Outgoing: Chinese Take-Out

Inspiration for mail art can come from almost anything. For example, my niece and I recently ordered Chinese take-out from my favorite local restaurant. I don't think the restaurant has changed anything in 50 years, including their packaging. I love the retro feel of their menu, containers and glassine bags. So I decided to use them for mail art.

The menu was torn in half and used for collaging. The glassine bags which originally held pre-packaged sauces are now being used to package snail mail goodies. When I put this particular parcel together, I had a pen pal from California in mind. There's something about my local Chinese restaurant and it's traditions that remind me of San Francisco. 

I hope this inspires you to look differently at items you would normally toss. Maybe they can be repurposed into something special to send a friend. What has inspired your mail art recently? 

Journal Prompt: How Are You Working Toward Your Goals?

Each week I try to take an hour and create a weekly layout in my personal journal. Many people find it hard to believe it only takes me an hour to make these weekly entries. My secret to tackling the blank page is having a process.  

On the right side of the layout, I do something creative like sketch, collage or practice calligraphy. There is power in doing something creative on a regular basis and I consider my weekly journal to be a great outlet. 

The left side of the page is for journaling. My journaling prompts are simple. They are tied to my goals. I look back on each day of the week and ask myself "How did spend my free time working toward my personal goals?"

Do I do something productive everyday? No. I'm human. So on the days when nothing happened or I have blanks, I try to find an inspirational quote and remind myself to keep moving forward. My journal helps me to check in each week. I can see areas where I'm succeeding and areas where I'm falling behind. 

When setting goals, it's important to make them measurable. For example, I know my spirit is made happy when I seek out and support the art of others. So I try to take advantage of at least one arts and cultural event each month. This can be anything from attending a book reading, going to a performance or visiting an art museum. 

 If you are interested in how I worked toward my goals this past week, I've included a video below. How have you worked toward your goals lately?

Creating With Intention: My First Junk Journal

Lately, I've been paying attention to things that draw me in and capture my heart. For the past two weeks I've been attracted to a series of videos featuring the paper crafts of a lady named Angie Bunner. She has no social media accounts of her own, but her creations are so beautiful many people share them on their own channels. 

For days I could not figure out what it was about her crafts that were attracting me. Everything she did resonated with me. After watching videos over and over, I finally figured it out. Her style reminds me of the French brocante and how I have always loved the light and colors of Paris. 

Me in Paris many moons ago. I love the blue and grey colors. Something about it reminds me of oysters. Photo Credit: P. Bright

This realization took me back to my time in France and Paris years ago. It reminded me of how much the French love of pleasure has inspired my life. I decided to take all this further and create my own "junk journal" and see where the process took me. 

A junk journal is a hand made journal created with scraps of things you have around the house. Many people give their journals a vintage look by tea or coffee dying the papers. I like this look and experimented with it. First, I started by making a few paper tags. Then I quickly moved on to the journal, itself. It was like it had to be created. I didn't stop until it was done. 

This journal took a while to make. I stayed up late for several nights working to complete it. I've included a flip through video of the final product below. I'm happy with the end result, but it was the process that was the most revealing to me. I had forgotten how much I loved France and the things I learned during my time there. Since the completion of the journal, I've been slowly incorporating these learnings back into my life. Starting with cooking and eating with pleasure. 

I challenge you to be more mindful of the things that are drawing you in. Explore it. There may be more to it than meets the eye.