Nate Silver is my hero

AKA: Every liberal's rallying cry the night of November 6th.

Throughout the fall, my grandmother, a conservative Democrat who watches CNN in the afternoons because she wants to give herself another stroke (I can't think of another plausible reason), kept calling to tell me how worried she was about the election polls. I would respond by refreshing fivethirtyeight.com and telling her what the actual facts were.

Her: Who says that?
Me: Nate Silver. And math.

I called her just after midnight on November 7th.

Me: I told you Nate Silver wouldn't let us down.
Her: You were right. Thank goodness.

I made these Gocco prints on November 8th. They're printed on atlas index pages, the local place names reminding us that actual people in cities and towns matter more than polls on supposed national opinion.

You can buy yours here in my Etsy shop.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I posted these vintage Valentines a couple of years ago, but I cleaned them up recently and thought you might like them in an easier-to-print format.  They're perfect for cutting out, either along their outlines or in evenly-sized rectangles (with 1/4 inch margins around the edges). Download the printable sheet here!

Printed on white cardstock, they lend themselves well to decor; dress them up with glitter or ribbon, or just leave as-is.  If you make anything with them, take a picture and link to it below so we can all see!

Nana's Handmade Valentine Mart

While I will be at the Postal Museum's Valentine's Day Card Workshop, my wares will be in good company across town at Nana's Handmade Valentine Mart in Mt. Pleasant.  More than a dozen of the DC area's fabulous makers and shakers will be selling their items at this one-day event.  Come get your Valentine's Day shopping all wrapped up by buying from local designers and crafters, including some new Valentine's Day cards from me!

The show is from 11am to 5pm on Saturday, February 9th.  Nana is located at 3068 Mt. Pleasant Street, NW, just a couple blocks from the Columbia Heights Metro. My work will be lonely without me, so it hopes you can swing by to say hi!

Valentine workshop at the National Postal Museum this Saturday!

Have you made your Valentines yet? If not, come make a couple at the National Postal Museum's free Valentine's Day Card Workshop with me on Saturday, February 9th! We'll have tons of supplies: cardstock, pretty papers, cancelled postage, ribbon, rubber stamps, washi tape, and more.  Cards mailed from the museum will also receive a special cancellation (which I will hopefully be able to convince the postal employee to put on all my Valentines that I'm also bringing with me).

The National Postal Museum is located at 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, right next to Union Station. We'll be there from noon to 4pm. Hope to see you there!

(And if you can't make it to this event on Saturday, take a look at the Handmade Valentine Mart in Mt. Pleasant on the same day!)

We have winners!

I don't know what those reasons were, but they were the most accurate. I sent 1,141 pieces of mail during 2012, and Michelle was only off by 32.  Congrats, Michelle!  I've got your address and will be sending a little packet of stationery items your way shortly.

 

Plus! as promised, I entered the number of entries into Random.org and it awarded the second packet of stationery stuff to Alegna101. I'll mail it out as soon as I get her address from her.

Thanks for playing, and especially for reading the blog!

2012 in mail, and a giveaway!

[crappy cell phone picture of some sent mail]

2012 was a record year for me in mail-sending terms. I know this because my OCD record-keeping lets me look back on my spreadsheet and see what I sent (and how much I spent on postage).

I also have piles and piles of excess stationery, and Dan and I are trying to start the new year off with less stuff and more space.

Let's play a game!

Guess how many pieces of mail I sent from January 1 to December 31 of 2012. Place your comment by January 21st at 12:01 AM Eastern time, and I'll give away two packets of assorted stationery -- lettersets, notecards, postcards, and the like from various brands and crafters -- to one person whose guess is the closest numerically (above or below the actual number is fine), and to one person whose name is drawn randomly. Be sure your comment somehow includes a way to contact you so I can get your address, if I don't already have it.

P.S. I'll give you a hint: I finished my first year of participating in MailArt365 in 2012.

Holiday mail party wrap-up

I was going to write a whole post about how awesomely the mail-making party went, but when Mary has done it so nicely for me already, why duplicate?  Check out her post on the party and the rest of her fab pictures! (I failed at remembering to bring a camera.)

washi tape and gold stars -- photo by Mary Has Sound

My thanks go out to all those who came out in the cold to make some holiday cheer, LulaMae Events for helping me get everything there and helping me make it look pretty, and everyone who blogged or tweeted about the event to spread the word! 

Come to a holiday mail party in DC on November 26!

Click to embiggen!

I'm hosting a mail-making party in DC on Monday, November 26, from 5:30-8:30! Since it'll be the Monday after Thanksgiving, you can come bitch about your family get-togethers with us. We'll understand.

Bring your own Christmas or holiday cards to write, or make some there.  It's a way to make what can be a pain in the neck into a fun activity with friends.  Also, you can get the card-sending out of the way early in the season -- and not feel guilty when people send cards to you.

I'll have some mass-produced holiday cards available, along with supplies for making your own.  Donations are always welcomed, but not required, to use either.  (You can bring your own supplies, too, of course.)

The library is located at 3160 16th Street, NW in Mt. Pleasant, on the southwest corner of 16th and Lamont Streets.  We will be in the large meeting room, which as you come in through the new main entrance, is on the right.

If you're the sort who likes to RSVP (which I appreciate) and have this on your Facebook calendar, click here.


View Larger Map

via Metro
Columbia Heights, Green and Yellow lines. Exit the west entrance, walk 1 block west on Irving Street (past the Five Guys) to 16th Street. Turn right on 16th Street to head 1 block north.

via bus 
S1, S2, S4 - pull cord for Lamont. If coming from the north, you'll be on the right corner. If coming from the south, cross 16th Street to reach the library.
S9 - pull cord for Irving Street. Walk one block north on 16th; library will be on your left. 
42 - pull cord for Lamont. Walk one block east on Lamont; library entrance will be on your right.

via bicycle
The renovation of the library came with new bike racks. There are also places to lock up along Lamont and 16th Streets.

MailArt 365

If you follow my Twitter feed, you may know that I am participating in MailArt365 this year, producing 365 pieces of decorated mail for 2012. The project has been ongoing since December of 2010, but I thought I was too busy then to get in on the ground floor.

I tracked my outgoing mail for 2011, though, and realized I was already sending more than 365 pieces of mail per year. That made it an easier decision to commit to making mail art in 2012.

Not that anyone's holding me to it; it's more of a challenge to myself.

If you regularly send mail that you could describe as unexpected, I think you'd be a good candidate for joining the project, too.

You can check out my contributions, but be sure to just visit the main page to see what other people all over the globe are doing. There's so much creative work being sent through the post.

New card designs!

I'm pretty pumped about these new cards I designed.

The perfect birthday card makes sure the birthday guy or gal knows exactly what they are celebrating.

I love using reclaimed materials in my work; it makes me so happy to see old things have a new life again.  But I'm starting to recognize the fact that I can't only make things from reclaimed paper.  Finding it, storing it, and using it takes up a lot of time and space, and both of those are in short supply for me.  But I love the look of vintage ephemera and want to continue designing with it. What's a girl to do?

You can't get much more meta than mail that defines itself.

Well, she makes some new card designs with it instead, and has them printed locally on paper with recycled content.  Each measures 4 by 5.5 inches and is printed on matte cardstock (which means if your note goes a little long, you can use the back for more writing).

The backs of cards shouldn't be boring.

They are blank on the inside and come with crisp white envelopes.  Plus, I'm offering to ship them out free to customers in the United States for the rest of the year! Stock up and be prepared for all last minute mail-sending occasions that you may encounter.

To order mailman cards, click here.
To order birthday cards, click here.