Of Mice and Mail

Every once in a while I go through my belongings and purge. It feels good to find new homes for loved items that are no longer being used! It's never wise to hold onto too many material possessions. A cluttered home leads to a cluttered mind (and believe me, my mind is already a little jumbled.) 

Anyway, as I was going through some old books that the Murphy Bros. and I read when they were wee lads, I remembered one of my young pen pals. She is at the perfect age for these books. By a strange coincidence, they all happened to be mouse related (Stuart Little, Ragweed, The Mouse and The Motorcycle, Geronimo Stilton) so I decided to create a little mouse mail to go with it. 

I scoured the internet for some interesting facts about mice. Did you know that baby mice are called "pinkies"? I mean, c'mon, isn't that the cutest thing? I made some funny sketches of "mice in action" and created a little handmade book for my pen friend to read along with the books I was giving to her.  

I packed it all up and took it to my post office! Yay!! Hopefully, this back to school box of books will bring a smile to my recipient's face!!

Do you have something that you're not using anymore? Know someone who might enjoy it? Why not send a surprise package in the mail today? It's magical!

Go postal, people!! 

XOXO Mrs. Murphy 

The Magic of Mail Art

"Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people." -Leo Burnett

Taking the time to "be creative" everyday is something I think is extremely important. Creating, and not just consuming, makes us more content, fulfilled, interesting individuals!  My postal hobby is a perfect outlet for these creative urges and it's a wonderful way to connect with another human being...hopefully sharing the joy of creativity with someone else!

I try, of course, to write interesting, engaging letters to all of my pen friends. I also have been know to liven these letters up with a little mail art. According to Wikipedia, "Mail art (also known as Postal art and Correspondence art is a populist artistic movement centered on sending small scale works through the postal service." There are all kinds of mail art projects and exhibits that one can be a part of.  It's really quite thrilling. Who knows? You may create some mail art, send it through the post and faster than you can lick an envelope, it's displayed at some museum somewhere! Neato! Creating and sending mail art is a great way to get over your fear of failure and break those bonds of perfectionism. You simply create something and send it through the mail. There's always a chance that your recipient could hate your mail art, but in my experience, even the really "weird" pieces of mail I've created are received in a most generous spirit. Pen pals are nice like that.

I recently created a small art journal. It's a simple collection of collage and quotes and doodles. Nothing amazing, just a fun way for me to express myself with color and images and text. Making it was very relaxing. I'm not sure yet if I will mail the whole journal to one recipient or send individual pages to my pen pals. That's the fun of mail art...you get to be creative!!

Join me in making some mail art! It truly is mailbox magic!

Go postal, people!

XOXO Mrs. Murphy

Fun with Photos

I recently picked up a book of decorative papers. I've been having fun making some cute snailmail. This particular book has some great vintage photos in it. I added some fun speech bubbles!!

 Yay! Snailmail!! Bringing smiles wherever it goes. 

Go Postal, Everyone!!

XOXO Mrs. Murphy