Did you ever get a pony for your birthday while you were at Disney World? Me either, but I had the postal equivalent of that on Saturday.
The letter-writing social at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum was a huge success. We had three mostly-functional typewriters, TONS of free stationery designed by yours truly, and the creativity of hundreds of people who came through and made mail. It can't get much better than that.
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| Our inspiration board of supplies and completed mail art. |
There was also some blogging royalty who traveled across state lines to be with us. Mary of
Mary Has Sound, Becky of
The Snail Mailer, Bonnie Jeanne of
PostMuse, and Amber of
A Thoughtful Blog all came from their respective states. Plus my dear friend Bethany of
TeaOlive came from South Carolina with lino blade in hand to carve rubber stamps for a lot of attendees at the stamp table.
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| The only photo I have of her working is this slightly blurry one.
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| Partially-functional typewriters. |
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| Answer: Whatever you can make it. |
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| The stamp table -- both the rubber and postage type. |
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| Collage materials laid neatly in their bowls -- at first. |
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| This soon became a huge, awesome disaster area. |
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| Crayons, markers, pencils, and more cancelled stamps. |
Some "after" photos of all these tables. Remember, messiness is the sign of a good time.
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| Three typewriters, three kids. Start 'em young! |
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| A lovely mess of making. |
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| A patron hard at work on an artful letter |
An especial thanks to Erin of the NPM, whose hard work made this awesomeness happen. She's super-supportive of the letter-writing and mail art communities, and her backing of this project is what made it so successful.
Were you able to come make mail with us? What did you think of the afternoon?
P.S. Did you know about the
#showandmail topic on Twitter that
@postalmuseum popularized? It's a great source of letter-writing inspiration.
4 comments:
Ohhhh I so wish I could have gone! You'd better hold another one soon! :)
I love seeing the before pic of the envelope table--by the time I got there, it was already a much-enjoyed mess, which I Ioved! :) That's where Caroline and I planted ourselves. I was so impressed by the blogging royalty friends of yours who were just cranking out the mail. And I really loved the "Partially-Functioning Typewriters" sign--hilarious. Thanks for sharing your functional blue one. :) Please let me know when you host or help with another social!
Yay! It was really a great time. Thank you so much for putting it on and for posting these pictures! :-)
Thanks for the postcard!
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