I’ve Bought Postal Stamps
How is your postcard making going? That is, if you’re as deep into this adventure as I am right now? If not, you can still sign up for the DIY Postcard Swap and dive in right now!
Postcards are fun and easy to create. And the more my own collection of swapped cards grows, there more I appreciate the owning part of this swap too. Love looking through the postcards you’ve sent me over the years. All saved in my handmade binder.
With your postcard you can do something simple, or be as elaborate as you want to. I tend to try new techniques or work in a series to see how each postcard is similar yet different.
Last year I painted all my postcards, and a while back I was sure I wanted to explore this possibility even more this year. Because with my 365 Collage-project I miss acrylic messes quite a bit. But once I got started I realized it was collage time again!
So I’ve been sorting scraps of paper for inspiration. I found quite a few gems. Some forgotten for years. I decided to do machine stitched paper collage, a bit like I did with the sewn postcards back in 2011. But this year they turned out almost like Pop Art, filled with geometric patterns and vibrant colours, much inspired by mail artist Stephanie Dodson’s awesome postcards. She uses hand painted papers, colorful texts and awesome vintage comics in her collage work, and I fall in love with every single one of her cards right now. Once I show you mine, I think you will be able to see the influence, even though I don’t own any such comics etc.
You can still join the DIY Postcard Swap – the sign up period will stay open until late Sunday or Monday evening, and then next week I will be sending out addresses for mail art swap partners. :-)
What wonderful stamps!!
I think mine are going to be different than I’ve ever done. I won’t start them until the weekend, but they ideas and supplies are ready!
Those stamps rock.
Oh, Hanna…those stitched postcards from 2011 are still so truly awesome!
I love your sewn postcards from 2011! They are really special! I was working all morning on my postcards…such fun!! I seem to have drifted into 2 different series of 5 each…almost done! Your stamps are fabulous too! Having a blast doing this , so glad I signed up!
Tack, nu vet jag vad jag ska göra med min hög med sådana där vanlig vykort som jag har liggande i en låda :-)
Kram
Hmmm… vad menar du? Sätta in dem i en pärm som jag? Ska visa min när vi ses, älskar den! Hoppas du har det skönt på semestern! Kram!!
Tänkte göra dem som en sån där man kan ställa på bordet och bläddra i som en liten “tanke/bild för dagen” typ :-).
Den här resan var precis vad jag behövde! Och nu ska jag åka och titta och handla i den lokala pysselaffären! Och imorgon blir det havet och leta snäckor på stranden!
Kram
Oh my goodness! What a wonderful way this was to wake up this morning! (And then it took me all day to come back and comment, haha.) I’m flattered to inspire *anyone* in their creativity, let alone someone like yourself who is an inspiration to *me*. Thank you so much for everything you do: blogging, running your postcard swap, spreading the creativity, creating inspiring pieces daily – you’re an inspiration to lots of people!
I can’t wait to see what you came up with for your postcards this year. I’m loving the image of all the paper scraps – looks like you had fun creating!
Next year come hell or high water I will be joining in your postcard swap. :) I’ve never sewn paper before and I have a question (stemming from a comment I left you earlier today about making a collage for the first time since middle school)- what kind of needle do you use in your sewing machine when sewing paper? I recently broke a needle sewing denim with the improper size and I can’t afford new needles anytime soon so I would hate to break another. Any advice would be muchly appreciated!
Yay Erica!
I’m looking forward to seeing your postcards once you join! Sewing in denim you need a special needle, I think it’s simply called a jeans needle. For sewing paper you can use a any normal sized needle (mine says 80 on the package), but you should change it when you go back to sewing fabric because it will get dull faster. I hope that helps?! Go for it!
just wanted to say I love your stamps, your blog, you make art seem easy and we both know sometimes its not. Thanks for going to all the work of doing the postcard exchange, I got my addresses in my email thanks, and mailed them all yesterday.