maybe for Christmas I will make her a little box to hold her ATCs and this will encourage me to create her an entire collection!

Oktoberfest ATC Giveaway

Commenting on this post will put you in a drawing to win one of these Oktoberfest ATCs!  Check back next week around

Wednesday when I will announce the winners...(and ask for mailing information).

Created from a discarded & cleaned Knorr spice packet and torn Bavarian napkin, the scraps were then sewn to pre-cut ATC cardstock.

*Packaging was not scrounged, it was privately donated.  Let's keep it between us that I'm not making gravy from scratch these days...

Please simply leave a comment, perferrably a positive one.  Actually, please go to a bunch of posts and comment on all of them while you're at it.  Say a bunch of nice stuff, about anything, the weather even.  And then come back next week and see if you win.

Sweet Stamped Sayings

I found the sweetest little stamps with German sayings on them from a company called Heyda whose website and blog are worth a visit even if you don't understand the words. 

I was so happy to find something actually in the German language!  (Most supplies I find here are in English, and basically the same stuff I can get in the US or England). 

These stamps are made from an extremely thin piece of rubber stuck to a thin cushion mounted on a thin piece of wood.  I like that they don't take up a lot of space and are perfect for take-along projects because of their portability.

In truth, I am the worst stamper on the face of the earth.  My images come out smudgy and I push too hard and end up with spots that weren't supposed to be there.  I guess I just like printing and paintbrushes better, but I still stamp anyway especially when I want to brighten up mail art envelopes. 

I'm going to have to start collecting each of the sayings in this product line because they're the perfect size for ATCs.  A little embellishing with Sakura pens around the borders, a little machine sewn embroidery and you've got a nice little ATC in less than 10 minutes.  These will be fun give-aways in the future so I won't tell you what they say... you'll have to translate them yourself when you get one!

200th Comment

Jacqueline from the Netherlands teased me about patenting the Frinchie, and her support and kindness became the 200th Comment here at Studio Mailbox!

The 201st comment was yet another generous idea of hers to store my inch/ninch/and frinch creations in a coin collector's book.  (The plastic sleeves with small square compartments would be perfect wouldn't they?  I smell a new altered book coming on...)

And the 199th comment was from my Hanai Sister, taking the time to compliment me on The Hairbrush That Changes Your Life.

Please let me take this opportunity to offer my gratitude for your comments.  I realize in the  big, bad blog-o-sphere, 200 comments over the course of 2 years aren't really that many.  But they are to me.  I've read and appreciated every one of them.  I don't know one other blogger over here in my little German village.  So I'm really grateful to those of you out there who keep me going.  These quirky ATCs are in the mail to the commenter's ...Thank you!! xoxooxoxox

Queen of Green ATC

Not this Queen in Green, but instead an ATC for my girlfriend who's spinach lasagna is seriously good! 

Although I don't want to make a habit of posting every personal handmade present, I really want more of the lasagna and therefore decided this particular card is quite newsworthy and brings an important message to the world.

Does anyone else want to spell the word "lasagna" this way; l-a-s-a-g-a-n-a?  I nearly stamped it wrong but then decided to look it up.  But now that I'm sitting here I wonder why I simply don't coin the new word "lasagana" and formulate it's meaning and definition myself.

The Germans use the plural, "Lasagne" which unlike that whole Miracel Whip thing, actually makes a lot of sense. 

You say lasagna, they say Lasagne, I say lasagana.

BBF - Be a Back Finisher

Anybody recall "BFF?" The sign-off for handwritten childhood notes we'd pass one other in class?  Signed "BFF" it meant "Best Friends Forever." 

Well BBF is my new catch-phrase.  It's also a way of signing your creations but it means "Be a Back Finisher."

This idea probably sprouted from my days of learning to cross stitch. My mother, belonging to the Military School of Perfection Stitching, would look at my piece that I'd proudly present to her and then flip it over.  If the backside was a knotted messy nightmare, she'd look at me and say, "you know, you should always be able to tell the design from the backside nearly as well as the front side." 

How gratifying many years later when a much older collegue discovered I was doing some handwork.  She picked up my work, tipped her chin down to look me in the eye and simultaneously flipped over the cloth.  I will never forget the smile on her face as she exclaimed, "you are an excellent stitcher." 

It's like I'm hard-wired to finish off something "all the way."  I recognize this in other people's creations and always appreciate the "little extra" they worked to make something truly complete.

In printing, all "last steps" are referred to as "finishing."  In big print houses, this can be an entire department.  Finishing means taking the flat sheets that were printed in the printing press and then transforming it into the job that was ordered.  At the minimum this means trimming in the guillotine but it can also mean folding, scoring, stapling, punching, binding, etc.

Without "finishing" the job isn't finished.

Sometimes I look at these gorgeous ATCs or Art Cards and they're blank on the back.  Blank.  Now I understand that depending what you're going to do with something can determine whether or not you art up the backside.  For instance if you know the art cards are going to be corner mounted into an album, then it would be crazy to put effort into something you can't see.  Yet I can't help but feel that loose cards can have the minimum of a signature and a month/year.  The backside is also a good place to mark something "original" or if it's from a series "1 of 3" and so on.  If it's a gift for someone an inscription is always appreciated by the recipient.  If it's a flap or a tip-in inside an altered book, it's one more side to admire while the book is being paged through.  It's also fun when people take the time to "name" their artwork or describe what it actually is.  "Graphic collage of children's crossing signs."  "Photograph of metal gate printed on transparent substrate and collaged over cereal box."  Give people a description of what you've actually done.  It's not always apparent to other people's eyes.

Join me will you?  BBF!  Why?  Because it's the OTHER side. 

Click over to view other photos of the backsides of some of my cards...

100th Comment

The Studio Mailbox blog has existed since leapyear, 2008.  I still have no idea what I'm doing.  As of right now, I've written 133 posts, have had over 3,400 page views and shortly before the New Year, I hadn't realized the 100th comment rolled in! 

Left by Lia, aka Art Junk Girl who I consider to be the warrior of the one-inch square, as well as the 99th and 101st comments left by my ever consistent and supportive Hanai sister.  Two ATCs, adorned with stapled ninchies as a little token of my thanks will be on the way to you ladies.  This qualifies as official Ninchie Usage #2 if anybody is keeping track. How wierd that I prepared an additional strange inchie of Bob Ross, (who's afro actually requires the minimum space requirements of a Twinchie) as a doorprize.

Thank you so much to all of you who have left comments.  I look forward to our future adventures together!  Lia, if you would please send me a mailing address I'll pop your prizes in the post.

  

Guten Rutsch

The Germans wish one another a "Guten Rutsch" as they approach Sylvester.  It's literally translated as a "good slide," but the meaning is more a wish for a smooth transition into the year ahead.

They shoot off fireworks, they fondue, they party and some even melt a spoonfull of lead and pour it into a bowl of cold water to assess it's shape as a means of fortune telling! 

Studio Mailbox would like to wish you all a "Guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr" and thank you for all your kind comments and support in 2008.

Here's to many happy creations in 2009!

Gift Wrap ATCs

Wouldn't it be great if we saved some samples from our favorite holiday papers every year and then created a set of sampler ATCs? 

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we really got our acts together and prepped altered books with pockets and windows for these ATCs?

Every year we could design a few spreads in the book, using that year's papers.  Imagine what our books would look like over time! 

A neighbor of mine gave me with a present wrapped in paper with a pretzel design!

I painstakingly opened it protecting each pretzel within the repeating pattern.  She looked at me like I was bonkers.  "The gift is inside the paper," her bewildered eyes said.

"Paper pretzels shall live forever," my demented mind cried.