July 29, 2010
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July 29, 2010
You know, I was pretty excited the day I discovered D*I*Y Planner, but this is even better! I was innocently reading through my emails yesterday evening when a message popped up from Wendy at Craft Dinner! (‘food for your art’ 
– don’t you just love that?) alerting me to the mini wonders available from…(drumroll, please)…PocketMod.
PocketMod is just about the coolest concept EVER (no exaggeration!). There is a raft of different page layouts to choose from, which you can then mix & match to suit your mood/requirements. Just click and drag to customise the pages of your very own mini-zine-style pocket notebook, print – et voila! You will never need to buy one of the TangleCrafts notebooks that I have secretly been planning 
with this magic at your fingertips!
When inspiration strikes me whilst at work (away from my trusty laptop), I am forever scribbling, um, notes in blank mini-zine notebooks folded from scrap paper (and then finding my mini-notebooks of scribbles still crammed into my pockets, weeks later – but that’s another story…). But how can I resist the awesomeness of PocketMod? I am going to print myself a raft of them, and stuff them into every pocket of every pair of jeans, and every bag that I own.
Oh, top tip! Print your customised PocketMod on both sides of your paper! Once folded, only one printed side will be visible BUT once you’ve filled it with your essential notes, you can then simply re-fold it inside-out, and start all over again. It’s essentially a throwaway (albeit recyclable) product, so you might as well squeeze as much use out of it as you can! Alternatively, print on the reverse of one-sided junk mail or advertising flyers, for maximum re-purposing feel-good factor!
July 28, 2010
As the Going Postal project draws to a close (end August),
the Friends and Faux project is still barely in its infancy! 
For this project, I am sending out postcards, stamped by the Local Post of Tangledom, and asking recipients to add their own faux postage stamp to the cad – then pass it on. There is space on each postcard for 8 artistamps, which once full – I hope! – will return home to me, so I can document their journey. Anyone who adds an artistamp to one of the (numbered) project postcards and sends a scan/photo to me of their contribution before mailing it onward will receive a free copy of…whatever zine emerges, once the project ends…!
Click here for full details.
So far, only 34 numbered Friends & Faux postcards are ‘out there’ in the world! I have been logging their journeys here. But I will be sending out a new batch soon. Would you like to take part? Just drop me a line with your name and postal address and a new postcard will be logged to meander in your direction. Have you requested a postcard previously and not received it? Please get in touch again & I will send you a new postcard.
Friends and Faux Postcard #1 (shown below) is the best-travelled so far, having reached (and been despatched from?) it’s 4th destination. Sadly, I have lost the scan I was sent by recipient #2, but here is how it looked after its first stop:
Can’t wait to see how different it looks if/when it makes it home!
And here are a couple more postcards-in-progress, currently wending their way around the world… As you can see, anything goes, in terms of style & embellishment. For the sake of uniformity, I used the same TangleStamp to start each card (although I might now begin varying which I use), but the postmark design already shows 2 variations, and the next batch will show my most recent acquisition/variation. But just a note, you do not have to have your own postcard stamp to play this game! It’s all about the artistamps:
July 22, 2010
Well, slightly old-hat now, but after selling out quite quickly, I now have more copies available of Craft Leftovers Monthly (featuring my mail art kit article). As well as the mini zine and kit already included with CLM, each copy you buy from me will also come with an extra, randomly chosen, Going Postal mini-zine. 
Individual volumes of the Going Postal mini-zine have been removed from the store, but (probably until sometime in August) you can still buy a complete set of all Going Postal mini-zine volumes so far. In August, I will be collating the results of the Going Postal project into an all-new zine or zines, and the minis will be no more, so this is both your last chance to catch up on the mini-zine collection, and also coming up to your last chance to contribute to the current project!
But I also promised something new, so hold onto your hats…!
The latest addition to the TangleCrafts Etsy Store is the first in a brand new series of zines: The Meta Mail Art Zine #1: A DIY Guide to TangleStamps. This series of zines is the culmination of my mail art experimentation over the last year or more, and future issues will cover different aspects (including the Going Postal project). MMZ1 looks like a stamp album, but is actually packed full of practical advice and inspiration for anyone intrigued by the idea of making your own artistamps.
As well as suggestions for world-building, techniques, stickability, perforations and cancellation marks, every copy comes with:
There is also a special edition available (as shown above), which includes your very own postmark rubber stamp – blank & ready to customise – plus an extra mini-zine full of ‘serving suggestions’.
Oh yes, and just to maximise the Meta Mail Art experience, all MMZs are mailed as their own self-mailer with no additional packaging at all (except by special request), so it’s total mail art fun, from start to finish!
I have loved designing my own TangleStamps, so I hope you will enjoy a spot of experimentation, too!
July 19, 2010
I’ve just had some rubber stamps professionally made up from my own designs, and I’m so pleased with them, I just had to add them to my Etsy store straight away (under brand new category heading ‘Mail Art Stamps’), even though I am still finalising the finishing touches to my packaging ideas for the eventual end products. The stamps themselves are unmounted with self-adhesive backing (I will have acrylic blocks available soon), and are now as they will ever be; but I have a few presentation ideas that are still in progress – so this is your chance to buy now (at a slightly lower price) while they are still at the prototype stage!
Personalise your letters and mail art with your own unique postmark (2 different versions currently available); or seal your envelopes in style with a Seal-Stamp-Send kit, complete with little round labels. Go and check them out – so much fun!
July 1, 2010
The Going Postal Project is going from strength to strength, with even more innovative interpretations in every issue. I have just added issues 8, 9 and 10 to the Etsy store, as well as a special edition bundle of all 10 issues so far. I’ve decided on a cut-off date of end August for submissions to the (current) project, so that I can start working on the end-of-project super-zine to pull it all together – so if you’ve been inspired to 
contribute, now is the time to share your ideas.
Drop me an email at tanglecrafts [at] ntlworld [dot] com for the postal address – I can’t wait to see your creations! And don’t forget, for every ATC you submit, you will receive a FREE mini-zine in exchange – can’t say fairer than that!
July 1, 2010
If you are a member of the TangleClub, now is the time to check out the TangleClub Archive for the latest club-exclusive freebie. This month, you can print your own double-sided recipe cards featuring the cutest tuxedo cat. I’ve formatted the PDF for both A4 and letter-size card, so everybody can play.
Not a member? All you need to do is place an order for any item in the TangleCrafts Etsy Store, and your TangleClub membership package will be despatched with your order.
Already a member? Don’t forget, you are entitled to 10% off your next order (or different discounts/offers if you have already placed a second order) so browse the store, and see what’s new!
P.S. I am currently sold out of the aforementioned Craft Leftovers Monthly, but should have some additional copies available in the next week or two.
June 15, 2010
There has recently been a little flurry of activity in my Etsy store with all sorts of interesting new arrivals! Time for an overview:
First up, I am thrilled to offer copies of Kristin Roach’s latest issue of Craft Leftovers Monthly. Inside there is a bounty of crafty goodness, including a ZineBomb mini-zine (by me!) and a Postal Travel Kit guest article (also by me!). The best part is the accompanying pattern for a fantastic Postal Clutch that Kristin has designed with pockets to fit all your mail art essentials. Click here for more details and to buy your copy from my Etsy store, where I’m offering two FREE mini-zines with every copy sold! It’s such an honour to be included in this awesome zine.
My own latest zine is called ‘The Thief of Time‘ – very apt considering how time has been escaping me of late! It is a collection of blank to-do lists for you to fill in, to help organise your own time, combined with an overview of 7 crafty days of my life – projects, pics and points of view. It covers everything from doodle-stitching to artistamps, mini-zines to stamp-carving, and it also includes a free copy of Going Postal mini-zine, Volume 6. Thief of Time is available with the usual plain kraft paper cover, or a special edition with a funky fabric cover, instead – check the Etsy Store now to choose your copy!
Yes, there’s more! I am about to retire one of the old TangleCrafts favourites, Leftover Lavender. Inspired by the lavender currently in bloom in my garden, I have put together 3 final copies, each with a bundle of beautiful overdyed embroidery threads in greens and purples. Buy it now, while you still can (located in the Special Editions category)!
…and even more from the Special Editions category, I have put together a bumper edition of the ultimate guide to Tangledom’s mythology and customs, the Mulberry Digest. This is lots of fun for the eco-romantics out there, with the creation myth of a land that was dreamed into being, free mulberry seeds for a spot of guerilla mulberry activism, an exploration of the symbolism of Tangledom’s arts and crafts, and two free cross stitch charts. The Mulberry Digest is printed on A5 (half-size) mulberry pulp paper, with a ‘unique’ hand-stitched binding of my own devising!
Last but not least, we have yet another issue of Going Postal, which has now reached the giddy heights of Volume 7! Click here to find out more about the Going Postal project, and how to take part. If you’re feeling inspired, your artwork could be included in the very next volume!
Well, I do think that’s all for now (isn’t that enough?!). Please browse through at your leisure, and remember, you will get FREE membership to the TangleClub with any order, which then entitles you to discounts on future orders, as well as access to the TangleClub Archive with a new free project or printable available online, every month!
June 11, 2010
Is this not the cutest/coolest thing you’ve ever seen?!
Visit Just Something I Made for free templates and tutorial for this gorgeous little House of Stamps. In the version shown, a roll of US postage stamps sits inside the house, and is fed outwards through the ‘letterbox’.
Unfortunately, UK stamps (to my knowledge) are not available on a roll; however, it has set me thinking about a new format for my next set of artistamps. Hmm…
Actually, I’ve created 2 new artistamp series’ recently, but have failed miserably in giving them any exposure due to time escaping me entirely throughout May (appropriate to the theme of one of said faux postage designs). However, I will update with a little ‘album’ of my stamp designs so far, in the near future.
June 6, 2010
May was a bad month for me, as anyone who has placed an order recently can testify (please note, though, that all delayed orders will be in tomorrow’s post, along with my sincere apologies!). I am relieved to say that I am pretty much caught up, though, and working on several new projects, so there will be various new things appearing on these pages and in the Etsy store over the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime, TangleClub members should hop on over to the TangleClub Archive, where I have just added the latest club exclusive freebie: Stamp a Stamp printable mini-zine. There are also several new volumes of the Going Postal mini-zine now available in the Etsy store, so check out the Mail Art Category for even more postally creative inspiration!
More soon – watch this space…!
