Rachel Greig

Inked mail

Reasons why I love to create and send inked mail:

1. It stands out from the crowd.

2. It's fun to create! One of the things I love about mail art is there are no limits. You don't have to create a masterpiece. Everything can be random so it's the perfect palette to experiment and have a little fun.

3. It's unexpected. We all receive normal mail, bills, junk mail etc. Receiving a little craziness in your mail box puts a smile on your dial!

Stamps used: Correspondence and Mail Art by Darkroom Door.

Mail Art: Stencil Postcards

I came across some stencils in my craft room the other day and used them to create a couple of mail art postcards. Unfortunately I have no idea which company made the stencils (they are a green plastic). I used Distress Inks to sponge the colour inside the stencil shape to create the flowers. The 'Enjoy Life's Moments'  stamp is by Hero Arts.

It gives such a nice soft look - especially when combining a few different ink colours to blend together. I stitched around the edges with a sewing machine just to finish it off. Here's the back of the postcards:

The 'ornate frame' and 'to' stamps were perfect for creating an address label. These little cards have been written on and sent on their way, hopefully the recipients enjoy them as much as I had fun creating them!

Mail Art: Stamped Postcards

My new craft room is getting a good workout these days. I've been enjoying tinkering away, painting, stamping and creating. These postcards were created with thick chipboard which I painted, collaged with paper and stamped with some of my favourite stamps. They're now on their way to USA and Germany.

The main stamp I used was the Paris Postcard by Tim Holtz. (such a great stamp!) Other stamps I used are Dream Words (One of the stamps I designed for Stamp-It), Flourish (Stamp-It) and Staples (Tim Holtz). Also used paper by 7gypsies and various shades of paints and Distress Inks.

It's so fun to send something like this in the mail!

Write a letter...

This article was found by Carolee from Good Mail Day. It was published in 1980, right when I was just starting to write letters and find my first pen pals. It's a good reminder that the letters, postcards, or any handwritten note can really mean a lot to those we love and care about. Read on...

Here's another article...

With the introduction of email, Facebook, Twitter and texting in recent times, it seems the art of letter writing is even rarer these days. I use all of the above methods for day to day correspondence, even more so than the phone, but I still like to handwrite letters, postcards and thank you notes. I love finding different stamps and popping mail into the big red box to send it on its way. I imagine in 100 years from now, someone will stumble across a bunch of letters that I have written and wonder what this crazy woman was rambling about!! Actually, my current letter friends don't need to wait 100 years for that!

Yours in writing,

Rachel

Map Envelope Mail Art

I've stumbled across this website where you can print out an envelope template that is lined with your Google Maps location. I've had fun creating envelopes from various places I've lived and worked...

Our current home:

  

Darkroom Door warehouse:

Where I grew up:

and where Stew & I used to live in Sydney.... (hmmm, makes me want to live back there!)

Click here to create your own!

Hope you're all having a fun weekend!

Preparations and mail art

Only two weeks and I'll be in Europe! My to do list is a mile long, but one way or another I'll get on that plane :) I've been thinking about what mail art and postcards I'll send to the kids while i'm away. I was also thinking of sending some postcards to their class at school. I thought it may be interesting for the kids to learn a bit about the other countries. I'll speak to their teachers this week to see if we can work something out.

Speaking of mail art, look what arrived in my mail box this week!

From Cindy in USA:

My Grandma wrote me a wonderful letter and sent it in this envelope:

And the best mail art I received this week was from Amy (aged 8 I think) who's Mum Michelle is on our Darkroom Door Creative Team:

 

 

Is this not the cutest letter you've ever seen? Thanks Amy! I'll send you a letter back soon :) 

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Rach x  

Mail Art

I started creating mail art when I was about 10 years old, although at that time I didn't know it was considered 'mail art'. I just liked making envelopes out of crazy stuff and seeing what could get through the post to my friends. I had lots of pen friends (in Europe mainly) and we'd write back and forth using all sorts of wonderful creations to send the letters in. I'd cut up magazines, use old calendars, old maps and street directories, sheet music, old text books, childrens books... nothing was safe!

I have a great collection of the mail I've received over the years too. Two suitcases and the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet are all full of letters, postcards and mail art. And that's only some of it. Unfortunately some pieces were damaged in a house move about 15 years ago, they were mostly the ones from my childhood, so envelopes of all the pinup boys at that time (mainly Bros!) so I was really disappointed.

I thought I'd start to scan & photograph some of the postal outgoings that I create and share them here. I'll warn you - my mail is a mish mash of anything. From random craft bits on my desk to more detailed pieces, there's some pieces that some people may call 'mail trash' instead of 'mail art'! But my intention has never been for it to be considered 'art'. My intention is just to bring a smile to the face of the postie and especially to brighten the recipients' mailbox!

Sometimes I just make envelopes out of patterned paper.

Sometimes I just send messages to random people to tell them how much I liked something that they did.

And when I share them on here, if I can't share the actual message, you'll see ugly photoshop work to make it unreadable. And the addresses will be removed to protect the innocent!

But hopefully you might enjoy seeing what I send out...

One of my favourite pieces of mail was to Small Studio Productions in USA. I sent over some sand from our local beach (they were in the middle of a snowy winter at the time). The envelope made it intact!

And sometimes I create crazy postcards from food boxes:

I think one of the main reasons I'm doing more mail art again these days is to have fun with my kids. We decorate envelopes to send out to their friends and our family. They also love seeing what arrives back in our mailbox! It's fun!

If you'd like to swap some mail art, you're welcome to send something to us care of this address:

Cheers,

Rachel