Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Postcards Inspired By The Lake {Give-Away}

{Comments are now closed. Thank you all for your kind words and your interest! I'll be back in a day or two to announce the winners.}

When I came home from Squam, I wanted to send out a few thank-you notes. (I am a big fan of thank-you notes.) It seemed obvious that I'd make them. I wish I had photos of the process, but it's more like these grew, not that I created them, and I just never thought to photograph anything. I worked on them in bits and pieces, first cutting up some cereal boxes, then applying gesso to cover the pre-existing design, and then a coat of white acrylic paint. Then I began to play. I made eight total; here's five of them before I mailed them out.


I mixed some green, for the green of the lake. I added some texture with bubble wrap and a few circle prints in darker blue. Then I selected some of the photos I took and layered them with a painted frame. Finally, I used the birch leaf stamp I'd carved. The woods were full of birches, and while I do see them around here, I don't see that many of them, and I wanted to capture their presence on these cards. (You can click to make the photo bigger.)

I liked these so much, I wanted more of them. So I scanned three of them in and ordered some Moo postcards. Scanning them in allowed for the texture to really come through, but I wonder if using a photograph wouldn't have worked better in some ways. But I'm not sure my camera is good enough to capture a full-screen image for this purpose, without shadows getting in the way. Obviously, some more experimentation might be in order. But still, I love these postcards, too. Here's a close-up of one of them:


I wanted to send something along to my cabin mates as a souvenir of Squam and our cabin (in the top postcard's photograph, below). One woman in our cabin had made up little treat bags for all of us, with a notebook and pen and buttons (buttons!!). I wanted to reciprocate and to bookend that, in a way, so I made up a set of postcards for everyone. (The brown with the leaf print is the envelope to hold them.)


And here's the give-away part...I have two sets left over. Whether you've been to Squam, want to go to Squam, have admired it from afar, or just like to have pretty postcards (hopefully you think they're pretty) to send to your friends, leave a comment for a chance to win (two people will receive one set each). You can live anywhere in the world, as long as you have a mailing address, and you need to either make sure your contact email is in your profile, or leave it in your comment. I'll close comments in a week, 7 pm EST on Tuesday, July 3, and choose via the good old "pull a name out of a hat" method. Each set contains six postcards, two of each design.

I would love it if you'd also tell me...who was the last person you sent honest-to-goodness fun snail mail to? Besides mailing out these packages of postcards, my last fun mail was sent to my sister--I sent her one of the remaining original postcards.

17 comments:

Unknown said...

Amy these are beautiful! I love fun snail mail. And I love to write & send thank you's too. I can't think of the last person I sent fun snail mail to. But I have a few friends who live out of state. I think you've just reminded me I should send something along to them. Even though we correspond through e-mail & such it's not the same as opening a package or even just a handwritten note!

Terri said...

I LOVE how you've created such a lovely remembrance of such an incredibly wonderful experience and place. I'm counting the days until I can return. I'm a snail mail fan from way back and take every opportunity to find a reason to send something to someone on a regular basis but the one to be on the receiving end most often is my beautiful daughter. I love dropping her a note to just let her know I'm thinking of her (and sometimes a pair of recently knit socks).

Victoria said...

These are gorgeous! I've been missing the northeast -- lakes, and woods and "real" trees -- lately. It's odd to raise one's kids in such a different place. The nature is all wrong.

I used to be a letter writer, but I've let the habit drop, sadly. The last snail mail I sent was a note for my sister-in-law in a box of baby clothes for her newborn son.

Donna Lee said...

I love your cards. The colors are cool and woodlike. They seem to really evoke the qualities of the area that you wrote about.

The last fun snail mail I sent was a card to my brother about farting. (He is a champion farter). It made me laugh and it made him laugh as well. It was a birthday card and I sent it in May instead of in April when his actual birthday falls. It was a surprise!

Diane said...

I love your postcards- I send snail mail to my daughters. Squam is a magical place; I attended two years ago and it has left an indelible mark on heart. All good stuff!!!
diane
ditetre(at)mac(dot)com

Elpinoine said...

The cards are just beautiful. They capture the beauty of Squam so well.

Other than my Christmas cards, with some letters enclosed, the last real mail I sent was probably some postcards sent on my last trip to Disney World. I always love getting real mail myself, that I try to send it out when I can. I miss real mail.

Jill said...

And let me assure you they are just gorgeous in person. I sent out a big batch of snail-mail farewell notes to "my" church school kids, and some thank you notes for farewell gifts. That's fun, right? Not entering giveaway of course, just participating in the game. xox

Amy said...

These are so awesome and you are so talented. I love them. My last snail mail that was fun went to an embroidery on-line swap partner.

lamina @ do a bit said...

Wow they look gorgeous Amy! It's so much fun creating things like that which are much more personal do you think :) The last fun thing I sent snail mail was to my grandma,she lives in Melbourne and we only get to see her once a year... I sent her lots (and I do mean way too many) of funny photos of my little man doing crazy things... she totally loved it :)
Snail mail is fun!!!

bells said...

i can't think of the last real snail mail I sent but I think I sent one to you in recent years? I'd totally do another one with you - i love that idea.

I send handwritten letters to my sister's so when I write to him because he's not online so i suppose that counts!

LHall said...

These are amazing. I love them so much. They definitely capture everything you have written about Squam. And I'm not sure who i sent mail to last. I think it was my cousins back in the beginning of April. Wow its been a while. I will have to send more postcards soon.
liliachicago@gmail.com

danelover said...

amy21, these are gorgeous!!! beautiful finished product, very creative...

Shell said...

I loved reading about your experience at Squam .. sounds like you had lots of fun.
Your postcards are beautiful Amy :)

jamie said...

Love your postcard design! Gorgeous just like Squam~ Hopeful to visit sometime soon~

Anonymous said...

Beautiful postcards! I love them.

I love hand written notes and letters too. I do not do it often enough. My last hand written letter was to my mom on this last Maother's Day.

Melissa
ellis.melissa@sbcglobal.net

Rose Red said...

Your postcards really are beautiful and what a great way to remember and celebrate your time at Squam.

I saw on a blog in February the idea of writing a letter or card for each day of the month and I thought it a great idea, I bought a bunch of stamps and that's where it stopped. I suspect I haven't written anything by snail mail since I did the thank you notes for gifts after C was born.

Olivia said...

love the postcards!!! The last piece of mail I sent was a letter to my penpal Kendall. I have a bunch of letters still to reply to...

sunshinegirl505@gmail.com