Kat Eye Studio

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For the Love of Postage

Oh, how I love stamps! I forget this until the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap envelopes come rolling in, and I get to see these awesome postage stamps from all over the world. They are an art unto them selves. Like last year, I will soak them off and save them for future use. I have no idea what use, but I will come up with something!

After a week away, I received a big stack of envelopes for the swap when I picked up my mail yesterday. So much fun! So many stamps!! Right now there are 273 artists signed up for the swap, so there will be many more envelopes coming in over the next few weeks. So much art to be liberated into the world! Awesome!!! Sign up is open until July 15, so there is still time to join in or to share the swap with your artist friends. It’s been great to see the chatter in the Facebook group about people ordering, receiving and sending their postcards. Join us there too!

I’m also surprised when I receive little notes of encouragement and fun for me along with the envelopes. I don’t expect that! I receive two postcards addressed to me along with the stack of envelopes. Thanks Katie and Linda!

And today’s mail art comes from Nora Clemens-Gallo. I didn’t want to ruin this envelope by opening it! Thanks Nora, for the extra art liberated!

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And it begins…

It starts with a trickle, and will end in a flood. Not water, but mail! The Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap becomes official for me when the first postcards arrive. I’ve received four envelopes so far, one from our first international participant, yay! There are 210 artists signed up so far for the swap, but there is plenty of room for more. Please continue to share with your artist friends! Send them to the Liberate Your Art page on my site or share the Facebook Event. So exciting!

One great thing about a swap with artists is that they sometimes like to decorate envelopes! As they come in, I’ll share a few here on the blog. Today’s beautiful mail art is from Marie Johanson. I love the bright colors and the glittery symbol for beauty. Thanks Marie, for this little bit of happy mail!

And it’s time to share some of my own painted art, for Paint Party Friday. I continue to work on both paintings I started two weeks ago. One of them I love how it’s going, I’m sharing the progress on that one here. It’s not done yet, but I feel like it’s getting close. I know what to do next.

The other, well, I’m really not happy with it right now so I’m not going to share until I push past this point. I just want to stab my brushes through the canvas I so dislike it at the moment. Maybe that’s what I should do! Any advice from you regular painters, on how to move forward on a piece you do not like?

PS – And would you like to help me win a Vespa? Read more here.

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The Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap is Back!!

What happens when you create your art? Does it make you happy? Do you find that you have an amazing boost of energy, of insight into life and self? Do you find that you feel centered and grounded, as if some piece of you has been completed for brief moment? I’ve discovered the act of creating, of making art of any kind, can have an amazing and transforming effect on me personally. I know I’m not alone.

Now, what happens when you share that art with world? You share a little bit of yourself, and add a little bit of beauty or joy or brightness into someone else’s day. When you share your art, that wonderful energy you gained in the act of creation is not gone, it is magnified. You will see it reflected back to you in different, positive ways.

That’s what the Liberate Your Art postcard swap is all about – sharing your art, liberating it out in the world, where it can do its greatest good.

I’m excited to announce the Liberate Your Art swap is back for 2012 and now open for sign up! We had a fabulous time last year, and I’m ready to do it again. I’m hoping to make it even bigger this year! Can you help me reach my goal to beat last year’s number of participants, and share the info about the swap? Blog it, tweet it, post it on your Facebook page. Whatever it takes to get the news out to more artists!

Visit the swap page for more information and to sign up for the swap list. After you sign up, you will receive an email with all of the details and lots of support from me to get you started.

You’ll be hearing more about the swap here as time goes on, but for now click over here to see what the swap is all about, and join!!

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Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap – The Blog Hop

1020 pieces of art
170 participants
37 US states
13 countries
2 homes
1 swap
done.
I am struggling to find the words to describe how wonderful the Liberate Your Art postcard swap turned out to be. I set a crazy-big goal, to make myself reach farther and higher than ever before. You all came and answered the call, joining in to liberate some beautiful art and brighten someone else’s day. I knew it would be fun. I never anticipated what you all would give to me. At a time when life could have been sad, with my move from Italy to Oregon, your mail filled up my post box with love and encouragement. Color, beauty, passion, peace… your art helped me through a difficult transition. The image above is the art that many of you gave to me, unexpectedly, unasked, along with the swap. I am honored to have them. I am honored to have met so many of you through this swap. I look forward to hopping around this weekend, visiting your blogs and seeing your swap experiences. Seeing what liberating your art and making connections brought into your life.
Thank you.

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And They’re Off!

Here and there a few people have asked me to share how I’m going to do the Liberate Your Art postcard swap. I brought the box of envelopes with me on vacation to swap the postcards out and get them mailed. So here’s how it was done…
First, I opened each envelope and laid them out on the floor. As I did this, I made sure they all had the right number of postcards (found a few more for me!), the right postage and labels. If anything was missing I took care of it as I laid them out. The swap participating was about 80% US and 20% non-US, so I made sure that every 5th envelope was a non-US participant so they would be mixed in. Otherwise, there was no planning involved as to the order.
Thankfully, my sister has a very large, open living and dining room (~600 sq ft), because the postcards looped around the full space. Here are a couple of photos to show you how it looked. I wish I could have captured the full extent of it!

Next, the easy part, actually doing the swap. Picking up the stack of 5 postcards from the pile, I dealt them out to the next five participants. I did the same thing, moving from one stack to the next on the left around the whole loop.

Finally, the labels and stamps had to be put on. This was the time-consuming part. I cajoled my husband into helping (he’s such a good sport) and we went around the loop putting the postage and labels on all of the postcards, stack by stack. As we completed each participant’s stack, we sorted them out in to five stacks for the different mailings. There is a sixth stack of postcards from me done too.

Here I am, mailing the first stack. The postcards are officially off. Look at all of that art being liberated in the world! Pretty cool, huh?? The second mailing will go out later this week!

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A Stack of Happiness

Look at this stack! This is a stack of the happiest, most fun mail you are ever going to see. This is a stack of 112 envelopes for the Liberate Your Art postcard swap! On Saturday, things were sorted out enough in our house that I had the time and space to start going through these envelopes. It just filled me with joy! This is not work in the slightest, but exceptionally fun and inspiring.
Some of the envelopes were completely decorated. I love all of you mixed media artists who find any surface something to create art on! Just look at this one, can you guess where it’s from? You would be right!

And here’s one from closer to my new home, California. A little bit of art in the mail, anyone?

My blog friend, Kristin, created this envelope from inspiration from this photo I took in Ravenna. Funny thing, I took that photo because I was reminded of Kristin by the snail! Such a fun circle of inspiration that happens with artists sometimes. Too bad the US Postal Service covered up some of her art with their sticker.

Here’s one that I didn’t want to open, just look at that! I think the dancer stamped on the envelope is definitely Liberating her art…

The stamps were art too! I didn’t know I had anyone in Hong Kong participating, what a nice surprise.

And then, opening the packages there were lots of little treats inside. Some were prettily wrapped, like this one from TJ of Studio Mailbox.

I was surprised at how many of the participants included a little something for me. Totally unexpected! Lots of postcards and little notes. Some magnets and little bits of this or that to use for my own projects. Even some chocolate! This was fun mail at its best. Here’s a tiny sample of what was shared with me, but I don’t want to give away too much, so that you will be surprised by the art you get in the mail!

This was exactly what I needed to inspire me and reconnect me to the creative community after my move. I can’t wait for the rest of the envelopes to come in and then to get this art liberated back into the world. If nothing else, everyone liberating all of this art has had a wonderfully positive effect on me!

PS – My blog is now on Pacific Standard Time! I updated my profile location and about me page too. Sorry for the two posts in one day but I’m trying out my new schedule. So far, so good! 


PPS – Linking in to Creative Every Day and The Creative Exchange today. It’s good to be back!