A Post Card To Help Save A Little Post Office

Jane Davies owns a little Post Office in Rupert, Vermont which is under review for deciding whether or not to keep it open. See a picture and video of her little Post Office and read what she shared about it here at: Jane's little Post Office. She says: "It's one of the smallest, and definitely the cutest, post office in the state, and probably in the country."  And I agree with her, it certainly is and I love her chickens, too!

In an attempt to increase the volume of mail to her Post Office she is sharing a fun post card mailing hoping to keep her Post Office open. Here's her instructions:

 So, in an attempt to (A) increase the volume of mail that comes through my little post office, and (B) to do something really FUN, I'm proposing the following:

• YOU send me an art postcard. It can be original handmade, or a photocopy of something you've made. Print your name and address clearly on the card.
• Mail to: Jane Davies, PO Box 45, Rupert, VT  05768
•  I  send YOU a postcard, handmade.  I don't promise it will be something you want to frame, but it will be original.  I will send postcards to the first 200 respondents.
• I will post ALL the post cards I receive on this blog.  On each card I will indicate the name of its creator and the place from whence it came.  If the volume is overwhelming, I'll open a separate blog just for the cards.  If nobody sends me a card, I will be sad and our post mistress will be out of a good time, and eventually a job.

She also has some great art tutorials at her blog. One of my favorite is the Visual Journal with Gel Plate where she shows how to make journal page backgrounds and pages (the unbound folios) as starting points for visual exploration. She paints, draws, prints then decorates or makes collage for finishing the pages for binding into a book format for further use. More of her tutorials here.

Here's a photo of a post card I made for a post card swap in 2008 that I sent to her yesterday:

I printed it on cardstock then printed the image of one of my antique post cards (below) on the other side to make it look like a real post card - up at the top left is says: "T. N. T."--To-day, Not to-morrow!:

This vintage post card image above is a "Freebie For You" from my personal vintage post card collection. This is free to download and you may use it in your art only, NOT for Sale on a Collage Sheet or a CD.

If you use this vintage post card for any personal art or art projects for sale, please, make a reference back to me here at my altered heART works blog A Post Card To Help Save A Little Post Office. Thanks! I would love to see what you make. :-)

Freebies For You: Vintage Thanksgiving Day Post Cards

My days are filled with doctor appointments and my new job but I wanted to share two vintage Thanksgiving post cards from my personal collection:

These are free images from my personal collection. They are free to download and you may use them in your art only, NOT for Sale on a Collage Sheet or a CD.

 If you use this vintage post card for any personal art or art projects for sale, please, make a reference back to me here at my altered heART works blog Freebies For You - Vintage Thanksgiving Day Post Cards

If you use them I would love to see what you make. :-)

ENJOY!

Changing of the Season: Sunflower Farewell To Summer

In this time of transition from one season to the next there are lingering evidences of the summer season: the sunny, cheerful Sunflowers still bloom in my backyard, with wilted, decaying blossoms hanging low to the ground. As summer ends I mourn it's leaving and treasure the last few days. I've always been a summer person and even with the sweltering and oppressive heat this summer, I have hated to see it go, more so this year than ever. Just as the beautiful, bright Sun becomes more distant each day, it reminds me of other "leavings" in my life: I see my mother getting older (she was never to get old and leave me), my two daughters don't need me as they did when they were younger (they were to never grow up and not need me), my husband and I are not as young as we use to be and we're not as youthful (we were never to get older either), my years as a home educating-work-at-home mom have ended and I now have a part time job away from home (I was never to be any where but home-sweet-home). I see each of my loved ones slipping away day by day and a re-arranging of our lives, our hearts. A bit of sadness tugs at me with this new beginning, this new season. It's been a long time since life has been bittersweet with happiness and sadness so closely intertwined . . . but I know, deep down in my heart, these changes are

by design - and right - and good. Now, the cooler, crisp days of the coming Autumn move me towards this new season. With all my Summer days as precious memories, an anticipation and hope stirs quietly within me. I know the days ahead have been planned for me, with some easier and more welcomed, some more difficult and not as welcomed but I will go through them for I know they will be full of treasures and goodness, mercy and grace, love and family, friends and art -- just like the past season. Within my heart I have peace and faith. Autumn is a beautiful season that I will fully enjoy too.

More recently I've been blessed with a new friend who loves Sunflowers and art. :-) She and I are making Sunflower post cards for a swap. I already received my friend's lovely card. Thank you, Barbara Marie, I love it, it is beautiful. A special gift, a precious memory of this Summer's Sunflowers. Mine will be finished and in the mail soon. I'll post a picture of it here in this post to update it.

Edit Update: Here is the Sunflower Post Card I made for my friend in our swap

"Autumn Owl" Post Card

This measures 3.5 x 5.5 inches instead of the standard 4 x 6 size post cards. It was a scrap piece and I measured it smaller than I should have. I love Owls - inspired by Owls:

Post Card Swap

I participated in a post card swap due by tomorrow Feb 15 and this is the card I made. I sent it a week or so ago.

Front & back:

This is the card I received in the swap: