Writing Letters...Here and There

I love the idea of the pubs that host letter writing nights.  Beer and letters.  Not sure how that would work for me, but an interesting concept.  :)  They even provide the stamps!

On the other end of the spectrum--

Workshops for children to make mail on Viva Snail Mail!

A great way to start a generation of letter writers.

Melissa's post about a young man who started Love for the Elderly (an anonymous letter writing  project to send mail to senior citizens) is a favorite.   More about Jacob here and a FB page for the project here.

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Who can kids write?

Grandparents, cousins, friends, teachers, authors...

Author James Preller receives wonderful fan mail,

and even better, writes some personal letters back.

I've continued experimenting with tea bags.  I used some of my photographs (altered) on some, drawn on some, stamped on some, and sewn on some.  

Free motion machine drawing experiment.

Uh, will need more practice;

haven't done any free motion stitching in a while.

Altered my hibiscus photos,
then printed on tea bag.
Adhered to a water colored teabag.
(lines are because printer is almost out of ink)

This one has already been pasted on an envelope.

And this tea bag adhered to a postcard.
 detail

On a visit to Marna Lunt's blog, I found a statement about embroidery being a treatment for shell shocked soldiers during WWI.  After a little research, I found this article in Craftism.    

I'd never heard of Louise Pesel before, but I'm full of admiration for her work.  Many of us find embroidery meditative, and I love seeing how it benefits others.

Born in Bradford, Louisa Frances Pesel (1870-1947) was a teacher of embroidery. She studied design under the Arts & Crafts practitioner Lewis Foreman Day, who recommended her for the post of Designer at the Royal Hellenic School of Needlework and Laces in Athens, where she soon became its Director. After returning to England, Pesel worked with shell-shocked soldiers in Bradford, and was involved in establishing embroidery kits for POWs (Prisoners of War) during the Second World War. 

and

The Bradford Khaki Club was formed in the First World War to help the many shell shocked and injured soldiers brought home for hospital treatment. It had a restaurant, games room, library and held concert parties, members were also taught to embroider by Louisa Pesel (first President of the “Embroiderers Guild of Needlework”), some of whom helped embroider what is known as the “Khaki Cloth”, a cross-stitch frontlet made in 1918 and used at services in the “Abram Peel Hospital” in Leeds Road a Military establishment staffed by the Royal Army Medical Corps and the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service.  (from Craftism article)

 Embroidery and quilting have been used as therapy in prisons, too.  

Have a great weekend!