Mail Art and the Month of Love...

During the very grey and depressing month of January I tend to look for lots of Colorful Inspiration. Artful Blogging Magazine, Mail Art Books and Creative Blogs, to fill my brain with colorful happiness and get me through till Spring FINALLY arrives. Many of you know that we have been House Hunting, that is proving to be a very exhausting adventure. Well I recently discovered that some time ago, like 2yrs ago, I picked up some paint samples in order to help inspire my creativity. After flipping through one of my favorite books "Good Mail Day" I thought, "Hey, why not send out these fabulous color samples out as Inspirational Post Cards"! What a joy it was to sit with all these wonderful and fabulous colors! I got out all my stickers and markers and just went to town. I had so much fun that I almost couldn't stop making them.

This is the one that I sent my Oh So Fabulous Mother back in Ohio. I tried to match people up with paint samples that had names of colors that related to them somehow. My mother us a HUGE Nature Lover and raised me to appreciate the wonders of the out doors so I picked a sample that had names that related to our love of Nature.

These PostCards, I hope made some wonderful people in my life really smile. Even in the depth of depressing winter you can make your own Spring! There truly is inspiration every where, you just have to be open to it.

If you didn't recieve on and wish to send me a messege and one will be on it's way!

What do you have around that is begging to become Mail Art?

Happy Feb Every One!!!!!

And The Mystery Gift Is...

Let me start off by saying I LOVE MAIL. I love ALL kinds of mail that people send me. I get little notes, personal made creative calanders and even postcards sent while a loved one is on vacation to let me know where they are. It all adds up to a wonderful mail day!

A little while ago my loverly cousin Noelle (aka, No No, or Noi) told me of a project that she was working on that I thought sounded like great fun! I'm ALWAYS interested to hear about what fun things my crafty creative lovelies are up to. She said that she had found some great fabric and she was making a fun purse. Turns out she was making one for ME! She's just like me and has a hard time keeping a secret so occasionally she would send me a picture of a tiny little piece of the project just to tease me. A little time had gone by and I hadn't heard any more about the project...till I opened my door yesterday to find this. What? A package for moi? Oh I was sooo giddy with excitement! I of course grabbed it, held it to my chest and immediately did the Pee Pee Dance of Happy Happy Joy Joy! And what was inside you ask?

How utterly devine! A purse made JUST FOR ME! The fabric, I was informed, was picked out just for me! Oh yeah, on the money!

I am in LOVE with every inch of this wonderful creation, right down to the round handles!

I love this so much I walked out down by the street, while the whole neighborhood watched, hung it on the tree to get the dappled afternoon light and took a photo of it! I am THAT proud of it!

Check out the detail. So much love, sooooo much love.

I was so excited when I got it that I ran into the bathroom to snap a quick (crappy quality) photo of us together in the mirror!

There is NOTHING that makes someone feel more loved than a special gift. I am not ashamed to admit I cried tears of joy, I really did. Noelle, you are a remarkable, fabulous, creative woman. Words can not express.

Creative Contest GiveAway Winner...

After very careful review of all the wonderful entries, we here at Rachel In Full Color have chosen a winner!

NATHAN!

We felt that his answer was not only gut bustingly hilarious but also a prime example of a mail deprived soul in desperite need of the experience of opening the mailbox to find a personally addressed piece of mail just for HIM!

CONGRATS NATHAN!

You are a perfect example of the younger generation (I can say this because I know how old you are :P) that has missed out on the magical world of snail mail.

I specifically designed this contest with a greater goal in mind. I not only wanted to get my readers involved in my blog in a personal way but felt the need to show that EVERYONE, and I do mean EVERYONE, LOVES getting personal letters/notes in their mailbox. With todays emails, tweets, facebook updates and e-cards we have forgotten the happiness that even a simple postcard can bring someone.

So PLEASE, post a note to someone even if the only thing you write is

"Hi"

Love,

------

The runners up in this contest will be notified by mail. Please use your winnings (a blank card complete with stamp and ready to mail) to bring a smile to someone else.

Any one who wishes to express a complaint about our choice for the winner of this contest are urged to contact our "Complaint Dept".

She does not gaurantee to fix the problem but she does promise that you will feel 100% better after speaking with her!

Thank you everyone who participated.

We here at

Rachel In Full Color

love you deeply and couldn't continue to operate without you.

(Look for next month's contest, we are thinking of giving away

a painting!)

It's GiveAway Time!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay! I am sooo excited to announce that Rachel In Full Color has gone interactive! Yuppers that's right folks. Here's what's going on and how it works. I have made a fun piece of mail and you my friend have a chance to WIN it! You heard right! The contest is open to EVERYONE! I'm going to pose a question and you just post a comment here on the blog answering that question. I'll pick one and then send you your prize!!!!! Here's the front of the card. The Bn in the upper left stands for "Bean", my nickname.

When you open it up there's a little creative calendar for September!

When you pull out the card there are some dates circled and on the left are suggestions for something new or fun to do on those days to help keep you creative and enjoying life!

And of course here's the back.

I got so excited about creating something for this GiveAway that I made a couple extra items! BONUS! How exciting is that eh?

You thought they were envelopes did you? Well they are and they aren't. They are notes that fold up and become their own envelope! Aren't they the cutest?

I have decided that these will be sent out to the runners up. Hopefully the lucky winners will use them to send to a loved one to inturn brighten their day!

Okay, are you ready for your question?

WHAT DOES GETTING A "just because" OR "thinking of you" LETTER IN THE MAIL MEAN TO YOU?

Good Luck. I look forward to reading your answers be they heartfelt, a memory, unique or just plain funny.

This contest will close at Midnight this Wednesday August 19 and the winner will be announced Thursday!