Mail Art Madness!

Hello again!!! 

It's me Tera here again to share with you one of my favorite things to do with my rubber stamps... Making Mail Art!

 I love beautiful Envelopes! Opening a mailbox that has a pretty envelope inside can really brighten your day! (Or at least it does mine)    

You don't have to cover the envelope like I did in these two, Even a few stamps or color can really some cheer to your outgoing mail!!  (Yes you can really mail them like this, just as long as the Post Office can clearly read the address you can add as much as you'd like) 

Below are two of my older examples of mail art as well, You may recognize the last one, but i'm sharing its so you can see it has indeed been postmarked and made it to it's destination :) 

Stamps Used in this Post: 

Pen Tips 2 3/4 x 2

Paris Address 1 1/2 x 3 1/4

Chicken Wire 3 3/4 x 4 1/2

Feed Your Soul 3/4 x 4 1/4

Three Victorian Men 3 1/2 x 1 1/2

Film Strip 1 1/2 x 6 1/2

Plate 1430

Dictionary Page 4 x 2 1/2

Diver In Suit 1 1/2 x 3

Triple Mast Sailing Ship 3 1/4 x 2 1/4

Sunken Anchor 2 x 1 1/2

Graphometre 2 3/4 x 3 3/4

Carpe The Hell 1 x 3 1/4

Mollusk Shell 1 x 1

Discover 3/4 x 2 1/4

Long Shell 3/4 x 2 1/4

Plate 890

Three Cowboys 2 3/4 x 3 1/2

Wooden Door 3 x 3 1/2

Train Track Straight 1 x 2 1/4

How The West Was Won 1 x 1 1/2

I hope I'm not missing any, but if I am and you'd like help finding it just leave a comment below and I'll help you find it :) I hope this inspires you to make some pretty mail!

 (Or even to just break out your stamps and get to playing!!)  

Fan Feature!! (Mail Art & DIY Jewelry)

It's plain and simple.. we LOVE seeing our stamps in use. We love seeing them shared on our facebook page, instagrammed, tweeted and stumbling across them on pinterest.

We also LOVE sharing your works with our other fans! And that's just what we're doing today! If you want to be featured in a fan feature, be sure to tag us (#vivalasvegastamps, #vlvstamps) so we stumble across your project!

Today we're sharing one project by Tera:

I think I particularly love this Mail Art piece because of our current swap. It really just invokes so many ideas for mail art!! Give it a go :) Work up a standard sized postcard and pop it in the mail to someone you know. Tera used Explore, Triple Mast Sailing Ship, Carpe the hell, Dictionary page, Diver In Suit and Discover.

P.S. Tera is applying for our Design Team with this project -- did you know we have an open call? Check it out!

and we have one by Kristen:

  Kristen used our Blue Police Box to create these amazing earrings! Might be some inspiration for the upcoming issue of RSM!

Come Sail Away to Some Stamped Deserted Islands...

Welcome to Viva Las Vegastamps! - it's finally FRIDAY and the weekend is almost here! Susan here today bringing a beautiful card made from leftovers and stamped images that are not "perfect". If you are like me, there's really no such thing as a "PERFECT" stamped image. It's the best out of several (or 10) stamped images, then you have a pile that are sent to the "Island of Misfit" images to the scrap box.

Remember the hurricane card I made a while back on shaving cream painted papers... well - the leftovers made their way into my project due to my "ONE TOUCH" rule this week. What is my "one touch" rule? Simple - if I pick something up in effort to find something for a project... it goes in the project, too. I started doing this to help me use up the leftover stuff sitting around that's usable and too good to throw away.

What do you do with leftovers and stamped images that aren't totally perfect... I make MOSAICS. Cut them up and piece them back together. The interesting design of the mosaic pattern adds interest and nobody will notice the stamping faux pas. And a nice fine point black pen for touch ups doesn't hurt, either. Before assembling into a border, I inked all edges with chalk ink to give a aged and weathered feel. I completed this mosaic border with some coordinating May Arts burlap twines that really add to the weathered nautical feel. Miracle Tape makes assembly quick and easy!

That ship in the bottom section of the border did bother me - it was slightly blurred and not completely clear. Another quick and easy fix... just add a layer! I stamped the larger ship onto another scrap of the shaving cream paper, torn around the edges and chalked with Clearsnap creamy brown cats eye chalk ink. Another mishap occurred when I came back a few days later to assemble my finished piece...the black StazOn ink reacted in a couple spots with my shaving cream paper and it blurred out around the masts. It looked like an oil stain and I was compelled to repair this also. So I used a white Signo Uniball pen to color over stained area and smudged out the edges. Then I used a fine point EK Millenium black pen to repair the mast and rope lines. I repeated the white in a few places to complete the look and looks like it was meant to be.

I layered this onto a brown paper bag envelope that I gently took apart to have a piece large enough to layer my mosaic border on. I had a fold at each edge of this paper... hmmm - it's such a perfect match, but that won't do. No worries! To camouflage the folds...I added more folds spaced equally apart - leaving an interesting and textural element to the paper. Another near miss. I mounted the completed piece on top of a plain wicker box. The aged nautical look is completed and my plain box will make a perfect Father's Day gift now.

Supplies used: STAMPS - Nautical Collage #19016, and Triple Mast Sailing Ship #19026, Also used matte natural finish cardstock, and brown paper bag envelope; Miracle Tape; 3-D foam mounting squares; Various May Arts Ribbons/trim; Black StazOn Ink; Ranger Weathered Wood and Peeled Paint Distress Ink for shaving cream painted paper; and Clearsnap Creamy Brown Chalk ink.

ALSO - here's a sneek peek of my Altered Paint Brush for the latest VLVS! Swap. Join me tomorrow at the Saturday Crafts Fair on Linqto to see how I made this. QUESTION everything creative in sbartist : daylight musings room this weekend's Saturday Crafts Fair. Look for the question mark to join in!

All are invited to join me live at 4:00pm EST {1pm PST} in the Daylight Musings room at the Saturday Crafts Fair on Linqto! I demo live every Saturday and I share my projects, how-to's, tips and tricks and more. Tomorrow, I will be showing how to altered a 3" paintbrush - just like the ones I made for the Viva Las Vegastamps! Paintbrush SWAP.

https://apps.facebook.com/mylinqto/saturdaycraftsfair

Thanks so much for dropping by. Stick around a while and check out what the rest of the Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team has been creating -OR- drop by the Viva Las Vegastamps! store and browse the rubber vault. If you would like to see more of my creations please visit my blog, sbartist : painting in the dark HERE. I'll be back in 2 weeks with another stamping adventure! Hope you have an inky day - and a fabulous weekend! Sb