We are just over a week out from the Liberate Your Art postcard swap deadline of March 12. So exciting! Here are a few more of the wonderful envelopes I’ve been receiving in the mail. Enjoy the mail art!

We’ll kick off with an envelope in my favorite colors, from Terry in Portland. I loved her collage layers! Front…

…and back.

Jacques in Washington created this beautiful envelope, painted and stitched.

Mary Jane in Australia added these mixed media flowers around the envelope. Gorgeous!

This happy envelope is from Debbie in Norfolk, UK. Those flowers wrapped around the back!

This painted scene was on a bubble envelope from Mary in Michigan.

A lovely collage from Michelle in Virginia. I especially love how she integrated the address block!

Sheila in California always paints her envelope. I love getting yours, Sheila!

Gorgeous doodles from Cheryl in California. I saw this one in the Facebook group and knew it would make the blog!

More doodles, from Danielle in California.

And some colorful doodles from Jenny in Nevada. I really like the shimmery envelope Jenny used. It adds a little something to the whole thing! Hard to show in the photo, though.

Keith in the UK (Yes! We do have men participating!) used one of his images printed on paper, and folded into an envelope. I like how intentional it all looks. Well planned out.

And finally, a wonderful cat for Kat, from Renee in Washington. Someone likes calligraphy! She notes she’s a “First Timer” on the back of the envelope. Welcome Renee! So glad to have you!

I wonder how many more great envelopes arrived while I’ve been away on business? I’ll find out tomorrow, and share with you next week!

And they keep coming! Envelopes are arriving daily as we get closer to the Liberate Your Art postcard swap deadline. Just a little over two weeks until swap day! Woohoo!

Last week I shared what you can do with manila or kraft envelopes, but what about plain white? It’s the best canvas out there!

We’ll start with Jacques in the UK, who added a gorgeous drawing to the front of this envelope. Nothing plain about it!

Alison in Nevada added a simple geometric design, which is striking.

Continuing with the geometric theme, Dorothy in Oregon created this piece with pen, marker and little bit of collage. I love how the postmark breaks up the lines…

Some tape and a stencil, and you’ve just created mail art! I love the angle. From Bethany in Florida.

White envelopes are perfect for stamps and watercolor too, as Rinda in California shows us.

Let’s see… tea and letters to friends. Perfect! Imelda in California added this beautiful original piece into the corner of her white envelope.

But you don’t have to start with an envelope… You can use other papers to create your own envelopes too. Kate in Illinois adds some lovely lettering to an envelope made from printed paper. I love it!

Juana in Washington takes a page from the book… literally. It looks like a page from an old yearbook or graduation program that she has used as the envelope, and then painted/collaged from there. One of my favorites!

Finally, Lynne in Pennsylvania created her envelope from scratch. Painted, then folded and finished. Love it!

Bonus detail on the front…

Another week closer to the swap! It make me happy that all of the postcards will be liberated into the world soon. And sad, because I won’t be getting these awesome envelopes too much longer!

Things are picking up in the Liberate Your Art postcard swap! We are a little less than four weeks out from the swap deadline and I’m getting some gorgeous mail art. I thought today I would share a few ideas for decorating a manila or kraft envelope coming from swap participants. You might not think of the yellow-brown surface of these envelopes as a great canvas, but you would be surprised!

Janice in California created the envelope at the top of this post. I love how simple but how perfect it is… Postcards inside!

Mikki in Colorado used colored pencils to create this cute little guy…

Found collages are perfect for these envelopes! Sarah in Georgia decorated this one. Back…

…and front. The front has some nice encouraging messages on it. Mail art as part of the message – nice!

Another collage from Cathy in WA. I loved the little messages she added… like this one: Art makes us come alive.

And I think I recognize Janet from California’s work, making good use of that neutral brown background:

Here we have an extra special “Seal” on the envelope. Love it! From Diane in Australia.

And last, but not least, Jeanne in Washington makes great use of an old Inter-Departmental Envelope with some stamps and watercolors. Remember these envelopes? We actually still have them floating around at work! She resized it by sewing the bottom shut. How cool.

The creativity never ceases! That’s what I love about this swap. It shows you that there is no one way to do anything. We can all bring ideas to the table. Or to the envelope, I should say.

Watch for more next week!

The envelopes have been arriving for the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap, and there are some beauties in terms of mail art! As I looked at many of these, it got me to thinking what it takes to turn a regular envelope into “mail art.” Let’s explore the range of possiblities…

Mail art can be as simple as a few swirls and a special sentiment sketched in ballpoint pen, like this one from Monica from Michigan.

You can use some of that washi tape you’ve been collecting (yeah, you know I’m talking to you), like this envelope from Sherry in Alaska.

You can gather up your colorful markers, and fill up that white space! From Christine in Arizona.

How about adding a wonderful printed sentiment along with your doodled swirls? I swear, Mary in Missouri’s handwriting looks JUST like my Mom’s. (My Mom likes Elvis too!)

Or, you can use the envelope as a canvas, and create a masterpiece. The rest of these go well beyond “simple” and are just plain gorgeous. I never cease to be in awe of the wonderful art that comes through my hands in this swap!

Jewels in Michigan created this stunner. Front…

…and back! Oh yes, Marie, please let them Liberate their Art! The back is my favorite. That’s definitely going up on my postcard display!

Bright colors, great balance. I admire Gina in California’s ability to compose a beautiful piece with such disparate elements. Wow!

And last but certainly not least, Pat in Oregon creates some eye candy with her mail art. Both front…

…and back. Let’s all make our life a work of heART!

It’s not too late to join the swap if you haven’t already. Sign up here. Lots more mail art to come in the next few weeks. I can’t wait to see what arrives!

The first mailing in the Liberate Your Art Swap is off! The next three weeks, lots of wonderful mail will be making its way around the world. So how many people were in the swap this year? From where? You’ll have to wait on those answers… I’ll share all of the swap stats along with a video of the postcard art during the Blog Hop, which will be April 16-20, 2015. All of the details on the video and the blog hop will arrive via email for those participating in the swap.

We had a wonderful Swap Day on Sunday! Here’s what it looked like around my house, all swapped and waiting for the volunteers to arrive. The swapping itself is a process that would not work well with many people, too many opportunities for mistakes, so I got up early to do that part.

Then came the sticking of labels and stamps on all of the postcards. With 8 of us, we finished in record time – 1.5 hours.

Here are the last of the decorated envelopes I received in this year’s swap. What gorgeous mail art I received this year! I think I will go into withdrawal after this. 🙂

A mermaid from North Carolina swam to Oregon, courtesy of Beverly.

I loved the message on this envelope, found within another envelope, from Chris in California…

A lovely painted piece graced the back of this envelope from Nancy in Florida:

Diane in Michigan is making the best of the cold weather — sending mail to warm the heart!

Another stitched envelope! This one from Jen in Arizona. Great “Liberate Your Art” motif going on here.

This elegant envelope arrived from Texas, sealed with wax. Kirsten‘s lettering is gorgeous!

Dani sent this fun greeting from Australia…

Another celebration of winter from Vicki in New York.

These flowers bloomed all the way from Danie in Australia! Can you imagine how many people smiled at the envelope along the way?

Kristen, here in my home state of Oregon, created a lovely collage on the back of her envelope…

And last, but not least, Cindy sends a bit of glitter with the phrase, “Not all who wander are lost.” I love that saying!

That wraps up the mail art for the 2015 swap. It was the best year yet for decorated envelopes. Thank you all so much!! It has been so much fun to received them.

The next swap update won’t be until the Blog Hop in April where we wrap everything up for the year. Stay tuned!!

We are getting close to swap day! Woohoo! With about a week and a half left for envelopes to arrive, we have 140 artists participating so far in the Liberate Your Art postcard swap this year. It will be interesting to see how many come in over the next nine days.

People ask me why I do this big swap, which takes quite a bit of my time and energy. My first answer is that I get to connect with all of YOU, which is awesome. But more importantly is to encourage people make, liberate and connect with art. You may not realize, but this simple step of sending your art out in the world can be life changing. Here are a few quotes in notes I’ve received this year with postcards:

I’ve never shared my art before and it is liberating!

I’ve never done anything like this before. I agonized over what to do, how to do it — all this time! Now I am sending these babies out in the world and so looking forward to mail! Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.

I have never printed copies of my art, but now that I have, I think it is kinda fun.

I struggled a bit thinking myself a fraud for joining an “artists” project. Grade school judgements stick in the brain. Ultimately, the idea of just sharing anything was ok. Also, my 12 year old harshly said, “Oh, get over it!”

Thank you so much for reconnecting me to the artist within, the uninhibited free expression of who I am without self-consciousness. I wouldn’t consider anything I’ve created “perfect” or “masterful” but I’m having fun and sharing expressions of my inner and outer world.

Because of [this swap], I have friends that will be friends for the rest of our lives. That means the world.

Um, yeah. Those words, those feelings, those connections are more than worth the hours I put in to making this swap come together. T-9 days. I can’t wait to liberate!

Here are some of the wonderful envelopes I received in the last week. They are coming fast and furious now, and I’m not able to photograph and share every decorated envelope I receive. Forgive me if yours doesn’t get featured!

Charm sent this lovely doodled envelope from Australia.

Carroll in Vermont sent this wish for better weather through the mail. It says, “Doesn’t Jack Front know he’s worn out his welcome?! Besides, he really looks like he needs a vacation!”

On the back, she is clearly “anticipating spring.”

Linda sent this gorgeous envelope from California. I swear, some of these envelopes are worthy of framing. I might just do that after the swap.

I recognized Natasha‘s designs from a mile away! She does Henna art in California and has participated multiple years. Natasha, someday I’m going to wear some of your henna art…

Isn’t it amazing what you can do with a plain white envelope? Sheila in California sent this beauty. (What is it with all of the California people? Are you guys just extra creative?)

Jan from Michigan sent this message. Yes Jan, I agree! It’s almost time!

Deanie’s envelope from Arizona caught my eye. There is just something about vintage cameras…

The front of this envelope from April in Florida was artfully done…

…but it was the back which blew me away. Isn’t that a gorgeous piece of collage art? And on an envelope, no less…

Lisa is clearly dreaming of spring in Massachusetts. Keep dreaming! It will come!

This beauty came to me from Bonnie in Pennsylvania. Tea, anyone?

For all of the covered envelopes, a few here and there remind me that less can be more. Isn’t this a wonderful composition and use of the kraft envelope as part of the art? This is from Janet in California.

And finally, every so often I get something in the mail that is not art but is exciting nonetheless! Kris sent this lovely taste of Texas to me. The swap day volunteers and I will enjoy these! Thanks Kris!!

I can’t wait to LIBERATE! We are almost there…