Usually, when I go to my mailbox I am greeted by 15 pieces of mail asking me to apply for a credit card, 8 bills and anywhere from 1 to 38 catalogs depending on the time of the year. I could go days without getting my mail and be perfectly happy in my life. However, there is the rare occasion when I receive something different in the mail. I feel like a happy kid when I find a pretty envelope addressed to me. It is so exciting to receive an unexpected card from a friend or relative amidst all the junk. Well, Carolee Gilligan Wheeler and Jennie Henchcliff apparently agree with me because they are the authors of Good Mail Day: A Primer for Making Eye-Popping Postal Art
GIVEAWAY: To win a copy of this book, simply leave a comment on this post. The deadline is November 27th, 2009 at 11:59 PM, EST and one winner will be chosen at random from all comments submitted. WINNER: Congratulations to our winner, Edwina! You will be having a very good mail day when we send you your book! Thanks to everyone else for entering. |
Now please enjoy this interview with Carolee and Jennie, about their amazing book!
What is your book about?
Good Mail Day is about all of the wonderful ways to utilize the postal service (a medium that many have thought fallen out of favor) to send creative, unique mail and mail art to friends and strangers all over the world. We take new users through simple ways to create more individual and interesting pieces of mail, from the humble postcard to mail-able sculptures, and then we introduce them to the finer points of working within the Mail Art network.
How long have you been doing this type of craft or art?
I would honestly say that I have been making mail art since high school, when I had a variety of pen-pals that I discovered through the pen-pal section of my favorite band’s Fan Club. Those people introduced me to the idea of friend books (essentially an add-and-pass in the fine mail art tradition) and the idea of making one’s mail as distinctive and artistic as possible. Within were letters, yes, but also drawings, mix tapes, and even things like 100 plastic ants. People prided themselves on how unusual they could make their mailings, which were essentially to complete strangers. The only comparable level of dedication I’ve seen since has been with mail artists. I became more interested in mail art as its own medium (separate from mere letter-writing, in which I was still engaged) when I met Jennie in 2004 and we started sending things to one another.
What inspired you to write this book?
Jennie and I have been engaged in our project, Pod Post, since we met, and Pod Post is, purely and simply, correspondence-obsessed. We have sold stationery sets and mail art kits, as well as mail art bentos filled with tags, labels, stickers, and postal rubber stamps that we bought on a trip to Japan and assembled in little bento boxes (complete with fake sushi grass!). Our Pod Post logo incorporates the international symbol for Post. Pretty much everything Pod Post does has to do with mail and mail art. So it was a natural fit, and since we continually meet people who say, “Oh my gosh, people still SEND MAIL?†we jumped at the chance to show them all of the wonderful ways they can incorporate their love of collage, or typography, or illustration—you name it—into making and sending exciting mail art. Doesn’t everyone love to get REAL mail? Most people I know do. And the first rule of the Mail Art Network is that if you want to get great mail, you have to send great mail. We thought maybe people just needed a little nudge, and the book could serve that purpose.
What makes your book different?
Most of the mail art books I’m familiar with have been out-of-print for a long time, and other correspondence-related books seem to focus on either card-making or penmanship or something of a more specific nature. With mail art I think you get the entire package. At its best, it’s 100% handmade, completely unique to the sender, and definitely the kind of thing you want to keep. And unlike more traditional fine arts, mail art is still really affordable, especially in the United States, where you can send off a gorgeous piece of mail art for as little as a postcard stamp. I also hope people will notice the incredible variety of the mail art we received for submission, all of it received through a traditional mail art call-for-entries. There are so many styles in there that it’s my hope that everyone who sees it will understand that anyone can make mail art, it can take as little as ten minutes, and there’s room for everyone’s personal vision.
Who would enjoy or benefit most from this book?
Everyone! Seriously. Well, anyone who likes making things. A wood-whittler could make really exciting mail art!
The most natural extensions of their crafts will be for calligraphers, illustrators, collage and scrapbook artists, printmakers, photographers, painters, typography and design nerds, philatelists, junk-hoarders, origami enthusiasts…. Honestly. Name a craft, and I could probably think of a way that it could be applied to mail art. Beyond that, we’re just looking for the people who say, “I remember when I used to get the best mail…â€.
Were there contributors to this book? If so, who were they?
We received a very large number of contributions through a call-for-entries and included nearly every one in this book. They run the gamut—from friends and acquaintances who said “What’s mail art, again? Well, I guess I could do that…†to seasoned mail art network-ers and paper crafters. There are far, far too many to list here.
34 comments so far:
I’m not sending out Christmas cards this year! I opted to send Thanksgiving cards and tell my family and friends why I’m thankful for them! What a sweet surprise! Nobody usually expects a Thanksgiving card!
What an interesting concept! It inspired me to send a card today… not mail art yet because so busy at the moment, but a card to say “I love you” is a start.
Thanks!
I cannot wait to read this book. Thanks for introducing it to us.
This is such a great idea! I’ve been thinking along these lines, but a push would be really good for me. Thanks for the giveaway. It’s very generous and I’d LOVE to win!!
Denny
denny1600(at)gmail(dot)com
Sounds like a really great book! What great ideas.
This book looks great. I love getting personal things in the mail, and this would be a good way to send more things.
I so love getting cards in the mail. why is it that we need to be reminded that we all love getting mail that is not bills, flier, or junk….. I have bunches of cards that I make to go along with presents. I need to go home and send some of them in the mail to friends – just because and for no other reason then that I am thinking of them.
Wow this sounds like a great book. Fun mail is always a great surprise! I would love to win a copy.
Hi! I just discovered your site whilst on my morning surf. It’s brilliant – thank you! I looked around to find to find the comment area and bam! You’re giving something away too! How happy was I?? How many exclamation marks can I justify in one paragraph?? ;o) Seriously, though, you are truly inspirational and this will be a daily viewing essential for me from now on. Your book is already on my list of “books I HAVE to get” – it has arrived in my local bookstore in Singapore and called out to me just last week. Being an incurable book addict, I search for new arrivals regularly. It is waiting patiently for me to gather enough pennies together to rescue it from the shelf and bring it home! Win or not, I am so happy to have discovered you. Thanks again. Adrienne xxx
Very cool! I send a lot of mail since most of my family lives on the other side of the country, and I think this would be SO much for me and my kids!!! Thanks for the chance to win! *fingers & toes crossed*
What a great idea! When I was a teenager, I had a pen pal in Germany and whenever I ran out of envelopes, I would use pages from a magazine to create my own. I can’t wait to see if I am lucky enough to win this giveaway, so I can drool over their creations! Thank you for organising this.
I miss getting good old fashioned letters through the mail. What a great book!!
I love getting mail and I love sending mail. It is the best feeling ever. Can’t wait to see this book.
As you know, each and everyone of us could put this book to many uses. Thanks for all the give a ways!! As you know it keeps us coming back to your wonderful pages!!! Thanks for all your hard efforts!!!!
This looks like a great & fun book!
Hi, This book looks wonderful.. I would love to be inspired like this. Tons of great ideas.
Thank you
Mary N
ladefly@aol.com
It’s great that snail mail is popular again ^_^ (we can assume that, since there are many sites like Postcrossing now). I send postcards, greeting cards, and letters to my friends and family, and they could use some spicing up.
I absolutely love this idea! I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this book! Thanks for introducing it!
If I don’t win it, then I’ll surely buy it!
This book looks so cool – it ups the mail is wonderful ante in the most fun of ways.
Oh, me, me, me!
I think I’m going to do some of this with the homeschool art class next week.
I’ve always been a fan of sending mail as I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t get even a tad bit excited by a piece of personal mail amongst all of the bills and advertisements. Here’s one more way to add a little fun to it! What a great book idea!
I would love this book and I am definitely going to get it!!! Love this site also.
To get something in the mail that isn’t a bill or junk is my favorite thing! When my husband was stationed in Korea, I ran to the mailbox everyday hoping for a letter! This book looks fun and sunshine! Thanks for sharing!
I just am experiencing your site for the first time, thanks to Carrie who sent a link to your CNN craft (congrats!). GREAT website ladies! I love the idea of mail that isn’t junk!!!!!
I am an avid snail mailer and this book is what I need to decorate those boring envelopes!! Please include me in this giveaway!
I can’t wait to get an inside look at this book. I’m constantly bringing “junk mail” home from work to repurpose it. This should provide some great inspiration.
You have such creative and unusual ideas for crafting. I like that much of it is possible for kids to create. Your cupcake collars are very clever.
yay! this is just the push i needed to get me back into the swing of snail mail! in fact – got to go, i’ve got letters to write. thanks for sharing this book!
I love visiting your site. I am a Pre- K teacher, and I always love to find something new and different on yor site. I too LOVE getting mail and I am always looking for creative ways to send something to my friends and relatives. Thanks for all of your ideas. Happy Thanksgiving!
love your site & the ideas you always have to offer!
Yay yay yay yay! And one more YAY!
The giveaway is now ended and no further comments will be eligible for the prize. Thanks to you all for your wonderful words about this amazing book, and congratulations to our winner, Edwina!
Congrats to Edwina!!
This book looks inspiring!