Halloween pocket letter

Hello crafty friends!

It's time for a little inspiration for week 2 of the Stampotique Originals designers challenge "use washi tape"

Join the challenge HERE or on Facebook 

I am a washi tape addict so this was right up my alley.... but, I will admit I tend to hoard more than I could possibly use. I wanted to create something special for Halloween and use a variety of tapes, so what better than a pocket letter?

I love creating pocket letters because they  can be several mini scenes in one big art piece!

(you know I love all forms of mail art)

This piece is going to be stuffed with goodies and sent off to a friend.

(Goodies not pictured so the surprise isn't completely ruined)

(Don't you just love this little mad hatter?!)

I just love this sequin shaker part of the card... and the glitter washi tape I used to seal it.

Banksy Takes Over The Postal Service!

Hello Again, and welcome back for another Fabulous 

MAIL ART MONDAY!!! 

Today Banksy is here to take the over the mail with the latest mail art craze... Pocket Letters!!
If you are like me.. then you love the idea of fun art that you can scare with friends and can also be easily kept in a binder to enjoy for years! 

I love that these fit perfectly into a standard business envelope and that you can tuck special surprises into each of the "pockets"... 

 some of my favorite things to add are Washi samples, Tea, Stickers, decorative paper clips, and of course... don't forget the letter!!! 

To create this pocket letter I cut my black cardstock into 9 ATC sized pieces (2.5"x3.5") to use as my base. Then I cut a piece of decorative scrapbook paper to 2.25" x 3.25" so that I would have a small black boarder when they were layered. I glued one base to each colored piece. 

I picked my theme (Banksy) and then began by stamping out each of the black base images on my cards . Next I decided I wanted gold as my accent color, so I added hints of gold to each card to bring everything together. 

(Don't think of them as a layout just do 1 card at a time.. It won't feel over whelming that way....You can always move them around to find a layout when you finish them all.) 

After all of the cards where assembled in the pockets I punched out some gold confetti to add to my pockets for a few shakers. (with gold washi tape to hold it in of course)... If you choose to do this and you want to fill the backs of each pocket add your surprises in the back before adding confetti and taping... it will be easier

Stamps Used:

Banksy Gas Mask Flower Girl 2 x 3 1/4

Banksy Achieve Greatness 1 1/2 x 2 1/4

Banksy Greatness Spray Painter 1 3/4 x 3 1/4

Banksy Rat Walking Chain 2 3/4 x 2

Banksy Rain Under Umbrella Girl 2 3/4 x 4 1/2

Banksy Unhappy Boy 3 x 2 1/2

Banksy Shopping Carts 2 3/4 x 2

Banksy Girl Floating With Balloons 1 1/2 x 3 1/2

Banksy Swing Girl 2 3/4 x 2 3/4

Striped Leggings 2 x 3 1/2

Insert Your Life Story 1 x 1 1/2

Where is my Mind? 1 x 1 1/2

Happy Mail Enclosed 3/4 x 1 3/4

Wonderland 3/4 x 2 3/4

She was a Wildflower 3/4 x 2 1/4

Stitching Lines 1 x 6

Sawtooth Stitching lines 3/4 x 5 1/2

Stitching 3/4 x 2 1/2     (yes 3 different stitching stamps! One can never have too many!! lol)

Smear/Smudge 3/4 x 4 1/4

Writing Triangles 1 1/4 x 3 1.4

Mesh Texture 2 3/4 x 3

Grunge Circles 1 1/2 x 3 1/4

VLVS and Pocket Letter Pals

Hello Everyone!! 

Have you heard of the new fun craze in the crafty mail world? 

It's called Pocket Letter Pals!! Read about it HERE or a short video HERE from the woman who started it. 

I am in love with creating these!!! 

Naturally I love creating ATC's and you know any excuse to create a decorative envelope gets me excited!! So, needless to say this new trend is right up my alley!!!

 I hope you all love what I have to share with you and give it a try also! I know you will love it too!

Stamps used:
Plate 1455 (seriously a MUST HAVE plate! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this plate!!!) 

Pair of Boots 2 1/2 x 2 1/2

Grunge Plus Sign 3/4 x 3/4

Coffee Ring Stain 2 3/4 x 2 1/4

Banksy Achieve Greatness 1 1/2 x 2 1/4

Skinny Minnie 1 x 2 3/4

Pen Tips 2 3/4 x 2

Large Lightbulb 2 x 3

Moon Circle 1 3/4 x 1 1/2

Whimsical Owl in Clothes 1 3/4 x 3

Window Fish 2 1/2 x 3 1/2

Other supplies: 
 Dylusions paints (or whatever you want to create your background with)
Black Ink
Memento Ink in pink (optional used for some background stamping)
Scissors for fussy cutting the owl out
pink marker (color in top right card)
White Gel Pen (add highlights and depth)
Black Marker (to draw "hello")

I started with these super fun painted backgrounds (these two were actually created for me by my mom :D whom is also a craft addict! her blog is HERE)

(owl card created from this sheet)

Next I cut the paper up into individual cards measuring 2.25in x 3.25 in (if you don't want to mount yours on black standard ATC size is fine also)... NOW the fun begins!!!

(Here you can see how my layout started...
and
from the final picture you can see things have been moved around some)

I start by arranging my base cards so that they are pleasing to the eye.. then I start stamping :D I like to add something tea or coffee related since people often send these items with thier letters, so thats what I start with. my next step is usually my "Hello" or about me card. From there i tend to bounce around adding qoutes, and things that blend nicely and make me smile :D 

(Feel free to simplify yours I got super excited and went stamping crazy!! )

Below are some close up - detail shots

(the boots and fish are my 2 favorites... :D )






(had to share one more close-up of this one! I love it!!)

(with VLVS there is no limit to what you can do with these things! Some prefer to work by theme, or style or even color inspiration... Heck you could do cats, dogs or things that start with a specific letter..lol) 

I hope you feel inspired and as excited as I am about these! Let us know if you'd like to see more Pocket Letter inspiration!! 

What's Up Doc?

Hello again!!!

OK many of you may know I need to get better at blogging. ..
 I post to instagram which shares to Facebook and flickr but rarely do i did time to sit down and blog. 

It's hard in this on the go world to find time to sit at the computer. 

So what's been happening?  I'm currently on a small break from school (which ends Monday :-/ ) so I'm working on getting caught up with life. I'm in the process of moving my craft room and reorganizing so that I can hopefully get better function and use our of my space and become more productive and less stressed.  I'm also working on catching up on my swaps (then no more swapping for me... only crafting for fun to take the stress out of it) .  I sent out a huge pile of owed mail today and hopefully more will go out this week :)

I've been working on a few "Pocket letters" If you haven't heard of this I highly recommend looking it up on YouTube... Loving the Idea of it!! 

Here is one that's ALMOST finished... I want to add a qoute to the top right I think, then not sure what else... Then it needs filled with a letter and a few goodies maybe :D 

 

I've also been trying to get all my running done and spending some time with family when I can. Overall things are good :) busy... but that's life! 

 My fur babies also say hello!! 

Here is my "Ollie-Fur" enjoying the window spaces in my new craft room