Mail Art - Page 2 of 3 | The Postman's Knock

10 Inspirational Mail Art Envelopes

April 11, 2017 by Lindsey Bugbee 12 Comments

I believe that the best way to improve your calligraphy and lettering skills is through creating projects like mail art. Sure, it helps immensely to fill out worksheets and do drills, but projects put your skills to the test! If you create mail art, specifically, you’ll find that you’re not only getting in good practice, but also spreading joy. People love to receive artistic, thoughtful mail! In this post, you’ll find my top 10 favorite pieces of TPK mail art from the past two years. All of the pieces below were created for real people, and all were successfully delivered. Feel free to use them as inspiration to make your own embellished envelopes!
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Spider Halloween Mail Art Printables

September 16, 2016 by Lindsey Bugbee 13 Comments

There’s been a crispness in the air that can only mean one thing: Halloween is on its way! Every year, I make some sort of free printable to celebrate. This year brings this delightfully creepy Halloween mail art pair! You can download both of the envelope templates by clicking here, then return to this post to read about assembly.
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Two International Mail Art Tutorials + a Giveaway

August 12, 2016 by Lindsey Bugbee 16 Comments

Travel — whether domestic or international, near or far — is one of the very best ways to jump-start your creativity. When you experience new architecture and artwork, new people, and new food, you find yourself filled with new ideas when you return home! In this post, we’ll cover two international mail art tutorials, both inspired by a trip to Brazil last month. The mail art hints at some of the Brazilian pride we saw in Rio as preparation for the Olympics was underway …
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Envelope Art Mini-Tutorial Roundup

July 26, 2016 by Lindsey Bugbee 12 Comments

Every couple of weeks or so, I post an envelope art mini-tutorial on the TPK Facebook page. Mini-tutorials aren’t as detailed as full tutorials that are posted here on the TPK blog; instead, they provide a burst of inspiration! In place of walking through the creation process step-by-step, the Facebook mini-tutorials break envelope art creation down into 4-6 different steps. This allows you to get a feel for the concept and modify accordingly to make it your own!
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Illustrated Teapot Envelope Art Tutorial

February 26, 2016 by Lindsey Bugbee 33 Comments

A few days ago, I was Pinteresting (I do this so much, I now have a verb for it), and I found a photo of teapot envelope art that I loved! Unfortunately, I cannot find the original source — the website that hosted it appears to be defunct — but you can see the pin here. I especially liked the idea of a tea tag collage. Tea tags can be really pretty, and they offer the recipient a peek into your your kitchen pantry! This can be oddly comforting if you are separated from a friend by many miles; or educational/interesting if you have an international pen pal to correspond with.
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Four Mail Art Mini-Tutorials

November 27, 2015 by Lindsey Bugbee 19 Comments

Every week or so, I provide a little mail art tutorial on the TPK Facebook page. In today’s blog post, I thought it might be neat to consolidate four of the Facebook mini-tutorials so you can have them all in one place, Pinterest-friendly and ready to inspire! In order to give you a variety, I have included two simple concepts, and two rather involved concepts. There’s something in this post for everyone!
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How to Make Deliverable Mail Art

November 6, 2015 by Lindsey Bugbee 58 Comments

I have been hesitant to write this blog post for years because I am not a postal worker, and I always get mixed feedback from postal workers when I ask questions about mail art. So, keep that in mind while you’re reading! Despite my non-post office employment history, this blog post needs to happen because I get asked all the time if the envelopes I post on social media make it through the postal system (and the answer is yes!!). What I am writing today is solely based on my personal experience with the United States Post Office; it’s certainly not gospel and was not endorsed by USPS.
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Three Easy Mail Art Ideas + an Illuminating Giveaway

April 24, 2015 by Lindsey Bugbee 51 Comments

I do not know one person who doesn’t appreciate a beautiful piece of mail art. I mean, you can be completely non-artistic, but an impressive envelope will catch your eye. I think the reason people like creating mail art is it’s amazing to know that whoever receives your snail mail will have a moment of “Wow!” coupled with curiosity as to what’s inside. It’s like being proud of a well-wrapped gift; the outside matters just as much as the inside because it’s the outside’s job to build anticipation.
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Art Deco Envelope Art Tutorial

January 11, 2015 by Lindsey Bugbee 21 Comments

I made this envelope art tutorial for two reasons: the first is that people seemed to like the last envelope art tutorial {which, like this post, includes a printable template}; and the second is that I finally flew too close to the sun for the post office’s taste, and effectively needed to re-send a letter. My Icarus moment was this: I had made a lovely paper cut art envelope for the Letter Writer’s Alliance …
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Typography Art Envelope Tutorial

December 12, 2014 by Lindsey Bugbee 26 Comments

Despite the popularity of minimalistic and modern design, I love the intricacy of vintage typography art. Put something in front of me with handwritten type and flourishes, and I’ll stare at it for hours. I also really enjoy making complicated, vintage-esque pieces {like the Cream with Coffee typography art}. Despite my fondness for typography, it hadn’t occurred to me to use it on an envelope until recently. I created the envelope below in walnut ink and posted it on Instagram — people seemed to like it, so I thought, hey, why not show you how to make your own?
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