Remember September Mail Art Memorial

It's time to start thinking about a mail art project that I have been participating in since I first heard about it, which was in 2003.  It is the Remember September Mail Art Memorial, and I'm sharing the link here in hopes that you may be inspired to participate, too.

All the information you need is on the website for the Memorial...but basically, you create an envelope of any mailable size, with the Remember September 11, 2001 theme.  You put your address on the back of the envelope & you can add a personal message inside the envelope if you'd like to...the envelopes will not be opened.  Have your envelope postmarked on September 11, 2010...and it will be included in the Mail Art Memorial.  It seems like a great introduction to Mail Art for kids...with a history lesson built right in.

There are some archives of past envelopes on the website, from 2002-2005, and the other years will be added eventually.  The envelope above is the one I mailed in 2006.  I'm already thinking about what I will do this year. 

I vividly remember that tragic day almost 9 years ago now.  I didn't turn on the TV before leaving for work...we were still in Corona, CA then & the traffic westbound on the 91 for my drive into work was usually a challenge...creeping at just a few miles per hour for what seemed like forever.  On September 11, 2001, the freeway was almost empty...quite surreal.  I turned on the radio to hear what was happening & was shocked to hear of the attacks on our country.  Needless to say, it was difficult to concentrate on work that day as we huddled around the radios in the office.  Rumors were rampant of pending attacks on Los Angeles or other places on the West Coast.  We were allowed to go home early that day...and many of us sat glued to the TV to see the horrible images from NYC and the Pentagon & the field in PA. 

We must never forget that day...and how terrorism hit us in a major way...right here in America.  We must remember all the innocent lives lost.  Each year I mail my little work of art...and I hope you'll consider doing so, too. 

Hippie Beads & Butterflies

I know I've been a bad blogger...but I've been busy with a swap & some new creations for my Artfire Studio Shop.  Now I've gotta get caught up.

The swap was the one I hosted for the Red Lead Paperworks Yahoo Group.  The theme this time was Altered Patina Art Charms and my original post about it is here.  It was a wonderful swap, and as hostess I was able to see all of the charms before I swapped them out.  I love hosting swaps!

Each swap we do with the Red Lead Paperworks group includes a goodie bag that is sent along with the swap returns.  Since it seems that most people have received their swap packages, I'm sharing what I made with the goodies this time.  It's this necklace made with the Hippie beads I supplied for the goodie bags & the awesome Filigree Patina Butterfly charm provided by the girls at Red Lead. 

I love patina on brass & other metals, so the butterfly & other patina charms sold at Red Lead are just my cup of tea.  To seal the charms so the patina doesn't wear off, I used some MicroGlaze by JudiKins.  It works really well & seems to be sealing the charm nicely.  I have also used the Golden Glazing Liquid or Fluid Gel to seal the charms, but with the detail on the butterfly, the MicroGlaze seemed like my best choice.

I took my strand of Hippie beads (yes, I did wear beads like this back in the late 60s & early 70s) and strung them on thin beading wire with a looped crimp end attached.  You can see that end in the first pic with the detail.  I strung the beads randomly, adding a few others from my stash & ended with another crimp end.  The second crimp end is a "challenge" to get onto the wire & still keep the beads on it & not have the strand too loose so that there is a big gap between beads...but with some trial & error...and a lot of swearing... I was finally successful.  It was worth the "pain" as I really like how this looks.  Then I used some antiqued brass jump rings to attach the butterfly to the beads & ended up with this necklace. 

That's all for today...I'll be busy taking pix of my new creations for Artfire...I'll be sure to let y'all know when they're available.  Have a great day & be creative!