Anniversary Snail Mail Book

Hi Everyone,

I thought I'd share a book I made for a wedding anniversary present.  This post is a little picture heavy so you might want to grab a quick cuppa before you settle yourself down to read.....

I've been happily making snail mail for awhile now.... some of my own ideas and others from Pinterest... because I decided I would bind them into a book and add a note or letter in each one before giving them to my partner for our second anniversary.  Each one covers a particular theme of something we've done that month... e.g October - Halloween etc. 

OK, so here we go...... the cover 

 Outside cover with leather closure.

View of the spine.....

Close up of the clasp on the closure..... I used a small snippet of the paper on the clasp and coated it with Glossy Accents.

View inside the book.... I used "Stack the hinge" for my binding, cutting a slither off the LHS of each envelope to slip in the hinge from the binding to secure each envelope. 




Now for the inside of the book......

I decorated the front and back of each envelope so here is my first page/envelope......

 Front of the first envelope.....

 and now the back of that envelope.

  2nd envelope front.....

Close up of the front....

And back of the 2nd envelope....

 3rd envelope front.....

Back of that envelope.....

 4th envelope front

 And the back.....

5th envelope front.

and the back......

 6th envelope front....  This envelope contained a note about a lovely break we had in Welsh Wales. Hence the dragons and sheep.

and the back....

 7th envelope front.... this one contained a note about a boating holiday we had abroad so I chose a sea theme for decoration. 

and the back.....

 8th envelope front 

and the back of that envelope......

 9th envelope.... the design for this envelope is one I copied off Pinterest (sorry I don't know who originally posted this one but amazing art - I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it and had to try it). I really liked the stencilled moon in the background and the gorgeous autumnal colours.

 and this it the stylish witch on the back of my halloween envelope. I didn't seal down any of the envelopes so the design is continued under the flap as well as on top.

 10th envelope.... can't you tell it's almost Xmas!

And the reverse of the envelope says just that.....

 My next envelope was along the same theme and again another image spotted online and copied in water colour.

And the back of that envelope....

Obviously this envelope was a New Year theme... I was trying to capture one of our pride (we have three cats) looking ahead into the following year by peering into the envelope.

And the back of the New Year envelope.....

This envelope was a little different from the rest as it represented February which is a birthday month for us.... I wanted to make this one more mixed media and dimensional by attaching a tag.

Here are a couple of close ups.......

The next envelope was a play with Zentangles ... I doodled part of this one whilst sitting in a meeting one day (perhaps I shouldn't own up to that!)

 A wee close up.....

And the back of that envelope with a couple of party balloons.......

A close up of the party gal's balloons.

That's the lot.........

I have to say the freedom of sketching, doodling or painting on envelopes is wonderful. ... if I make a mistake, in the bin it goes (none of this embrace imperfection business for me.... I jest really).  

I just happened to come across a couple of packets of envelopes in our stationery drawer at home one day that were a perfect size to play on and the paper they're made from must be watercolour paper, as they take watercolour beautifully.   

I began playing on the envelopes last year and love sending them out to friends whenever I need to jot a line.  It's very addictive and now I can't stop.  Why not give it a try... if nothing else it'll brighten up your mailman's day.

 Have a brilliant week all and thanks so much for reading my blog ramblings.....

Carol.  xx