What you need in your "Traveling Mail Art Kit" from the new book Good Mail Day

Do you love art, school and office supplies? Well, today's inside peek is all about putting together a "Mail Art Kit" that was so fun and reminiscent of getting fresh school supplies I had a blast doing it!

Good Mail Day:
A Primer for Making Eye-Popping Postal Art
By
Jennie Hinchcliff and Carolee Gilligan Wheeler

"What is a good mail day?" A good mail day is a day when, instead of just bills, catalogs, and advertisements, your postal carrier delivers artful, beautiful, personal mail from friends and acquaintances all over the world. Mail art is a collaborative art form with a long and fascinating history populated by famous artists as well as everyday practitioners.

The term "mail art" refers to pieces of art sent through the mail rather than displayed or sold in traditional venues. Mail artists often use inexpensive and recycled materials including postcards, collage, rubber stamps, and photocopied images. Mail art is a truly international activity and a fun way to connect with people in every corner of the globe. Readers will learn to create decorated and illustrated envelopes, faux postage and artistamps, find penpals, make a mail art kit, and much more!

Jennie Hinchcliff has been an active part of international mail art circles and communities for over a decade, has curated San Francisco mail art shows, and produces the quarterly mail art zine Red Letter Day. She teaches book arts and bookbinding at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

Carolee Gilligan Wheeler teaches popular classes on bookbinding at the San Francisco Center for the Book.

Click on the images to read how to put together a mail art to-go kit and all the things that you might want to have with you.

Here is what I came up with:

First:

The container for my supplies:

I had a Creative Options Craft Notebook that was made for just such a purpose. Up until this point I hadn't filled it with goodies because I really wasn't crafting on the go beyond knitting or cross stitch, but now I will be!

Following the lists in Good Mail Day I packed this great little craft travel organizer full.

All the little zip pockets and elastic sections were so fun to fill as I went down the list.

Good Mail Day comes with an envelope template (and stickers) but I happen to have this Judikins one that fits great in my Traveling Mail Art Kit with a tiny cutting mat.

Now on to my first piece of mail art.

I needed to ship some books to a friend and always wanting to recycle envelopes I had a bubble pack envelope that was a great size but was covered in all the old address and shipping info to me so I needed to cover it up. I cut basic rectangles that were the same size as the ones I needed to cover out of sticker paper.

 

Then I went to town stamping and embellishing. I can't wait to hear how the receiver likes it!

Today's question:

What's the best piece of mail art you have received?

As a thanks for answering you will be entered to win a free book!

Comments

[JonelB]

I don't *receive* it, really, I end up giving it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29444962@N05/3652509457/

My favorite thing to do is just sketch on the outside of the envelope. This one was a great bubble mailer that all made out of all Kraft paper(Walmart was clearing them out and I bought the rest of theirs), and it just screamed at me to draw all over it. I have a set of extra-fine-point sharpies that are in every color(I think I got the whole set for $6), and I like to doodle on envelopes with them. I know the ink won't run, and I'm sure the receiver will still appreciate the gesture/artwork, and the envelope will still get there(I'm paranoid about stuff falling off/getting ripped on the machinery it gets shoved through.
Also, sticking with simple materials means I can just drag the pencil case I keep my sharpies in with me, and not have to worry about losing any part of it.
However, for all-black sketches I do use either a thicker sharpie, or one of my fountain pens with waterproof ink.

[Maggie]

Oh, I love everything about this post, Stef. Thank you!!!!! :)

[Aliogator]

The best piece of mail I ever got was a decorated mailing tube! I was so excited to open it! Thanks for the chance to win!

[Tamara]

My mom always sends me great mail art. The best one was a card she made and sent. It looked very serious and sedate on the outside (think the kind of card you buy from Blue Mountain Arts), but inside it was filled with metallic confetti. Somehow she'd rigged the envelope so that when I opened it, the confetti fell out everywhere. It was so funny and a lot of fun to receive, even if (or maybe especially because)I was still vaccuuming stray bits from the carpet 6 months later!

[Jean]

I think my favorite piece of mail art I received was from my college daughter on Mother's Day. She decorated the envelope with all sorts of drawings in bright colors, and then on the inside, she had a beautiful and creative handwritten letter.

I send out much more "Mail Art" than I receive, but it's just as much fun giving as receiving in this case!

Thanks for all of the awesome art and craft updates!!!

[Ellen Lai]

I have 1 or 2 mails decorated with tatted motifs like small flowers and butterflies, another one decorated with cut-out coloured fairies. I treasure them and have been keeping the envelopes until recently, I re-assembled them into ATCs. A great way to keep them!

[TíaBel]

I make and trade crafts on Swap-bot and I've received amazing mail art through that. One of my favorite swappers is the man behind http://stuffbywackystuff.blogspot.com/ . His work is a treat.

[Judy]

It was from my best friend who did not do "art", but who decorated an envelope for a card she was sending to me.

[wendy]

I've swapped mail art for some time, and some of my favorites pieces have been the jewelry bits that one of my mail art buddies has made for me. And of course, everything is always sent in an interesting manner - usually a repurposed box, like a Tazo tea box.

[Laura Jones]

The best mail art I received was when I received a letter in a plastic bottle from my friend in Finland!