Mail me some art

bh hhc

Hello wonderful Mail Art swappers,

I hope you are staying cool this summer and finding time to make more marvelous mail art :) Here is another really fun technique challenge, one that comes with a safety consideration.

by hhc

There are several YouTube presentations showing this technique. The best one is by a mother and her children. Those with kids are welcome to get them involved :) We'd love to have them participate :)

by hhc

I'll do my best to describe the process:

Put down plastic sheets or towels to protect your work surface, or work in a large sink. Wear an old T-shirt or apron...

Have on hand some of the larger plastic drinking straws, one for each color you plan to work with.

Prepare several large disposable cups, one for each color of paint you want to use.

by hhc

Pour about an inch-deep amount of undiluted clear (not opaque) liquid dish detergent into each cup. Okay to use green Palmolive, for example, the dish detergent color won't show through.

Gently stir in A FEW DROPS OF WATER to each cup, not very much.

Get out some liquid acrylic paints of various colors and put a few drops of paint and a few drops of water in each cup. (Experiment for best results...) OR slightly water down a small quantity of several colors from your tube paints, each color in its own cup. Stir gently.

I started out with a cup for YELLOW, GREEN, BURGUNDY, RED, and CARRIBEAN BLUE.

Have your post card blanks ready and keep them nearby.

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Hold your straw so the end of it is barely into the detergent/water/paint mix at the bottom of one of the plastic cups. Blow gently through the straw until the bubbles rise up to the top (or over the top) of the plastic cup.

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DO NOT INHALE, paint may be toxic if taken internally. (Children should be warned and carefully supervised...)

Pull the straw out and quickly---

Press one of your PC blank cards onto the bubbles at the top of the cup, patting to make full contact.

Then lift off your post card and set your Bubble Art on a newspaper, paper bag, paper towel, plastic sheet to dry. Repeat. You can over-print or make multi-colored prints, letting the previous color dry first. (Or not...)

I added stickers or collage elements to some of my examples.

I truly hope each participant will have so much fun that it will be difficult to stop making prints :)

Participants: for this exchange, make 1 - 4 post cards...

SAMPLE/TEMPLATE
FOR BACK OF POST CARD

SWAP DETAILS:

You may submit as many as four Post Cards. (You will get back the same number you send in, each from a different artist.)

Mail your PC's to your host in an envelope, and your host will mail out the swapped PCs after the swap is processed.

If you're sending more than one PC, please insert waxed paper or parchment between the
cards if there is a chance they might get stuck together in the envelope.
Include an address label and sufficient loose postage for each card you send in.
Please write your return address or email address on the back of the PC in the upper left corner, so the recipient can thank you.
Also, kindly note the Swap Name on the back of your post card.
Please get your 1 - 4 post cards into the mailing system by MONDAY, JULY 24TH

Contact me if your mailing might arrive late.

Questions: s.h.greenstamps@juno.com

Mail to:

Honi C.

Post Office Box 142

Freedom, NY 14065

You can find all the postal specifications (and a handy postage calculator) here: here: http://postcalc.usps.gov