Mailart 365 has moved

We only got two days in Massachusetts. We left on Monday morning, and I again left a trail of mail along our route, but not as much as on the trip down. We stopped more often coming home because both of us remembered a truck stop from a previous trip where they had a lovely selection of Pennsylvania postcards for only 25¢ each but couldn't remember which if the many truck stops it was, so we stopped at lots. We did find the right truck stop and I did stock up on postcards, but the selection of cards wasn't quite as rich as it was the first time.

Another thing we stopped for was ice cream. I have a nice big waffle cone with Cherry Garcia ice cream. Mmmmmmm!

Sometimes, when work is really crazy, we take an ice cream break. My new workplace has a big, gorgeous, well-appointed kitchen with a lovely view and well-stocked freezer. I love that we all (there are only five people in my office) can sit down and have ice cream together to break-up the craziness.

There are days when I wish I had ice cream this big ... I could get in the dish and eat my way out.

This is yesterday's mailart. I couldn't find the scanner cord, and it was late, so I decided to wait until this morning. Found the cord where I swear I didn't put it. I'm blaming the cat.

This is going to kids on the island of Farfum in the Kingdom of Tonga. I read a wonderful blog written by a Peace Corp volunteer and sent the kids he teaches a couple of postcards a while back. One of the kids sent me the fantastic handmade card below.  Nesi is 10 years old and likes to fish. I also learned whales were nearby when the card was written.

I am also sending a box of art supplies under separate cover so the kids can make more postcards. The blog linked above has a modest wishlist of supplies should you all want to send a bit, too. Or maybe just a piece of mailart. The address is on the blog, too.

Originally I had planned to do "Y is for Yellow" and use all yellow food in a particular design that would be a tribute to my mom. I didn't put anything aside for yellow food when I organized my alphabet theme last month because I was certain I had plenty. But, when I went looking this morning, there wasn't a yellow to be found. No bananas. No lemons. No corn. No summer squash. No yellow food at all. So, I decided to go out and browse some tasty local food joints to see if inspiration would strike.

It was a comment on my Facebook page from Pamela that decided my Y for the day. I had posted a photo from a French bakery we visited for the first time and Pamela commented "yum."

Since I pulled a Postcrossing address of someone in Slovakia who is open to homemade, I went with an ice cream yum. Simple, but judging from the recipient's "Favourite" wall, that is what she likes. "Zmrzlina" means "ice cream" in Slovak. It is also my username on Postcrossing. I know it makes the card look like Z and not Y, but so be it. I couldn't resist putting "zmrzlina" on the front of the card.

One of my online usernames is Zmrzlina, which means "ice cream" in Slovak and Czech. I wrote about the origin of that nickname on my blog earlier this week.

I like how this card turned out, so I made another just like it. I'm going to hold onto this card until I get a handmade-friendly Postcrosser on my Zmrzlina profile.

I was in upstate New York over the weekend, at a family gathering. I did use my art-to-go kit but never got to write, or send, what I made, so they will go out tomorrow. This paper doll postcard is heading to someone whose mailart I've admired and always wanted to send something to, but have always held back because I didn't think my work was creative enough. However, I'm trying to let go of those silly worries.

On the back of the postcard, I've attached a small envelope and I put a little paper doll and all her outfits inside the envelope, along with a note. I'll address and mail this as a postcard, but since it is not really a postcard, it goes at first class rate, plus the non-machinable fee.


The car ride up to New York was long, and since I knew my three year old granddaughter would want to play with the little paper doll above and she might not be very careful with it (and I wouldn't really want her to worry about that anyway!), I cut out bigger dolls on the ride north. It made the time go by much faster!

I will post Sunday's mailart creation in a few minutes. And I haven't yet started today's, but we are home and have a "snow day," so I have lots of time for playing in the art room.