It’s a small, small world…

I recently heard about what must be the most exciting discovery in the back of an old wardrobe since, well, Narnia! 

The writing on the page

The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamouring to become visible. – Vladimir Nabokov

I’ve been thinking about notebooks. As in, why – when I could choose to collage or decoupage literally anything with postage stamps – why did I choose notebooks?

The Collage Composition Process

As you can see from my recent posts, my collages are often inspired by the juxtaposition of a couple of stamps that have been discovered at random while sorting through a larger batch.  By happy coincidence, they might have similar colours or other features in common

How to grow a landscape…

I’ve not done this for a while so thought I would share the journey of my latest postage stamp collage…

It began with a blank notebook, and 2 stamps which serendipitously turned up while I was sorting through a large batch of old stamps.

A kind of sketchbook

Once upon a time, my life was not swamped beneath a sea of vintage postage stamps – but in these halcyon days of perpetual collage, I have only the vaguest recollection of those times…

A Gift for my Fairy Godmother

I hadn’t planned on any further Postal Patchwork experiments just yet, but I had a reason to sneak this one in between some other projects.  I’m about to disappear off to Ireland for a few days to visit my aunt, who is also my godmother (I call her my Fairy Godmother, although I’m not sure how much she appreciates that…) and wanted to take a small gift with me.  So I chose greens for the Emerald Isle (and also because I’m pretty sure she is fond of greens) and pieced together this little notebook for her.

This notebook is obviously not for sale; however, this particular patchwork design used halves of 18 different stamps (which means I have 18 matching halves remaining) and thus its inverse twin will probably become available not long after my return.  I’m also seeing that almost-tree shape as a potential future Christmas card design (perhaps contrasted against a splash of red)…

More postal patchwork (& other fun things)

Another crafternoon with Britta produced lots of fun results!  Of course, my new Postal Patchwork experiments paled somewhat beside Britta’s amazingly detailed hand-carved stamps – applied to Moleskine notebooks, so we can all share the goodness!

As if that wasn’t enough, Britta presented me with a little stash of badges she’s been working on, made from the quality control marks & recycling logos on salvaged packaging (‘Badgified Boxes‘, as we decided to call them!).  We worked together on the presentation, hand-cutting mount cards from discarded packaging lying around TangleCrafts HQ, together with low-fi hand-stamped title & by-line, using my DIY printing kit.

We had a fun afternoon (topped off by pizza!), and I was inspired to carry on with a little more Postal Patchworking the next day.  This one is a postcard, and I’m thinking of putting together a tutorial zine & possibly kit so that you can try it out yourself.

As soon as I started laying down the stamps for the above ‘airmail’ arrow pattern, I started visualising alternative pattern variations which are crying out to be tried.  The problem with this Postal Patchworking – with any kind of patchworking, probably – is that there is an almost infinite number of variations for every pattern, and it’s simply impossible to act on them all!

I’m suffering slightly from ideas-overload at the moment, so am planning to scale back again on PP experiments while I try to let some of the other ideas that are buzzing around in my head chance to breathe (before they just spill out of my ears…).  Watch this space (&, of course, the TangleStore) for the results!

Pinwheel Patchwork Stampification

The second Postal Patchwork experiment:

I’m loving the way the colours play against each other when the halved stamps are realigned with their mismatched partners!

I’ve sketched out lots of sample patterns, and have found myself far happier with designs measuring 4 x 4 stamps rather than 3 x 3 (or 3 x 4), due to the 4-way (and/or symmetrical) nature of this type of geometric patchwork pattern.

My head is buzzing with ideas but I will have to be patient until I have the stretch of time available to put them into action…

Stampy stampy goodness!

Although all has been quiet on the TangleBlog-front of late, anyone who has been watching the TangleStore will have seen a flurry of activity throughout January.  I’ve been going stamp-notebook crazy with more of the Machin patchworks as seen in my December post (every colour of the rainbow now available! 😉 ) and then expanding my repertoire to include older vintage stamps from around the world, and a slightly different style of collage.  I’ve also added some frameable postcards to the range:

Venturing out into a different corner of the postage stamp world definitely has inspired me.  The colours, styles & production values and all my (ongoing) postage stamp projects culminated in the design of a brand new TangleStamp – and anyone who is familiar with my previous TangleStamp designs will see that this has been a big change of direction for me!

This journey is documented in the equally brand new issue of MailCraft #3, which follows through these projects and thought processes.  It also includes mini-tutorials for very simple postage stamp collage, if you want to give it a try yourself.  MailCraft #3 is currently available as a standard 24 page edition with plain kraft cover and self-adhesive TangleStamp insert OR (while stocks last!) a numbered, limited edition of 10 copies which has a bonus outer cover which can be transformed into a postcard with your own collage, plus a gummed (lick & stick), hand-perforated TangleStamp insert.
 (The special editions will be listed one by one, as they are sold, so don’t despair if you don’t see one in the TangleStore when you look: the next numbered issue will be re-listed within 24 hours of a sale.)

A question for you (about notecards)

I must confess, I’m really not much of a letter writer (something which I’m sure will be readily confirmed by anybody who has corresponded with me in the past).  It’s a little odd, you might think, because my zines are generally pretty wordy; but for some reason I just don’t seem to have many words left over when it comes to actual personal communication.  I can usually fill a postcard, but not much more.  If I’m sending somebody a zine (etc), usually a mini card (/business card) has more than enough space for what I have to say.  Thus, my latest range of postage stamp stationery consists of flat notecards (/blank postcards) and mini notecards.  Because these are the sizes I’m most likely to use myself.

My question is…actually a series of questions…  I’ll list them instead!  So, are you ready?  When it comes to correspondence:

• What kind of cards do you prefer?
• Are you a full-on letter writer and would prefer notepaper, instead?
• Do you ever/often use notepaper & notecard combined, or would it usually be one or the other?
• If you use notecards, do you prefer a flat, single-sided notecard or a single-fold notecard with more space to write inside?
• If you prefer a folded notecard, do you prefer a design printed on the back as well as the front, or do you prefer the back to be left blank so that you can continue your note?
• Do you have any other thoughts about notecard design which might be relevant?

You might gather, I’m thinking of adding a blank-inside single-fold notecard to the range in the future, so I’m just trying to establish what would be the most practical, attractive-to-a-buyer/notewriter option.  But I’m also genuinely interested in your correspondence habits & preferences, so please do share.  And browse the current range, too. 😉

Set of 4 notecards w/ envelopes

Notecard & envelope

Notecard, envelope & mini notecard