The Hiatus

I think everyone takes a hiatus sometimes. Here is a long needed update. (though not comprehensive) Please enjoy the following mail candy. ^-^

I give you, some of the best mail art I have made over the last few months.

 For a mail art call. There is still time to enter if you would like! Tell Me Tell Me Secrets--Secret Exchange Project. It's a really neat project! The Australia deadline is over, but you can still send things to South Korea. The requirements are a bit strict for this mail art call (they have some specific measurements they prefer you to conform to), but the project was so intriguing, I overlooked them. I'm still working on my submission for the South Korea project.

The idea behind the project is that you send secrets in to the call. The envelopes holding the secrets will be posted in a gallery. And some person viewing the gallery will choose your envelope and write you with their own secrets. Ooh! The mystery! The intrigue! The suspense! It kills me!! Doesn't it sound wonderfully awesome?!?! I thought so too.

 A submission for another project. A rubber stamp type project. I got a giant poster filled with other stamp carvings and it was beautiful!! Highly reccommended if you carve your own stamps.

 The sticker on this piece, my cousin ripped off a telephone pole in Colorado!

 I learned how to emboss!!

 This envelope, I made out of a picture I found in the newspapers, taken when the riots in Egypt were happening earlier this year.

A postcard I sent to South America. I actually got a reply, but it was in Portuguese! And it was very difficult to decipher. If you or someone you know can read Portuguese, could you please please please give them my email? dameesh_95 [at] yahoo [dot] com.

 Some fish and shark art I made for PJ. If you look closely at the fish, you will see that it is a stamped image. Which I happened to carve myself out of an eraser!! I was so proud of it! The semblance the red paint has to blood was unintentional but it worked out nicely for me in this case.

And I hand drew the shark on the back.

A reply for Katie who sent me a wonderful zine on the subject of strangers. It was so wonderful, I was quite inspired to write back with my own cryptic sentiments.

 This shoe lace looking threading was so difficult to figure out! But it looked so cool!

This was a new technique that I tried out. For a 1001 Journals user. I took a magazine picture and painted a light coat of white over it. Then I painted over the picture with colors I had on hand.

Here is the technique again.

barf bag mail inspired by a trip to San Francisco I took in May.

 Some Marilyn Monroe mail art for a newer penpal.

Teabag mail art!

I tried to provide minimul commentary to reduce eyestrain. And there are not any of the wonderful mail I have received. (I am particularly bad at photographing the mail I receive.)

Lately, I've vanished from the face of the earth where communication is concerned so if you've written me, but I haven't responded, please don't despair. I am dreadfully behind on the mail pile but working to catch up. (And yet, here I am, blogging the night away when I could be a mail making machine... Ah well.)

Hope y'all are having a wonderful mail week!

cheerfully and presently yours,
Misha

Letters for Japan

We Care Act is hosting a letter writing campaign of sorts (for I do not know how to else to describe it) to help children who suffered in the earthquakes in Japan.

Here are the Who's, What's, and How's:

Who: We Care Act
What: letters for Japanese children affected by the earthquake.
When: The earthquake was March 11th, 2011 and from the look of the website, there does not appear to be any deadline.
Where: letters can be mailed to:

We Care Act
2722 Garden Falls Dr.
Manvel, TX 77578
USA

How: They are working with the Japanese consulate in Texas to get the letters to students aged kindergarten through highschool. Most middle and high schoolers are able to read English but elementary students will appreciate cards more.

Please take the time to write a letter to a child who might really need it. Actual hand-written letters are better but you can also submit your message online.

For more information, go to http://www.wecareact.org/?q=letterstojapan

Stretching the Postal Limits

Lately I have been really stretching the limits of the USPS. And they are freakin' amazing!!!!

Here is a cactus I sent to Nicole in MA:

BEFORE

AFTER

Pretty exciting stuff. Nicole emailed me the After picture. Looks pretty good! So I sent one to England. :D Although, as far as I know, that hasn't arrived yet.

Then, I was inspired by this amazing article in which a woman in England tested the Royal mail system by disguising her address in various ways. So I thought I'd try it out..

And I sent this crossword puzzle:

I just have to make it huge so you can see it. ^-^ I sent this to my friend across town and IT MADE IT!!!!! I have an infinitely deeper respect for postal workers now. And it only took a week longer than regular post. (which was pretty good as I'd entertained the idea of it never arriving..) There was only one clue that he/she didn't get and it was an obscure one. =D

USPS, I love you!!!

note: I'm making separate posts for all the other mail. Just easier that way.

A Contest!

Pictures of actual mail coming (hopefully) soon!!

In the meantime, A contest!!!

Beanie Mouse is having a giveaway!!

Details here, Last day to enter is April 29th, the drawing will take place on the 30th and the winner announced on May 1st. Should be fun! You guys should enter! :)

Japanese Junk and More!

It feels like it's been awhile since I posted mail pictures. Maybe that's because I had to load like 19 or so... O_o Anyways, lots of mail candy:

INCOMING:

From Anjelia! Which I still need to reply to... I am working on it.

A postcard from Node Pajomo. Which, if you are interested, his next mail zine is coming out April 1st. I got his last mail zine and it was pretty awesome!!
Details:

WHO: PJM (no one knows his real name...)
WHAT: Node Pajomo, a zine about mail, full of mail art calls, addresses, etc.
WHEN: It comes out quarterly
WHERE: Node Pajomo, PO Box 2632, Bellingham WA 98227-2632, USA.
WHY: Because it's awesome!
HOW: Send a dollar (cash or stamps)  International is $2 USD per issue.

It's pretty cool and he's a neat guy. But moving on.

Mail from RUSSIA!!! This is from Annie. She's a neat gal. Sadly, it takes a month (to my estimates) for mail to go to/from Russia but it's worth it.

A closer look at the stampage!

THEN:

I got TWO packages in the same day! (This was on Monday) And that's also a pc from Nicole and a letter from Fatima.

The big package on the bottom was from Stephanie and she sent me a bunch of Japanese Junk!!! Hooray!!

This might sound silly, but I asked her to send it to me. For mail art!! So she sent me a bunch of newspapers and ads and little fliers that, if you lived in Japan, you would probably throw away. The saying, "one man's trash is another man's treasure" seems to really fit the description.

Four Fabulous Newspapers. (Or maybe it's just one; who knows?) The newspapers, when you unfold them are actually really really big. O_o I was so thrilled when I opened this package... You have no idea.

Stephanie was studying abroad in Japan for a year but due to the earthquakes, she was recently sent home to the States for spring quarter.


Then the other package was smaller:

But JUST as awesome!!! This was from Larry Angelo in NY, NY. He got my address from PJM and sent me a bunch of neat stuff. There were pictures of artwork and a few little things and that yellow Crabe Gazette thing right there on top?? That (I think) is a mail art documentation!!!!

I was so excited to actually see one!! It was in French though so I had to type everything into Google Translate to understand it. The main thing holding me back from starting my own mail art call was not knowing how to document it so this was awesome. Yay! So I have to send him something truly fantabulous back. For sure.

now, the OUTGOING:

PC/Thank you note for Stephanie

Which I had to take a picture of the back because I thought it was cool...

pc reply for PJM. Look! I used the Japanese newspaper!!! And yes, that is a photocopy of my hand. :)

More Japanese stuff!! For Mattea this time.

More Japanese art (not with authentic stuff from Stephanie..) This letter was for Lauren in CO. I wrote the haiku that is on the envelope. (It took forever to write since Japanese syllables are different from English ones and I don't speak Japanese..)

postcard for Christian. Watercolor pencils and sharpie.

squirrel post for Nicole. I have been experimenting with Rubber stamp carving!! And I made that squirrel stamp!! (It's kinda hard to see but it's there.)

Letter for Bethany

And a birthday card for her.

Pink mail art. I wrote the address in after. I think this went to Nicole.

More pink mail for Annie.

And some tropical mail for Megs!!

And that concludes my barrage of mail pictures.

I've noticed that I've been very into Japan and pink lately. I don't know why... I mean, Japan is understandable but even before the quakes, I was on a Japan kick. And the pink... I don't know what's up with that. I think my brain might still be stuck on Valentine's day since I didn't send enough pink mail then... Shrug. Who knows?

Over and Out,
Misha

Made for Mail Artists

While looking for postcard dimension limitations and just general cruisin' around the USPS official website, I found this presentation.

As I read through it, it sounds like the presentation was positively made for mail artists!! (Click the above link if you'd like to read the whole thing, but it is very much like a script with few breaks. =P)

The presentation discusses what is appropriate for the U.S. postal system and what is not appropriate. What makes mail machinable or non-machinable. Mailable or non mailable. Things like lengthxheight dimensions and weight restrictions and aspect ratios! Oh my!What sorts of things you can put in envelopes. Why the post office rejects certain pieces.

Here is a quote: "Sometimes when we are designing a mailpiece, we are thinking of what the customer will think when they open the item. This does not always coincide with postal requirements for automation."

Interestingly enough, many of the regulations are put in place to protect not only your mail pieces but also the post office's machines and equipment!!

It appears that the article was written for mass mailers and not so much mail artists but I think many of the things in the presentation could be applied to mail art.

Don't Touch My Mustache!!

In Japanese, to say "you're welcome," it sounds an awful lot like, "don't touch my mustache." (it's like doy toy mustafa or something like that... but don't ask google translate because google translate has something completely different...)

So I thought I'd have a little fun and I made this postcard for Stephanie!!! I looked up how to write "don't touch my mustache" (the actual words) in Japanese. That's at the bottom of the card. At the top, it says "thank you" in Japanese. I had so much fun making the card.

I drew that mustache!

I Disgust Myself. And Mail.

I have been so bad about blogging my mail!! I've been taking lots of pictures!! But I've been terrible about posting! I'm sorry! :/

INCOMING:

 ^from Annette

 ^from Node Pajomo!

 ^A lovely package from Megs!! 

^Sparkles from Emmalynn

OUTGOING:

 Valentine's Mail!! I sent out lots of Valentine's featuring Charles Dickens, my latest favorite author. I love him!

 Reply for PaJomo!

 ^letter for the Meyers. This was for a school project

 For Nicole in Massachusetts! I really like her; she's a neat gal!

 

Chinese New Year mail for Megs

 Mail for Angelia at A Year of Letters. I hope that stayed intact through the post. That right there is some crazy mesh stuff. It was a great experiment.

And lastly but not leastly, a letter for the 2011 Letters Project. This project is a family aiming to get 2,011 letters in 2011. They have three homeschooled girls who are eager to learn more about the world through letters! Isn't that wonderful? I love it!