Snail Mail Art from E

You've seen here frequently snail mail correspondence to and from my friend E. Ours is a never-ending quest to reveal small wonders, forgotten histories, and artistic surprises. These two letters from E are especially fantastic... I believe her Best Ever! She decorated some existing artwork and a photograph - coloring with marker, adding stitching, embossing, adding metallics - then tucked her snail mail art and her cheerful conversations into equally creative envelopes.  Have a look!

snail mail art from E, photo toile la la

snail mail

E's snail mail envelope art with metallic stamping and vintage postage

mail art photo decorated by E, toile la la blog image

vintage lady decorated by E, toile la la photo

E's mail art, toile la la blog image

E-colorized Degas print, snail mail image

From E.

Loads of wonderful mail, letter after letter - creating an impressive stack: 

Mail art from E

Hand-decorated envelopes, intriguing contents - old photos, stories written or typed on recycled vintage ephemera, magazine snippets.  My opinion - good mail far surpasses most TV and most cinema available today.  E pastes pictures to her correspondence, but is also an accomplished describer-of-things - and imaginative.  Some of her recent mail is so excellent, it needs to be shared.

"Today I saw the strangest sight! A couple around 70-ish parked at the bank - both in white,black,gray argyle sweaters - both with frizzy gray hair, both combing their hair on opposite sides of the car while using the windows for a mirror. They were mirror images of each other. It was an Alice in Wonderland kind of scene - I can't imagine what their story was!"

One snowy day, two sparrows collided with themselves reflected in E's (probably-very-clean) windows - she tells me how she came to their rescue:

"I held them in my hand until one flew away but the other showed no sign of flight, so I ran around the house looking for a box to put him in - to keep in the house while he recuperated... . I kept him in the box on my lap for a while then set the box outside - slightly open - and he eventually flew away"

Throughout our correspondence, E has sent me a treasure trove of beautiful vintage stamps from her own philatelic collection, vintage photos, and many many items of ephemera - particularly handwritten letters from the 40s, many of which she found in an abandoned house on her property... marvelous to hold and read.

Alongside one vintage photo of a little boy playing on an old-fashioned metal slide-and-swingset, E wrote a bit of Lord Byron's poem: "There is a Pleasure in the pathless Woods, There is a Rapture on the Shore. There is society where None...".

I sent E a collage and some old family photos after my mother sorted a stack - kept in our family for a very long time. Some were so old and unfamiliar, none of us knew the faces.  E returned to me some of these long lost family friends/acquaintances/relatives - with a few of her own, accompanied by short fictional biographies.

One of these has a very distinct family resemblance... but I'm not revealing which.
Next to photos of a little sister watching her mother sweetly holding a toddler's hands while he learns to walk, E wrote:

"These children had a happy childhood - not easy - hard work - but they were loved and had all they needed. This is the old homeplace - family cemetery is just down the road - lots of happy ghosts about. For them death is just another part of life - not to be feared or misunderstood. Simple acceptance."

In a wee envelope, E placed these ladies for me to admire:

I love seeing their look at that particular moment preserved. They are preened, groomed and fresh, and for the most part - happy, I believe.  On one photo - the fingerprint of the photo processor is visible. These old photos made my day! I just love the coiffures, the fashion, the look of the photography, the contrast... ahhh, delightful! And something about E's sisters/friends photo (lower,center) reminds me of the lady with the collar - who I sent to E... the one she said looked like "she has a lot of mischief behind those eyes".

More contents: a secret garden and antiquarian books - E found in magazines. She loves antiquarian books and very often seems to enjoy the jackets as much as the content.

garden E sent me from a magazine

antiquarian books E liked in a magazine

From E's letters, a few more favorites: John Everett Millais' little Victorian girl - in fancy dress, someone's library cut into the shape of a skirt, a lovely stamp featuring a black man with his hair smartly parted - wearing an exquisite pairing of high collar, fat tie, and jacket...so handsome, a lady in a pompon hat admiring cross-stitch patterns for gingham (love that idea - for spring!), and a lady wearing the same style of pompon hat - posing in a charming family photo with her nice-looking husband and little son. Oh, and look at that snippet of fabric with the blanket-stitching next to Mr. Stamp. I love the texture of the stitching and the grain of the linen/hand-loomed fabric.

someone's library E cut as the shape of a skirt

pompon hat, cross-stitched gingham

pompon hat

Plenty of Real, Good Mail.

Real mail and mail that is creative and good and full of wonder is one thing that thrills me - so here, I'll share some of it with you. E and I have been corresponding for many many many years - from the time we were in college together. Most of the photos show her mail - to me (and that's just some from the last few months!) Then, the last few photos - with the typewriting and paint swatches - show my correspondence to E.

Vintage photo and handkerchief E sent in my letter.

E decorated one envelope with a bronze-inked stamp.

Some vintage stamps from E's collection - kept from her pre-teen years!

Vintage advertising illustration - from the 50s or 60s perhaps.

The ladylike vintage handkerchief in E's letter reminded me of my Nana and her handbags.

I filled in a sketch E made of her "dry creek bed" project and am returning it to her - painted.

The outside of my correspondence to E.

We share a love of animals - particularly cats and dogs. We love paper ephemera and odd household items from the 1940s. We love typewriters. We love old photographs. We love stamps. E knows I love fashion and sewing, so she often sends bits of old patterns. We are bookworms! I have recently discovered E's interest in texture, so I frequently use decorative machine-stitching on her letters.