Mail Art Journal: Love Letters, Part 2

Yesterday I posted a couple of pages from a new art journal I'm creating that uses copies of letters as the pages.  Those pages were letters my husband and I exchanged some 25-30 years ago.  I also decided to include in this art journal copies of letters which my parents exchanged 55 years ago, during their engagement.  My mother was still in Houston, Texas, but my father had already moved out to California to start his career.  My fabulous sister found their letters, scanned them and made books for each of us kids a few years ago.  At the front and back of my art journal, I have envelopes in which I have tucked letters - one from mom to dad (in the envelope above) and one from dad to mom (below):

I added some index prints from their wedding pictures (my same fabulous sister scanned my parents wedding pictures and put them on a disk for each kid) and a little stamping onto the letters.  I'm not sure why it scanned so poorly, but you get the idea.  I have a few more pages to go to finish up the art journal, but I'm really liking how it turned out.
In one of Dina Wakley's classes, she mentioned an artist that often used letters in his art - I think it was Matisse. I remember that the idea caught my attention then, and I've been wanting to get back to it.  The book "Good Mail Day" (which I blogged about and offered up in Pass the Book at this post) brought that thought up again and provided the spark of inspiration for this art journal.  I'll be teaching a class based on this idea (not just for love letters) in April, if you are in the Bay Area and would like to take it.  Have you ever used personal letters in your art or layouts?

Mail Art Journal: Love Letters, Part 1

I was inspired by a book called "Good Mail Day" to create an art journal where the pages are photocopies of letters and envelopes.  I am lucky enough to have saved all the letters which my husband and I sent to each other during the three years that I was in law school in Massachusetts, and he was doing graduate work in California and New York.  For the page above, I copied one of his letters as the background.  I stamped some flowers and postoids on it and then journaled on some artist tape.  I also made a background page by copying a bunch of envelopes:

I added a picture of us (circa the early 80's), some stamping and some journaling.  It's a fun project so far, and I'll be posting some more pages tomorrow, but with love letters from a different couple . . . any guesses as to who that would be?

If you are interested in receiving the book which gave me the inspiration for this art journal, check out my post about Pass the Book at this link.

When I Grow Up . . . (a story)

This is a "story book" I wrote for a Shimelle class called "When I Grow Up." I plan to use Sian's story telling Sundays as a way to finish up the art journal I'm making for the class. 

Once upon a time, there was a little girl.  When she grew up, she wanted to be a veterinarian because she had 52 cats and loved them all.  When she was a little bigger, she wanted to be a spy, so she could be just like Harriet.
When she was eight, she discovered that she wanted to be a photographer because she mailed away cereal box tops to get her first camera.
When she went to high school, she decided to become an architect because she liked to draw and plan.  She also thought about being a choreographer because she loved ballet but knew she really wasn't a very good dancer. When she grew up, she wanted to be tall and pretty, so she could have a boyfriend.
When she was in college, she wanted to be a photojournalist because she had gone to San Francisco to buy her first SLR camera and learned to develop black and white film.
In college, she decided to become a lawyer when she grew up because everyone said she would.

When she was in college, she thought about being a rock 'n' roll drummer and maybe an artist . . . just because.
After law school, she wanted to be an arbitrator, professor or author when she grew up because practicing law was kind of boring.
The older she got, the more she realized that, when she grew up, she really, really, really wanted to be a mom, so she could share her life and her love with her children.
When she got older, she no longer wanted to drum, but she really wanted to make art . . . because she realized she needed to.
And when she grew up, she was loved forever - just for being who she was - by a tall, dark, handsome man;
she became mom to the two most beautiful children in the world;
she taught and wrote about the law with passion; and
she took photographs and happily traveled the road to becoming an artist.
The End

Pass the Book: Good Mail Day

Edited to add:  I have selected Ginger as the next recipient. Thanks to all participants.
Have you heard about Sian's wonderful project From High in the Sky called "Pass the Book"?  It's a wonderful way of sharing books and inspiration and making connections with other bloggers.  You can read all about it and how it works at this link, but it's quite simple.  Sian posts about a book, and if you are interested in the book, you leave a comment with the promise to read it, gather some inspiration from it, post about it on your blog, and then send it along to someone who comments on your post.  I was the lucky recipient of "Good Mail Day," and I've really enjoyed it. It's all about the world of "postal art" and the "good mail" network, where participants send "good mail" to each other, receiving the same in return. It certainly opened up a whole new window on the world to me! Even if you're not ready to take the plunge into the world of postal art, the book contains lots of wonderful technique ideas that can be applied to other paper crafts. 
The book inspired me to send out a few "good mail" missives:

I've stuck mainly with a postcard format for this round, using rubber stamps, collage images and other goodies from my stash.  The postcard on the left has two little envelopes in which I have tucked folded, stamped inserts on which I could write.  And yes, I'm going to attempt to send the spray ink bird through the mail, as is, no envelope.  It's mounted on a piece of mat board, with another piece of watercolor paper on the other side, which has the addressee's information.  I'm not sure what my post office is going to say when I go to mail it today, but I'll let you know!  The book has also given me another BIG inspiration . . . to create an art journal class focusing on using letters, text and mail as the basis for the journal itself.  I'm super excited about this idea, and I'll likely be offering the class in April.
If you're interested in receiving "Good Mail Day" as the next pass the book participant, just leave me a comment below.  I'll choose a name in about a week and then send the book on its way . . . in a beautifully decorated package, of course!

Maria Linda's Pressed Mermaid Album (altered book spread)

My local mixed media group has an ongoing altered book round robin, in which each participant creates art work in someone else's book before passing it along to the next person.  This month, I had the good fortune to work in Lisa's Secrets of the Sea book.  Lisa is an amazing artist, who incorporates fabric into her work and loves the ocean. (She also lurks on my blog, so "Hi Lisa! I hope you don't mind this spoiler.")  Inspired by Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Album, which I blogged about here and here, I created this spread entitled "Maria Linda's Pressed Mermaids." The journaling reads "I know I was supposed to use this album to press coastal wildflowers, but I found it so much more fun to sit by the tidepools and wait for mermaids (curious as they are) to alight on my album and then I would SLAM it shut and press the mermaids.  They'd escape and leave these imprints."  The tag (upper left corner) actually goes in an envelope in the back of the book and explains my inspiration.  The background uses a scraped and painted technique, and I covered the whole thing with glass bead gel for extra texture and shine.  I hope Lisa doesn't mind me spoiling her surprise too much.  If you were her, would you have preferred to be surprised? Or do you like getting a little sneak peek?

Congratulations boys!

Just a quick note to long-time followers with the result of today's big game.  Henry and his Varsity soccer team were in second place, one point behind the league leader, going into today's game against the team at the top of the table (in soccer, you get three points for a win, one point for a tie and no points for a loss).  They were down 1-0 at the half and then gave up another goal about 10 minutes into the second half.  But the boys never gave up.   They converted a corner kick  mid-way through the second half and then just kept attacking the opponent's goal.  They tied the game when Henry (he's #6 in the front front row) took a shot that the goalie blocked but couldn't grab, and another boy (Miguel, #17) pounded it in.  With just two minutes left, Henry took the ball on the right wing and made a beautiful long pass to Miguel.  The goalie had to come out and Miguel, with incredible composure, chipped it over the goalie's head, and it bounced on into the goal.  The fans went wild!  We have nine seniors on our team, and, even though the boys have an incredible amount of talent (2-3 of them are talking of playing in college or trying out for a team in Mexico), they have never managed to win a league championship.  We're all hoping this is their year.
Also, if you're intrigued by the One World, One Heart blog event I posted about earlier, there's still plenty of time to join in.  Check out this link for more information.

One World, One Heart Blog Event

I heard about this wonderful event linking bloggers from all over the world and am excited to participate this year! The One World, One Heart blog event is described in detail at this link.  It's a way to reach out and connect with other bloggers from all over the world.  In order to participate, all you need to do is to link up (in a proper format, see the link for details), introduce yourself, and offer up a prize, with the winner to be selected on February 17.  Here's what I have to offer:

It's an altered slide mailer, with the Maya Angelou quote "Let nothing dim the light that shines within" stamped inside.  If you would like an opportunity to win my slide mailer, simply leave a comment (and make sure there's some way I can contact you, like a blog link or email address).  
Now to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about my blog:
My name is Maria Ontiveros, but I go by Rinda in blogland.  "Rinda" is a childhood nickname, a derivative of my full name "Maria Linda" (which became "Marinda" and then simply "Rinda).  IRL, I am a law professor who specializes the the area of labor and employment law. I have been married for 25 very happy years and have two fabulous, sporty children (DD Clara is 12 and loves the water, especially the beach; DS Henry is 15 and loves soccer and baseball - not necessarily in that order). I live in beautiful Northern California, in a coastal town about 20 miles south of San Francisco.
I am a photographer, scrapbooker and mixed media artist, and my blog focuses on my art (with just a little of my life thrown in).  I love to tell a good story, too (something I inherited from my father).  Most recently, I have been spending most of my creative energy working in my art journals and learning a little about photoshop.
So, new readers, welcome to my blog.  And old, dear friends, thanks for being part of my blog world.  It's sunny and beautiful today in Northern California, with clear blue skies and a calm ocean outside my window. I'm sending a little of that your way . . .