Happy Mail

It’s That Time of Year Again

~ Patty Radish ~ 6 Comments

Time for the iHanna Post Card Swap!

I think I began participating in the iHanna Post Card Swap in 2014…or maybe 2013. I’m not sure how many years it’s been, I only know it was two blogs ago. My original plan was to repurpose an index card journal to make the postcards…boring! I was feeling much more creative today.

And this is what I came up with…

Painted dictionary pages on cardstock.

This is an experiment that I had zero plans for, until today. I had made these several weeks ago and stuck them on a shelf in hopes I would actually find a use for them…and I did. I will be making a video of how I make these soon, it’s a bit of a process. So, look for that soon if you are interested.

The ephemera bits.

I came across a container with loads of quote cards and such that I’ve been poking around from place to place hoping for inspiration. Nice to finally find a fun project to use them in…on, whatever. These beautiful butterflies are from one of my newest favorite Etsy shops: TheJunkJournalStudio

Olde paper bits.

Again, too much of a good thing. My love for variety gets me into a lot of trouble.

Handmade decorative tape.

These are from a video I made last week, so much fun! If you would like to see how I made these, here’s the link to my channel: EclecticArtJournals

The cards.

As you can see I only made four, I actually need to make 10…unless you would like one!

My plan is to make a video of my postcard making process sometime soon. I may decide to embellish these with a little paint if I get inspired. I really just wanted to get this blog post out there in time in case you were interested in joining up. The deadline to sign up is November 19th, the link to sign up is here: iHanna PCS

Did you catch that little hint up there about sending you a postcard? I think it would be so much fun to make more of these for my friends here, (international mail is more than welcome too). All you have to do is send me an email with your name and address, the button is at the top right of this page.

Sending a card to me is completely optional, I’ll put my address on all the cards I send out.

Until next time,

Thanks so much for stopping in,

Talk to you soon,

~Patty

My Latest Obsession: Mood Boards

~ Patty Radish ~ 10 Comments

And it all started out of frustration!

Sometimes there are so may moving parts to my projects, I have a hard time remembering all of them…so I make lists. That’s great, but even then, I’ll loose my place on the checklist. And really, how inspiring is a list?!

“Happy Mail Mood Board”

As you can see this combines elements with lists, and even some room for detailed notes…game changer. There is so much more to this than words and ephemera, it’s also a springboard for more ideas (and probably a new mood board)

“In the Garden” ephemera pack.

It started with this page spread. I got flustered with constantly referring to my notes and thought instead of making a “memory page” when I was finished making an ephemera pack for my shoppe, I decided to make the page spread ahead of time to remind myself what “goes” into it as opposed to what “went” into it.

“Art Journaling” page.

Now, you’re probably going to think it’s a bit silly after all these years to need a reminder of the elements that go into one of my page spreads, but it’s not. When I decide to create a page spread I’ll usually go through some of my old favorite art journals for ideas, especially if things aren’t clicking.

Now I have an idea book to refer to when (not if!) I get stuck!

If you look up “Mood Board” on the internet, you will see these used for home decor  and fashion ideas, I think you can use them for just about anything creative you are working on, like cards, a quilt, or even a crochet project.

The beauty of this is there’s no more hunting around for the perfect art journal for inspiration, it’s always where I can find it, right above (or on) my desk.

I made this journal by printing “dot grid” onto white card stock and  binding it with the covers of a large vintage book, but you can make something like this in a binder, an art journal, or something to hang on your wall.

I have quite a few more ideas for ephemera packs and other projects, so this may become a series, so I hope you are as excited about my new obsession as I am! 🙂

As always,

Thank you so much for stopping by,

Have a great day!

~Patty

 

It’s That Time of Year Again!

~ Patty Radish ~ 2 Comments

Time for the iHanna Postcard Swap!

I love this time of year, I get to go through all the great happy mail ephemera that has been sent to me over the years, and make art with it!

But best of all, I get to make a keepsake page for my Happy Mail Journal!

And for some reason I decided to up my game and post three videos per week on my YouTube channel, so if you’re interested in seeing a video on my postcard process, go HERE.

…and if you’d like to see the process video on my keepsake page, head on over HERE.

Please let me know if you have any ideas for videos in the comments, I need all the help I can get!

Much Love,

Thank you so much for visiting,

Have a great day,

~Patty

 

Shoppe News! Kitschy Ephemera Packs!

~ Patty Radish ~ 2 Comments

By now you probably know how I feel about kitsch…kinda awesome!

In January I made some pretty kitschy art journals, so I thought it would be fun to put some ephemera packs together too.

Filled with all manner of kitschy goodness, cards, game pieces, images, postage stamps, the usual suspects.

Of course with all the orange and green goodness that befits the 60’s and 70’s.

50+ pieces in each pack, including some pretty cool paperclips to decorate your project.

I made eight of these, and each one is totally unique. Please pop over to my Etsy shoppe to see the full line.

…and as always,

Thank you for the visit,

Have a great week,

~Patty

 

 

New Video Up!

~ Patty Radish ~ 4 Comments

Oh the angst! After much trepidation, I finally jumped the technology hurdle and got a video made. It’s not much, but I had to jump in some where, so I did a flip through of my “Happy Mail” binder.

A sneak peek. I love this cover! As I say in the video, I’m hoping to get some of these into my shoppe soon. My hope is to make videos of shoppe newness sharing more details.

I’d love for you to take a look at my latest video, it’s only about 8 minutes long.  Here’s the link PattysArtJournals.

Keeping it short and sweet this week,

Thanks for dropping by,

Have a wonderful weekend,

~Patty