Celebrating 10 Years of Fish Mailart

I can't believe that I've been making mailart for 10 years! Since fish have always figured prominently in my mailart I thought it would be fun to feature one fishy postcard from each of the past ten years. The one fan of my blog already knows this, but I went to school for Marine Biology and somehow ended up in an office instead of on the water. At least I can see the ocean from my office....

One of my very first postcards ever was this alluring gem from 2007

I loved sushi back in 2008 and I still love it now!

By 2009 I was playing with more painted backgrounds. This one has some paper napkin too.

 

In 2010, I did a little more dabbling with paint. I should probably try to paint some of these fish now that I've been painting longer and honed my skills. I remember being REALLY impressed with myself back when I made this.

 

I chose "Fish by the numbers" to represent 2011. Boy do I have a lot of ephemera...

Now I'm thinking that I really should use some more of my hoard of ephemera and make some more collaged cards like this beauty from 2012.

I did a bunch of teaching in 2013 and this postcard came about during an image transfer class.

In 2014, I was collecting wool sweaters in earnest and felting them. One of my many projects was this argyle flounder. he survived the mail just as you see him in the picture.

A nice simple altered vintage postcard for 2015. That reminds me, I have a pile of unused vintage postcards hanging around here somewhere.....

This postcard for 2016 is one of my favorites. I love taking lots of disparate pieces and melding them together. this one has an old plot plan, a cookbook bit, junk mail, scrapbook paper, and of course...fish!

I hope you enjoyed my walk down memory lane... Here's to 10 more years of Mailart!!

Ransom Note Makers Are True Artists

If you haven't tried to make a ransom note before, be prepared. It takes quite a bit of dedication to cut and paste all of those little letters. These postal ransom notes were sent last month and I just found that at least one didn't make it where it was going. I'm off to cut more little bits....

I wrote this little instruction manual a couple of years ago.

The camel ransom note went to Tricia for a swapbot swap. I really didn't want her camel...send peeps!

Mailart Inspiration in Light Blue and Neutrals

Isn't it amazing how different people can create with the same theme and arrive at very different results? This is Danielle's Round Robin Mailart Zine. She asked the 5 of us to create a zine with the color theme of light blue and neutrals. This is her entry-

She also asked us to add to her cover page. Yes, the fish is mine....

Next in line was Tera who added these hippos. That one in the front is a little un-nerving. He just keeps looking at me....

After leaving Ohio it went on to Massachusetts where Karen added 2 beautiful collages.

All the way back across the country the zine traveled to California where Kerri worked some magic.

Finally, after it came back across the country to me and sat on my table for a month (or more), I finished my page. The note that is hard to read upside-down says *If you have clothes on, don't take them off. They protect you from shark-skin lacerations. Good advice, I thought. It is now off to Tarah in the Netherlands for its last stop before going home to Australia.

A Weekend of Fishy Mailart!

I have fish flying all over the dining room this weekend! In the picture you can see an "add and pass" to go to Rosalie, an altered game postcard and an envelope for the MMSA envelope swap. I have a bunch more fish postcards happening, but I don't want to show them all before they go out. But here's a sneak peek...cracking myself up, just like Karen .

The words are from a Manga comic book from the thrift store...go figure... :)

Storing Mail Art

In honor of MMSA's Mailart Monday blog hop I'm dusting off the old blog...woohoo!

People are always asking how we store our mailart. Short of the classic "in a box" or "in a pile" methods, I do have a couple of other suggestions.

I am a thrift store junkie and you never know what will cross your path if you just keep looking. This wire rack was for Christmas cards I think. A quick spray of chartreuse spray paint...voila! It fits perfectly on the side of a bookcase.

I've also punched a hole in one corner of a bunch of cards and threaded them on metal rings. The hubby built this rack on the back of a door with wire shelving and I use shower curtain hooks to hold the rings. This system also works to hold zip-lock bags of collage bits.

My last storage suggestion for today hangs on the wall in our guest room. We bought a full sheet of rigid insulation at our local home improvement store. (I prefer the blue one over the orange one...) I had a full roll of this Waverly decorator fabric that we had bought super-cheap. We wrapped the fabric around the rigid insulation and secured it to the wall with brass screws and grommets. Simple pushpins hold the cards onto the board. I haven't filled this one up, but I should really spend a day and hang up some of my mailart that is currently in boxes....

Mailbox Labels

mailbox labels 3
Originally uploaded by FarStarr

I love mailart, vintage stuff, and photography. I finally found a way to combine them all!

This is the first set of mailbox mailing labels and envelope seals that I made from a photo of a little tin mailbox. Now I'm working on a set of mailing labels made from some of my vintage ephemera. I can't wait to share those with you too!
These are available in my Etsy shop.