Mail Art 20: Answering the Mail Call!

 

It's mail art time once again... But this time, as you'll see, I got sideswiped a bit. The ONLY piece (first one) of "personal" mail / mail art is to my IUOMA (International Union of Mail Artists)  friend Maxima Strange. The rest were all made quickly to give to students for a class OR for one of Maxima's projects. 

This one, SLEEPWALKER IN THE HOUSE OF BAD DREAMS, is for Maxima Strange, as I said. Maxima has projects that I've participated in...and I usually make some sort of envelope to send the cards I make for the projects in. I just completed a project for her a week or so ago and have started on another (which is below). But I have not sent her an envelope with a letter just for her in a while. Also, Maxima is aware of the printer issues I was having at the time. I had gotten a new printer and had ordered replacement ink cartridges for it at the same time. The cartridges that came with it were just to get you going, with minimal ink in them...and I ran out of ink quickly. (My new cartridges wouldn't arrive for another week!) I had printed this title out--but didn't like the font. I was going to wait for the ink and redo it--but I had the time to work on it. Since Maxima knew the situation, I didn't think she'd mind. Notice also that the tag lines are different color. C'est la vie...

IUOMA's Coco Muchmore posted an urgent need for some mail art for some students in a class she is giving on the subject in early April. I told her I'd be happy to help--and was planning to go off-island on Thursday, so I could mail things then. Except, of course, I have the printer ink issue. ARGH! Be that as it may, I was able to work around that and fashioned an envelope for a student made out of various odds and ends I had piled around, unused from previous projects. The "title' is all in different fonts taken from various bits and pieces that had gone unused. HOUSE OF BLOOD came out okay for being nothing but leftovers.

I had time (and spare parts) for a second one. While it has more going on, I don't really like MYSTERY IN THE ATTIC much.  But...

NIGHT GHOSTS is, as you can see, also for Coco's art class. More leftover images mixed together for not-too-bad results. 

GHOST PARTY is a 4th envelope for Coco's class. This one is really weak--but, as with the others, made from unused printed pieces I had laying around. 

And, yes. FRIGHT is the fifth piece o' mail art for Coco's class. I don't know why I am knocking myself out to help her as much as possible for this one presentation/class. I guess it is just that I am a former educator and I understand some of the stress Coco may be facing. Plus, Coco is a great person and I do not mind helping her in this project. I just hope all of my efforts reach her. My mail art envelopes often disappear in the mails--never to be seen again! (And yes--more "leftover" scraps were used to make this one, too.

HORROR IN THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD came out better than expected. Again, this is for Coco's class.

GRANNY'S HOUSE is another for Coco's upcoming class. I hope her class is a hit with the students. I kind of wish I could sit in the back and watch.

THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE HOUSE...one last bit o' mail art for Coco's class. 

Maxima Strange is doing a second "Tribute" project. I was going to do a "Tribute" to my mom...but then I realized that--Duh!--the subject has to be "goth," which my mom is anything but. Who then? H.P. Lovecraft? Edgar Allan Poe? Both have written some amazing stuff...but I didn't feel I'd read enough of either to warrant a tribute. The same could be said for Shirley Jackson and Flannery O'Connor. Stephen King? I've read everything of his except perhaps his newest books (I'm a tad behind)--but he didn't seem very "goth" either. A movie perhaps? I considered the original THE HAUNTING (which is my favorite horror movie. Put it on some night and watch it alone in a dark room...), but how would I do it? And then it hit me... Of course! The original gothic TV soap opera with blatant horror elements, DARK SHADOWS!!! I'd seen every episode. What cheesy fun it was. So, this is what I came up with:

I made 13 cards. Here they are. You may notice some  have smaller fonts (or, in one instance, a different color) for the title and in others the figures are rather sepia toned. That's because, even though I got a new printer, the ink cartridges fizzle out so dang quickly. GEEZ! The color variations are the ink running dry. I've gone through so many cartridges in the brief time I've had the dang printer. And I had to cut out every piece on every card individually as scanning them and then printing them looked awful. This project ate up so much time--jeepers! But it got done...

In order to get it to Maxima as quickly as possible, this is the envelope I slapped together made of stuff I had laying about already. Nothing to see here. No big deal...

And that makes up my usual 10 pieces o' mail for another post. NEXT time, I hope to get back to sending things to others on my (seemingly neverending) list. However, I have a zillion things I need to do in addition to mail art. Coco's class and Maxima's project were a bit urgent and time-sensitive--so they got my immediate attention.  But now...I really need to focus on other things. (Taxes, anyone?) I'm glad I was able to "help"--but now I've got to step away and help myself for a bit. But I will be back--eventually. Just give me a few weeks...

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CHEERS!

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