My Month in Numbers 2012: May

Hello, aloha, ahoy. Hi.

As today's the last day of the month it's time to summarise the last 30 days in Julie-World in numbers ... if you'd like to join me the full details can be found here.

17 degrees C = the temperature we had here on Monday ... 

But, as I type, it's raining here this morning, so May seems determined to bow out in disgrace despite bestowing a few glorious [rare] days of sunshine upon us recently. In fact I grabbed this next photo on one such sunny day [those of us under British skies become opportunists like that don't we? Snatching photos of everything and anything while there's bright light ... just in case ... ]

3 quilts + 3 boxes filled with art + craft supplies = the number of items I dropped off to a charity appeal for a special needs school in Zambia [thank you Jo and Katy for your contributions, I dropped them all off together]:

I began the quilts years and years ago, for something else, but they've been sitting in a box in my craft room, unfinished, ever since. They only needed a quick bit of sewing together and they were good to go.

20 years = the length of time James and I have been together, since our first official 'date. [You might have seen the not-wedding anniversary-because-we're-not-married anniversary card I made for him here earlier in the week].

It would make me happy if you just took my word for it that our first date happened when I was 4 years old. It's not true ... but it would make me happy ... ;-)

4 = the colour of the dye I used on my hair this week. Over the years I've used dyes with some extremely exotic names, the last two being Iced Coffee and Frosted Mocha ...perhaps they've run out of names now because this one's brand new and called ... Brown. Just Brown.

Here's me with my brown hair and new haircut:

5 = the number of times the trainee hairdresser washed my hair during my appointment. He washed it twice at first, then conditioned it - so far so normal. Then, when my hairdresser was cutting it she said she could feel conditioner residue ... and called another stylist over to have a feel too ... then, as they both agreed, she instructed the trainee to 'give my lady another rinse'.

When I sat down at the sink she asked the trainee which conditioner he'd used: 'OK' she said, when he told her which one, 'just promise me you didn't use the white one'. He promised he hadn't.  Twice.

But who knows ...

... and what was in the white one???

Once he was suitably chastised, he began re-rinsing my hair. Rather thoroughly. 3 more times. With shampoo.

My neck almost withered away leaning back over that sink by which point I was beginning to think that he had indeed used the 'white one' ... and was frantically trying to get 'it' out ...  

Lather, rinse, repeat ... repeat ... repeat ...

And, just in case you're thinking, 'she only ever uses photos of herself where she's all clean and shiny' ...

4 = the number of hours spent in a hot garden giving the borders a much needed tidy up. After which the plants looked nice and tidy ... while I looked like this:

262 out of 717 = the number of pages I've read, so far, in the 2 new books on my bedside table this month:

 0, 1, 2, 1, 0 ,1 = the significant stages of The Great Big 'Bring Up the Bodies' Farce of May 2012. Here's how it went down:

• 0 books = I didn't pre-order the book online thinking I might find it cheaper in 'real life' somewhere.
• 1 book = James secretly pre-ordered a copy for me, saying only that 'If a parcel comes this week, you can open it, it's for you'. It never crossed my mind that it would be the book ... and so ...
• 2 books = I changed my mind and ordered it for myself ! Then, a few hours later while listening to Hilary Mantel in a radio interview I discovered James had ordered it too [I detected him getting shifty and had to ask if that's what his surprise was ... then confess I'd ordered it too] and so ....
• 1 book = I rushed to cancel my order, leaving me with only 1 book on the way ...
• 0 books = ... but the one he ordered never came and when he checked - a week later - ... they were out of stock! So finally ...
• 1 book = he just went out and bought one from a bricks + mortar bookshop! Hurrah.

As I write, I'm on page 73 and I'm absorbed already. Reviewers keep talking about what a terrible, hard, ruthless man Thomas Cromwell was ... but Mantel makes him so, so charismatic and human I just can't see his failings. Yet. [I've got 334 pages left to change my mind].

The other book is a memoir from Jenny Lawson [of thebloggess.com] and it's fabulous. If you're easily offended or put off by swearing ... it's not for you. I'm neither.

It's one of those books where you find something so funny you have to read bits aloud to whoever you're with, except you can't really manage it because you can't keep a straight face or make sufficiently accurate language sounds come out of your mouth. Very, very, funny.

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So, that was me, all sunshine-grabbing, book reading and hairy. How about you?

You can join in by leaving a comment on this post about your own noteworthy numbers for May. Or, if you'd like to join the growing band of number bloggers ...

The full details can be found here, but I've copied over the key points for you:

The Month in Numbers 'etiquette':
If you write a post and want to leave a link for myself and others to visit and/or pin to the Month in Numbers Pinterest board please bear in mind it has a shared experience aspect to it.

• When you swing by my blog to drop off a link to your Month in Numbers post - please leave a comment for me while you're there. Not because I'm needy ... but because it feels fair. Reciprocal.
• Please link to my blog in your post. As much as I'd like to think that everyone who reads your blog already knows what 'My Month in Numbers' means... the truth is, they don't. So unless you explain where the idea comes from and how your readers can join you in doing the same next month, they are none the wiser.
• Please take time at some point in the month to visit and comment on a few of the other posts too.

 I look forward to reading all your statistics this month and seeing what's been trending amongst you this month - there's usually a few things which lots of us seem to have been doing at the same time!

Now go ... count up your May.

Julie :-) 

Anniversary card: 'Love You'

Hi, hi.

This project seems to fit with my unintentionally recurring theme this month: cards for men.

I put together the first new Plundered Pages card making kits with male-friendly cards in mind [and I'll be adding more today]. Also, last week I shared the card I made for James's birthday complete with a few ideas on embellishing cards with men in mind [ie. without frills + glittery bits].

And now today's card continues the idea [however, I've just realised that I'm contradicting myself as this card does indeed have glittery bits ... you probably shouldn't listen to anything I've got to say ...]. But if you're still listening ...

We had a notable anniversary round here this month, which called for an anniversary card:

It wasn't a wedding anniversary, [turns out you have to have had a wedding to have one of those ...] rather it marks the anniversary of our first official 'date'. Which was both a delightfully and incomprehensibly long time ago now:   

The 'love you' was cut from an old book as was the text paper [below]. It's is a page from one of my favourite finds - the 'Standard Decimal Reckoner' - a book produced to help people convert prices when decimalisation was introduced, but which I use for its lovely number backgrounds. Especially useful to pick out special dates:

The other papers are Basic Grey 'What's Up' and a tiny snippet of 'PB+J' in the 'Love you' frame. I'm having a renewed love-affair with Basic Grey ranges at the moment [sshhhh, James need never know ....].

And here are those aforementioned glittery bits ... along with an Idea-ology 'Trinket Pin':

In the interest of completeness: the 'Thank you for ...' sentiment is a Jillibean Soup 'Soup Label'; the large number card is by 7Gypsies and the sunshine design tag is from the Cosmo Cricket '2wenty Thr3e' Element Deck and I cut the heart from corrugated card using the X-Cut 'Homespun Heart' die..

And here, once again, is how it came together in the end:

Glittery bits aside ... I think it worked OK for a man's card.

And a rather special man at that.

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If all this talk of dates and anniversaries has whetted your number-whistle, then you're welcome to join the growing band of My Month in Numbers bloggers this month. I'll be sharing my post on Thursday but you can join in any time.

Soon.

Julie :-)

New paper kits: Summertime, Father's Day ... & Harry Potter

Hello, hello.

I do hope the sun's been shining on you today, it's made a world of difference to life around here

[The sunshine is the main reason I'm posting this much later than I planned, I've actually been outdoors, soaking up warmth and Vitamin D rather than the usual playing with paper ... in my cave!]

But I did want to make time to introduce you to the latest kits I've been adding to my shop this week starting with my new twist on the Plundered Pages vintage paper packs.

As I make so many cards using the imges from my book collection ... and as I've been sharing them here over recent months ... I thought it made sense to create a pack of Plundered Pages especially for card-making ... and here are the first [of around a dozen] which I'll be adding to the shop in the next week or so:

While I've been putting these first few packs together I've been keeping in mind:

•  men's cards in general;
• and Father's Day cards in particular [seeing as how it's Father's Day on June 17th!]

... because I know how cards-for-men is something some crafters seem to struggle with.

So, these new packs contain:

•  around 6 main feature images/advertisements - which you can use in place of a stamped image or decoupage element - on a greeting card as a focal point;
• 2 vintage book pages;
• a selection of patterned papers carefully chosen to compliment the colours and themes from the focal images;
• matching embellishments / ribbons / 'interesting bits'!; plus ...
• 1 card blank + envelope to get you started.

If you'd like to take a peek ... here they are [and thank you!].

Now let me show you a brand new pack of the 'orignal' Plundered Pages ... a pack which I've thoroughly enjoyed making ... a pack which my sister suggested I just give to her instead of selling [which, hard-hearted beast that I am, I ignored] ... a pack which goes by the name of 'Harry Potter-esque' ... this pack:

Surely that's Hagrid in the centre there? Surely?

If you'd like to see my interpretation of Harry, Hogwarts and Hogsmeade - as found in my collection of vintage books - in more detail then you can see it here.

And finally ... there's lots more new packs in stock featuring - amongst other things:

• summertime scenes, splashing, relaxing;
•  caravan holidays, touring, camping;
• and lots of lovely geometric retro patterns:

You can visit here all the new packs in full if you're in need of a vintage image fix!

Come hail or shine I'm spending tomorrow on the hunt for some 'new' old books to re-stock and add to my collection ... and I'll scatch up with you next week.

Soon, soon.

Julie x

Card: The Key to Her Rejuvenation ..

Hi, hi.

Here's the last of my 3 handmade-but-rather-amusing-anyway cards which I've been sharing this week, and it's perhaps the naughtiest too:

Well, it's the naughtiest I've made so far ...

... while remaining on the right side of decent and legal, so I can still send it safely to someone through the post!

Supplies: Just like the other cards this week:

•  the papers and vintage images are by Pion and are stocked by 3DJean;
• the charms and twine are from The Ribbon Girl;
• and the wording is from a pack of K&Co 'Words to Go';
• the postmark is a rubber stamp I bought a long time ago ... possibly by Crafty Individuals [but don't hold me to that!]

Also:

• if you missed the tutorial on how to make this 'sandwich board' style card - panic not - just visit this earlier post;
• and if you're enjoyin the mix of vintage and humour ... then think about 'Liking' my Facebook page as that's where I'm posting some of the funny pages I happen upon when searching through my vintage book collection for Plundered Pages.

Speaking of which ....

I'll be back tomorrow with a look at the new Plundered Pages I've added to the shop  and also some news of a new range of kits which feature Plundered Pages too ...

See you then then.

Julie :-)

Card: It Wasn't Sublime Love ...

Hello, it's me again. And it's you too, isn't it? Good, I thought so.

Following on from yesterday's post today's is the next instalment of my handmade-can-still-be-funny cards:

In case you missed it, there was a fully illustrated tutorial showing how to make this style of 'sandwich board' card in yesterday's post too.

One thing I forgot to mention in that tutorial was how you can add a little more detail to the hanging section by punching a decorative design along the edge before inserting it into the card.

Here I used my favourite EK Success Round Binder Edge punch:

And now for a close-up of the wording ... which probably took me longer to decide on [amid the millions of options in a pile of K&Co 'Words To Go'] than it did to make the rest of the card from start to finish:

It was the twinkle in her eye which convinced me she might just be thinking ...

Apologies if that's your Great Grandfather that I just called hot ...

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I'll be back tomorrow with the final card in this set until then - if you want a funny fix - I've created a new photo album on my Facebook page to store all the silly innocent-yet-innuendo-ridden pages I find when leafing through my vintage books and magazines! I'll be adding to it whenever I find a new smirk-worthy page.

Tomorrow.

J ;-)

Step by step: Sandwich-board card with added giggling

Hello, hello.

Today is my turn to post over at the 3DJean Design Team blog and I wanted to share my project over here too ... because I like it ... and because, when I came up with the idea ... I made myself laugh [clearly I'm my own biggest fan ...].

And if you've just hopped over here from there then, don't worry, once I've stopped creasing over at my own humour ... I'll share the full step-by-step tutorial I promised.

Now let me just show you what I made: 

 Now, let's be clear about this: the structure of the card - a 'sandwich board' is not something I designed myself. My friend Jan showed me one which, in turn, she'd seen on someone's blog ... and I've just adapted it to suit myself.

You can see better in this photo how it's constructed from a card base, with a hanging section slotted inside:

 And, should you need clearer instructions than that ... I made you this:

Once you've constructed the main card shape,  you can move on to decorating the hanging section inside.

[Word to the wise: DO NOT decorate the dangly section first and then try to fit it through the slot in the top because:

• [a] it won't fit ... and 
• [b] you'll feel like an idiot when you realise it won't fit.

Ask me how I know ...

Anywhooooo ... I covered the hanging section of this card with one of the vintage images from a sheet of Pion paper called 'Romance - From Grandma's Attic' [stocked here at 3DJean]

But, because I'm pathologically unable to take images like this seriously ... and because I like those greetings cards you see in shops which add funny captions beneath vintage photos ...  I decided to add a little bit of humour to this card and to the other 2 in the set, which I'll share with you over the coming days.

This meant me sifting through a pile of K&Co 'Words To Go' until something mildly amusing began to emerge. With this one, I thought the wistful lady might be tired of handwriting letters ... and was longing for email:

I added the main wording-  the 'set up' - to the outside and left the 'punchline' for the inside.

And, as you'll see from the next 2 cards I'll post, this style, and these vintage images, lend themselves nicely to a brand of humour that's a tiny bit friskier too!

I can't promise you'll be barking / snorting / losing fluids laughing at them ... but if nothing else it should be a bit different. It's been pointed out to me by the friends who've seen the full set of these cards, that 'handmade card' and 'funny card' aren't necessarily spoken about in the same breath. And I suppose they're right. Which is a shame really, don't you think?

Humour cards are hugely popular in card shops so maybe we need to start fighting back with our handmade designs. I'm definitely going to make more of a conscious effort to play-up the funny from now on because if you know only 2 things about me they should surely be that I'm a pre-occupied with both papercrafting and trying to be make people laugh ... so 'funny cards' have got to be a win-win for me!

Please feel free to:

•  pin the tutorial to your Pinterest boards for future reference;
•  or to pin the card itself to remind you to sift through your own word labels and stickers until something makes you smile - then stick it to your next card!

I'll be back tomorrow ... with the first of those slightly more risque cards. Join me then? [I promise won't tell anyone you sniggered along with me ...]

Julie :-)

Going Postal: Docrafts' Giveaway winner

Hello. How's your Sunday going / been?

So far I've put together some vintage paper packs while wrapped in a blanket [our boiler's broken, so we have no central heating ... which you'd think would be manageable in May!]. And now I've succumbed to just sitting by the fire thinking about putting together some more vintage paper packs.

It's the thought that counts ...

And, even in my frozen state I've managed to fire up the laptop, tap the number of giveaway entries into a random number generator ... and find a winner for the fabulous Docrafts Portobello Road giveaway!

And, [in case you can't understand me through my chattering teeth ...] here's the lucky lady:

Lynn, I'll be in touch to get your mailing address so Docrafts can send out your prize.

• Thanks to all of you who contributed your wonderful, varied, delightful, funny, moving and strange postal tales - I loved reading through them as they dropped on to my virtual doormat! 
• And thank you to all those who squeezed in a postal post of their own, your company was very much appreciated!
• If you didn't quite get around to posting about post ... don't let the fact that I've finished 'Going Postal' [for now] put you off - I'll still pin any posts which mention the series and link to the Pinterest Board until May 30th. And of course .... postal-loveliness is for life, not just for Going Postal ... so go forth and use all that inspiration from the pin board any time you like!

Right then, that slight scent of burning you can smell is either my laptop tray or the wooden heels on my boots ... either way ... I think we can safely say I'm warm enough and should perhaps move away from the fire ...

I'll see you next week sometime. Soon, soon.

Julie :-)

p.s: Just a reminder to all Month in Numbers bloggers: there's just 11 days left in May - so open up that draft post / notebook now and start scribbling down those vital statistics! I'll start us off ... 1 = the number of cowboy boot heels singed while blogging too close to the fire ...  ;-)

Going Postal: Postal themed vintage paper packs

Hi, hi, hi. 

If I've learnt anything from running the Going Postal series ... twice ... then it's that I'm not the only postal-ephemera-lover out there.  The comments you've left and the projects you've contributed have proven, time and again, that I'm not alone!

So, with that in mind, I created a few postal-themed Plundered Pages packs to satisfy even the most ardent mail-admirers amongst us - and they're now available from my Etsy shop.

There's a large pack [which contains approx 100g]:

Inside there's all kinds of illustrations and text taken from lots of different vintage children's dictionaries, annuals and storybooks:

There's also an old First Day Cover [peeking out above ^^], postcards and around 30 different postage stamps in a rainbow of colours. And I've even included sections from two different vintage maps:

The smaller pack is made up of all the same elements, just in smaller quantities:

But there's still room for 20 stamps inside:

And some Magic Roundabout too:

Ideas for using the packs:

Both the images and the text inside these packs are perfect for:

•  using on scrapbook pages documenting memorable mail stories - like those everyone's sharing in the Docrafts giveaway post comments;
• and pages featuring collections of correspondence, long-saved love-letters, stamp collections and other posty-pastimes and memories;
• greetings cards - especially the 'just a note ...' kind [my favourite ones to make];
• mail art, postcard swaps etc
• art journaling, collage ... and more ...

And of course, you can combine them with your existing supplies of modern paper ranges and embellishments. If you'd like more ideas and examples on using vintage items in your paper crafts you can browse this section of my gallery where I put all the work I've made using plundered pages.

And I'm always interested to see what my customers make from the packs they choose and I pin any finished projects to my Pinterest boards.

So, if you want to see these packs in more detail, or the other themes I have in stock  - then do drop by the shop today.

New themes heading to the shop next week:

• Harry Potter-esque [I'm seriously excited to have found lots of different illustrations which could have been lifeted straight from the Harry Potter books + films! Can't wait to share this one!!];
• various different summertime pack - just in time for holiday crafting and recording;
• and the British Countryside.

If there's anything other themes you'd like to see you can always work with me to create your own custom pack [see here for the full details].  Or else you can always throw ideas at me for me to work on in future packs.

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I'm going to be back tomorrow - after the Docrafts giveaway closes - to announce the winner, so I'll see you then ... I'm off now to cut up old books ... again ...

Julie :-)

Card: Security envelopes + embellishing for men!

Hello again.

It's day 5 of Going Postal 2012, which was meant to be the final day ...

• but I've still got to fit in the new posty themed Plundered Pages I'm adding to the shop today;
• plus I'll need to announce the winner of the giveaway which closes on Sunday. So go enter if you haven't already!

... and I'll be staying postal for at least a few more days yet.

Thank you to all those who've managed to grab time and contribute a mail themed item so far,  they're all safely pinned to the Pinterest board [there's even another giveaway on there which closes on Sunday too - from Bernice's blog, so if you're interested in free loveliness she has some lovely stamps + things up for grabs!]

Now let's move on to yet another project in what's rapidly turning into a '100 Things To Do with Security Envelopes'! It's the card I made James for his recent birthday:


This time the security envelope pattern is the fabulous black & white brick bond design.

Seriously though ... that paper could easily be part of a current Hambly or Studio Calico paper range, don't you think? And yet here it is, landing on my doormat, free of charge [unless of course the envelope had a bill inside ... and even then I guess wrapping it in cool paper serves to sweetens the pill a little!

The alphabet background was made by stamping 'Alphabet Background' [a Woodware, Clear Magic stamp] twice, for a slightly fuzzy effect*. [I'm going to tell you that this was a deliberate design choice and nothing at all to do with the first attempt not really working ... and you can choose to believe me ... or not ...].

I bought this particular stamp because:

• [a] It's an alphabet. Enough said. Alphabets rule! and ...
• [b] it reminded me of computer screens you see in films like War Games, Tron or The Matrix and thought it could work equally well on cards for men - as well as for typography freaks;
• [c] it's an alphabet ... have I mentioned that already?

As is my main method of working - all the colours for the card were chosen to compliment the image I was using as the focal point. An illustration cut from a retro dictionary:

There are lots of finishing touches and embellishments on this - which can sometimes be tricky on a masculine card - where you can't easily throw flowers or bling at it and see what sticks!

Here's a breakdown of the additional bits + bobs on this card - in case it helps you next time you're stuck for something to add that extra something while keeping the overall feel masculine:

• polka dot paper/washi tape;
• baker's twine;
• a few gems and pearls and even a hair grip ... but they're in black ... so that's OK!;
• a snippet of mesh;
• a star - the male equivalent of the heart/flower!
• and an X-Cut Postage Stamp die-cut [because, just when we thought we couldn't love postal themed things more ... they're unisex too!]:

OK, I'll stop now before this gets out of hand and mutates from '100 Things To Do with Security Envelopes' into ... 'Men's Cards Made Easy' ...

See you tomorrow.

Julie :-)

Art Journaling: Blogging ... Goldilocks style

Hello, hello and welcome to day 4 of 'Going Postal 2012'.

Yesterday I had a speculative email from a company selling envelopes asking me about sponsorship opportunities [!!??].  Now where would they get the idea that I'm big on envelopes? Can't imagine ...

So, today's art journal page features two security envelopes [Ahhh .... now I seeee ....].

Anyway it's another page created to illustrate my tutorial/discussion of postal themed supplies for Step 19 of the UKScrappers Art Journey [where the full discussion is available for download as a PDF]. And here it is:

The main background consists of the reverse side of a security envelope which I used as window feature to frame two of my favourite things: sunshine and 'found' phrases: 

 

Unlike the page I shared in yesterday's post the subject matter behind this page is not connected to a postal theme. It's actually based around some current feelings I have about my blog:

My journaling reads:

"There's been a lot of talk lately about whether bloggers share too much ... or not enough but, for now at least, mine feels pretty Goldilocks to me."

As in: it's just right.

So, with that notion in mind I searched through my pile of magazines, brochures, leaflets and junk mail to find suitable images and phrases which I felt matched what I try to do here in my corner of BlogWorld.

Think of it as a collaged blog Mission Statement which includes found phrases such as ...

• what you might get from visiting me: 'Receive details about news + nonsense';
• then what I hope to offer you: 'Little things to make you smile' and really that could actually be my life's motto ... not merely my blog's:

 Oh and ... not forgetting:

• 'A tickle every so often' because you must have guessed by now that I like trying to make you laugh with my Overheards and tall tales!

If you're feeling a bit conflicted about your blog, maybe you too are debating over whether you share too much or not enough, if you're pondering over what your purpose is or how you want your readers to feel when they swing by ... whatever it is ...

... let me tell you, it's surprisingly useful and cathartic to spend half an hour sifting through a big pile of publications waiting for appropriate words and phrases to leap out and to feel right to you.

Which shouldn't be a surprise really because time spent with paper, scissors ... and yourself ... is never wasted time whther you come out of it with a blog mission statement or not.

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A few reminders:

• you can enter the big Docrafts giveaway [until Sunday 20th].
• you can share your postal projects for me to Pin by linking up blog posts in the comments below [I can leave this offer open until the end of the month if that helps?]
• or, if you don't have a full blown post idea, but still want to share something posty - drop it by my Facebook page.

Right, I'll be back tomorrow with some card making ... again using security envelopes [if I'm not careful I'll be attracting even more envelope-seller-attention!]

Julie :-)

Going Postal 2012: Art Journaling with security-envelope patterns

Hi, hi, hi.

My penultimate contribution to the the UKScrappers' Art Journey series is now available to read and download [here] from the forum.

And, fittingly for this week ... it has a postal theme! Surely you'd expect nothing less?

So today I'll talk you through one of the finished pages I created to illustrate my thoughts on art-journaling-with-postal-items:

The postal items used on the top half of this page have a very literal contribution as they came from the envelopes of contributor copies of magazines I recently had work published in ... and it's the magazines themselves which are the subject of the page.

So here the form matched the substance of the page:

The 'Great British Design' phrase was cut from a furniture brochure which still drops through the door each new season when we've never bought anything from their shop.

And here I created a rather spiffy postmark hat for the heroine of the page:

Meanwhile, at the bottom half of the page I swapped-out her handbag for a 'Printed Matter' stamped message from one of the envelopes I received.

I then filled in the gaps around her with a selection of circles cut from my collection [yes, I collect them] ... of security-envelope patterns:

For the record, you should know that I only collect the envelopes to use the patterns in my papercrafting ... I don't have an actual archive of pristine security envelopes stashed away.

Honestly!

The wording below came from the furniture brochure again and also remainder came from a magazine:

So, that's a closer look at this specific page but don't forget you can download my wider discussion about using postal items in general [free of charge] from the  Art Journey section of the UKScrappers forum under 'Step 19' .

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If this has whetted your appetite for using security envelopes on your projects: you could browse the Going Postal Pinterest board as they feature on there already, from last year, for example:

• there's my 'Lens Envy' scrapbook page;
• and Kirsty Neale's decorative-tape tutorial

plus ...

• I'll be back here tomorrow to share the 2nd art journal page I made for this week's Art Journey,
• and ... in Friday's post I'll share another card - both of which also feature security-envelope patterns. 

Feel free to link up your own postal post anytime - or else share anything pertinently postal over on my Facebook page, and I'll see you tomorrow.

OK,  I'll leave you now, so you can go and find the silver lining [well, a patterned lining at least] within that pile of mail you've been avoiding filing away ...


Julie :-)