Butterflies for Barb

My apologies for not scanning this piece and using my digital camera!  I have yet to get all my familiar equipment playing nice with my home computer....soon....I promised myself!

This is my second mail art mailing.  I am really trying to stay within the suggested theme of the alphabet.  An earlier post shows my letter "P" which went to Pat and was decorated Parisan since she has such a strong love of Paris.

I remembered that Barb loves butterflies and in the past I made her a zentangle butterfly (older post).

This time I made a heavy duty tag from a recycled watercolor tablet back cover and applied black card stock as my base.  I then used a permanent black Sharpie marker to color the edges of the card.  I embossed "Le Papillons" in detailed gold embossing powder.  I stamped a flourished background using Ranger's Gold Dapper color directly onto my rubber stamp.  It's best to clean your stamp immediately when using paint instead of ink!  I then applied my images from Graphics 45 and other specialty papers.  I fussy cut a butterfly and adhered it to the top of the tag.

I added the scrabble tile letters last with E-6000 glue.  The US Post Office clerk asked me what I used to adhere the letters and when I told him that it was an industrial strength glue which I allowed to dry long enough to cure, he accepted the postcard.  When sending mail art, it is important that any embellishments you use will never come off during the processing of the mail.  I have had tremendous good luck in mailing the oddest things but always within the postal regulations guidelines.

This view is the back of the tag which has my return and send to addresses.  I wanted to use the butterfly postal stamp to complete my theme.

Tim Holtz tissue tape was applied on the left edge as a balance.  I applied gel medium on top to make sure that it would be permanent.

I absolutely love the Graphic 45 tag image!  I added tiny black silk ribbons and anchored this tag and it was the last thing I added before the postal stamps.

Paris Parking

Okay... it's not a pretty picture but I couldn't help but notice the beating this car has taken. It has to be Paris driving and parking ....oops, perhaps the driver.

You don't have to read and speak French to know that you can not park here.... and that's exactly where the above car is parked. Yes, in front of the sign!

Just exactly how does one leave their parking space? All the cars along this street were "bumper to bumper"...literally!

Happy Birthday Marsha!

I have a goal this year to send a birthday message to each artist in my art group. So far, so good!  Marsha loves antiques as I do so I wanted to add special touches to her birthday greeting. The background ledger paper is very brittle with the entries written during the 1920's.  I used a stencil sprayed with Blue Denim from Ranger.  The Tulsa Bus Token dangles from the safety pin at the top.  And if I remembered correctly, Marsha enjoys Chinese food too so I added a fortune that I thought was funny.  I mounted my greeting on heavy card stock so that it could be hung if she wished. I misted a "copper/coffee" color onto the bright yellow measuring ribbon to give it an aged look. I really like using the Birthday Girl ATC that I purchased from Red Lead a few years ago.  I layered the stamped image on top of a paper towel that I used to clean the extra ink from my craft sheet.  Viva paper towels look like linen fabric when dried...very cool. The ball trim at the bottom was purchased from Rock Paper Scissors in St. Charles, Missouri.

FYI: You can have a closer view by double clicking on the photo.

One explanation

This could be one of the many reasons those living in Paris seem very trim and fit. There is a lot of walking and climbing steps.....a built in StairMaster along your travel to work, home, or shopping!

You can see that I am standing at one street level and below me are about twenty steps to the next level.

Paris seems to have lots of different levels of streets and sidewalks and STEPS!!! If I had another few weeks to visit, I am most certain that my legs would be looking pretty good. In the meantime though....I'll stick to wearing pants! By the way, these photos were all taken at different locations while we were exploring Paris.

I'll be sharing about my Paris adventures thoughout 2012.  I hope you'll be inspired to experience Paris up close and personal!