Mail Art for Pat

Book board is a great material for large book covers and boxes.  I usually would have selected mat board but I wanted something even heavier since this was going to be mailed to the UK.

You can see that it's pretty thick!

After drawing your letter and tracing it onto the book board, give yourself some patience in cutting out the form.  You'll want to make several shallow cuts using a sharp Exacto knife as you can not penetrate book board on one pass.  Also, do yourself a favor by using a new blade!

My paper selection was a sample from Stampington & Company's magazine

I choose black paper for the front so I didn't need to be concerned if areas of my collage didn't cover the book board.  It gives you more freedom of expression if you will take the time to either paint, gesso, or apply decorative paper as your first step.  You won't spend your energy being concerned with bare spots.

I like to sand all edges so that the paper meets the edges perfectly.  A smaller sanding file is best for areas where the Tim Holtz hand sander can't reach.  I painted the edges of the book board with black paint and let it dry.  Last I inked the edges of the paper. 

I assembled some rubber stamps and ephemera with the Paris theme that was a possibility.  I also like to gather materials so that I can choose what works best with my theme and/or layout.

I used an antique French document that I copied onto parchment paper as part of the background at the top and rubber stamped the Paris postmark.  I added an Eiffel Tower image on top of another collage item....and continued until the front was covered with Paris images.  It's almost complete!

I added German scrap and then I sealed the entire letter using a sparkle gel medium by Tracy Bautista - Collage Pauge.  It was introduced to me by Lisa Engelbrecht.  I love this stuff!!!You can barely see the hint of sparkles....you can click on the photo for enlargement.  The last thing was adhering a Paris clock embellishment using E-6000 glue. I apologize for not posting the back of the letter as I forgot to conceal the mailing address! I used a Paris label for the send to address for Pat. Three dragonfly postage stamps were adhered in a vertical format and I requested the post office clerk (Greg) to hand cancel the stamps. I added another Paris label at a diagonal at the bottom with my return address written in small print along the vertical side of the "P".

My letter arrived at its destination in perfect condition!  Thanks to the domestic and international postal personnel!