I picked up the mail on Monday and there were a stack of 30 new envelopes to check in for the Liberate Your Art postcard swap! With just over two weeks until the swap deadline, the envelopes will be arriving fast and furious from this point on. I’ll pick them up again tomorrow and early next week, to stay on top of check in!
What do I mean by “check in”? For each envelope that arrives, I open it up and make sure that it has the right number of postcards with a message written on the back, along with stamps and labels. For international participants, I match their envelope up with Paypal payment. I unpackage all items and remove any extra things the envelope – like extra postcards (not required, but accepted with thanks!), bags, paper clips, pieces of paper with email addresses, etc. If there is a problem something, I set the envelope aside to follow up with the sender if I can. For the rest, I put the stamps, labels and postcards back in the envelopes and store them until swap day. It takes some extra time along the way, but this way I know everything is ready to go and there won’t be any problems or surprises when it’s time to swap on March 15!
So what wonderful envelopes have I received this week? Let’s take a look…
We have a new country this year! Woohoo! Cathy from Singapore sent this envelope with a little regional flair:
And a lovely collage on the back!
Julia sent this painted mail art from Washington. I loved the subtle little detail of “mail art” written in some of the circles.
This gorgeous sea-themed envelope arrived from Eric in France. (Hint: He is one of the answers in the Treasure Hunt! Are you participating this year? You have a couple of days left to send in your entry.)
Hearts arrived from JarieLyn in Nevada. Made me smile!
These cute arty ladies adorned the front and back of the envelope from Janice in California…
Patty in Virginia expressed a sentiment that went straight to my heart. Me too, Patty!
I’ve got mail from Patricia in Washington! I liked how she printed an altered photograph right on the envelope, and I think that’s her, smiling out at me from the stamp!
Sarah sent me on a beautiful walk in the Georgia woods with her envelope. I loved the imperative on the back, “Liberate your art, people!!!”
And finally, here are a few postcards that were sent to me as well. It’s always nice to find a few personal notes mixed in with the stack of envelopes. I thought I’d share these as a little preview. Who knows, you might get one of these too, come swap day.
Not long now, just over two weeks away!
Such wonderful envies!
Thanks for posting… And…for working so hard. This is just what I needed to get through the Winter. Hugs and Best Wishes!
thanks so much for sharing this and for all your hard work putting this together every year. One of these days I’m going to have to drive down from Seattle to help you with all of this. You are amazing!
You are a wonder to carry off such a monumental feat Kat AND blog so sweetly about it too.
Thank you for all you do!!!
I am very happy to know my envie arrived.
It was a sweet surprise to see the ART HELPS ME BREATHE stamp here (it is from Catslife Press & the bunting stamp is from PaperArtsy).
It certainly is a pleasure to be joining in the fun for the first time this year!
oxo
I love all the creative ways the envelopes have been altered. Thanks for sharing!
So fun! So excited 🙂
Thanks for sharing my envelope and travel blog. I am glad to add a new country to the swap. What a fun project! I know it is A LOT OF WORK for you….. but oh to be the one to get all this wonderful mail to open!!!! Such beautiful art from everyone. Thank You !! I can’t wait to get my postcards….
My cards left Calgary yesterday hopefully the postal service gets them to you on time. I love seeing all he decorate envelops
I love seeing all the wonderful envelopes you receive. Wouldn’t these make a lovely collage all on their own on a blank wall? Thank you for the hard work you put into this swap. I appreciate the regular updates. Is there a possibility of swapping more than five cards in the future? Thanks!
Hi Terry, thank YOU for participating! Given the way the swap works, more postcards would greatly increase the work, so I don’t plan to increase the number in the near future. However, you have lots of opportunities for extra swapping if you participate in the Facebook Event Group! Visit there and join in.
Oh Kat, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize, and should have, how much more work it would make for you. I can only imagine! I will definitely look for opportunities to make personal swaps on the FB page. Thanks for all you do. It is very much appreciated!!
This is so exciting, I can hardly wait! This is my 3rd year! Thank you Kat for connecting so many “artful” souls in this unique way! Aloha
yay beautiful treasures, seen one of my pc’s glad to know package arrived 🙂