After many months of um-ing and ah-ing about where to begin I finally put together a little zine - a kind of ode to letter writing called 'Push The Envelope'. I picked up twenty freshly photocopied copies at Officeworks this evening, folded and tied them with baker's twine. The zine is only twelve pages long, but it's full of lettery facts and history, quotes, pictures and miscellanea. It was great fun to put together and I have a few more ziney ideas in mind already.

I've listed the zine on my Etsy - it will set you back $3US and I'll decorate the vessel it arrives to you in extra special :)

ALSO: Anyone who has tried to purchase one already, but the listing was no longer there, I have relisted them and will get a bunch more printed today :) Thank you for the zine love folks!

Ps. I must give credit for that beautiful doily on my coffee table to Micaela's mum! :D

^ Earlier in the week C and I went for a bike ride to a place called Cataract Gorge, nearby to where where we live, which is just a majestic place. For a place this is so beautiful it does not photograph well, but C did snap this pretty picture of a peacock in the park (they'll steal your lunch!) and a slightly worried Bianca on the suspension bridge over the water - it was very windy and my skirt blew up many times. Afterwards we rode to the shops and by the time we got home we'd ridden almost 20kms. That probably doesn't sound like much, but I was so exhausted! (PS. I just noticed that my hat matches the peacock).




^ A beautifully assembled vintage stamp collage postcard from Deborah in Bendigo.


^ Something totally delightful from Corinne - I am thinking of blu-tacking the mail-themed folder she sent me to my wall.


^ A lovely letter and a lovely pressed autumnal leaf from Felicia in Manitoba.


^ I was so excited to see a little missive from Adeline. I have been a fan of her blog for some time and she is the sweetest lady (and French!).


^ A very sweet letter first from Kristen in California on Wonder Woman stationery.


^ A wonderfully spooky Halloweeny postcard from Missive Maven.


^ I ordered a vintage ephemera pack on Etsy from Zombie Parts and I just had to share the haul I received. I can't wait to make collages with the bits.


^ Cynthia sent me this gorgeous card. Very sweet.


^ My Novocastrian pal and lovely shop owner, Nici, sent me the program to this year's This Is Not Art festival, in which the poster I made was published. So sad I didn't get to attend TiNA this year, it sounded wonderful. As always, Nici included a bundle of goodies. Thank you again lady!


^ Garci was kind enough to send this travelling artistamp postcard on to me - you add your own stamp and send it on to someone else as part of a Tangle Crafts project. Further down this post is my stamp.



Well, I didn't quite churn out 5 letters a day this week, but I chipped a few letters off the pile.


^ Some letters and postcards sent out earlier this week (and something not so lettery - a pack of Mi Goreng with a label and stamps on it for my former Newcastle housemate, hope they're squashed when they get to him :D)


^ My list of letters to respond to - I dare you to count them! (it has since had about 5 extra letters added to it).


^ Something very belated for Patty, hope she digs it.


^ Something toothpastey for Brodie.


^ An overdue package for my pal Carmen (aka Peggy Sue). I won't show the contents so I don't spoil it, but it does contain a blow-up plastic fish.


^ I haven't sent any Postcrossing postcards in about 9 months, but I felt like sending one yesterday, so I reactivated my account. This postcard is going to Alexandre in France.


^ Some postcards for Amy.


^ A postcard for Wendy and a postcard for Marguerite.


^ A bundle of bits for Carrie in Vancouver.


^ Something slightly punk for Shona in the UK.


^ For Femke in The Netherlands.


^ My artistamp for Tangle Crafts' postcard. I made it with a stamp outline and a collage I made and printed them onto sticker paper. I sent it on to Jane in Ohio.


^ A bundle of things for Shelita in Baton Rouge (every time I see her address I want to sing 'Bobby McGee').


^ Another children's book envelope for miss Rashel.


^ A studio rocket postcard for Linsey in Oklahoma.


^ A card I made for the real estate agent who helped us get out house.

^ Ned the Dachshund by Emma Bond. WANT!

Cute found giveaways;
- An excellent paper ephemera giveaway being held by Ashley of A Catalog of Enchantments (til Friday).
- Lovely Andrea of The Art of Staying Up All Night is giving away one of her pretty collages and a mystery package (til 9th Oct).
- Much Love Anna is giving away an original handmade skirt from Beta Boutique (til 11th Oct).
- Dawbis of Lovely Paper Blog is hosting a lovely papery giveaway (til 13th Oct).
- Fat Aus is giving away a pair of fun Paola Loves To Shop sunglasses (til 21st Oct).
- Katyha is hosting her first giveaway - a copy of the new Frankie magazine journal/planner, very cute (til 1st Nov).
- Rashel is giving away an assortment of sweet stationery (til 12th Nov).

I know these don't make for the most interesting of posts, but I like to share 'em.

^ by Eqcomics (via Good Mail Day)

An important question I meant to include in the survey post last week was - What makes a good letter? Do you have any answers for this question? A list of necessary ingredients? What makes a bad letter? I find the "what makes a good letter?" question a hard one. When you read one you know, but it's hard to put your finger on just what makes it so good. I would say honesty and humour are always good ingredients.

Today I made about five pages for the slowly evolving mail themed zine I'm making. I will definitely update on it's progress.