Mail Art

 I have been fascinated by mail art since I read about it years ago (on the internet of course), and I bought a few books about examples of mail art around the world.  I painted quite a few of my own, but sadly didn't think to take photos of them - or if I did, they have long disappeared into cyberspace or are languishing on old memory sticks or CDs...

So having renewed my interest after joining a ProBoards forum dedicated to Snail Mail, I have decorated some more envelopes and posted them to friends locally.  They were all loved!   Mind you, I copied most of them from examples on Pinterest, so if any of these look familiar, I am not claiming my art is original!

Felt ornaments and Ceramic tile coasters.

Here are the felt ornaments I have made this year.  Mostly inspired by what I have seen on Pinterest.

These are coasters made from ceramic tiles (67 cents at Bunnings) with old street directory maps and old sheet music cut up and glued on using Modge Podge.  They have adhesive felt backing.

Christmas crafts 2018

Can't believe it has been a year since I posted on this blog!  I have made quite a few bits and pieces this year apart from patchwork and embroidery!  I made some felt ornaments, and more Christmas cards.  The first two are birthday cards.

These are this year's Xmas cards:  They are all inspired by cards I have seen on  Pinterest.

Handmade Christmas cards

It is that time again!  And I am in another card swap on the Home Makers Forum, with two ladies both in England who will be receiving these cards well before Christmas, I hope!

I would have liked to do better than this, but I haven't been feeling up to par lately after the diagnosis of bladder cancer.  Even though the operation removed all the tumours, and I am now undergoing treatment to clear any remaining cancer cells, it is all a bit draining.  Still, I hope the recipients will like their cards regardless!

Xmas colouring book boxes and more cards.

I found this unique colouring book in a local bookshop last week.  Each page is removable, to be coloured in and then made into a gift box.  Very clever!

I've made two so far.  Here is one of the sheets coloured, and yet to be made up into a box, and a box already made up.  I'm using mine to put handmade soaps in to give to friends.

I have also made another card, for a friend who has recently adopted a Scotty Dog.

And added stars to a couple of my paint sample chip Xmas tree cards.

Three more Christmas cards made.

Everyone who seen my handmade cards loves the way I've used paint sample cards as above.  So far I've only made stylised Xmas trees, but I've seen other shapes on Pinterest, and hope to made some more cards using different Xmas icons.
The button card at the top of this page is the first one I've made using buttons.  Again, I have sourced Pinterest for ideas, and this was a quick easy design to start off my button cards!

Hand made Christmas cards

This year I am in a Xmas card exchange on a forum. In fact, it was my idea to have the exchange as I knew there were quite a few members who loved making cards, and I thought it would be fun for them all to swap with each other. I got so enthused, I looked up the card ideas I'd been saving on my Pinterest account, and made these cards all in one afternoon! Some of my friends said they were amazed at how quick I was, but really, once you have all the bits and pieces on a table in front of you, it doesn't take long to make up a few cards. I don't spend a lot of money on expensive cardmaking equipment; I'd rather recycle things like old sheet music, paint sample cards, and cutting up old Xmas cards. Then with some card stock and glitter glue - away I went!

Felt and fabric coasters

Like most of us who are into crafts, I get many emails from various organisations and online forums, with ideas for projects and new products.  I browse through them quickly and save what interests me, then delete the rest.  Last week I noticed this project on one of the emails, and couldn't wait to try it, as it is so quick and easy.
Find a square of fabric (mine is 5" square), and find a square of co-ordinating felt that is slightly bigger than the fabric.  Machine sew the fabric to the felt, around the design, or at random, then around the edge of the fabric.  Cut the edge of the felt with pinking shears.  That's it!  The samples on the craft forum were florals, and they had machine stitched roughly around the flowers, so the stitching on the reverse side, showed up as a design on the felt.  I chose to use Christmas fabric for three of mine because I wanted to see if they would be good enough as small Xmas gifts.   They will, but not these ones - next time I'll be a bit more careful with the stitching, and use contrasting thread so it looks better on the back.