Altered File Folder Mail Art

I recently joined a small group of women who enjoy swapping snail mail, and the group provides challenges to the members who wish to participate. I do.

The first challenge was to send each member an introduction piece, any style or length, and I have been in the altered file folder mode, so that's what I made! Ten of them! Here are the pictures. Inside I printed several little pieces of paper with various facts about me, cut them all out and glued them in. Did I mention I did this ten times?

All but one together on the floor. :-) 

The last one is the only one I decorated on both sides. It was the first one I did, but after that I realized what a big task I had set for myself.

The project was fraught with difficulties from the start, when my trusty 15 year old heat gun died a smoky sizzling death. Then I mistook a lowercase g for an a on one of the stamp sets, and ended up with a mirror image. I thought I could be cute and turn another letter upside down, but it looked too goofy for a first impression.

These will all go out in the mail tomorrow, then I have an art journal to work in and several other projects to tackle.

In other news, Ornery finally finished the enclosed patio this weekend! All it lacked was exterior trim around the back door and some floor leveling cement next to the threshold outside. When the guys poured it on the inside to set the door back in January, it was 0° outside, and they had to really work to heat up the area to the minimum temperature of 50°, using propane heaters. With one thing and another, the project kept getting shuffled to the back burner.

Last weekend, he finished all but three blocks on the wall in front, so that project is moving right along too! We will put down weed barrier on the flowerbed side of the wall, then amend the soil and start planting.

Our renters of one year will be moving out in July, so it looks like we will be looking for new ones soon. Meanwhile, we plan to replace the back section of privacy fence and hire a tree trimmer for some branches on two massive oak trees in back. Hopefully that will be the extent of needed repairs... No shortage of projects around here!