RIP Mailart365

 "Not every act of art creates something special, but it creates something. It is the act of art that is important, not the result." Michael L. Goodman

Last week, I tried to log in to Mailart365.com to post some new images. I found that the site is no longer accessible. Only two of us were still posting in 2025; even the creator of the site stopped posting a few years ago. I completed five years of creating 365 decorated envelopes and postcards each year. I took a short hiatus after year five. I was up to 110 items in year six. Fortunately, I kept an image of each envelope and card in a file, so I have my own record for reference, and I am still committing acts of art every day.

This is one of the first envelopes, front and back, that I posted in year one of my adventure on Mailart365, a subscription renewal for Classical 89 radio.

An envelope from year two.

A collage postcard from year three.

A crayon colored envelope, front and back, from year four.

A decorated magazine page folded into an envelope from year five.

Commit Acts of Art Every Day!

Commit Acts of Art: More "Chunk-o-Cardboard" Postcards

"Not every act of art creates something special, but it does create something. It is the act of art that is important, not the result." Michael L. Goodman

During June, along with gardening, attending funerals, concerts, and working two open houses for the new West Jordan Cultural Arts Center, I have continued to make "chunk-o-cardboard" postcards in hopes of more trades. I have quite a stockpile now. Two more of these trades came to my attention this week: an international trade with one partner and a USA trade with three partners. All I need are addresses and time to write a message on the back.

Here are a few of the new cardboard postcards:

This card looks better in person as the silver tape under the decorative packing tape looks dull.

This month I also made and sent some high school graduation cards to three grandnieces.

Commit Acts of Art Every Day!

Big Art-Little Spaces: Postcard Swap on Swap-bot

 "Not every act of art creates something special, but it creates something. It is the act of art that is important, not the result." Michael L. Goodman

I started looking for some mail swaps on Swap-bot this week. 2018 was the last year that I participated in a Swap-bot posting. I joined a postcard swap that was open to handmade cards. Most swap hosts ban handmade cards because some swappers slap a few stickers on an index card and think they have performed an act of art. If those swappers were Ray Johnson, they might get away with it.

However, some of the best cards I have received in swaps were handmade ranging from pristine pencil drawings to elaborate collages. The card I sent in the swap was the penultimate card in a series I made in 2011 featuring small scherenschnitte pieces I cut for Valentine's Day. I am keeping the last card in the set for my own collection.

I would not mind receiving a postcard like this in the mail.

Here are some other postcards I have made.

Enveloping the Word: "Drop Cloth" Envelopes

 "Not every act of art creates something special, but it creates something. It is the act of art that is important, not the result." Michael L. Goodman

I always put a large piece of white drawing paper on my work table when I am in the act of art. I call it my "drop cloth." It catches extra paint, paste, ink, or whatever else I may be using and makes a handy paper for testing color combinations, stamps, off-handed doddles, and experiments. When I've used a drop cloth for a few days or weeks, I sometimes make an envelope out of the paper. Here is the latest effort. The "drop cloth:"

The resulting envelope:

Some other drop cloth envelopes:

Enveloping the Word: 2023 Christmas Cards

"Not every act of art creates something special, but it creates something. It is the act of art that is important, not the result." Michael L. Goodman 

It has been a long time since I have posted anything on this blog. I will attempt again to keep something going. I have decided to concentrate on decorated envelopes [Enveloping the Word], ATCs/postcards [Big Art-Little Spaces], and handmade books/art journals [Book Art Mania]. I am going to refrain from commenting on criminal political antics, disgusting current events, and the mindless morass of social media in the third decade of the 21st Century. I shall leave any observations I may have on those disasters for other venues, and here concern myself with acts of art.

So, for this first post of 2024, I want to present the decorated envelopes I made for my 2023 Christmas cards. I wanted to have a stylized wreath surrounding the address. After several experiments, I settled on the following pattern. I first drew a circle on the envelope followed by two interlacing, serpentine lines to represent foliage.

I added a few circles for decoration.

I used Tombow ABT Water-Based pens to color the wreath. The greens are numbers 173 and 245. These are two of my favorite greens that I often use together. The gold is number 993, and the red is 845.

I sent out 87 decorated Christmas cards in 2023. I posted photos of them on Mailart365 where I finished my fifth year making 365 envelopes a year.

Here are two of my experiments before I settled on the final wreath design above. I sent these experiments out as well because no envelope gets wasted.

Here are some cards from previous Christmases.