Another Batch of Postcards

February 24, 2017March 3, 2017 ~ 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:

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…

…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.

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

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

But it looked pretty before it smeared.

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.

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.

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.

So, 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…

December 30, 2015January 17, 2016 ~ 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:

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!

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.

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

I get to add these awesome goodies to it too! These were sent to me by my sweet friend Jenny P.! Thank you Jenny!Then 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

November 24, 2015 ~ 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!

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!

Bright 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!

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!

November 13, 2015November 13, 2015 ~ 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!

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!

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…

…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

iHanna Post Card Swap Makings

October 27, 2015 ~ Patty Radish ~ 14 Comments

I think I look forward to the iHanna PCS more every time it comes around! It’s only twice a year, I wish it was at least four! But since I’m on the side of having fun, not running it, that’s easy for me to say.

I haven’t written a process post in a long time, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to share a little of mine.

Warning: this post is pretty photo heavy, so I’ll try to keep the text to a minimum.

This is what I started out with, pages from a couple of journals that didn’t quite work out that I cut to size. This happens once in a while, I’ll over do it on the journal makings, then decide to move on.

These seemed a bit too bright, and needed a little strengthening up, so step two…

Hoping these will do the trick! Tissue paper and napkins.

With the napkins you will want to pull the the layers apart, there are usually three, save the printed one to adhere with matte medium. (it’s a whole process I can cover in another post if you would like).

I was concerned that the colors would fade too much, but as soon as they had dried, I was happy.

I have had these snarky recipe cards clanking around for a few years. They are the perfect size for post cards with lines for writing to boot!

The ephemera I have chosen to work with. I will collect things throughout the year that might work for making happy mail. I wanted to go all out “postal” themed with this swap.

The layering process goes as such: card base, tissue paper, main image, large stamps, washi tape, smaller stamps, die cut/punch out, and more washi. Apply a coat of satin varnish if you are so inclined. Let dry, then sand the edges smooth…my favorite part! See the rounded corners, Love!

After all the layering, varnishing, and sanding, they feel quite substantial!

They look a bit like a mini journal page, no surprise there!

And because I have received too many cards that look like the mail truck did a burnout on them, I make envelopes out of book pages (again, another process I can share if you would like). These were made from a 1970’s crafting book.

So there you have it! I had so much fun making these, I decided to make more to send to some of my friends!

If I left out anything, or if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Once again, thank you for stopping by,

Have a great day,

~Patty