52 Weeks of Mail

My friend Molly Lee, pop-up card genius and paper artist, clued me into the Etsy sponsored 52 weeks of Mail project by sending me a glittery bike girl card.  I've been wanting to commit to something like this, so it gave me a nudge to rediscover the art of written correspondence on actual paper.

My first piece is a card for my father-in-law Al Drake of Flatout Press.  He loves the anything to do with the fiftties and hot rods and has written several books on the subject. In fact, he still uses a manual typewriter. I thought this was a fitting start since he still corresponds with friends and businesses alike via mail and his trusty Olivetti.

I was inspired to dust off my old $5 flea market typewriter. I wrote my first term paper on it in High School: A Coming of Age analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird, A Separate Peace, Catcher in the Rye, and Member of  the Wedding.  I'm happy to say that here in Portland you can still buy ribbons and have your typewriter serviced and repaired at Ace Typewriter!

So consider this a nudge to see if you can still write by hand, lick an envelope, and stick on a stamp.

Pop-up Valentine Workshop

How to mend a broken heart? Cut it up and glue it to some cardstock! Join me on Saturday, February 6th from 2 to 4 for my Pop-up Valentine workshop at the Modern Spool studio. Nothing says "Don't you think I'm cool?" like a pop-up work of art. I hope you can join me!

New Pair of Glasses

Here's a little paper cut I did just before the new year. I was inspired by a contrasty photograph of a butterfly I found in my uncle's artist morgue. I scanned it into Illustrator, increased the contrast, and printed it out for cutting. I mounted it on some translucent paper from discarded paper samples. I love reusing and recycling when I can. Sometimes beautiful paper comes through our mailboxes and heads straight out to the recycling bin.

I like my butterfly, but I can see some rough places in my cutting. I think of this first try as an experiment. In the process of trying to do this detailed work, I discovered that I need new glasses. I'm looking forward to clear vision and more challenges in 2010!