Postcard for Jesse....

Ok, so I shouldn't post this yet as it's still on the way to Jesse, but hey, maybe she won't look at my blog while it's in transit?  Fingers crossed.

So Jesse printed a heap of postcards and invited anyone to do a swap.  I love the rocket postcard she printed and sent to me, and as I still hadn't got around to making one for her, I decided to make something in response to her design.  I used similar coloured card (packaging from some tomatoes) and traced the main veins of her rocket print.  Then I recreated the print by making little holes in some thick paper and stitching the paper to the card at random places around the edge.  Ta-dah!

the post age comes to an end....

For those of you who've been following the postcard swap between me and my good friend Elly, this is the final postcard. It arrived today with my BIRTHDAY PRESENT! Before you inundate me with birthday wishes, I should let you know that my birthday was three and a half months ago - Elly was just a tad late with posting. Isn't it purdy?! You can see all the postcards we sent to each other here.

In other news, light stitch is now in my etsy shop. It photographed really well, I think. And my plates are waiting patiently by the kiln to be fired tomorrow. Please come back and check them out later in the week - they're looking good already! (Please bring strange sense of humour, or at least a little bit of quirk).

Until then....

The post age no.9....

This postcard is made from the selvedge of the black denim I'm using to upholster my chair (see the Pania print in the post below) and which I use for my GRiD cushions. It's so soft that it feels like possum fur.

I'm pretty sure this postcard swap is drawing to a close, if only because Elly stopped sending them to me months ago so the 'swap' part has pretty much fallen by the wayside. But in her defense, she has been very busy preparing for a group exhibition which opened on Friday night. If you're in Perth, Western Australia, you might like to check it out at 48 Watkins Street in White Gum Valley, until the 16th of November (12-6pm daily). Here's some of Elly's beautiful handmade brooches....

The post age no.8....

Hmmm, I thought I'd already shared this one, but it appears not. It's hard to keep up when postcard monday rolls around so often (every 14 days to be precise). I hand stitched some canvas while yapping on the phone to my monday postcard swapper and then posted it to her. I think we can all assume that Elly won't be taking part in the postcard swap anymore, apart from being the lucky one who receives them. I'm starting to wonder if this was her plan all along. I guess she's just too busy planning a wedding. Congratulations El!

This one was from 2 weeks ago, and I haven't done today's. I'd feel bad except for Elly's formentioned inability to take part in the swap she started.

Best get something started though....

(If you want to take a look at some of the earlier postcards, just click on the 'postcard' label to the left).

The post age no.7....

Well rather than wait for the postcards to build up I'm going to share the postcards Elly and I send each other more regularly. Mainly because, quite frankly, my long rambling posts probably don't get read. It's ok, I can take it.

This is the last postcard I sent Elly. Number 7. I'm going through a bit of a yellow phase at the moment. And a button thing. Alas, Elly still hasn't worked through her fear of postboxes, so is a little behind on her end of the deal. I'm sure I'll have something to show from her soon.

Catch you tomorrow for the friday letter....

Post note....

Haha, what a title....

Anyhoo, I'm sure many of you are wondering whatever happened to the missing postcards (ok, the ones I sent to the wrong address). Well, I sent a handmade postcard to the accidental address explaining my mistake and letting them know that if they still had the postcards, it would be much appreciated if they could pop across the road and give them to Elly. I added my email address too. Their response? NOTHING. Unlucky for them I know where they live. When I'm back in Perth and visit Elly, I'm going to give them the nastiest look ever!!

Grrr.

the post age returneth (no. 4+5+6)....

Ah, here we are again.... I really do enjoy the Monday postcard antics. This week is postcard swap Monday (as opposed to anonymous postcard drop Monday), which is a little project I've got going on with my friend Elly in Perth. Basically, we send each other handmade postcards every second Monday. I’ve been patiently waiting for the time to come when I could report on the last few postcards Elly and I have sent each other and now that day has arrived!!

Unfortunately, I’ve come to the conclusion that Elly has a fear of postboxes. How she’s managed to keep this from me for the past 18 years, I just don’t know. Due to this infliction, I only have 2 postcards from her to show off. (Hopefully she’s posting 3 today so she’ll be up to date).

Unfortunately this postcard was de-beaded in transit. Elly posted it in an envelope so I was able to reattach the beads that had fallen off, but I don’t know how she did such a good job of attaching them in the first place! You can see the bits I repaired – they’re evident by the visible glue blobs. Oh, and Elly stuck the black beads on in perfect lines while I struggled to glue them on even remotely attractively!

The colour difference between the two papers in this one is beautifully subtle. I really love this one for that reason. Ooh! I think I just figured out where Elly got the papers from!! Very clever, young El. Strangely, I’ve done something similar for an upcoming anonymous postcard drop! What serendipity.

And look at clever little me – I remembered to photograph my postcards to Elly before posting them! And here they are:

This one is made from a sample of vinyl and cut paper. The picture of the air filter is from an old catalogue I found at work (and so is the vinyl). I’m really happy with this one, partially because I just love the bright shiny red.

This one is made from a paper pie bag that I fleeced from the supermarket, and embellished with a bit of paper, stitching and what I assume are bindis. I found a packet of then in my local craft shop and had to have them. I knew they’d find a purpose.

Now this one I’m not so happy with. It’s made from another sample I found in the archives at work. I called it “things on my desk at work” and was horrified to watch the ink bleed into the parachute-type fabric. But there was no turning back.

I posted postcard number 7 today and look forward to reporting back on it and the subsequent two. And with any luck, Elly will have sought professional help to overcome her phobia. With the love and support of those around her, I know she’ll make it.

If you’re interested in the earlier postcards, you can take a look here.

And if anyone wants to get involved in a postcard swap, perhaps this will satisfy your cravings. (Thanks to painted fish studio for alerting me to this one!). It’s a really cool idea, but for the time being, I think I have enough postcarding going on!

Welcome to the post age (no. 1+2+3)....

A while back I mentioned that my friend Elly and I were starting a project which I'll refer to as the every second monday project.… Basically, we send each other a postcard every second Monday (who'd have thought?!) which we make ourselves. So far I've sent 4 postcards. I've received 2 of Elly's, with the third (and hopefully fourth) somewhere in transit between Australia and New Zealand. Let's take a look a her beautiful handiwork now!

This one reminds me of the fungi you find growing on trees in rainforests. Of course, she had to post it in an envelope to avoid damage, but now I've folded all the fungi out. From one side they're mainly red and from the other side, mainly orange. This is just my thing so I'm really impressed.

This one is beautiful. I'm not sure if you can tell, but Elly has cut watercolour paintings into thin strips and stuck them down. What I think is cute is that the postal service has added those fluoro orange lines to the postcard and they fit nicely in one of the strips of paper (Hmm, a bit tricky to see in this photo). Cute!

I'm patiently waiting on the third (and forth?) postcard to arrive. Elly and I both love getting real mail (who doesn't?!) so this has been heaps of fun. Unfortunately, we're both a bit tragic at posting on the correct day which I think we probably have to work on.

So, what are the 4 postcards that I sent? Well it would've been helpful for me to photograph them before I sent them. The first one was made using a swatch of mine from my screen printing project. I used one of the gold globs on grey and stitched it onto some card.

I did take a photo of the second one! And here it is:

I really love this one. It took me ages to do, as I had to cut out all the white squares and superglue them onto the card. I think there are about 150 of them. Plus I did the black borders twice (once before cutting them up and once after) because they weren't black enough after one coat. I really am a perfectionist sometimes. Unfortunately, it's not yet in Elly's posession. I had really convinced myself that I was under surveilance by border security who had (incorrectly) assumed that the numbers were some sort of a code. It wouldn't have helped that the message on the back looks something like:
41111 1114, 41111 11411 31135 1411 3121. 111 1411 111 1 3121. 111 8111 111 31111 41111 11 111 1111113111112 13113311 1111. 11 11 11 8111 1 311114 3131111? 4114 1141, 1118.
After spending 2 weeks blaming border security and getting REALLY worked up, I realised that I sent it to the wrong house number. Oops!

I've alerted Elly who is going to question her neighbour. I'm yet to hear if she's managed to get hold of this postcard or whether the neighbour threw it out. Either way, I was so impressed with it that it inspired me to do a painting (more on that later in the week).

My third postcard is probably also at the neighbours. I used a postcard from a boutique in town (a beautiful shop called Aroha Lamour which I can't afford to buy anything in) and did some stitching and painting. I'm not sure about the results, but I figured I should still send it. I'm keen to hear what Elly thinks of it.

The fourth postcard was sent 2 days ago (on schedule!). I'd love to give you a sneak peek, but that would ruin the surprise if Elly reads my blog and we can't have that. I loved the second postcard I did, but this one takes the cake. She's a beauty. Hopefully Elly thinks it's hideous and gives it back to me. Unlikely.

Perhaps I'll report on the postcards every 6 weeks or so – assuming we manage to get into a regular posting routine! I'll even try to remember to take photos before I post them!!

Until the next catch-up….