Take Me To Your Leader - Altered Envie

What happens when your mail art trading partner's interests are very different from your own?  Well, you can either disregard her likes or you can stretch yourself.  This month, I decided to stretch myself.  Science fiction?  Aliens?  No sweat!  (I told myself, somewhat confidently.)

I started with a monoprint I made a while ago using my Gelli Plate. Once folded into an envelope, the patterns in the print reminded me of photographs of the Milky Way.  That created a perfect backdrop for my alien.  I used an image I found on the internet as a guide and black, white and gray acrylic paints.  I was pretty pleased with how he (she? it?) turned out, since I can honestly say that painting aliens is not in my bag of usual tricks.

On the back, I stamped a simple message that always reminds me of the old Bugs Bunny cartoon character, the rather inept Marvin the Martian.  Is anyone else old enough to remember him?

Speaking of simple, this post will be short and sweet, as I try to get back into the habit of regular posts.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous day.

Handpainted Tulip - Altered Envie

My altered envie partner for July has received the envelope I sent her, so I can share it with you here.

My partner lives in The Netherlands, which is famous for its tulips.  Since my signature flower is the tulip, I decided that would be my theme.  I started by creating my own envelope using a monoprint I made with a Gelli Plate.  I used acrylics to paint my tulip, and let me tell you, that right leaf took a looooong time to get right!  Thank goodness acrylics are very forgiving.

On the back, I wrote a quote by Anaïs Nin:  "And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

Thanks for stopping in!  Take a risk and blossom.

If You're Lucky Enough to Be Different - Greeting Card

Do you ever sit down to make something and end up making something else?  (All the time, right?)  Well, that's what happened with this card.  I was trying to make a couple of cards using some monoprints I created (I'll talk about them in a different post), and they just weren't coming together.  So I switched gears and made this card which I plan to send to a friend.  She loves the color purple and I know she will get a kick out of the little girl on the front.  I've nicknamed her Celie, after the character in The Color Purple.

The background started with my monoprint.  To that I added a strip of vintage sheet music (my friend is a classically-trained vocalist) and a circular graph cut from a vintage engine manual (just guessing here, but my friend probably knows little about vintage engines, or modern engines, for that matter).  The sentiment and the Celie "paper doll" are Tim Holtz products.  The butterfly is a rub-on by 7 Gypsies.  To age the papers, I sponged distress inks around the edges.  A dark charcoal pencil was used to outline the sentiment and Celie; a blending stump and my fingers helped to smudge the charcoal.  Because of the charcoal, this card got a quick spritz of acrylic sealant as a final layer.

Thanks for stopping by!  If you haven't already done so, hop over to this blog post and enter to win an original piece of mail art.  You have until July 13, 2018, to enter.  (That's Friday the 13th.  Ooooooh...)

Supplies:
Purple and white cardstock by Bazzill; monoprint on Strathmore bristol vellum paper using purple acrylic paint; vintage sheet music and graphic illustration from my stash; sentiment and paper doll by Tim Holtz; butterfly rub-on by 7 Gypsies; mustard seed and walnut stain distress ink; dark charcoal pencil.

Icelandic Poppy No. 4 - Altered Envelope

Inspiration can come from just about anywhere.  In this case, it came from a forgotten monoprint that I found in my stash.  I made the print into a 6 x 4.75 inch envelope using my envelope punch board, then sat and studied it until I finally decided what my next step would be.

Since my partner likes poppies, I decided I would try to paint one on the envelope.  I did a practice sketch on a piece of scratch paper first.  Once I was happy with the size and shape of my design, I transferred it onto the envelope and outlined it with black Stabilo All Pencil.  I then painted inside all of the pencil lines with white acrylic paint.  Some of the Stabilo pencil smeared a little when it got wet, but that actually worked well with my design.

I continued to add color and details to the poppy by painting on lemon zest Dylusions ink spray, peeled paint and antiqued bronze distress paint, more white acrylic paint, and more black and white Stabilo pencil.  This was such a fun process that I never wanted it to end.

I added the No. 4 with a stencil to signify that this month is the Envie Addicts' fourth birthday.  I stamped a flourish border but left the back fairly plain, mainly to prevent any confusion at the post office.

I just love participating in this altered envelope exchange every month.  It's a fun and talented group and I have received many beautiful pieces of art through the mail.  I've also learned a lot and have been motivated to try new things.  For example, my first inclination was to add some stamped images to this envelope.  Instead, I drew my own poppy and am quite pleased with how it turned out.  I hope my partner likes it!

Have a wonderful day.  Thanks for dropping by.

Supplies:
Homemade monoprint using white cardstock, Liquitex acrylic paints and Gelli Plate; We R Memory Keepers envelope punch board; black and white Stabilo All Pencil; titanium white acrylic paint; Dylusions lemon zest ink spray; peeled paint and antiqued bronze distress paint; Tim Holtz stencil; black Staedtler pigment liner; flourish stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms; Ranger Archival watering can ink; squid ink Gelatos.