LE Sketchbook: Covers

The last part of each sketchbook project I complete is always the cover. I feel as though I have to see all of the completed pages before I can get a good idea for the cover.

The inside front cover has a brief description about the subject of the sketchbook.

The inside back cover ends with a similar style as that of the first page. Our family rhythm repeats our distance and time love story.

See the rest of my Limited Edition Sketchbook pages.

Mail Art Monday: Decorated Envelopes

This warm, sunny weather has found me spending most of my free time outside either gardening or playing with the kids. I will be making these mail art posts biweekly for the summer so they'll each be substantial and I get a bit less screen time.

in their mailbox...

Jessica received my first postcard reply this week. I'm not thoroughly satisfied with my first contribution but I am enjoying pushing my comfort zone and the surprises that arise. This card came with a story about fishing in northern Saskatchewan with my family. There was a rush of excitement when I'd catch one but I couldn't help feeling guilty when it was on its way to be cleaned for dinner.

I also included a collection of clippings, paper and circles for her reply.

in my postbox...

Sarah may have set a record for the fastest overseas reply (in fact, she mentioned it was only three days!). I was surprised and delighted to see a sewn envelope with a nautical scene painted on one side and a small pocket with a bundle of paper ephemera on the other.

When I originally signed up for the orphaned postcard project I requested three postcards. In my first reply from Post Muse I learned that two of them had already found a home. After sending off my first card I requested two more which arrived this week. A Portage & Main city of Winnipeg card (my birth city) and a Brugge card.

Barbara has also found herself spending most of her spare time in the garden. To my benefit (and great delight) she found time to put together a wonderful package which, once again, spoiled me rotten. The envelope was decorated with a beautiful flower and inside I found a colourful collection of ephemera, stickers, paper, prints and stamps. Along with lettuce seeds, she also included a helpful clipping on how to keep those pesky cats from leaving 'deposits' in your garden. I had ungraciously announced that I hoped our neighbourhood cougars would eat our unwelcome feline visitor. These tips seem to be a much more humane approach.

Since my heart seems to be in the yard rather than the studio lately, perhaps I'll bring some elements of my garden into my next round of mail art replies.

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Mail Art Monday: Slugs and Prints

This week flew right by. While I was a little sad to find nothing in my mail box, I was delighted to hear that two packages arrived at their destinations.

In their postbox...

I had set aside an old atlas page for a mail art envelope ages ago but it wasn't until I was putting together Barbara's mail art package that I found the perfect fit. Her home town of Kamloops was highlighted perfectly so that my stamp and address label fit around the town. There's a great shot of the finished envelope on Barbara's blog. In this perfectly suited envelope I stuffed in a print of my first arthouse sketchbook page that I thought she'd enjoy, being an avid gardener. I made two mini envelopes and stuffed one with bugs and bees and the other with cats. A few clippings including a funny New Yorker cartoon, geometric shapes, a Russian flashcard and a gardening clipping with a wonderful quote about spring. I topped off the package with a couple of silhouette prints.

Sarah received my reply to our first exchange with a bright magenta envelope stuffed full of prints, stamps, drawings stickers and a local postcard. Sarah lives in the UK and I thought it might be interesting to send along some Canadian stamps as well as a postcard that highlights the landscape right around my town on the island.

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4x6 Trade

I was tempted by the thought of Arthouse Coop's 4x6 exchange project but dissuaded by the necessity to have a US stamp on the envelope. While I was asking Twitter what they thought, Marcus at Lucky Jack Press offered a personal trade. I took Marcus up on his offer and quickly got to work.

After some hemming and hawing, starts and stops, I decided to create a self-portrait. I used some of the handmade watercolour paper I received from Jill and started with a wash of green, grey and black in the background. I penciled in my head using my sketchbook page as a reference. I cut the face out and created three, two-sided inserts. I used magazine clippings, illustrations, origami paper and stickers. Each side represents a memory or event.

I put tabs on each insert after realizing it wasn't very easy to get each one in and out.

Marcus replied with fold-out 4x6 card representing elements of his surroundings in the Yukon. A mixed media polar bear with a stoic gaze appears on one side while the inside's colours are reminiscent of a Yellowknife sunset.

The other side held a photo of the northern lights. It took me a little time to recall where I was when I saw them in person. With a little help from my mother, I was able to recall that it was likely on a camping trip in northern or central Saskatchewan. Away from the city lights where the stars are piercingly bright and the gentle waves of aurora borealis can be seen dancing across the sky. It's really magical.

A Baker Lake art postcard was also included with a message that conveyed a longing for spring. I think all Canadians are feeling the same way, no matter how mild or harsh the winter.

Marcus had been teasing me with hints of the story of Sedna. While this initial trade didn't have any Sedna illustrations, I'm pleased to read that our trade will continue and perhaps Sedna will appear one of these days.

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