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  • Introducing the Marvelous Mail eBook!

    by

    Lindsey Bugbee

    , ,

    The Marvelous Mail eBook has arrived — just in time for the holiday season! In it, you’ll learn how to make centered and orderly event envelopes, fun casual mail art, and everything in between. The eBook also includes printable envelope templates, envelope design element mini-tutorials, and TPK’s beloved Illustrated Roses Template!

    Marvelous Mail eBook with Envelopes and Address Guidelines Template

    My name is Lindsey Bugbee, and I am an envelope calligraphy nerd, through and through. The prospect of making eye-catching envelopes is what prompted me to try my hand at calligraphy in the first place! I’m enchanted by the idea of this little work of art that can communicate an address, delight various pairs of eyes along its journey, and make a recipient feel special. So, today I have a treat for you: Marvelous Mail, an eBook that tells you everything I know about making envelope calligraphy and mail art!

    How Marvelous Mail Came to Be

    If you’re a TPK veteran, you might remember Amazing Envelopes for a Latté. Amazing Envelopes was an eBook/printable that was available from mid-2015 to mid-2019. Like Marvelous Mail, it focused on teaching you how to make perfectly centered and orderly envelopes. Unlike Marvelous Mail, however, it honed in exclusively on doing so with Janet Style calligraphy.

    Photo of "Centering Your Envelopes" page from "Marvelous Mail"
    Like its predecessor Amazing Envelopes, Marvelous Mail contains useful instructions for making orderly envelopes.

    A lot has changed since 2015. Namely, I’ve garnered experience making hundreds more envelopes! I wanted to be sure and have this updated knowledge prepared for you by November/December — a.k.a. holiday card and elegant envelope season — so you can start sending jaw-dropping mail just in time for Christmas.

    What is the Marvelous Mail eBook?

    Marvelous Mail is a couple of things! First and foremost, it’s an instructional book. In it, you’ll find directions over how to make envelope calligraphy guidelines templates to keep your calligraphy (or hand lettering) neat and orderly! You’ll also find four pre-made printable envelope guidelines templates (which were everyone’s favorite part of Amazing Envelopes).

    Calligraphy Guidelines | The Postman's Knock
    This is one of the four address guidelines templates that appears in Marvelous Mail! You can print these templates and use them for both casual and formal projects.

    I want this eBook to appeal to both serious calligraphers and casual mail art enthusiasts (or people who identify as both, like me!). For that reason, Marvelous Mail hones in on tips and tricks for creating formal envelopes; but it also includes plenty of fun mail art information and inspiration!

    TPK's new "Marvelous Mail" eBook!
    Marvelous Mail includes cool features like these Design Element mini-tutorials!

    How to Read This eBook

    Marvelous Mail is mostly an eBook. I say “mostly” because there are some printable components; you may want to print off five pages or so (mostly envelope guidelines templates). To do that, I suggest directing your printer to print a specific page. If you’re using a PDF reader on your computer to view the file, simply go to File > Print, then in the printing options, select “Current Page”.

    "Marvelous Mail" eBook on an iPad
    Marvelous Mail looks great on an iPad and displays very nicely with the Kindle App. If you don’t have an iPad, feel free to read it from your computer’s PDF reader!

    Though the eBook does feature some printable components, it was designed to be read on a screen. Yes, you *can* print the entire book (43 pages) out if you prefer! However, the eBook contains several links to tutorials, inks, and TPK articles, which are clickable from the eBook. Really, you could think of Marvelous Mail as a super-charged blog post that lays out absolutely everything I know about making envelopes! In order to explain myself well, sometimes it’s best to send you to specific articles on the TPK site or external sites (like Cards & Pockets, where I buy my envelopes)!

    Bonus: Roses Template

    I’ve tucked a little Easter egg into Marvelous Mail: TPK’s beloved Illustrated Roses Template. The template disappeared from the TPK Catalog earlier this year, but I decided to resurrect it in this eBook because the template has the potential to help you make stunning mail art!

    TPK's Roses Template and an Envelope | The Postman's Knock
    You can find this template in Marvelous Mail! Use a light box or a bright window to trace over it onto your envelope.
    Decorated Envelope | The Postman's Knock
    Fill in your roses with watercolor, add some Kaitlin Style calligraphy, and you’ve got a jaw-dropping piece of mail art!

    Where to Find Marvelous Mail

    You can find Marvelous Mail in the TPK Catalog! It’s $6.00, which is a nominal fee to cover the time I spent putting it together. I know that you’ll enjoy the envelope photos, the inspiration, and all the tips and tricks included within!

    "Marvelous Mail" eBook PDF

    If you’re an envelope enthusiast on a budget, never fear! The TPK blog itself has resources for learning how to create beautiful mail. You can browse through the “Mail Art” category of the blog to find inspiration!

    I hope that you enjoy this new eBook! Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions about it (or envelopes in general). Thanks very, very much for reading TPK, and have a fantastic fall weekend! We’ll reconvene next week with a review of Molly Suber Thorpe’s new book Mastering Modern Calligraphy. 🙂

    Warmly,

    Lindsey's Signature | The Postman's Knock