Happy 50th Birthday, Mr. ZIP!

One of the great things about working with the folks at the National Postal Museum is that when I say things like, "Oooh, what if we had a letter-writing event for Mr. ZIP's birthday?" they don't look at me like I have two heads. (They also know who Mr. ZIP is, which is pretty great.*) "Do it!" they said, and so I am.

I designed a few pieces of stationery just for the event, and you can come pick some up on Saturday, July 27th, from 11AM to 3PM in the museum's atrium.  There will also be a limited number of vintage first-day covers to use, as well as plenty of free postcards and blank envelopes to send off your missives.

The National Postal Museum is located next door to Union Station at the following address:
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20002

Hope to see you there on Saturday!  

*Mr. ZIP was presented to the public in 1963 to help increase the use of the newly-introduced ZIP codes and speed the processing of mail.  He's also pretty cute, doncha think?

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!

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.

Aerogrammes now in the shop!

My newest venture in stationery.

One thing that has been requested multiple times over the years at craft shows has been aerogrammes, or fold-and-mail stationery.  I love them too, so I've had ideas forming in the back of my mind for a while about what I would design if I made my own. 

Knowing that I had the September DC Meet Market coming up motivated me to get cracking on them and I was pleased to debut my first batch of them on Saturday.  I made two designs to start with: books and mail. Big surprise, I know.  

You can see the exterior and interior in this picture of the opened bibliophile aerogramme pad.

The binding on this first batch is done with bookbinding glue and covered with book-themed washi tape, allowing the letter writer to simply pull a page out when they'd like to write.  The guidelines on the inside indicate where to cut the corners out.

The address area on the book themed ones is based off an old bookplate.
Also, the spines of the books line up on the back when it's folded (!).

The flaps already have adhesive on them so once the aerogramme is cut out, the flaps just need to be folded in to give it its shape.

Of course there are mail-themed aerogrammes. Philepistolists unite!

I think the binding is fine on these, but I'm a perfectionist and wasn't totally satisfied with the way they came out.  The next batch might be in reuseable boxes.  (Don't worry; the first-run versions on Saturday were sold at a discount.)

It would be pretty ironic if I made stationery decorated with fountain pens that didn't take fountain pen ink, wouldn't it?

You can see the instructions for the letter writer on how to assemble their aerogramme in the lower left corner.  And luckily for those among us who use fountain pens on a regular basis, these are printed on thick part-cotton, part FSC-certified eco-friendly paper that takes fountain pen ink with no trouble.  It took only a couple seconds for the ink to dry.

I mailed one to Dan to make sure they'd work alright. Whew!

Based on some feedback from friends I mailed them to, I may add a small line on the back instructing recipients how to open them.  Apparently aerogrammes are too rare a sight in one's mailbox!
To order an introductory set of 6 for $8 on Etsy:
Bibliophile Aerogrammes
Philepistolist Aerogrammes

o! tidings of comfort and joy!

I'm really excited about the holiday cards I made this year. A friend asked me to design her annual holiday postcard, and I loved how they turned out so much that I wanted to make them available for everyone.


The image was collaged by me using some of my favorite materials: vintage ledger paper, maps, and canceled postage stamps. Add in some ribbon, a doily, and some typewritten words, and you've got the makings of an eclectic, vintage-y holiday note. (Of course, the actual cards don't have a watermark on them.)


I had the collage professionally printed onto FSC-certified, eco-friendly cardstock. Each set of 6 comes with white envelopes in a white stationery box with a clear lid (which are also great for packaging up small Christmas gifts once you've sent out all your cards). The ledger paper design wraps onto the back of the card, and each card is blank inside so that you can personalize them however you wish.


Order your set in my Etsy shop! All orders placed this week will come with a strip of coordinating vintage postage stickers made from canceled stamps, which will go nicely with your cards. Use them to decorate the envelopes -- or keep them to yourself. (I won't tell if you decide to do the latter.)

Stacks and stacks

Why are stacks so satisfying?

This one is especially satisfying, as it took a few days to finish. First, I cut each envelope individually; you can see that some of the pages from which they were cut are visible at the bottom of the stack. Each one is then folded up to make it functional, and then I seal the sides to the bottom flap. I then make a crapton of secret-recipe peel-off strips. Finally, I apply each strip to the top of each envelope flap and organize them into countable stacks. Voila!

Here are 300 envelopes organized into sections of 25. Later this week I will organize them into groups of three and work to make sure each set gets envelopes from three different maps. This will be enough for 100 packs of Recycled Stationery Sets, available to you at Crafty Bastards or through craftgasm.

I can't believe that there are only four days left to work until Crafty Bastards!

Transition to Full-Time Crafter

It's been a while, hasn't it?

To sum up my absence, I was busy getting unemployed and then going on an already-paid-for-and-at-that-point-much-needed vacation.

Now, however, I'm busy getting ready for the massive crowds of shoppers who are coming to Crafty Bastards next Saturday, October 3. This full-time crafting thing has me working more hours than I did at my old job, but it is much more satisfying to have something produced at the end of each day. ("Plus, the dress code is much more relaxed," she said, typing in boxers and a T-shirt.)

Today's happenings in full-time craftgasm-land (FTCL for short):

I trimmed, folded, and assembled 600 sheets of paper into 100 packs of Recycled Stationery Sets this afternoon and evening. I didn't really need to band them up, but it is rather satisfying to do so. These now just need to have envelopes wrapped up with them and they'll be good to go.

Which means I will be cutting, folding, and sealing up 300 envelopes tomorrow. All in a day's work.

(P. S. Have you voted for your favoritest Craftiest Bastard yet? Not that I'm advocating stuffing of ballot boxes, but you get one vote per email address...)

50+ and counting!

I was so happy to watch my hearts climb upward last night, reaching 50 shortly after midnight (Eastern time, that is). I went to bed super-excited.

So imagine how thrilled I was to wake up and see that people had continued adding me to their faves even after the goal was reached! I'm currently at 52 -- and of course, always welcome more hearts! Thank you so much for your support.

As promised, to celebrate I'm going to host a giveaway of a handmade product of mine. I have been getting feedback about the Recycled Stationery Letter Sets --people love the maps and want more of them in the package. The map envelopes are time consuming to cut, so to keep costs down for customers, I had only included one map envelope in each packet, and used reclaimed envelopes for the rest of the set. But so many people have found the letter sets while searching for maps that I am going to split the product line. There will be a set with all map envelopes and blank labels, and then a set with all reclaimed envelopes with handmade map stickers at a lower price point. This will more accurately reflect the skill and time that go into making each letter set.

I'll be repackaging all of the letter sets this weekend to reflect the change, and I'll post here once they're live in my Etsy shop. However, one lucky commenter will be able to get the very first revamped set! If you want to play, leave a comment here with either a) your re-use resolution for 2009, or b) why you like something in my Etsy shop, along with a bot-proof email address to reach you. (While not required, you are more than welcome to pimp my giveaway on your own blog, linking back to this post.) To celebrate the United States' new beginning along with the new beginning of the Recycled Stationery Letter Sets, comments will have to be received by 11:59pm EST on Tuesday, January 20th. I'll use the scientific method of putting the entries in a box on Wednesday and pull one out. The winner will be posted here (maybe along with some pictures I take at Inauguration?), so tune in!

And, of course, if you want to heart craftgasm you are still more than welcome to do so. ;)

My first blog mention!

A blog other than my own, that is.

The folks over at SuperEco, a blog about green living, included my Recycled Stationery Sets in their green last-minute gifts post on December 18th. I'd have never known if it weren't for Google Alerts, so I'm grateful for that -- and for the fact that I have a new blog to check every day! (Like I needed another one of those.)

I hope you had a very happy Christmas or Hanukkah (or for some of you luckies, both), and that your 2009 is fantastic!

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For

I'm sure that folks have been constantly refreshing their browsers, anxiously awaiting the official blog-unveiling of my newest product line. No longer! The time has come!

After amassing a huge collection of stationery as "The Queen of Correspondence" (according to my friends), I started making my own when I couldn't find exactly what I wanted already being made. Enter the Recycled Stationery Sets. They are made entirely from reclaimed, reused, and repurposed papers. Notebooks, old ledgers, and abandoned printer papers are some of the sources of the sheets, and the envelopes are a combination of old maps and reclaimed stationery from an out-of-business company. (Their return address was on the back flap of the envelope, but it is now covered by a plain white label [also reclaimed from the trash heap] that is stamped to coordinate with the rest of the set.) Each set comes with six sheets of paper (two each in three designs), three envelopes (one map, two plain), and assorted stickers and labels made from maps. I'm thrilled with how well they've turned out!
You can see more details about them at my Etsy page, but feel free to ask any questions in the comments section!
How do you keep in touch with faraway friends? And how do you reuse any paper you find yourself swimming in?

The Lovely "Lovely Design"

I planned for my next post to be about my ridiculously cute (if I do say so myself) stationery sets made from repurposed materials, but a troublesome camera and much more exciting news precludes that: Lovely Sharilyn of Lovely Design once again has her journey books in stock! For a long while, the only thing in stock has been the address file cards (which have totally been inspiring me; more on that later) because she's been busy raising her daughter, but we all benefit from these lovelies being back in her store. They're not going to last long, so if you want one, get it while you can!

She also writes a well-photographed blog; whenever it's updated, it's the best part of my blog-reading that day. Check it out!

I will update soon on the new-old stationery, I swear this time!