Fused Plastic Envelopes

Happy Tuesday,

See the pretty envelope I made. This is a recycling project. I got the idea from Patsy of HeArtWorks. She did a great post with a tutorial using plastic banners. I don't have any banners but I did have some fused plastic Walmart and Dillons grocery bags so I put them to good use. It was fun and messy creating the first step of these; painting with acrylic paint and then stamping with ink. I even scribbled with my new gold leaf pen on one. I have finished four of them so far. I hope Patsy remembers she agreed to do a trade with me during June. She is in the Phillipines. I plan to send one through our mail to my mom tomorrow to see how they hold up. I suppose I could have machine stitched the sides shut or just glued them but it was fun sewing them up by hand. Do stop over and visit Patsy at HeARTworks. She has a great blog and is a wonderful artist. She has been adding ATC's to her scrapbook pages. Here are pics of the 4 envelopes I have made so far. Not only would they be great for mailing things in (pretty snailmail) but I thought they would be great ATC holders or gift card holders to tuck inside packages or suitcases. They could even be used to leave a tip for the waitress or the hotel maid. Maybe with a business card tucked inside too. What other ideas might they be good for? I plan to attempt to make a bigger one that I could use to send several smaller ones to Patsy with. These are not exactly even either. I left the plastic just as it was and just folded it in uneven thirds. I like the look.

FrontsBacks

Wow, I am really on a roll here. I haven't blogged this often in a long time. I still have another project I am working on, more 4X4 tulips. They are not finished yet though. And I have done a pastel-over of a poppy and one of my cats. I still have to create a background for them. I'll show them to you all another time.

Until then~

Be Happy, Be Healthy, Be Safe,

Tess

Recycled Envelopes and Surprises in the Mail

I wanted to share a special surprise I created for my mom. I actually mailed it off today. We like to send each other things by snail mail now and then. Just little thinking of you reminders. Anyways, I was browsing around on the internet the other day and found this Donna Downey youtube clip with instructions to make a mini album using recycled envelopes. Since I just happened to have some bill envelopes saved and the clip looked pretty easy to follow I decided to give it a try. This is what I came up with.

I had more fun coming up with ideas to make the tags I think. At first I had stuff on just one side of the tags and then i added to the other. The black is ink. The instructions Donna gave sure looked easier than it was to use the ink. Either that or I'm just not any good at inking things. I think I will definitely do this again but without the ink next time. Maybe I'll try adding paint to the edges of the paper and envelopes. Any way I had fun with this, and recycled, and used up some themed scrapbook papers and stickers I had just laying there, calling to me. Ever have that feeling; your stash of crafting stuff is calling to you? :-)

I received a very special package in the mail recently myself. I bought a pack of postcards from Jessica of vol.25. She is a stay at home mom and an artist. I love her drawings and designs. She has a great little etsy shop too. She is running a special on post card packs this month and is including extra cards in the packs too.

The backs are blank so they could be used for other things besides postcards. I just mailed one to Finland and one to Texas through postcrossings. Isn't this just the cutest image? If you haven't seen her designs before do stop by Jessica's blog and etsy shop. She has two adorable little girls and is a wonderful artist.

I must sign off now. Frankie is needing attention again. That little cat gets into everything.

See what I mean!!

Tess