Paper Art : Jayme McGowan

Dear friends,

I hope you are all having a great day, or night! I'm currently working on a new postcard idea, will tell you more about it soon! Meanwhile, I thought I should share a very inspiring body of work using paper(!) by artist Jayme McGowan. Looking at her works remind me time and again how versatile paper is as an art medium. There are endless possibilities on what you can do! Truly when one is creative, even the simplest of material can be transformed into something so brilliant. What I love even more about McGowan is her ability to not just make shapes but also tell a story. See for yourself.

"Aerial Adventurers"

"James & the Giant Peach"

"Oscar's Accidental Adventure"

"The Best Album Ever"

"Cloud Climbing"

Now I don't have to tell you why this one is my favorite, it's pretty obvious isn't it?

"Earl's Good Tuesday"

You can see more of Jayme McGowan's work here. She is also an Etsy seller like myself and you can purchase prints and shadow box kit under her Roadside Projects shop. If you love her work, drop her a note and let her know how much you appreciate her art. We need people to keep making beautiful things! Lastly, don't forget to write to your pals about this.

Happy writing!

Cindy Gonzales - Kujat

Old Musings

Hello friends!

Have you ever been in exile? Believe it or not, I was, for over a year around 2003. Don't worry, I wasn't in jail but the wardens were my parents. To this day, I look back and think of that phase in my life as the "dark age" spiraling downwards into a black hole.

Ironically, it was also a time when I found my creative potential despite having gone to art school years prior. It must be all those idle times that made me think what a solitary creature I really am!

Here are a few documented reminders that make looking back during those times less disheartening.

Enjoy!

Cindy Gonzales - Kujat

----

I'm pulling my head back

The wound on my neck to show

The many times you made me think

I could be greater

Than God.

---

---

I serve you my spoilt heart

On a silver platter

With a silver fork

But I'm still not worth your gold.

---

---

It felt like closing your eyes from the strobes of light

While the beating of your heart rocks your whole weight

But it's only a moment of another miracle as we fall into slumber.

---

---

Oh, a tender loving heart

Is a tender hand climbing up front

The second helping

Is always reminiscent

Of the first intrusion.

----

Happy 6th Birthday, Postcrossing!

Hello friends!

Having a three-full days weekend is really nice, but it makes my Tuesday feel like Monday! Alas, that is great news knowing I only have to work four short days this week. Nevertheless, time seems to be flying! Don't you think?

This morning, I checked in on one my Postcrossing accounts (because I have two! Yikes!) and read about their approaching 6th birthday, how fun! The site administrator, Paulo Magalhaes is inviting the members to submit photos of themselves holding postcards they are about to mail out which they will use and compile in a video montage like they have done before that I regretfully missed. Well here's my chance and to all of you who are part of this wonderful project, we just might be featured in the video if not win these goodies as well:

The World's Smallest Post Service by Lea Redmond of Leaf Cutter Designs.

Two Christmases ago I got my cousin, Mary Kris, two of my pen pals and my husband, Dan one each of this awesome mail product from Ms. Redmond. Her customer service was awesome (still is, I'm sure!) and all her products unique. I am happy to see her products gracing Amazon now as well as other online gift shops. It's a lovely surprise enough to see something special in the mailbox and having the letters and packages come in miniature sizes is even more amazing! So this kit would make a wonderful addition to any letter-writer's desk!

Included in the kit:
1 0.2mm fine-tipped micron writing pen
40 mini writing sheets
40 mini envelopes
60 envelope seals
4 mini gift boxes
4 sheets Kraft wrapping paper
4 sheets miniature "newspaper" packing paper
44 inches twine
40 postage stamps
32 special delivery stickers
Instruction sheet


Mail Carriers Set by Playmobil.

These Mail Carriers are well loved by Postcrossers across the globe including myself. We have come to know them on first name basis, Paulo and Ana. Honestly, I am envious of the two, they have gone to more places that I wished I've traveled to! You can read more about their fun trips here.

So here's me with my Sad Queen postcards and behind me are my wall of cards that are mostly available on Letter Parade the shop. I'm crossing my fingers I'll be part of the video, at least :0)

And in the subject of postcards, I am embarrassed to admit that I have been so out of the loop! Reading Missive Maven's blog, I came across Walltype, SendSomething.net and Swap-bot, let me explore these awesome recommendations more then maybe I can blog about each in the near future!

Happy writing!

Cindy Gonzales - Kujat

Free Stuff Monday

Hello friends!

I hope you all had a fun July 4th celebration! The long weekend for me was filled with pounds of meat and grilled veggies, thanks to the company of good friends! Now, easing back to work isn't at all that bad.

Now let's talk about 'print-at-home' stationery. Have you purchased a downloadable file or two from Etsy or any other online source? There are lots of them and some have really amazing designs! For a few $, you can store many images ready to print at your disposal the next time you write someone a letter. What a wonderful idea! Alas, instead of selling my own, I decided to give it away! I've recently uploaded two designs that you can find via Letter Parade face book page delivered fresh every Monday. So if you are tired of the same boring lined paper, add a stylish touch by printing my designs over! It's that easy!

Here are the two previously shared designs:
"Peacock Stationery" and "Pink Roses and Butterflies" by Letter Parade.
Download high resolution here.

Once downloaded and you are ready to print, open file and hit CTRL + P to view print options, make sure to adjust printer settings to "FIT TO SCREEN / PAGE" and select NORMAL for print quality. You may print front and back and as many copies as you like! Works with any letter paper (8.5" x 11"). Now remember, the print will not completely bleed, or cover the entire paper as is common for at home printers. You will find a few centimeters of gap on the edges of the paper not printed. If you want a "full bleed" look, simply cut the sides as shown on the guide below.

More designs to follow! You are free to print unlimited number of copies for personal use only. All I ask in return is please DO NOT RESELL OR SHARE this file regardless of format (electronic or printed). If you like these copyrighted designs and know someone who will, too, just have them visit this blog or my face book page where they can download these files and enjoy more designs delivered every Monday!

Happy writing!

Cindy Gonzales - Kujat

Letter Parade -UPDATE

Hello friends!

Happy 4th of July to all you Americans and to my husband who has yet to wake up and decide what to do today to celebrate his freedom and love for his country. To those of you who are wondering why I'm going to have to sit this one out or be a wallflower, that's because I am not American. I do love America, don't get me wrong. And very soon I, too will be American citizen, until then I will pour damn good wine and give a toast to you America!

I know it's been a while since my last post, this seems to be the norm with me nowadays! I am currently juggling several projects here and there but I'm happy to say, letter-writing and postcard-sending have not been put on hold. Nobody can possibly deny me the joy of this hobby!

I must admit, I have been tempted many times to close my Etsy shop, but alas, the SAD QUEEN rescued me and though struggling with time, I pressed on. To those who have no clue what my Sad Queen project is all about, read my previous entry here. It's a fun monthly design commitment for me and have gotten lots of wonderful feedback from my friends at Postcard Exchange and the folks at Postcrossing!

Here are some of the new products you can find on my shop:

The Pin-up Floral Envelope Sealers. 
I love the pin-up girls, they are one of the wonderful reminders of how fun my last creative job was despite how brief the contract ended. These girls are forever embedded on my creative genes and you will see them in a lot of my works and paper goods at Letter Parade.

 The Sad Queen postcard - JUNE 

This has been posted late, for which I had not found the time to blog about.

Sober - a love quote postcard.

From my 'Old Musings' archive way back that I finally was able to recreate with a new design for a postcard. Again, I think postcard is such a versatile medium in sharing art. It makes me happy thinking this little darling is gracing somebody's mailbox and greeted with a smile. What a heart-warming transaction!

Missing - a love quote postcard

Another one from my 'Old Musings' archive. Writing short quotes is a fun skill I've gotten from my grandma 'Vencia who was exceptionally talented and an amazing music teacher who then passed it on to my Dad. It was fun to tell their writings apart growing up as they both had very different styles.

So these are what's new and up about Letter Parade. I hope you like the new stuff! If you have more time to kill today, and are in the mood for reading more about paper products, I suggest you head over to Missive Maven's blog who did a wonderful stationery compilation yesterday.

Have an amazing JULY everybody!

Happy writing!

Cindy Gonzales - Kujat

The Sad Queen Postcard Series

Hi friends!

Whoa! I got sidetracked there for a while. But yes, oh yes my 2011 is going great, thank you! I hope the same goes for you!

Much apologies for the long absence. What? Three months it's been. Let's see, my day job well, I can't complain and music continues to play, louder it seems... my Etsy shop, however, I would quote a good friend and fellow Etsyian Jessica of A Cup of Green Ginger that "you get out of it what you put into it." Though it hasn't been too much effort put in for mine, recently, I've added a new series of Postcards called 'The Sad Queen' and have circulated a handful of the February and March series to newfound friends via this awesome facebook group Postcard Exchange, and of course via Postcrossing. I am happy to report I've had several requests for swaps (postcards) along with "favorite" clicks and have sold some, too.

Let me explain the concept behind the Sad Queen postcard series. I have to admit, I am all over postcards now, I used to be just crazy about letters but little did I know then that these two come hand-in-hand. Well, throw in stamps, too, but I'm still getting there. And of course, I've slowly been exposed to different types of postcards, and to my surprise, there are hundreds and hundreds! No wonder they bring so much joy to postcard enthusiasts and collectors alike. So, I was particularly fond of postcard books, literally, a book a size of a postcard that contains pages and pages of postcards that you can tear and mail out. What a wonderful idea! I married that to an excuse to create something at the start of the year, and what products would spring up to mind but calendars? Though too late to come up with one now, I decided to produce one postcard every month until I have a full twelve enough to compile into a postcard book that will also serve as a calendar. So this is my task at hand.

The story of the Sad Queen herself is an ongoing one. I progress into the story as I go from month to month and what better way to start but the month of Love, February, when the sad Queen hits her all-time low.

Well, with all that being said, I present to you The Sad Queen February, March and April.

These, along with lots of new stuff since my last blog entry can be found at my Etsy shop. And the 10% discount offer exclusive for you still stands just use this code upon checkout LPARADEFRNDS10!

Thanks for reading and happy writing!!!

Cindy Gonzales-Kujat

First Sale on Etsy!

Dear friends,

What an exciting week for Letter Parade etsy shop which I opened with just three 'thank you' cards last Monday, December 13th. As a certified Etsyholic, it is not a surprise that a new seller would not make a sale in months as I've read in a lot of Etsy featured stories so I didn't think I'd make mine right away! And there I go pouring more time into adding more stuff to my shop, the printing, the packaging, the styling and product shots plus editing.... there is always something to do and learn or read about other sellers' mistakes to avoid. It can get overwhelming. The rewarding part was being featured in a treasury on my first day of opening! Then I got invited in a BNR circle that I can't even properly explain what the whole deal is about. Basically, it's a large circle of Etsy sellers who come together online for a set time, like last night we did a three to five hour BNR. A couple of newbies who never had a sale (like me) were included and we took a spot with one product on the board. One seller has to buy one item from our shop to kick me out of the board/spot so she can have a product featured there instead allowing her to promote her products and shop more until another seller takes her spot. I don't know who thought of this but it's pretty darn clever! I was invited by the curator of that BNR herself, seller MyWaterColorDReams. It was there that I made my first sale, a set of two of these to seller FlirtySanchezProject:

 

Being in a BNR like all teams and circles has its own perks, like learning new stuff from other members I would've never discovered on my own. Maybe if I read a ton of Etsy blogs but still, inside tips and tricks are something you can only get from the streets. The downside to a BNR is having to spend and buy off another seller's item just to get a spot. Of course, for my first I never got to do this because I got my hands tied up with excitement for my first sale and opening accounts to payment tools that sellers preferred to use that I only heard about last night. But of course, you pay for good advertising, right? So if you pay to be advertised and still get something awesome and handmade out of it, I think that's a pretty damn good deal! So starts my BNR addiction and there's one in just a few hours today, yay!

Oh, and another exciting thing when I woke up this morning, my pink roses 'thank you' card got featured in another treasury again! This time the treasury is called 'Innocence' put together by seller WaterlilyJewels.

So really quick, here are the newly added products at the shop:

Etched Flower Series note cards                                                 

 

 Bon Voyage French Note Card                                                    

 

 

 La Vie Est Belle Note Cards                                                         

 

 Paris Thank You Card                                                                 

 

Bonjour French Note Card                                                          

 

  

Mime Valentine's Card                                                                 

 These are now available at my shop. And as an exclusive treat to you my friends here at blogspot, I offer a 10% code "LParadeFRNDS10" (apply during check out) until December 31st, 2010, Friday 6:00 PM PST. Thank you for another wonderful year!

Happy writing!

Cindy Gonzales-Kujat