It T'was The Day Before Christmas...A Mail Art Poem...

It t'was the day before Christmas,

And look what I see,

2 pieces of mail art,

On my doorstep-lucky me!

One from Katerina,

Christmas mail art in Blue,

And from Dean Marks, 

Official Erni Deco.

So thanks my mail art friends,

For sending such  treats on,

I wish you wonderful times,

During this holiday season!

The Erni Deco from Dean Marks

The Erni Deco (flipside)

Love the Edith Piaf stamp by the way. Such a treat.

Xmas Blue Mail Art from Katerina Nikoltsou

Xmas Blue Mail Art (flipside).

I thank you and Zombie Kitty Kawaii! thanks you.

Have a great holiday.

Mail Art From Guido Vermeulên...

Hello Guido.
I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the recent mail art you sent. As always, I love your work and I am always intrigued by the titles you give them. They are a wonderful mystery and I do love mysteries.
Thanks again and see you in the mail.
Louise

"When Mamadou Goes To Church" (Envelope)

"Culture Shock" Postcard edition Nr. 22/50

The Emotion Mail Art Project...

...mail art from "lazybunny Amo" of Shanghai, China.
I received this Friday from Amo and if I had to put an emotion to it, I would give it "ecstatic" with it's bright colours and lovely use of organic shapes. I was certainly ecstatic to receive it, so thank you Amo for sending it to me.
Unfortunately, I missed the deadline for the Emotion mail art show that Amo is putting on in Shanghai, but you can find more information about it at:
http://mailattack.net/
Do check it out!

The Elegant Rooster...

*May contain a possible "Downton Abbey" spoiler...you have been warned!*

I received this very handsome fellow in this afternoon's mail from Angie Cope, who informs me that he was created during a flurry of art activity while Downton Abbey (season 2) was on in the background. Now being quite a fan of the series, I applaud Angie's choice of background sounds and humbly thank her for sending me such a thrilling piece of mail art. More thrilling then finding out that Shirley McLean is slated to play Cora's mother in season 3; I honestly can't wait to see her up against Maggie Smith's Dowager Countess...but, I digress...
Anyway, Angie, thank you once again for this piece. It's a beauty and certainly has the Downton spirit within!

What a handsome fella you are!

Mail Art From The Haptic Werewolf, Erni Bär

By the way, "Gesucht" means "Wanted". Here is the piece in it's entirety:

Thanks, Erni!

Mail Art From Finland...

In yesterday's mail, I received this postcard from Carina. It made me chuckle as I always associate "kitchens" with the part of the house where life really happens. It's the reason we bought the house that we are in now. Because of the kitchen. The best part of any party always happens in the kitchen. And, so on...

Receiving this card really did make my day, Carina, so thank you for sending it to me. I really love your vintage sensibilities and your sense of humor.

But, now that we're on the subject of humor, I want to share the other card Carina sent me about a month ago ( I've been a bit behind on my blogging, and I apologize for this.):

 Now, I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this, but I do have my own foreign equivalent of "Pekka", my husband, "Pete, the driver". So, this was especially funny (even "Pete" found it funny). Again, I thank you for your mail art which is always full of good humor.

Dancers and Smiling Dogs...New Mail Art

I received these 2 wonderful pieces of mail yesterday afternoon.

"Smile Dogs" from Angie Cope ( and Snooky)
Angie is currently mounting a Mail Art show called "Celebrate The Dog 2012" of which there have been many wonderful mail art pieces submitted. I submitted one myself and received this very cheerful collage from Angie. How did she know I loved pugs? They always look like they're smiling. Thank you for the lovely card, Angie and good luck with your show!

"Dance, Dancer, Dancing"
Another sweet surprise that arrived in yesterday's mail was this collage postcard from Ursula Rodgers. I love the vintage yet modern feel and again the pure joy that radiates from it. But, the real surprise was the sketch on the back of the card:

It's so lovely, you really can feel the dancer's movement, like she will dance off the page at any moment. Brilliant! Thank you, Ursula, for sending me this beautiful mail art.

The Mother Of All Mail Art Roundups

Yes. Truly my fault. I've left this posting for so long that I have much mail to blog about today. Not that I'm complaining. I love receiving it and sending it as it makes life that much more interesting (and I think my Postal Person finds it amusing.), but I should stop messing around and get on with it...

"Wha'??" from Thom Courcelle

Actually, "Wha??" seems to be my all around catchphrase most of the time for most things. I doubt that Thom actually knows this, which is why it was rather funny to me when I opened his mailart. The inside message actually had me in stitches; "Wake up kisses from Prince Charming are fine, but I'd rather have "GOTIJ"." "Gotij" meaning "YES!!! I have received FAB Mail Art!". And, it includes stickers. I love stickers! This mailart was "Gotij" indeed!

  Braincel #821 from Ryosuke Cohen

Every time I receive one of these "Brain Cels", I feel like I've won a lottery. I can look at them for hours. And, when I go back to look at them, I always see something new in them. Brilliant.

 Two Boekies from Moan Lisa (Formally, "I'm A Superhero, I Fly And Shit")

Moan Lisa is really quite the Mailart Superhero, if you ask me. I am always amazed with some of the things he comes up with. Most people (such as myself), keep their mailart, collect it, so to speak. Not Moan Lisa. He recycles it into something new and sends it along. I love these "boekies". They are a treasure trove of fun.

"Blue Greek Tall Grass And Fabric Cutting" from Katerina Nikoltsou

There are 2 really interesting things about this mailart; one is that the piece of fabric was sent by Amy Irwen to Katerina, who included it in the piece, so it is traveling "along the mailart highway!" But, the other interesting thing is that there is this really cool subtle "grass-like" texture, which unfortunately doesn't show up in this photo. Trust me, it's there and makes this a really splendid piece.

Recycled Birthday Card #1 from Sarah Churchill

I have tons of Birthday, Christmas, Valentine's Day cards etc. squirreled away in all varieties of furniture in all corners of my house as I have some sentimental attachment to them (fool that I am); I keep vowing that I'm going to go through them and do a clean up. Then, I get this lovely mailart from Sarah and I am floored by the clever re-use of the simple birthday card. So, not only did I get a great piece of mailart, I go a reason to start tidying them up and recycling them and sending them back out into the world. Thanks for the inspiring mail art, Sarah!

Fan #37 by Lilian Mariutti

I have to admit, I'm a real fan of works with markers. I love working with markers; maybe, aside from crayons, they make me feel like a kid again. But, that's for another blog post. Anyway, I love the pop arty feel of this piece by Lilian Mariutti. Lilian, by the way, is one of our amazing Zombie Kitty Kawaii! Travels The World Correspondents and her photos/commentary can be seen starting here.

At The North Sea Where Ensor Lived

Masks Were As Common As Fish On The Market Place
By Guido Vermeulen
I love trading mail with Guido. His works make me think as the titles of them are always thought provoking. And, when I get it, it usually makes me smile. Thanks, Guido.

text meraje'z saved
by bil copeland
Please read. Carefully.

A Series Of Mini Graffiti 5:7
by Carina Granlund
Every time I look at this piece, I see something new. I love that. I also love the "Banksy" styled animal woodcut, which does give it that graffiti touch. Nice.

Front

Back

Mystery Message From Dean Marks
I've figured it out finally, have you?

Back

Front

A Mystery (History) of The Greytones
also from Dean Marks

Two more great pieces from Dean. Both works gave me a great laugh and top one really had me thinking and looking hard at it for a quite a while; a message without a bottle. Clever. The big mystery to me is how it gets through the Canadian Postal Service in one piece, but I am glad that it does. I think it also amuses my Postal person to no end, which is why I always get my mail at a reasonable hour of the day. Thanks again, Dean.

So, the round up has come to an end for now. But, as I started writing this a few weeks ago, I am behind again. Uggghhhhh!

Yes. I Do Get Great Mail...Steampunk Edition.

My other blog, Zombie Kitty Kawaii! Travels The World, has been keeping me happily very busy, but I've been sadly neglecting my duties on this one. So, without any further ado:

Two From Angie:

A few weeks ago, I made a comment that if there was a television program made of my life, it would probably be called "Hipster Mom Stuck In The Suburbs And Constantly Waiting For Her Son's Bus". Truth is usually stranger then fiction. Anyway, dear Angie (and Snooky) sent me these two lovely cards. The first is a a very Steampunk Snooky helping me wait for my own bus (probably a steam powered one.). The card cheered me immensely needless to say.
Almost a week later, I received a 2nd card! This amazing "Joseph Cornell" card! He is one of my "Art Hero's", Angie, and I thank you again for such awesome cards!

A "Steamy" Card From Deb By Golly:

From By Golly Engineering comes the "Steam Machine", a vehicle after my own heart! Drive one of these and nobody will ever steal your parking spot ever again. Looking forward to seeing more of your "Steamy" creations, Deb!

From Cheryl Penn:

 Not really Steampunk, but it is brown and brown, after all, is the new black. But, kidding aside, this is some kind of wonderful piece and because it's done on a film-type material it looks different every time I look at it from all angles, back and front, held up to the light, etc.which is why I'm posting 3 different photos of it. In fact, this is so lovely that the photographs cannot really do it justice. Really "Gotij", Cheryl! Thank you.

The Thrilling Adventures Of Captain Balloon Glasses...

Now, if you think the "Lucky Card" was a stroke of mail art genius, Dean M. has outdone himself again. Enter "Captain Balloon Glasses says; Up, Up and Away!" which I received a few days ago. Part Jules Vern, part Terry Gilliam, with a bit of kitsch thrown in for good measure, is the only way words could ever describe it, so I shall let the photos speak for themselves:

Needless to say, "Captain Balloon Glasses" now holds a place of honor with all my favorite things, at my work station where I can bask in it's glory.

But, just in case you really, really need to know what "Balloon Glasses" are (and I know you do), they were a mail art project that I sent to Dean a few months back. Here is one of the photos Dean took of "Balloon Glasses" and his commentary:

"

"Balloon Glasses says; You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

How do they expect the horse to turn the handle?"

"Balloon Glasses" are fun indeed.

The Fantastical Envelope...

... as received from Debbie C. By Golly of Victoria, B.C.

Catching up...

 Well, I've finally have a chance to sit down and play "catch up"on blogging about last weeks incoming mailart. And, a very quality haul it was:

 Beware of Copies Which Can Be Found On Coffee Mugs from Dean Marks (France)

Wow, a lot of juicy reading on this card! Now I know the NATO Phonetic alphabet (very useful), when the clocks go forward and back (always trying to figure that one out), British History Rulers (in order), how to figure out my BMI (that may be embarrassing), Dean's Birthday (hope it's a great one!), and many bits of information that I'm always wondering about at one time or another. Thanks, Dean. Who needs Google when I've got this with it's wealth of info!

 Next: this lovely card from Sue in South Africa. It's so delicate. Thank you for your greetings, Sue. I hope your holidays were fantastic as well.

 Toronto has been very mild, weather wise, but also very grey. So, "Mellow Yellow" from Emmy of The Netherlands was the best thing to receive (next to a shot of vitamin D), to chase the winter blues and greys away! Receiving it immediately warmed me from head to toe. Thanks for the boost, Emmy!

 And then, there are always the surprise packages I receive from Superhero Lobster Johnson, which can keep me busy to no end. I haven't even gotten around to last weeks "challenges" (But, I will. Really.). Anyway, if any of you are on Google+, you need to check out the "Lost Art" project, he has going and all the magnificent "Lost Art" that has been coming in to this project. A very busy man, our Superhero is. I can't keep up.

So, there's the mailart round up for last week. May your week be filled with interesting mail and not junk nor bills.

This Weeks Incoming Mail

January, as expected, is one of those go slow months as everyone is coming off holiday mode and trying to "get back to normal" mode (whatever "normal" is for you.).
So, here is this weeks latest:

"Lumenes" by Sabela Bana of Spain

A package full of surprises from Superhero Lobster Johnson

A splendid poem from bil copeland