A Stack of Happiness

Look at this stack! This is a stack of the happiest, most fun mail you are ever going to see. This is a stack of 112 envelopes for the Liberate Your Art postcard swap! On Saturday, things were sorted out enough in our house that I had the time and space to start going through these envelopes. It just filled me with joy! This is not work in the slightest, but exceptionally fun and inspiring.

Some of the envelopes were completely decorated. I love all of you mixed media artists who find any surface something to create art on! Just look at this one, can you guess where it's from? You would be right!

And here's one from closer to my new home, California. A little bit of art in the mail, anyone?

My blog friend, Kristin, created this envelope from inspiration from this photo I took in Ravenna. Funny thing, I took that photo because I was reminded of Kristin by the snail! Such a fun circle of inspiration that happens with artists sometimes. Too bad the US Postal Service covered up some of her art with their sticker.

Here's one that I didn't want to open, just look at that! I think the dancer stamped on the envelope is definitely Liberating her art...

The stamps were art too! I didn't know I had anyone in Hong Kong participating, what a nice surprise.

And then, opening the packages there were lots of little treats inside. Some were prettily wrapped, like this one from TJ of Studio Mailbox.

I was surprised at how many of the participants included a little something for me. Totally unexpected! Lots of postcards and little notes. Some magnets and little bits of this or that to use for my own projects. Even some chocolate! This was fun mail at its best. Here's a tiny sample of what was shared with me, but I don't want to give away too much, so that you will be surprised by the art you get in the mail!

This was exactly what I needed to inspire me and reconnect me to the creative community after my move. I can't wait for the rest of the envelopes to come in and then to get this art liberated back into the world. If nothing else, everyone liberating all of this art has had a wonderfully positive effect on me!

PS - My blog is now on Pacific Standard Time! I updated my profile location and about me page too. Sorry for the two posts in one day but I'm trying out my new schedule. So far, so good! 


PPS - Linking in to Creative Every Day and The Creative Exchange today. It's good to be back!

If it could talk...

Last week, as I walked through the gate of our apartment building, the portinaia (doorkeeper) flagged me down to give me this package. It was the most interesting package, covered in all sorts of stamps from the UK, addressed to my husband.

"Oh wow," he said when I brought it into the apartment, "I didn't think that would ever come!" Turns out he had ordered some mosaic tiles from a shop in England, five weeks earlier. I asked him to save the package for me, so that I could photograph it. I was intrigued by this wrinkled envelope, covered in colorful stamps.

What stories would this package tell, if it could talk?  Could it tell me the story of why it had such a diverse set of stamps? Maybe someone had cleaned out their desk, and they were trying to use all of the old stamps that were left over when postage increased.

What about its journey? What would it tell me? How did it get to be so crumpled and rumpled, with the stamps peeling off? Why did it take so long? Maybe it was waylaid, because it needed to be hand cancelled. Or possibly it got stuck in some sorting machine. Likely the delay was due to Poste Italiane, famous for its inefficiency, but I like the fanciful stories better.

After photographing the package for a while, I decided to soak the stamps off and save them, for some craft project in the future. When a treasure trove of textured imagery comes your way, you have to take advantage of it. Reaching back into my brain archives, to a time in my childhood when I was a junior stamp collector, I taught Brandon how to remove the stamps without damaging them.

It wasn't until I had removed the stamps that I realized all of the stories they collectively carried with them. There was the College of Arms Quincentenary, World Hockey Cup London 1986, and Royal Mail 350 Years of Service. The Most Ancient & Most Noble Order of the Thistle Tencentenary of the Revival, The Domesday Book 1086 and The Queens Award for Technological Achievement 25th Anniversary can be added to the list. Some celebrate artists as well: Sea Pictures by Edward Elgay, a photograph of Alfred Hitchcock by Howard Coster, and a vase by Hans Coper. A total of 24 stories are held in the stamps on this one little package.

Normally we don't stop and notice the stamps on our mail. We don't stop to think of the story they are representing. In fact, it's becoming rarer to actually have stamps on our mail, with the decline of people sending personal mail and the increase in use of electronic postage. What luck then, to receive a package like this. It's a treasure trove of culture and history and art.

If any of my UK readers can fill me in on the story behind this colorful stamp with the yellow house and the green robot looking guy, I would love to hear it!

Today's 9 Muses Musing prompt is STORIES. I don't know about you, but I'm enjoying these prompts. They are inspiring me to tell stories I wouldn't have told otherwise. Tomorrow's prompt is TRADITION.