Embroidery and Mail Art

I have been pretty absent from this blog lately, but I notice that many others are leaving a longer time between posts, as well.  It's the season, I suppose, that requires more effort in real life for many of us. Christmas is both exhilarating and anxiety-inducing for many.  It can be a very busy time or a time of needing a little removal from the bustle of life.

Mostly, I fall into that second category and spend a lot of time making stuff.  A physical withdrawal, but a creative and satisfying one.  Except for this year.  I haven't made anything.  Oh, I've looked at Pinterest and various creative blogs and admired and pinned, but have had no enthusiasm for actually making.

I've continued to embroider the doll bodies when I watch shows on Amazon or Netflix.  The first one that I showed you a while back was the largest.  This one is middle-sized, and I experimented with flowers.  

leg

this will be front

But I'm still not in the mood to make heads for the three bodies I've been working on.  And little of the embroidery will show when they are dressed, anyway.  It has really just been an activity to keep my hands busy so I can watch my shows.

I'm completely enjoying my new foray into mail art, though. I've received two letters from Connie Rose and written two to her (one is in today's mail).  I've written to my grands, to my daughters, to a couple of friends, and to a stranger!  

I didn't take pictures of the first ones I sent, but here are some of the more recent ones.

This morning, I found The 12 Days of Love Letter Writing.  Not mushy luuuvvv letters--more "love writing letters" and/or "love receiving" them.  Getting a letter in the mail--a real letter, a personal letter--is like finding a treat in the mail box.  Snail mail is not as immediate as email or the phone, but there is certainly a place for each.  The 12 Days gives a list of people, strangers, that you could write, giving them the small gift of seeing a letter addressed to them and the pleasure of opening and reading a letter from a stranger.  I chose Anistazia, who is in an assisted living home and will surely enjoy receiving letters from strangers.  It, too, went out in today's mail.  

These letters don't go directly to the intended receiver, but are checked by the facilitator to see that there is nothing in the letter that shouldn't be there and then sent on to the individual.

Naomi of Naomi Loves does this all the time, writing to strangers, sending beautiful envelopes to people she has never met.  She explains why here. 

I'm no artist, but for some reason, decorating the envelopes is so much fun.  OK, time to go upstairs and decorate some envelopes, write a couple of letters.