Fun and Educational.......

Lately, as you probably know, I have had a passion for fun mail.  I have sent many envelopes, but a few weeks ago, I got my best idea yet!!!  You see, my family has always had a love of books.  From little on, we read to our kids, and as they grow they continue to love their own books.  As an adult, I even have my own collection of children's books!  (I'm thinking sometimes it might be the darling drawings in them which attracted me to them in the first place though.  lol)

I have a great niece who turned 5 in February.  Her mom is a former K-3 teacher who has taught Audrey to read.  I was amazed when I heard her read a few weeks ago and she hasn't even stepped into kindergarten yet.  

This whole idea started when I decorated and sent my niece a decorated envelope for her birthday.  When I saw Audrey (her daughter), she asked if I would make a cool envelope for her.  Naturally, I said yes and sent her one within a day or two which she loved.  Then, I thought.......wouldn't it be cool to send Audrey an early reader book every week in a decorated envelope?  She would discover the joy of fun mail as well as getting quite a collection of books throughout the summer and really improve her reading skills in the process.  I threw the idea out to my niece and she loved it!

So, I went to town........took out my bunch of 6 1/2 x 9 1/2 white envelopes and started decorating.  Then, went to Target and Barnes and Noble for some cool and fun early readers.  (Amazon is also a source.)  Soon, I had quite a collection.  Here are just a few:

Some are easier than others, so I read them all to determine which was which so I could send the easiest ones first.  I'm sending the pre 1 ones first!  This week we are on #3.  Let me show you the envelopes so far.  My niece is not a girly-girl so you won't see any ballerinas in this group, let me warn you!







You'll note that I only have two "forever" stamps on most of the envelopes.  I did these prior to having one weighed.......so HAD TO ADD AN ADDITIONAL STAMP to each of my pre-made envelopes.  Most of the books (without anything more in the envelope) require $1.32 postage.......which is 3 - forever stamps.  (Just in case you want to do it too!)

Yesterday, I noticed that I only had four white 6 1/2 x 9 1/2 envelopes left so sent my hubby to the office supply store for more.  He came home later all proud telling me that the office supply store was no longer selling that size, but they located one box in the home office storeroom and it would be shipped to me this week.  When I asked him how much, he told me $55.  What??  Then, I asked him how many......and he said, "500".  YES, you read that right, folks............500!!!  E-gads!!!  So, my friends, IF you need any envelopes to do this with some youngster you love, you know where to get them.  Ah-huh!!!  You betcha!  You pay for shipping and I'll send you enough to supply YOU for all summer too!  If you need any ideas on easy ways to decorate them, e-mail me and we can talk.  You will be loved by your youngster............just like me!  From what I hear, Audrey is counting the days until the next book arrives.

More of the same.......

Things haven't changed much around here.  I continue to make fun envelopes and fabric portraits.....and I'm loving both!!!  Today I will start off with pictures of the envelopes first.  I continue to exchange with my friend, Annie, from California......







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Then, I found a little friend who likes turtles:



And a long time friend who had a birthday:



Then, I got my package from the FLIRTS swap.  I asked for coasters and was blessed with this nice set from "beadqueen", alias, Liz:



Lastly, let me introduce you to Lady # 51, Anita from the USA (not to be confused with Lady #35, Anita from Australia).  Anita also sent me a nice photo of her with herself.  lol





So there you have it.......another week.  How quickly they fly by when you are having fun.  Did you ever notice that?  Be well, my friends, and try your best to have some fun this week too!  I will be working on Lady #52.

Ladies #37 and #50 plus more mail art

School is out for most places and now I can show you Lady #37, Mrs. Joy.  Mrs. Joy was commissioned by the faculty of an elementary school in Florida as a gift for their art instructor volunteer, Mrs. Joy.  They were going to gift "herself" to her on the final day of classes.

May I present, Mrs. Joy - Lady #37

And the real Mrs. Joy:

Then, #50 Lady finally arrived home after a long voyage over the "pond".  I'm pleased to present, Marilyn:



And here is Marilyn with herself:



Wasn't that nice that she wore a shirt to match her quilt?  I'm thinking she could have at least tied a tape measure in her hair too, don't you think?  lol (I'm just teasing, Marilyn!!)

Then, more mail art arrived for their recipients:













So there you have it......my week in a nutshell.  I have been busy creating more envelopes and next time there will be more to show you.  I also have a new lady to create, so I'm not just hanging around here twiddling my thumbs.  I hope you are also enjoying your spring.  Until next week, my friends......

Lady #49 and more Mail Art

While lady #50 continues to fly home, I'd like to introduce you to Lady #49, Terry.  Terry was kind enough to allow me to show you her original photo too:

And here is the "real Terry:

Then, I continue to create fun envelopes which seem to be well received.  So far (knock on wood) none of them have gotten lost either.















See......I told you I've been having fun!  All the above have been sent and delivered (although on many of these pictures, I failed to address the envelopes on purpose)..........it's easier than trying to block out the address since no one wants their private information on the web.  I hope you enjoyed them.  I have close to 40 more all completed so you might be seeing more of this kind of stuff for awhile.  I'm really enjoying my sewing break.  Tomorrow, I might even just start reading a book.  It's been months since I've enjoyed a good novel!

Enjoy your weekend, my friends and happy drawing (or sewing) or whatever!!!  lol

A crazy week......

First off I want to tell you that this is a warning.....I grab lots of my photos from my Flickr account (as most of you know).  With the new changes (ugh) on Flickr lately, and my stupidity on computer situations, todays post might be a jumble mess.  Time will tell!  IF I could keep my fingers crossed as I type this, I would, because today has me baffled as to what might happen.  So, here goes:

First, I want to introduce you to two new "Ladies".  #48 is the first one.  Meg is her name and here she is:

And here is the original photo that Meg sent to me.  Actually, there were originally 3 people in the photo, but I cropped her out to show you.

Next, we have the lovely, Paula.  Actually, Paula was commissioned by a friend as a gift for her 50th birthday.  I had to wait a long time to show you Lady #39, but here she is:

And here is Paula with herself:

Other "ladies" are in process of flying to their owners so hopefully, you will see more next time.  I'm ready to sew more of you, so anytime you're ready, I would LOVE to create you in fabric too!!!

Onto the swaps......!!!  I had one thing to do and yeah.......I finished that last week too.  I signed up for the simple group (although this project did take me close to 5 hours), but I love the result and actually thought about keeping them myself.  I made coasters with a pad for a pitcher:

I bought two strips of the squared Malka fabric at my LQS, cut them apart, trimmed them with Kona white, cut them at 5 inches, lined them with 2 pieces of batting, backed with another square, flipped them inside out and quilted them on the lines already on the fabric.  Cool and easy!

Then.......I've still been doing envelope art too.  Thankfully, I had lots in reserve to send to my friends because this was a busy sewing week.  These have already been delivered though so I thought you might enjoy them too:

And lastly, let me show you a picture of our lilac bush.  It's finally blooming in all it's glory:

Now......if Flickr would come up with "smell-a-Flickr" we'd be all set!  Have a great week, my friends!