How Does Your Creative Process Work?

My Journey  Exploring the Creative Process

I have decided that I want to work on my (lack of )  watercolor skills!  I thought simple projects would fit the bill....and so the humble postcard it is.   I mainly get my ideas for watercolors from what's around me...or good ol' Pinterest!  Until I learn the techniques...I will need to study other works and then go from there.

These are my favorite from the last bunch that I did.  I did spray them with a water color sealer. Warning:  It takes a few weeks before the odor evaporates,  These were painted on Cotton Arches and credit goes to Pinterest.

I'm trying not to waste my watercolor paper and so I "practice up" first.  My first attempt at the study  is in my  mixed-media sketchbook.  After sketching the picture,  I work on painting it.

I do another run of the same painting in my Traveler's notebook.  

Haha...I make mistakes everywhere!   Seems I don't know how to spell "December"!

But, three attempts is not always a charm!  My post cards of my winter catus...turned out to be quite disappointing.  I totally forgot what perspective I was working on...haha!   I even  tried covering up my mistake with a label!  It's all good...I send them to my twin sister and ya know what?  She doesn't care!!! ;-)

I thought I would share with you some of the books that I find helpful for learning to sketch and watercolor techniques.  This book is definitely a keeper!  You won't waste a cent on this book.  It's also a great primer on plein air painting as well.  I am not in the practice of carrying around a sketchbook, or doing a "sketch-a-day" but I would love to start getting into that habit. What about you?  Do you add watercolor or other medium to your snailmail?  

A Sketch A Day

Will Keep

Mistakes

Away!

Pam 

A little Christmas Holiday Cheer!

Christmassy Outgoing Postcards....

Hi EVERYONE!!!!!  Just sharing a little bit of what I just sent out to all of my local yokel friends and family (stateside, not international!)  I normally send postcards out to my international  postcrossing community...but instead I sent locally...why not?  So, in addition to the  "real" Christmas mail...my token family picture card...I thought I'd send out some fun stuff!  YAY for me!  :-)

I thought I'd do a flat lay , so you could see the different stamps I used.  Some of them are such cute vintage ones...that I hated saying goodbye to them.   But, I do hope they bring a bit of a smile on the receiver's face! Some of the stamps are not Christmas stamps (like the West Virginia and Alabama. state stamps, and the traffic light!) , but have a prominent red and or green.   

Hoping your Holidays are

Bright and Cheery

Love to you

Always,

Pam

Pen Pal Kit

Merry Christmas...and look at these cards!

Merry Christmas 2018!!

I recently attended a wonderful card making workshop.  This was open to all ages at my church and we had some that were as young as 3 and 4.  I was stationed at this particular styled card.  The more "advanced" card making was at a different table.  We had so much fun, and the children did an amazing job!  The cards were destined to be delivered to a local nursing home.

We signed each card...

I just adore the work that Rachel (6) did on her Christmas trees...and her older sister Lydia decided she wanted to do a different tree altogether.  So creative!

One thing I wanted to share with you is the dual tip brush pen I found at the Dollar Tree which  I saw  on my last trip.  They had a good supply with various colors but  I only purchased one so I could "test it" and not waste money.  I was hugely surprised!  These are  made from a Japanese company

"Marvy"...and let me tell you...they are MARVELOUS!  They have a nice firm tip and are "juicy" so they allow for different levels of color. The marker tip is very fine and works well too.  When I was at the check out, the cashier was gushing about the pen.  He said he did calligraphy and they were great. I should have run back and swiped all of them, but I didn't.  

Here is a closer look...

Needless to say, I went back and bought several more in various colors of what was left.  Evidently the word got out about this product...I hope they get more in!  Moral of the story...trust your Dollar Tree cashier...they know what they are talking about!

Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas

and a Happy New

Year!

Pam

Pen Pal Kit

I've Got The Blues: Snail Mail Flipbook

This is one of my small, simple to make flip books ....you can find more examples of this style of flip book here.  Need some more inspirations?  Try this link...  

Just a few things I put inside my flip book...actually I should probably call them "fold overs"...what do you think they should be called?

Happy Snail Mail Inspiration!

Pam

*Available In My Shop*

Pen Pal Kit

This Little Mail Man...Snail Mail Postal Theme

Who Wouldn't Like to receive this cutie in the mail? 

I absolutely LOVED receiving this super creative , vintage postal themed envelope and long, chatty letter. This was from a pal  I met at the DC Postal Meet Up, organized by Global Pen Pal!  Carrie is a great creative talent in the snail mail community.  You can follow her work on Instagram:  

Carriejojo212. She pumps out mail like no one's business, and ALL of it good mail!

Urgent!!!  I needed to get something out to Carrie...and I decided to  continue the vintage postal theme!  I grabbed one of my vintage children's readers and  was thrilled to find a picture of "Mr. Postman"!!   Then I had to get out my post office stamps, and vintage stamps...and here you have it!

And this cute photo  as a pair!  Yay!  We LOVE our post women AND men!

Happy Snail Mailing,

Pam

*Available In My Shop*

Pen Pal Kit

Pen Pal Letter Set

Hey Girl, Hey...Snail Mail Antics

Hey Girl!

Michele always sends such wonderful mail to me...I needed to get busy. As cappuccinoandartjournal would tell us..."to get good mail,  you gotta send good mail"!  The pressure was on.  The group from the " D.C. Postal Meet Up" are some serious mail artists.  And here I am just doing my cutesie, crafty little thing over  here in my corner of the world...but not these folks. They are into all their cool artistic techniques churning out mail nearly EVERY day.  I'm slow folks. And the pressure was on.    So this is what I came up with for Michele who sent me this GREAT mail pictured below...

Isn't her "stamp head" spot on?  She is just oozing talent in very direction!!  So much fun to receive such great mail!  Thank you Michele.  You can follow Michele on Instagram:  mbcano1.

My son , Benji, went off to camp for a week this summer.  I tried to find something that a teenage boy would not be  too embarrassed to receive.  I think I asked him weeks after he was home from camp (when I remembered to ask) if he ever received the letter... he said, "oh yeah, mom".  Ha, I guess he appreciated it.

Have fun with your outgoing mail...put a smile on the postal carrier's face!

Pam

*Available In The Shop!*

Pen Pal Letter Set Kit

Pat Mail....Let The CRAZINESS Begin..

SNAIL MAIL AT ITS BEST

HELLO, RVA!

Everyone needs a crazy, wacky sister like mine.  Oh, and to top it off, she is my identical TWIN  sister.  Of course that doesn't make me crazy or wacky....ha! This summer she came for a visit, taking the Amtrak down to my neck of the woods...Richmond , VA.  When she came to town, I had already planned each and every day with something she hadn't already done in the Richmond and surrounding areas.  We had a blast...and she was so sweet to send me a thank you card(s) with her very cool graphic art and watercolor.

Are you ready?  Dare to open?  I did.

First, THANKS!!  For what?

Our first trip was downtown Richmond for an electric bike tour of historic Church Hill.  We had a great tour guide and it was absolutely fantastic,  everyone needs to check out their local e-bike tours!

One day was spent at the Jefferson for high tea!  You can read all about it here:High Tea At The Jefferson  .  You will have to google why the alligator is in the picture.  It figures into the history of the Jefferson Hotel.

And then the obligatory family time!  And that is no small feat getting 10 children, 4 spouses,  and 11 (now 12) grand kids all together! And just so you know, no babies were injured or harmed in the "baby lift" competitions.  Brandon of course, rocked it!

We had so much fun researching the type of coconut (4 layer originally) cake that my grandmother used to make --circa 1920's?.  We had narrowed it down to about 8 different recipes online, and finally think that we found THE ONE!  Here is the recipe we settled on: Grandma's Coconut Cake.   It was amazing....and so much fun to make with Pat.  Thanks, Pat, for taking over the grating of the coconut!

Ah, then the interesting trip to Petersburg Virginia.  Petersburg has a fantastic  Civil War history and the city is amazing to visit...but be warned!  Since the town has suffered almost total bankruptcy this past year , the tourism industry has been completely annihilated!  First stop to the Visitor Center?  Closed!  Museums?  Closed!  The historic area is like a ghost town!  One saving grace was our luncheon at the Dixie Restaurant!  Great small  town vibes, super friendly service, and we were told ahead of time about the heavenly "Spoon Bread" which was literally "to die for!"  Great place, I highly recommend.   Then it was on to the national battlefield to see the "Battle of the Crater"...my young uns that we took were not really impressed.  I think you have to be an adult to appreciate this interesting bit of history.  But, there too, the museum was CLOSED!  Ugh, arrrrgh!

Richmond, Virginia is home to one of the only two, URBAN  level 5 white water rafting in the country!  So off we went to try our hand at it!  Ha, ha, the pictures are ACCURATE!  We lost Pat and my son Benji on the first rapid into the water!  We had to go into rescue mode immediately! Thankfully we all made it through the rapids without loss of limb or life!  It was an experience of a lifetime.  

Hi Lydia!  We had some swim time in the river which was great on the sweltering day we happened to be on the James River.

Such fun mail!  Thank YOU Pat for keeping the memories alive, even more so than the photos that we took.  What a great week, with this mail I will  always look back with a smile.

I hope you have enjoyed this travelog , maybe you can go out and explore your own city too.

Happy Snail Mailing,

Pam

*Available In My Shop*

Pen Pal Letter Set Kit

Incoming Happy Mail from Patti!

Incoming:Vintage, Postal Themed Mail!

The envelope was only the start to a wonderful what was to come!

Just look at this gorgeous hand made, zippered pouch from the Tim Holtz postal fabric made by my new instagram friend, Patti! Super for keeping a stash of postal goodies , especially good for on the run letter writing! You can find her on instagram as:  pmarti5.  You'll want to check her out, she makes fabulous mail art!

The note card is so amazing!  Made of thick , cotton-y like paper...lovely!  And write back...I did!  You'll see my letter to Patti in a future post.

Coming soon!  A photo tour of my recent trip to the National Postal Museum  (Washington DC) with new friends that I have made on Instagram.    Stay tuned!

Happy Snail Mailing!

Pam

More Out Going Snail Mail!

Dear Elaine....

Some long over due Elaine mail... Do you have a long time pen pal?  I have a few.  They are great! 

This was a little flip book with an autumn theme.  Some people say that I have an "illustrative" style of letter writing.  I fill the boarders with little tidbits.  Just a "side note" :) but the pen pictured is a rather nice black gel pen from the Dollar Tree.  I'll try them out...seriously, you can't go too wrong if you are just paying a dollar.  This pen wrote decently.  

Map themed envelope for Miss Ella.  This was made from a sheet of scrapbooking paper. I hope she enjoyed some of the older stamps.  Oh, and another plug for the Dollar Tree store:  the middle washi tape roll was purchased there.  So cute.

Happy Snail Mailing!

Pam

*Available In The Shop*

Pen Pals Letter Writing Kit

Black Friday Specials!

Black Friday Deals For YOU!

All  10 of my  themed Letter Writing Kits are on sale this week at my  Etsy Store: LostArtRevived .But for Black Friday there is a special discount.  Use this coupon code :  BLACKFRIDAY10 for an additional discount (at checkout) to make your total discount 20% off any of my letter writing kits.  This is the lowest price of the year. Thanks for all your views on my blog!  Have a wonderful rest of your holiday!

Happy Snail Mailing!

Pam

Pocket Sized Flip Books

I did a couple smaller flip books recently, and they were pretty similar that I thought that I would group them together in a single post. The lighting in some of the photo's is awful, so I will apologize now! I don't really have many comments to make, so I'll just let the photos do the work.  Enjoy!

 I enjoyed passing on some vintage post cards that I had!

Here is another cool vintage postcard  of a cathedral.  

Birds and eggs...

Happy Snail Mailing

Pam