Friday, 16 May 2014

Stamp people, mail art, this and that.

Hi everybody!
Hope you have all had a good week.
Today we had sunshine. There were a few clouds, but no rain, and it was good to walk around without being buttoned up and booted!

At the moment there are a lot of challenges with the theme mail art or stamps. At Try it on Tuesday, the theme is 'In the mail', and runs till the 26th May. At Moo Mania and More the challenge is mail art, and at AJJ, circles. And last but not least, the challenge at the Three Muses is Stamp People.

My first piece has been made for the Stamp People challenge, but also fits nicely to mail art and to circles. I used 2 stamps from a series of Liberian stamps with US presidents. I cut off the heads of my umbrella men (sorry, sounds soooo brutal!) and swapped them for the presidential heads. I used a page from an ancient Sears and Roebuck catalogue as background paper. It is very brittle and frail, and all I can do is to use it. I thought the buggy makes a wonderful setting for my presidential gentlemen! I mounted it onto some aqua cardstock to match the stamps. I love that you can see the reverse of the page at the same time! And I like the sentence 'We have embodied.....' fits well to the theme!





The second piece is a mail art envelope. I used a manila A5 one, and some background paper from Gecko Galz (Vintage by me). Once again I used my wonderful Mr UM. I glued stamps onto a piece of scrap paper and then die cut Mr UM twice. The rest of the envelope has been decorated with TH tissue tape, stamps with a postal them and some mail-art stamps stamped in black Archival.
This was a fun and easy make.






I am also linking to Manon's Paper Saturdays and Simons Monday Blog (M = mail art)

On my walk yesterday I once again admired this lovely, old brickwall, held together by a few pieces of rusty iron.

I walked through the sculpture park, and admired the gardens. The gardeners were busy cutting the grass, but left islands of longer grass here and there, which gave a very pretty effect.


The old chapel, which was in a bad state, has now been repaired, and the scaffolding removed, so it is looking beautiful again.


And on the way home along the Rhine I enjoyed the varieties of wild flowers and grass waving in the wind.



Have a great day you all, take care, and thanks a lot for coming by!

35 comments:

  1. You have made 2 really funny pieces here, love them both - wonderful idea with the Umbrella man! Nice photos as always, too. Hugs, Sarah

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  2. The presidential heads fit perfectly on Mr UM and the stamp UM are just fabulous. Looks like you had a lovely walk today. Xx

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  3. Your stamp people collage is so smart and all match so well together. Wonderful idea, love it.
    And mail post is full of wonderful stamps and umbellas are awesome.
    Beautiful photos, so bright and fresh views.
    Hugs and happy weekend, Valerie!

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  4. Mr U is as dapper as always, Love what you have done to him in these Fantastic pieces.
    Yvonne xx

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  5. Fabulous artwork Valerie and great use of Mr Umbrella Man.
    Have a lovely weekend.
    Fliss xx

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  6. Oh wow , you have been busy! Love both your pieces they look fantastic as do your beautiful photos!!

    For once we had lovely sunshine too and it really felt like Spring.

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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  7. You had me at that gorgeous mail art! It's really something - I love the silhouette of the man with all of his collaged goodness ;) And as always, your nature photos are just beautiful. Thank you, xoxo

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  8. Both fab pieces Valerie and love your photos. Annette x

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  9. Fabulous pieces of Art . I love them both. Great Pictures too. Hugs Rita xxx

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  10. Your mail art is gorgeous! I love how you used those postage stamps. Thank you for sharing your work with us for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. ~Michelle

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  11. Wow! You've been busy! I'm loving the men with umbrellas, and that crooked wall photo. You live in a pretty area.

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  12. Love the mail art pieces and Mr Umbrella man looks just amazing in both of them. You should get an award for using him in so many splendid ways.

    Beautiful walk yet again and thank you for sharing your walks via the photographs-love seeing them. Lovely to see the rhododendron in flower. I bought a red one with variegated leaves for Vic as he wanted one for his birthday. No sign of any flowers yet though there are buds.

    Have a lovely day

    Chrissie xx

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  13. Das sind ja wieder besonders tolle Arbeiten!!!! Du hast den Regenschirm-Mann einfach genial nutzt - besonders die erste Variante gefällt mir. Sehr kreativ! Ich wünsche dir ein schönes Wochenende, liebe Grüße, Dagmar.

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  14. Both of these pieces are beautiful. I love how you gave both presidents the same body, and that aqua cardstock gives it a great background. And that second piece ... love it! Love how you did the bodies with stamps, and that blue is a gorgeous colour. great work!

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  15. Beide Arbeiten sind einfach nur *G*E*N*I*A*L* in meinen Augen!
    Oberhammer!
    Du solltest auch noch zur Vintage Journey verlinken Valerie....da passt das auch grad perfekt!

    Meine Güte...begnadet!


    Die schönen Fotos sind auch toll - danke Dir Du Liebe!
    Schönen Samstag.,..
    bei uns ist die Sintflut ausgebrochen..nicht mal die Hunde wollen mehr einen Fuss vor die Tür setzen..
    sie beantragen sogar schon ein Katzenklo!!!

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    1. Oh jeh! Die armen vierbeiner! Hier ist es kalt und windig und viele Wolken!

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  16. I love postage stamps and think your second piece is great! I don't think Mr Um minded losing his head for a stately piece as the first one. Very interesting to see both sides of the S & R catalog. Have a beautiful weekend!

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  17. Valerie, I really like the effect with the umbrella man die cut from papers and stamps. It makes your piece perfect for the theme; and, the stamp men are exceptional. What fun...both are fantastic!

    Hugs,
    C

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  18. I love your stamp pieces, especially that the fellows are looking forward but their feet are going backward! It made me smile. Enjoyed your neighborhood walk as well!! Thanks for participating in our challenge at Three Muses.

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  19. Gorgeous photos, and I love both pieces of artwork. The first one is such a clever interpretation and I love it.

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  20. Geniale Idee, deine Werke sind total klasse.

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  21. Love the buggy page. And nice flower, spring photos too.

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  22. Du hast wieder ganz tolle Werke gezaubert, liebe Valerie!
    Gefällt mir sehr!

    Ich wünsche Dir ein schönes WE:-)

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  23. What fun work here and I love Mr. Umbrella man too! Beautiful walk, the grass is beautiful with the floral islands. Big hugs, ~Diane

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  24. Fabulous projects and great photos! The umbrella men look wonderful! Thanks for joining along with the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!

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  25. Love the umbrella guy. Great work! Gorgeous photos, Thanks for sharing. :)

    Tam
    http://www.owlsinorbit.com

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  26. The mail envelope is excellent. What great projects/challenges you've participated in.

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  27. What a super idea to use stamps and turn them in an art project, hugs Bee

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  28. Both pieces are fantastic, Valerie. The first one is genial, I like the buggy with your big wheels as circles. The second one is brillant, I love the design and fabulous silhouette of the Mr Umbrella.

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  29. Some of the prettiest outdoor pictures I have seen especially of the sculpture garden. Look at that purple tree! Typical politicians - facing the future but making no progress at all cause their feet are headed backwards. I love all the neat stuff you use on your makes. I have been saving canceled stamps for sometime now. And I have to say that the window on the old chapel is so pretty.
    Sandy xx

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    1. I am so glad you got the message with their backward feet!

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  30. Great projects Valerie ! I think I need to come back later for a closer look ! Nikki x

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  31. Good morning, Valerie! Had a lovely catchup and wanted to say your Umbrella Men above are outstanding! That mail will surely take longer than usual to be delivered as all the postal people have a turn examining it en route. Hope you have a great week.

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  32. Lol those good old stamps are getting some use out of them. :0
    I am sorry I am so late but like I explained in my last post internet was very hit and miss. We have changed provider so we should be OK now. ManonX

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