Contest A Bust -- But Winners Nonetheless

Well, the Happy Accident Hat Contest is officially over. I left it posted for quite some time. Only three people requested a hat to decorate, so those are the three winners. All three will receive the same prize package consisting of the items shown below.


These are math chart stickers. Use the whole chart or cut them up and use only the parts you want.


Next we have a few die cut shapes...a cupcake, a present, a balloon, and a birthday cake.


A couple of sheets of Heidi Swapp arrows might come in handy to decorate some envelopes. The white arrows on the red, white, and blue set didn't show up, but, trust me, they're there.


Finally, I've included three note cards with envies, some mini playing cards, a pen, and a little mini composition book.
Oh, there are also 3 rolls of paper tape, but the scan didn't turn out well, so I didn't include it.

Congratulations, girls. I hope you enjoy the goodies.

What Got Ripped This Week

First up are two cards from Postcrossing. The pink flower card is from Maartje (NL-500846) who says The Netherlands is famous because of its flowers. True, but hey, these aren't tulips. The other card comes from Russia. It shows the Metro Station at Taganskaya. Isn't the architecture grand!





The next three are general mail. First off is a first day of issue postcard from elle.mental. Someday I hope to have my own cards with an issue date. Maybe that can be a New Year's goal. Next is a letter from Angelia of A Year of Letters fame. Sorry, Angelia, I'm a repeat and don't count towards your total of 365 letters to DIFFERENT recipients. And last, but by no means least, is my art letter book from the awesome Caiti Wefler.






Finally, here are my first three Christmas cards of 2010. Predictably, the first one is from my daughter Heidi, who has her act together. The next one is from Elizabeth to Santa, but in care of, yeah, that's right....ME! And last, we have one from Greenway Creek Golf Club, where my husband is a member. He's retiring at the end of the month....but I'll save that for another post.

Have You Ever Done This?

For those of you who think I'm crazy, here's another piece of evidence. Today is a snow day, meaning no school for me. This makes the second day in a row. I'd rather have gone to school both days, as now we have to make them up on Dec 20 and 21...sigh. But, back to the post.

Even though it is a snow day, I set the alarm clock (on my cellphone) last night anyway. Never mind that it is not necessary. I wake up and get up without an alarm. And, always earlier than 6:15. But, it makes me happy for that alarm to sound and for me to be able to smile and shut it off. It is one of my life's little rituals.

How about you? Have you ever done this?

Duck-Duck-Duck-Duck-Duck-Goose

Travelers Insurance sent this set of six cards, 5 with orange cars and the 6th one blue. The five orange ones had the word "duck" on the back and the sixth one said "goose" to symbolize the 1 of 6 drivers without car insurance. I thought the cards were clever and sent all six out via Postcrossing.

Here I Go Again

There I was, just minding my own business; chugging right along on my goal of writing 365 letters in 2010. The end is in sight, my goal almost realized. I had begun thinking about next year. Would I commit to another 365 letter writing campaign?

I was thinking....probably not. Oh, I certainly intend to keep on writing letters, but maybe take it down a notch to say, maybe 200 or 250. Then I read Angelia's post over at A Year of Letters about something new on the horizon.

Hey, I could get in on the ground level. I wasn't behind yet. It seemed like fate.
Yeah, I went. I saw. I caved.

So, here I go again. MailArt365 if you'd like to follow along and/or join in on the mailart fun. There are several signed up already. It's not just me on the Crazy Train.

A Krispy Kreme Halloween

Today's postcards are brought to you by me and Krispy Kreme. Kids at school were selling doughnuts for a fundraiser and the box was just too cute to throw away. So I did what any self-respecting mail artist would do. I cut it up and made postcards from it. The odd-shaped one above is an experiment. I put regular postcard postage on it and plopped it into the mail drop box. We'll see if it makes its destination.


These two are quite postcard-like and will probably have no trouble traveling to the correct mailbox.


For these final two cards, I used the packaging from a decorative flag my daughter was going to throw away (gasp). Maybe one of these is headed to a mailbox near you. BOO!

Week 2 : Art Journal Gypsy

 

For this challenge, we were given a list of 24 things to find and cut out. I wrote out the list by hand, worked in one room for a while, then moved to another (there is only so much of the Outdoor Channel a girl can endure), forgot the list in the other room, and then just winged it.

If there's a theme going on here, I don't know what it is. I'll leave it for the art critics to figure out after I become famous posthumously.

Wednesday Pick-Me-Up

It's Wednesday and the weekend glow has long since worn away and Friday still looks a long way off. So, how about a mid-week mail pick-me-up?



This letter comes to me from Jessica Armstrong, a new correspondent from Canada. She was kind enough to include a postcard and some Halloween stickers. Thanks!



Next is a letter from Lizbeth Meredith, my most regular and faithful correspondent. Check out her cool printed stationery. I'm wondering if she designed it herself or if it is available for us to steal online somewhere. Lizbeth?



Lastly, two postcards. The top one is from postcrossing...NL-433017. The ring on the middle finger reminds me of Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker. He wore rings on the middle fingers of both hands. For some reason, that used to annoy the heck out of me every time I would notice it on the show. I'm over it now and enjoy watching the reruns.

The other is a Picasso offering from my postcard pal, Chris Overstreet in Georgia. You're welcome for the latest card I sent and I'm looking for the extras that haven't been written upon. When they bubble to the top of the Crap Cauldron, I'll fish them out and send them on their merry way.

Art Journal Gyspy Week 1 Spread

Vale McFadzean of Art Journal Gypsies is once again hosting the weekly art journal prompts. Click here to check out the fun and join in if you wish. The more the merrier. My Week 1 work is shown above.

Envelope Adoption Programme

Like I really need more envelopes! But I just couldn't resist. These come all the way from Hong Kong through the generosity of Vicky Ng, aka Ms. Five. Check out her Envelope Adoption Programme for some beautiful goodies similar to those shown above!

A Mysterious Card

At first, I thought the card above must be one from the Postcrossing exchange. But, apparently not. There is no ID# and no return address. Ah, well...

This lovely card of Masquerade Procession on St. Isaac's Square, St. Petersburg comes with this cryptic message:

Hi, misterious person!
Here's a misterious card for you. :-)
Have a good day,
Nataly

Why, thank you, Nataly. Have a good day yourself.

Here's A Mail Art First

 

Elizbeth Meredith sent me my very first frozen dinner mail art. Stouffer's Fettuccini Alfredo. Yum! What's the most unusual piece of mail art you've ever received?

Outgoing: Playing Catch Up

I must have been tired when I addressed this envelope to Melody. It's rather plain. I mean, less is the new more, right?



Ahh...look at the little mice writing letters, aren't they cute! These are three foldables I found mixed in with a packet of postcards I bought.

These big, bad envelopes are the ones the bank statements arrive in. They are huge and just the right size for letter sized paper folded in half. Plus, they have enough space for larger sized clippings. Don't you just love the big mailbox?

Top postcard is of Cecil Rhodes who mucked about making his fortune in the south of Africa, Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. The lower one shows the changing seasons at Peaks of Otter along the Blue Ridge Parkway, not too far from Roanoke, VA.

Multiples, multiples...cane toppers and mailboxes now dress up the envelope from my car payment statement.

At the risk of sounding like Ed Grimley, this envelope is a Stellar One, I must say.

The magazine page seems too flimsy to use for an envelope on its way to England, so a clear plastic sleeve is in order.

On this one I face a dilemma. On the one hand, the envelope is pretty nifty and made from good quality paper. On the other hand, I have five fingers. Sorry. On the other hand, I don't want to promote tobacco use. The Surgeon General and I warn you about its evils. Who is the Surgeon General these days? Hmm, whoever he is, he's no C. Everett Koop. Or she/she's.

Notice the enclosure. One Happy Accident Hat. Have you requested yours?

Incoming Postcards

Sarah sends this fun, colorful card from Victoria, Australia, AU-74663. The card showing the green pastoral scene is DE-598023 but the scenery is from the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

Alanna from Great Britain sends this beautiful card of stately Oxford in England, GB-140951. Rene' mails a card showing the Brazilian Congress Building. Isn't it gorgeous lit up at night? Card ID is BR-102463.

I love postcards that show views of the city. The top card is from Shaula from The Netherlands NL-317564. Card CN-200572 shows figures from a very popular cartoon in China.

The upper card PL-81621 comes from Evelina in Poland and the lower one, TH-42435 is from Jirat in Ayuttha, Thailand.

This cool mail art card comes to me from Mad Madge via the Good Mail Day Call for Scribblers, Mail Artists and Pen Friends. Beneath is Postcrossing Card FI-754133 from Marjatta in Finland.

Heidi mailed these last two postcards to me while they were vacationing in Myrtle Beach. She wrote that the campground has its own post office!

The Happy Accident Hat Contest

Last week while seeking bargains at the government surplus store, I found a box of 100 envelopes. They were a weird looking size, but, hey, weird works for me. And the price was right, 10 cents. So I bought a box.

Mistake! Turns out they weren't envelopes at all. Instead, they were paper hats, the kind worn by food service industry workers in some erstwhile era. I set them aside. Notice I did not say I threw them away. I set them aside. They were, after all, paper. A day or two went by and every time my eye would light on them I'd think, "Mistake!"

But, then one day I remembered the Bob Ross quote, "We don't make mistakes, we have happy accidents." That made me smile and I began thinking.

TA DA! The Happy Accident Hat Contest was born.

THE RULES:

1. Your hat must be decorated with a Letter/Mail Art/Postal related theme.

2. A picture of your hat must be submitted to me and I'll upload it into a gallery set up for that purpose. You may model the hat. You may traumatize your children, grandchildren, and/or pets by forcing them to model the hat. Or you can save yourself the hassle and use a stuffed toy as I did.

3. Only one entry per person is allowed.

4. Prizes (TBA) will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place entries, plus a People's Choice Award.

5. To enter, leave a comment below expressing your interest. Then email your mailing address to me at justletterrip@gmail.com.

6. Most important rule: HAVE FUN and Just Letter Rip.

***Note: You don't have to be a follower or spread the word about the contest, but both, or either, would be greatly appreciated. If you do blog about it, or post to facebook, or tweet, or whatever, please send me a link.