2019 #3 Mail Art: Authentic Mail with ESC {by Jennie Atkinson}

2019 Topic 3: Mail Art

We have an extremely elegant envelope tonight that involves a masterclass in masking! Jennie has created a beautiful vintage inspired piece of art with lots of super helpful tips on masking,this is a great way to create your own collage of images, and the scripts help it all hang together beautifully ~ Leandra.

Hi everyone, it's Jennie (Live The Dream) here sharing something quite new to me. I have always admired the Mail Art I have seen on Pinterest but never had a go myself. There are SO many individual PaperArtsy stamps that can be used for this topic and I had a job limiting myself to just a few to stamp alongside Raquel's wonderful Floral Stamps released recently.

I thought the best way of creating the Botanical style of Mail Art I wanted was to go down the route of single layer stamping. This is a technique I am turning to time and again for birthday cards to get a layered look but which can be posted at the normal postal rate! It takes time, but well worth the effort.

I couldn't just make the envelope ..... I had to make a card to go inside!

Initially I played around with some stamps to see how they would fit onto the envelope and to decide what I wanted in the foreground and what would sit behind.

I have used stamps from all of these wonderful sets:

ESC18

HP1005

Travel 4 (T4)

Words 4 (W4)

Letters 6 (L6)

Believe me I could have done a whole series of  envelopes from my PaperArtsy stamp collection!! 

I masked out an area for an address and then stamped my first two uppermost images with Potting Soil Archival Ink and then made a mask for them from A Post It Note. If you stamp your mask near the top of the pad you get a little sticky bit which helps to adhere it to your envelope.

A tip about envelopes: make sure you use one that doesn't bleed through the back (this was a linen type envelope left over from the days when I made wedding invitations) and it helps if you cut a piece of cardstock to fit inside the envelope while stamping.

As each layer was stamped there were more masks to make. The flower was too big for a Post It Note, but a thin piece of paper is all that is needed. If you make the mask from too thick paper or card it doesn't allow the next layer to be stamped close up to the image.

It is now getting even more complicated with the last of the stamping and wondering whether it will actually work!

And hey presto, it did!

I used the same stamps and technique on the back of the envelope and painted in the area of the flower with Fresco Finish Acrylic Paints: Magic Moss, Mulled Wine and Key Lime.

I wasn't very happy with the ragged edge on the Jubilee Rose stamp so tried a butterfly, but that didn't work either. So I had to resort to placing my wax seal over the space. Not quite where I intended it to go....

I did blend some brown ink around the edges to give a bit of definition.


Be warned ..... it is rather addictive!

This was a very enjoyable craft session! I think my two elderly Aunts will be delighted to get one of these envelopes through the post on their birthday - and the fact that there is a matching card inside will probably win me the brownie points for this year!  The single layer stamping using masks is so very effective and there are so many PaperArtsy stamp sets which include stamps, tickets, little postcards and handwriting that the possibilities are endless. And don't throw away the masks - you can use them over and over again.

As always, thank you for joining me!

Jennie x

Blog: Live The Dream