Strangely Specific Decorated Envies - New Years

Let's make some really great mail art that won't disgruntle any postal workers!*

I really enjoy making decorated envelopes. Sometimes I go really overboard with them, but then I ran a mailroom for several years and I understand the difficulties postal workers face (and am therefore aware that some of my envelopes require EXTRA postage because my art makes the envelopes non-machinable).

If you're looking at this description and thinking "tl;dnr!", this is not the swap you are looking for.

*Some postal workers really enjoy even the most elaborately decorated envelopes, and then we're all really lucky. But this is for the sake of all the other people in the postal service.

Yes, the guidelines are strangely specific. I would rather have only one person joining me in this swap than a large group unwilling to follow all of the guidelines.

Envelope guidelines:

• Use a standard-sized, store-bought envelope. The envelope must be a solid color (either white, pastel, or Kraft paper brown). Alternatively, you may make the envelope, but it still must be a standard size and made from non-patterned paper (white, pastel or Kraft).

• Using a ruler and pencil, draw the following lines on the FRONT of your envelope. (You may erase the lines after you're done decorating. They're there to help you keep certain parts of the envelope blank.)

• Draw a horizontal line 1/2 inch up from the bottom of your envelope. You will keep the bottom 1/2 inch of the envelope completely free of decoration.

• Draw another horizontal line 1 inch down from the top of your envelope. You will keep the top of the envelope completely free of anything other than postage stamps and your return address. (If you choose to put your return address on the back of the envelope, there should still be only postage stamps in the top inch of the envelope.)

• Draw a box around an empty space large enough for you to write the recipient's address. In other words, leave some white space around the address to keep it plainly visible. Alternatively, use a standard white address label (like the ones you can run through your printer) for the recipient's address.

• Turn the remaining area on the front of the envelope into art!

For this swap, the theme is: New Years or a Wintry January.

Plan to spend AT LEAST an hour on this, between planning your art and creating it. (I'm marking this as a type 3 swap because I really want you to put some time and thought into it.)

• What's okay as art?

Drawings. Colored pencils. Ink drawings. Markers.

Collage, with no more than one sticker. (Please consider covering your collage with a laminate or clear tape to help it feed through postage meters OR glue it down well with a trusted adhesive. A lot of glue sticks don't hold up well in the mail.)

Drawings that incorporate no more than one sticker.

Rubber stamp/ink art which uses more than one stamp design and incorporates a hand-drawn element (either a hand-drawn embellishment or hand-coloring the stamped images).

A mix of all of the above.

• What's not okay as art?

Using more than one sticker on the front of the envelope. (If you use labels for the address or return address, they do not count towards your one-sticker limit. You may use two labels plus one sticker.

One tiny drawing that leaves most of the envelope blank.

Using only one stamped image repeatedly, if rubber stamping is your primary medium. (If you only have one rubber stamp that fits the theme and you use it repeatedly to embellish art that is predominantly another medium, that's okay.)

• Before the sign-up deadline, I will provide all participants with a template showing the standard-sized envelopes.

The USPS template for standard-sized letter rate mail can be found in a pdf: Letter Rate Mail Template

Because the USPS template can be pretty confusing (it has lots of lines and words on it), I've made a simpler template for this swap. It's a jpg file on Flickr: Standard Size for Strangely Specific Swap

• Guidelines for the BACK of the envelope: Decorating the back of the envelope is sender's choice. If you do decide to decorate the back, leave the bottom half inch of it completely blank.

• What goes in the envelope?

Inside the envelope, include a store-bought or QUALITY hand-made card. (No construction paper. No xerox/printer paper. No sticker slapping. No highly-dimensional elements that will impede the envelope's progress through a postage meter.)

It may be a postcard or a folded card. It should match the size of the envelope. (If the envelope is for a 5x7 card, then the card shouldn't be a tiny 3.5x5 card left all adrift inside of the envelope. If you're sending a smaller card, the envelope should be smaller, too. This is not to stress you out; don't get your rulers out for this. Envelopes that are much larger than the card inside of them are more likely to be torn by normal handling.)

On the card, write a note to your recipient. For this swap, please include in your note either one of your New Years resolutions (and whether you've broken it already by the time of sending!) or one of your favorite non-holiday winter activities.

Please Remember:

The Swap-Bot rating guidelines are: I got my stuff and it met posted swap requirements (5 points); I got my stuff, but it didn't meet the posted swap requirements (3 points)

This swap has a lot of posted requirements. They are not difficult, but they are very specific requirements. You may be rated down for not meeting them.

Senders, if in doubt, please feel free to contact me for clarification of the guidelines.

Recipients, if in doubt, please feel free to contact me before you rate.

(Edited to add: This doesn't mean "Recipients, pull out your rulers and measure exactly where the lines are!" Your sender can leave more than an inch of blank space at the top and more than a half inch at the bottom. But they shouldn't leave less. Those are key areas for some of the automated information the postal service puts on our mail.)

Sign up requirements

I will be checking profiles. I reserve the right to ban anyone. Again, I would rather swap with only one other person than include anyone I'm not 100% confident about.

I will be looking for:

USA/Canada only addresses.

Minimum 4.95 rating, no 1s, no unexplained 3s, no recent 3s.

Full profiles.

Minimum of 10 completed AND rated type 2 and/or 3 swaps.

No highly disproportionate number of type 1 swaps. (Getting your high rating mainly through email swaps.)