Overlapping or Layered Stamps

I have wanted to try this technique for some time now, and finally got around to trying it! I carved this ladybug, but the image that is created is actually from using two stamps that are stamped on top of each other.

Let me explain...

First I carved a background stamp that would be of the red wing covers of the ladybug. This stamp gets stamped first. Next, I carved a stamp that would be all the black parts of the ladybug, the spots, head, legs, etc. This stamp gets stamped on top of the first red stamp. Get it!

What an image it makes! So bright and vibrant! This ladybug is pretty basic.

Here is a link to some instructions if you every want to give it a try.

Mail Art

Mail Art, or Correspondence Art as it is sometimes called, is hard for me to define, because it can be so many different things. Wikipedia says it is, "art which uses the postal system as a medium. The term mail art can refer to an individual message, the medium through which it is sent, or an artistic genre"

But what does that mean? Well it couldmean you are altering an envelope with art, or you are stamping faux postage on the envelope, or maybe you are trading an ATC, or making a collage on a postcard, or sending a zine, or even shipping a form of naked mail. It is really art that uses the postal system, and not just art sent through the mail.

I have been doing this since my Etsy shop opened. I always decorate my recycled envelopes with my bearpaw stamps. I have also been creating stamps, like the ones pictured, for the use on letters

and packages.

To me, there is so much negative space on an envelope or box. Why not fill it! Not only does my recipient of the mail get something that looks neat, but I secretly hope that there are some postmen and women who see it and get a little smile at it (or curse my name). It is the emotional response from art, after all, that we seek to invoke.

I have plans to increase my selection of mail art stamps in the shop. I recently relisted my snail mail stamp, another air mail stamp, soon to be followed by a "fragile" stamp, and in the future, some faux postage stamps. Stay tuned!