Signed Sealed Delivered - Mail Art the Easy Way

We live in a very digital world of emails and instagrams, people communication via a phone usually, but I am an old school girl, I adore writing, sending and receiving letters! the ye ole snail mail kind. So today I thought I would share a very quick way to get unique looking envelopes that take literally 10 mins to complete!
Supplies
1. Envelopes  (use thicker ones I tore holes in my basic envelopes that I use for school notes)
2. Schmincke Aerocolor Inks in your favourite colours
3. Some cheap washii tape, the cheaper ones are substandard and you want to be able to remove the tape without damaging your envelope!
4. Brushes - I used the Princeton Artist Brush in various sizes (smaller size for mark making)
5. Mepxy Desgin Marker in Black when I wanted more control than a brush would give.

1. Get your envelopes ready and your washii tape and make 'address lines' lines where you would usually write the address.

Step 2 - Start applying washes of colour using your Schmincke Aerocolor Ink as you can see ink is repelled by the washii tape, don't worry that doesn't matter in the end! The tape is doing it's job perfectly. - I switched envelopes as these one tore! so tip is to use a little higher quality envelopes that office standard. 

step 3 - Mix Colours and have fun! there is no right or wrong way to create your palettes on these envelopes experiment with combinations, mixes and mark making!

Step 4 - Creating details with a small brush is a great way to get some visual interest into your envelopes! I used the Grey acrylic ink and a small brush and went to town adding marks.

When I wanted more control with marks, I switched to the Mepxy Design Marker in black. 

Step 5- When you are happy with your envelopes now comes time to peel off your washi tape address lines.

 This will reveal stark white lines for which you can easily write you penpals address on without it being too hard for the post office to read, whilst still being bright and full of colour!
 I then went in with my old school label maker and just punched out my name to give you an idea that you don't have to even writing your names! you can make funky labels instead!

 I hope this inspires you to create some wonderful bright envelopes to mail off to friends, family and penpals! I'm going to be back in a few days using similar techniques but using project life cards! Stay tuned for that one!

Enjoy have a wonderful mail filled day! 

Courtney Diaz.