Announcing my 9th Annual Blog Swap: Postage People Revisited!

It´s time again for my Annual ATC Blog Swap! This year´s theme is Postage People Revisited, and I hope you´ll be inspired by it!

I´ve had a Postage People Blog Swap in 2008 already which has been a big success, and after all these years I thought we should have another one. If you don´t know what Postage People are, please have a look at the samples on my Pinterest Board here.

And there´s also a video on Postage People on my Youtube channel where you can watch me making a card and searching for the right images.

The idea is to mix postage stamps with collage images, stamped images, or even handdrawn images to create new creatures. The heads on the postage stamps can be human as well as animal heads.

I´ve seen some bad examples on the internet of heads not really fitting their bodies, so I ask you to do your best work and really try to find a perfect match! I often draw on the postage stamp to continue the outline of the shoulders. Use your imagination and tell us the story of your new character!

As always, you can use any technique you like - you can stamp, collage, draw, sew, or work digitally (if you use at least one tactile element). So if you join the swap, be aware of the fact that you won´t necessarily receive ATCs in the same technique that you used yourself.

Please sign up via personal email (just click on the link in the sidebar) and let me know your snail mail address. There´s no sign up date.

Then send 3 ATCs (each of them has to be 2,5 x 3,5 inches or 6,4 x 8,9 cm) to my address (that I´ll send you when I answer your email) so that I receive them before June 30, 2015.

There have been some issues with slow mail last year, so please do NOT use a padded or large envelope for your ATCs if you´re from overseas – if you do, the envelope will be held up in the customs for 3-8 weeks! Please do not send any extras for the recipients of your cards, no lovely small envelopes or little gifts please as I would have to pay the extra costs to send these to the recipients!

I will pay the return postage for all international players if you send a little something with your ATCs (trust me, there´s enough space in a business envelope to send along a few stamps, unmounted rubber stamps or ephemera).

If you´re from Germany, please include a return envelope with sufficient postage on it.

As always, you´ll find updates on my blog with links to all participants´ ATCs. So when you´ve finished your ATCs, please send me an email with the link to the place where you´ve posted them online, and I´ll add that link to my next update so that everyone can go to your blog or other website to have a look at your artwork. And we´ll have a Pinterest board again here as a swap gallery for all to visit and comment. Please don´t forget to comment on the other artists´ blogs if you like their cards – we all like a bit feedback, and this swap is all about connecting and getting to know other artists!

Please read the rules again before you decide to sign up and please read the newsletters that will be sent to you if you sign up. I´ve had many issues with people not following the rules last year, and I really have to be sure that you do.

 I´ll send out invitations to all previous participants, but this swap is open to all my blog visitors. Have fun creating!

Postage People Video Workshop!

Do you remember my Postage People ATC swap on this blog last year? Have you tried working with Postage People yourself?
Now you can find a video workshop online, showing how the 4 x 6 inches card above called "A Rare Adventure" was made - just have a look here. If you have any further questions, please don´t hesitate to ask!
And if you want to see more Postage People stuff, I recommend the upcoming May issue of the German stamping magazine Just Stamps: I´ve written an article about Postage People for it and submitted a lot of examples ... In the meantime, try it yourself!

Postage People Postcard

This week I´m hosting the Sunday Postcard Art challenge, and you won´t be surprised to see that I´ve chosen Postage People as my theme ;-)

Thanks for the kind comments on my video that Mandy posted again as a teaser! Hope it helped you through the process. If you want to see more Postage People, you can read my article in the latest issue of Just Stamps, and you can find oh so many examples on my blog - most of them can be found if you click on the label "ATCs". As I´ve hosted a Postage People swap last year, you´ll also find links to the other swap participants´ ATCs which have turned out great! Find more postcard sized Postage People here.

Can´t wait to see your interpretation of the theme!

It´s Postage People Time Again!

Mandy from the Sunday Postcard Art challenge blog suggested that I could do a Postage People theme once again, and that was a great excuse to pull out my postage stamps album showing heads again (yes, I have a special album for those head stamps ...).

Usually I just try the postage stamps that I have in my collection on several stamped images, but of course you can also use collage images or just draw your own persons. I always end with a bunch of different characters like these ...

Some are too small for a 4 x 6 postcard, so I`ll use them for ATCs, and those that are too big will probably end on an art journal page later. In this case, I´ve picked two characters that seemed to correspond, and I´ve built a story around them, led by the theme of the left postage stamp, chess. As I own several chess stamps and had some appropriate papers and tapes in my stash, the design came together step by step. I really can´t wait to see your Postage People!

Tonight I´ve put together a quick digital Postage People card just to show you that you don´t have to use real stamps if you don´t have any - for my Lincoln and Eisenhower meeting (a historical sensation worth documenting!) I´ve used images from Angie Young, Vicky Robinson, Emily Abramson, Sissy Sparrows, Marcee Duggar, Paula Kesselring, and Little Butterfly Wings.

More Postage People

I promised to make more Postage People ATCs, and here they are! Did you ever wonder why James Stewart almost always played "good" characters? And if you already made postage people yourself, did you try postage buildings, too? In my sample, a church in vienna was topped by another church in Dortmund. And isn´t it surprising how modern the guy in front of the church looks - though he´s been painted by Albrecht Dürer in beginning of the 16th century!

Postage People again!

In one of my Yahoo groups there´s a swap going on themed "ATCs using postage stamps" - so of course I´ve made some Postage People ATCs again. If you´ve never heard of these, maybe you´d like to check out my video about making postage people.
I haven´t made these for a while, so I´ve found lots of new combinations, so come back, there will probably be some more during the next days ...

This post is for you, Bonnie!

I´ve had several comments on my blog during the last years asking where to buy or get appropriate postage stamps for making postage people. Most people commenting don´t leave their e-mail addy, so I´m not able to answer elsewhere than in the comments. But as I doubt that readers come back to find an answer to their questions there, I´ve decided to make an extra blog post.
I´ve received most of my stamps on envelopes from swap returns or as ephemera with swaps. But sometimes I´ve purchased some great stamps in the department store.
When I sent out the returns from my own Postage People blog swap, I sent a little bag with head stamps to everyone. I´ll do that for you, Bonnie, and other people who told me that they´re not able to find the right stamps. Please send me an e-mail with your address, and I´ll send a few stamps to you; just click on the "e-mail me" link in the sidebar of my blog.

Postage People Again!

 
Probably a lot of you remember my blog swaps featuring Postage People. Though these happened long ago, these creatures want to come to life from time to time, and when my sister announced a Postage People swap and I knew I had one week off work, it all worked together. I´m pretty sure that I won´t need all these ATCs for the swap (and I have some more half finished on my table), but as always I just couldn´t stop making them. If you haven´t tried them, just do to feel the addiction. I´ll never get tired of these.

Postage People Update

I doubt that he´s really her uncle - what do you think?

The first ATCs for the Postage People swap are already in my hands, thanks Martine!
There have been more sign ups from Australia.
And here´s another link for you to check out Abby´s digital Postage People.
Have fun making yours!

Postage People Revisited Blog Swap Update No. 14 - All Swapped Out!

Today I have good news for all participants of my Postage People Revisited Blog Swap: Sandy´s cards finally arrived on Friday so that I could swap all cards on Saturday, pack and weigh them today and will get them all into the mail tomorrow!
- So watch your mail box and please don´t forget to let me know immediately when you received your envelope.
- And please send a short notice to the artists whose ATCs you received. If there´s no email addy on your ATC, you can just ask me and I´ll send you the address.
- I now have beautiful ATCs in my own Postage People collection from Marita, Liz, Gina, Judith, Sabine, Daniela, Trudi, Sandy, Peggy, Birgit, Lillian, Jo, Brandie, and Glenda, as I´ve traded a few ATCs myself and received some extra ATCs from you - thank you so much!
Thanks for playing everyone, let´s hope that all those beauties arrive at their new homes soon!

Postage People Revisited Blog Swap Update No. 1

Last week I announced my blog swap for this year, and  I´ve already had 20 sign-ups from 7 countries for this swap. I´m sure that many of you will feel inspired and some will join the fun soon! 

To send you in the right direction, here are a few more Postage People samples (not all of them ATC sized!) that haven´t been on my Pinterest inspiration board last week - I´ll upload them now for future reference.

There´s also another Pinterest board just for this current swap that you´ll find here. This is where I´ll upload the ATCs made by all the participants in this swap.

If you´re feeling inspired now and consider to join us, please read the announcement post carefully and remember: There´s no sign up date, but don´t forget that your ATCs have to be in my hands before June 30. Can´t wait to see your Postage People ideas! 

Postage People Again

You know that I love to make Postage People ATCs from time to time ... these two ("The Royal Catch" on the left and "Book Lover" on the right) are for a personal trade with one of the participants of my Postage People Revisited Blog Swap, Gina. Hope she´ll like them!

Postage People

On the same flea market that had those dog postage stamps, I´ve found a batch of people stamps and couldn´t resist to make some Postage People ATCs with them. All these latest ATCs went to my album that I´ll have with me for trades at the Art Specially Event in Nijkerk next weekend.

Postage People Revisited Blog Swap Update No. 11

Our Postage People swap is coming to an end now with less than one week left before the due date.
Today I received another envelope with lovely ATCs from Polly, but I´m still waiting for her link as well as Glenda´s.
For those of you who are on Facebook, I have a link to Brandie´s ATC; if you´re not a member, it may be possible to have a look at it, but you can´t comment.
Yesterday, I´ve sent out personal emails to a few people who haven´t answered my previous emails, but without much effect. So if you read this, Melodee, Melissa, and Tarja, please contact me!
That´s all for today, hope you´re having a sunny week!

New Postage People ATCs

These are nine new Postage People ATCs fresh from my kitchen table - and if you´ve ever tried to make some of these, you know that it´s hard to stop! I have a few more "people" put together who just haven´t found their surroundings yet, but I´m quite happy with these so far. Some of them are for a swap in one of my ATC trading groups, and the rest will go to my trading album ... much needed because there´ll be Germany´s biggest stamping fair next week, and I don´t have enough ATCs in my album to trade with all my stamping friends I´ll meet there.

Can you help me to find out the best ATCs for the swap? Which are your favourites? Please tell me, and I´ll be happy to follow your tips.

Boring?

If you think it´s boring to check out only my own Postage People, just have a look at what other participants of my swap have done - here´s another completely different style by Martine.

Oh, and then Jane had a wonderful hint for me; maybe it´s another inspiration for your Postage People!? You can use LP covers like we use Postage stamps in our swap - have a look here.

Postage Dogs

 
When I was in Berlin last week, I´ve found a batch of postage stamps featuring dogs on a fleamarket. Well, give me some postage characters, and I´ll make postage people ... eeeh, or dogs ... with them. 
So here are my first postage dogs, and I´ve had so much fun making them!

More Postage People

 
These two Postage People ATCs have been made for an upcoming swap.

Postage People Update

Ute´s ATCs have arrived, and here´s a link to Connie´s Postage People.

New Postage People

 

I´m sorry that I haven´t been in the mood to create lately, but when I saw Postage People as a swap theme in one of my ATC groups, I just had to make something, and here´s the result.