Happy Mail

I Need Your Input! (or getting to the heart of the issue)

~ Patty Radish ~ 17 Comments

So, this morning I had a yen to write a blog post, just like many other mornings in the past. The problem is/was that I had already shared these photos on Instagram and Facebook, and I didn’t necessarily want to “saturate” social media with the same material, I guess that’s kind of a taboo.

But, I find that I have more to say on a subject than what I can say in IG or FB, which finally brings me to my questions: Does it really matter, or actually bother anyone if I share the same photos on my blog as I do on other social media? Do any of you really see my photos any where else? (IG is a bit fickle) Lastly, should I continue to “share” photos from IG to FB? We’ll get back to this.

Now, on to some journal sharing…

This is a journal I put together with some lovely happy mail from an IG friend, @misbabsybarnes, her style is to die for! She quilts in the most awesome way, her decorating is Kitschy McFab, she’s a great art journaler, and her thrifty finds are over the top! I kinda like her!

Anyway, we shared some art journaling bits, and I came up with the idea of making twin art journals for the two of us. She’s been working on hers for a while, and I finally broke mine out recently.

That cover decor was a complete screw up of another project, but I couldn’t throw it away, I’m glad I didn’t!

A case in point of not having enough room/time/patience to write about in my IG sharing. This is an envelope that I included in the middle of our journals. I filled mine with the ephemera Miss Babsy sent me that would fit. It’s like my favorite detail in this journal!

I have a box filled with crappity-crap from around my art room that I pull from to do my pages, but I rely on this little envelope for a lot of the cute stuff.

A little mini page I made from a piece of painted background I use in my shoppe journals. I want the little gifts I receive in happy mail to be somewhere I can enjoy them once in a while, like that camera. That sticker is from a shop that’s no longer in business, which makes me sad, so I’m using them a lot in here to.

I did this page before we took off to see our daughter in eastern Washington. It’s kind of a Fall road trip theme.

The trip was very short, and this is my happy being home again page spread. My daughter is buying a new house, and the moving in day was moved back, so we came home the same day. It was a rough day of driving, so home sure looked good!

I can’t resist images like this of tall mid century buildings, especially with all that color, love! That background page is from what the “Art to the 5th” girls call “underpaper”, so I will too. It’s the paper I use to protect my work surface, and as you know, I don’t throw much away.

I love creating scenes! No, not in public, but with things I find and put together. All three of these images are from different sources.

Apparently, this girl is spouting off about something, and the little guy says, “Ya, talk to the butterfly, I’m outta here!”

…and so am I for now.

Please give me your opinion on those questions above, I really need your input.

I have a lot of lovely people in my life, but they don’t really take as much of an interest in my art adventures as my online friends (you) do, if you know what I mean.

So, let me know what you think,

Until next time,

Have a great day,

Thanks for the visit,

~Patty

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Another Batch of Postcards

~ Patty Radish ~ 18 Comments

GIVEAWAY CLOSED! BUT PLEASE DON’T LET THAT STOP YOU FROM ENJOYING MY BLOG POST. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED. I’LL BE SURE TO  HAVE ANOTHER ONE SOON!

My last postcard giveaway was a lot more successful than I thought it would be! As a matter of fact, because I neglected to put a stop on the offer to send one to anyone that emailed their address to me, I have fallen behind on sending them out.

And, because I can’t just make one or two at a time, I’m having another giveaway. Yay!

I want to give you plenty of time to think about it, so I wrote a super lengthy blog post. A process post for this latest batch:

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First, let’s start with the base layer. This is an experiment I did with layered painting from an online class I took. I’m not going to beat around the bush, I don’t like it! I don’t know if it’s because this is just not my style, or I just need to practice more.

It has been stuffed in my closet for a few months, and I think this is the perfect project for it. First, I adhered it onto heavy card stock…

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…then I started the layering process. My favorite tissue paper and matte medium. I always use Liquitex matte medium because it’s very smooth and doesn’t dry too fast, so the tissue paper won’t tear too easily.

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As you can see, the background is still visible, kinda.

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Next, a little doodle coloring. These pens said waterproof, but they still smeared a bit.

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But it looked pretty before it smeared.

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My new postcard making kit. This used to be my “Happy Mail” journal kit, but it sat around untouched for way too long, so I reorganized it. Instead of the envelopes labeled with the sender’s names, I organized them into categories, stickers, vintage ephemera, cards and tags, that sort of thing.

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I have kind of a loose layering system, having my stash organized works much better for me. Because the background is such riot of color, I went with neutral images, then built from there. Some of you may recognize some of the goodies you have sent to me over the years, thank you!

First, stickers, then the image, stars and hearts, the postage stamps last.

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I went over each one with tinted matte medium (I explain that here). After they’re dry, I go around some of the elements with a 9B pencil and eraser. The card at the top left is the before, the lower right the after. I love the shadows and contrast the pencil makes.

img_6806So, there they all are. The last layer is a coat of satin varnish, it seals the layers and saturates the colors a bit.

Now to the giveaway! I’m going to do this one a bit differently than my last one, I’ve made a few rules:

#1. You must follow my blog

#2. You must comment on this blog post

#3. Please email your physical address to me, the link is at the top right

(This giveaway is open internationally)

And that’s it!

I only made 8 of these, and 2 of them are promised to a couple of gals from my last giveaway (that means you Sue and Miss Iowa). So, the first 6 people that meet the above criteria will receive one of these cards, (I guess I’m assuming somebody will want one, geeze I hope so!)

If you have any questions, or if you feel as if I have left something out, please comment or email me. And if you would like to send a little postcard art to me, just email me, and I’ll send you my address 🙂

Once again,

Thank you for stopping by,

Have a great weekend,

~Patty

My End of Year Catch Up…

~ Patty Radish ~ 7 Comments

My original plan was to write an “End of Year Round Up”, but frankly, I just don’t have it in me to re-cap an entire year. This year has had many highs and lows!

Highs: Becoming a Grandmother, an awesome year for my shoppe, starting this here new blog, and all you wonderful people that follow me! Thank you!

Lows: Losing both my parents within 6 months, most notably my mom just two weeks ago.

That being said, (and out of the way thank you very much), I’m really looking forward to the New Year! So, here’s a bit of the latest doings:IMG_1242

From top left clockwise: A Kiwidori all gussied up and ready for the New Year, an honest-to-goodness Midori (love!), and my mini dori journal. Dori heaven!

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The plan for my Kiwidori is to be a Vision Board for 2016. I’ve filled it with inspirational quotes and have already worked on a few pages. I’ll share it in more detail sometime soon.

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I’m still working on my Holiday Journal, I usually keep one going until Jan. 1st.

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I get to add these awesome goodies to it too! These were sent to me by my sweet friend Jenny P.! Thank you Jenny!IMG_1145Then there is this. The Stitchery journal that I found poked onto a shelf last week. Sewing is on the top of my list of things I must get back to, that and crochet, not to mention gardening…

…which brings to a subject I have pondering a lot about over the last couple of months, I miss my olde blog!

There, I said it!

So, I have decided that I will be working on and talking about many of the projects I used to write about on ye olde blog. For instance decorating, sometimes cooking, definitely sewing, crochet and gardening. I’ll be backing down a bit from my planning adventure, not completely though, it’s still a tool I rely on quite a bit. The decor got to be too time consuming to be realistic.

So, if you haven’t already noticed, I switched up my blog list on the side bar to some old favorites. People I have been following for years, that change really makes this blog seem more homey to me.

I’m hoping that 2016 will be the year of catching up on old projects, making more time for my family, focusing more on art journaling, and sharing a bit more of my personal side on this here blog. Hope you want to tag along!

Until next year,

Thank you stopping by,

Happy New Year!

~Patty

(p.s. I will be taking off over the pass to visit my daughter, so if I don’t get to the comments, please forgive, thanks)

iHanna Postcard Swap Happy Mail

~ Patty Radish ~ 2 Comments

Well, most of the cards have arrived. With the Holidays pretty much upon us, I thought it was a good time to share some of the gorgeous cards I will be adding to my collection!

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The artistry this time around was quite surprising! So much love and care in each card! I loved reading the notes people wrote on their cards, lovely!

IMG_0794Bright beautiful colors all around! The card in the middle was an extra one sent by sweet Jenny, I wasn’t actually on her list, she put me on it though! Thank you Jenny!

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Like I’ve said before, I wish iHanna would do this swap more often! I absolutely love it!

Thank you for stopping by,

Have a great day,

~Patty

A Happy Mail Surprise!

~ Patty Radish ~ 5 Comments

I received this lovely Happy Mail last month, but it has been a crazy couple of months, so I’m just getting around to sharing it! I love getting things in the mail, especially when they are so wonderfully thought out, as to fit my style!

Vintage beauty and colorful kitsch, need I say more? Of course I do!

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These are from the wonderful Jenny. They were all lovingly wrapped in kraft paper with their sources written on them and accompanied by several thoughtful notes and letters! Treasures indeed! Thank you Jenny, I can’t wait to use them! That whole “Why didn’t somebody tell me 2 years ago, Pyrex ovenware is 30% to 50% off!” rocks my world! I totally feel her pain!

I may leave the children’s cookbook as is and use it as an art journal!

Those stickers already have a special place in a particular journal I plan to share very soon!

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These two groups are from my sweet friend Iryna in Belarus. She always sends me a beautifully eclectic collection of ephemera from her country along with a thoughtful handwritten letter! As I look through all of this loveliness, I think of where I might use each piece.

And because I have decided that I must stop hoarding my mail goodies, and start using them…

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…I made a sort of commemorative page in my “Big” journal! This was so much fun! I will definitely have to do this more often!

As you can see, I stayed with a red food theme, with the exception of the ladybug and the rose of course! See the radishes? Iryna usually tries to include them in her mailings, Love!

I love the little girl peeking from behind the strawberries!

Do you have a special way that you store your letters? I’m not sure how to go about it. If you have any ideas on the subject, I sure would like to know about it!

Once again, thanks so much for stopping by,

Have a great day, it’s Friday!

~Patty