JOURNAL
documenting
&
discovering joyful things
Mid-century mail-art
Maybe there was something in the pinot noir that week but I was really feeling a mid-century vibe when I painted up all these little packages. Polariods and UFOs. Weirdly-tinted poodles and monstera deliciosa. Vintage suitcases, 60s sitcom opening credits-style cartoons, and Liza Minnelli. I don't know. But I had a lot of fun, and I hope the recipients do, too!
I couldn't believe it when Eti (the plants and books) told me she had never received a personally-written piece of mail in her whole life. What even?!? I felt terrible for her, and so happy that I could rectify that situation. (Also embarrassed, because I felt like her first letter should be SO MUCH better than the one I had written).
The letter to Eduardo (the UFO) was for a snail-mail themed film project that is going right now. The filmmakers are collecting as many letters as they possibly can to be used in the film. If you want to add your mail to the mix, get in quick: it has to reach its UK destination by 21 March (that's one week!). All the details are here if this is up your alley.
ps. have you heard about my new letter-writing and mail-art e-course?
Over four weeks, I will guide you through multiple methods of making beautiful mail-art and creative, handmade stationery; teach you the art of writing and storytelling; help you forge personal connections in your letters and find pen-pals if you want them; and share time-management tips so even the busiest people can enjoy sending and receiving letters. Register your place or find out more information right here.
Wild strawberries
This was the outside of the mail I sent for the Secret Pen Pal Scavenger Hunt. Sadly, it hasn't arrived at its destination yet. I feel pretty bad about that. I hope it gets there very soon!
Secret Pen Pal Scavenger Hunt: the big reveal!
Last month I took part in an annual event organised by Fab from Snail Mail Love called the Secret Pen Pal Scavenger Hunt. The way it works is that each of us is assigned one (secret) pen-pal. Fab provides a big list of potential things to send and we are to choose five items from her list.
We all revealed what we had received on the one day, and it was pretty amazing to see. (It also made me feel a bit self-conscious about the package that I had put together for my secret pen-pal. I mean I tried really hard and spent AGES gathering everything together and making it all... but once I saw what everyone else had done... and once I received the truly beautiful and thoughtful package that MY pen pal created for ME, I felt pretty insecure. Nervous! I hope my pen pal likes it).
If you want to take a look at some of the lovely pen-pal packages, search the hashtag #spsh2016 on Instagram.
The package I received from my secret pen-pal, who turned out to be a super-sweet woman called Joey, was gorgeous. Each item was wrapped in lovely paper with vintage maps, and hand labelled. I had some very enthusiastic and inquisitive help when it came to unwrapping everything, too. You're curious, aren't you! Here's what was inside those packages...
City Explorers' Kit
∧∧ Cute little London-themed paper things
Something not square
∧∧ Fab pen! Lovely washi-tape! Terrible photography!
Something to use while travelling
∧∧ This is the BEST. Just fill with ink or water
Postal freak's kit
∧∧ All the beautiful snail-mail ephemera! I will have to make something for Joey from this and write back to her
A gift
∧∧ Joey added an extra little gift for me, a beautiful necklace that she said reminded her of the Earth. I loved it and so did Scout. Oh BOY so did Scout! This picture is blurry but I included it because will you just look at her face? That is the face of someone who, a nanosecond ago, spotted a sparkly necklace, and is now hoping against hope that maybe just maybe she might be allowed to keep it...
Something seasonal
∧∧ Yeah, these did not last long at ALL
Do you need a reason to write a letter?
Just popping back in for a moment to let you know about an exciting, not-for-profit campaign that's running right now, to inspire people to start writing more letters. It's called Write_On, and everyone who gets involved makes a promise to write 30 letters in 30 days, during the month of April. It's a fun kind of group event, with everyone supporting each other and swapping ideas and sharing inspiration.
The idea started with Tess Darrow, founder of letterpress company Egg Press. “As the owner of a greeting-card company, I wanted to experience, first-hand, the benefits of a regular practice of writing cards,” she told me. “Letter writing is something that I enjoy, but often forget to do.”
The timeline went something like this.
April 2014: Tess set herself the challenge of writing 30 letters in 30 days, and some of her colleagues at Egg Press and at another letterpress company Hello!Lucky decided to join her. They invited the broader community to take part, and in the end they gave away 2000 free "kits" of letterpress cards to help people get started
April 2015: Word spread about Write_On and thousands more people joined in. Also joined by Sakura of America (makers of the gelly roll pen!), Tess and her friends sent out more than 5000 free letter-writing kits
April 2016: It's almost time! This year, they plan to send out 10,000 free kits to help encourage another 10,000 people to write letters to the people they love (or like or appreciate), but they need our help to make it happen.
They've launched a campaign on Indiegogo to raise the money to do this, and so much more. Depending on how much money they raise, here are the very exciting goals (in ascending order):
* with $15,000 raised, they'll send out all 10,000 kits, shipped internationally if needed * with $20,000 raised, they'll also support and equip 20 retailers around the US to host letter-writing events * with $40,000 raised, they'll do all of the above, plus bring Write_On to five schools to inspire the next generation, including supplying writing materials, and * with $60,000 raised, they'll reach more schools, keep things running all year round, and even go global!
As with all these sorts of crowd-funding campaigns, there are perks for every level of support. That's everything from stationery to tote bags and, because the organisers are talented letterpress artists, everything is super beautiful. Personally I am going a little bit crazy for the letter-writing-prompts calendar I've shared below. It is such an amazing idea!
Today I ordered groceries online and then they got knocked back because there wasn't enough money in our account, which is not only embarrassing but also annoying because I really wanted to make Lebanese bread pizzas tonight. My point being I can't afford to donate yet BUT there are three days left of this fundraiser (people! only three days left!!) and assuming the pay comes in on time, I am definitely going to support this wonderful campaign that is inspiring people all over the world to pick up a pen and write to someone.
"By donating, you're contributing to our goal of shifting Write_On from a passion project to a cultural movement" they say on the campaign page.
Which is rather special, don't you think?
Image credit: all images from the Write_On Indiegogo campaign page
Mail art - 9 new ones
So far none of these packages have come back to me, so fingers crossed they made it to their destinations!
I especially enjoyed making the mail for Emmy. She is in her first year away at college and her mother asked me to write to her - Emmy's mother said the two of them read my blog, and that was just the nicest thing to hear. Such a lovely mental picture it gave me! Hugs to you Emmy, and Emmy's mum!
Lauren's and Akira's mail-art envelopes were experiments in leaving more white space (or in this case brown space) in the pictures. I kind of like them, but then there is something about covering the whole envelope with paint and incorporating the address more fully into the illustration that I do enjoy.
I actually think the mail for Barbara, that last one, is my favourite, even though no matter how hard I try, I can never draw hands. Despite the wonky hands I still feel like I got the "comfort factor" I was going for right.
Spent last night making more zines and envelopes at the Snail Mail Social Club, so I'll be making and sending more mail soon!
ps. have you heard about my new letter-writing and mail-art e-course?
Over four weeks, I will guide you through multiple methods of making beautiful mail-art and creative, handmade stationery; teach you the art of writing and storytelling; help you forge personal connections in your letters and find pen-pals if you want them; and share time-management tips so even the busiest people can enjoy sending and receiving letters. Register your place or find out more information right here.
News eek!
“Snail-mail will always be a personal gesture. It can’t help it. Think about it. Someone’s hand held the pen that wrote those words. Their finger ran along the flap on the back of the envelope, sealing it down. And then you hold that same letter in your hands, days later. After it has passed through a couple of post offices, a mail room and the gloved hand of a postie. Stark, blank-eyed words on a screen have got nothing on that.” - Selise McLaggan (loverssaintsandsailors.com)
Drumroll please... I finished the first draft of my snail-mail book last night! Just popping in to share that news because, as it turns out, I'm quite proud!
There will be loads more edits and reworks and a photoshoot to go yet, so it won't be out any time soon, but finishing an ENTIRE draft of a book is still something to celebrate, I think.
Back soon! Naomi xo
ps. I will be scattering "quotes about snail-mail" like the fantastic one from Selise above throughout the book, so if you still want to contribute, please feel free (I'd love it!). The details are here
Image credit: photo is by Joanna Kosinska, licensed for unlimited use under Creative Commons
Mail art - a lot of cat stamps and other lessons in mail-art
A lesson I learned over the New Year* was that when making mail, measure each package up before wrapping it in kraft paper... because if it is even a just couple of millimetres over the standard size, the price goes up. A LOT. Thankfully I had several sheets of 70c cat stamps left over from when I purchased stamps for my father's birthday invitation mail-art (because I am not the brightest and purchased enough for every person invited rather than every household. Duh).
You can't see them in these pictures, but the backs of these parcels are literally covered in cat stamps. Here is a picture that Elaine shared on her Instagram, of all the cat stamps on the back.
For only the second time ever, I had a couple of the parcels in this set returned. The castle above came back, with notes from the postie written on the left to the tune of "ADDRESS UNCLEAR. WHAT COUNTRY?" This made me groan slightly, since, if you live in Australia, an address in North Gosford, NSW, is quite evidently also in Australia. But then to be fair, I had run out of Airmail stickers when I photographed these, and later put all the stickers on at the post office. Because this was the only local letter, I also accidentally put an Airmail sticker on it too, so I guess that could have caused some confusion.
Look how pretty and clean the letter looked (above) when I first sent it to Melina! And this is what it looked like when I popped it back into the mail last week...
Then a few days later the letter to Ashley also came back. There were no marks on the envelope and the stamps hadn't been cancelled, so I don't know what was going on there. I thought maybe they didn't see the country so I drew a box around "United States" to draw attention to it, and slipped it back into the box. Time will tell if Ashley gets her mail!
Meanwhile, when I ran out of cat stamps, I busted out all the other leftover stamps I could find and made the "building blocks" mail-art below, which I think is one of my favourites, ever.
*Actually I think I might have "learned" that lesson before, and even shared it on here, but clearly nothing much sinks in. Is there a moratorium on how long you can blame "baby brain" for just being really absent-minded?
ps. have you heard about my new letter-writing and mail-art e-course?
Over four weeks, I will guide you through multiple methods of making beautiful mail-art and creative, handmade stationery; teach you the art of writing and storytelling; help you forge personal connections in your letters and find pen-pals if you want them; and share time-management tips so even the busiest people can enjoy sending and receiving letters. Register your place or find out more information right here.
Some people are just too creative and too kind and too generous for words
Oh my gosh it has been way too long since I've showcased some of the incoming mail I've been lucky enough to receive.* Sometimes I truly marvel at the generosity and creativity of you folks. I'm humbled and so grateful that you take the time to write to me, and put so much thought into your words and so much effort and beauty into the mail you create.
ΔΔ The dancing mice at the top of this post were hand-painted by Australian children's book illustrator Rebecca Berrett. When this mail arrived, I very nearly squealed with delight to hold one of her beautiful paintings in my own hands.
ΔΔ Joanne's letter was such a snail-mail treat, filled with beautiful stationery and ephemera from her life, and even a little paint-sample card I had sent her in previous mail, which she had adorably illustrated
ΔΔ Postcards, postcards, postcards. So many fun postcards!
ΔΔ I loved the happy, neon New Year's pop of this card created by Kate from Thank You Love Cake
ΔΔ Glitter and gemstones and a little note from Mary to tell me all about her latest course on self-love
ΔΔ I sent Gay some paint-sample cards with a challenge: "This is a blank canvas. What will you do with it?" Now feast your eyes on these ah-ma-zing "sending you sunshine" cards she created. Incredible!
ΔΔ The stamps on this mail from Jami were so special. First, a wonderful collection of vintage Christmas stamps, AND... would you take a look at those ridiculously adorable Peanuts stamps on the envelope? Philatelic heaven!
ΔΔ The sweetest hand-made card and hand-painted Christmas envelope, from the lovely Yam
ΔΔ Another letter from Jami, and this one was so incredibly special, bursting with handmade envelopes created from important works of art, port-red wax seals, gifts of stationery ephemera, and a letter that made me cry in a good way
ΔΔ Sandra decorated this sweet-as-pie Christmas mail for me, and then I spent all afternoon repeatedly rescuing it from Scout's covetous clutches
ΔΔ This mail was also from Sandra, a few months earlier. She hand-made the envelope as well as the smaller envelope inside, and then carved the little snail-mail stamp just for me, so look for it on any mail coming your way!
ΔΔ Meaghan from Polaroids and Snailmail is so lovely, and so creative. She stitched this gorgeous paper garland for me from the pages of a book, and shared her recipe for bircher muesli (fyi I LOVE bircher muesli)
That's all I have to share for today. Pretty amazing, huh?
* I always try to showcase the beautiful mail I receive on this blog, but sometimes it slips under the radar, even when I love it. Like...
I open your mail and gasp with delight and read it and love it and then Scout yells "Mummy, Ralph's nappy is smelly!" and so I put your letter down and then I change the nappy and then I supervise them while they play outside and then it's time to make their dinner and then it's bath-story-bed time, then I come downstairs and clean up after the carnage that is an afternoon with toddlers, and start preparing the dinner for us grown-ups. Eat dinner, wash up, feed the cat, water the garden, have a shower, maybe write in my blog a bit. Then in the morning I see your letter and think, "I'd better get that off the kitchen bench, I don't want it to get stained," so I take it into my office and tuck it away with the other beautiful letters and think to myself, "I'll just hurry up and write those 30 other letters that I owe people because I should really write back to this person," so then I get out some materials to hurry up and write the 30 letters, but before I can get much written, the children wake up and call out "Mummy! Mummy!" so I run upstairs to get them and change nappies and get them dressed and make their breakfast and clean their teeth and send them off to daycare, and then I need to start a full day of work, after which I pick the children up and do the afternoon chaos all over again... And maybe in all that I forget to take your letter back out and photograph it.
Still, on the blog or not, your mail is beautiful, and it makes my day. (Also, I'm saving your letters to photograph for my book, which is also pretty special). Thank you!
This makes me so happy
Thank you so much Jenny. You sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself!
Are you waiting on mail from me?
I’m working on it, I promise! Please refer to the above picture, taken early this morning, as evidence.
It’s been a long time since I made a link post, so I thought I’d share some lovely discoveries from around and about the Internet today.
* Chicken lays an egg * People switch on light bulbs * Hobbit houses! * Books in a car * Man talks to himself, across decades * Beautiful plant vessels * New York in the 1980s * Are we there yet? * Loving this haunting song * Another homemade white bread recipe * Ice cream crawl! Anyone want to do one of these with me in Melbourne?