Decorated Envelopes - Poe and the Raven (Nevermore)

Since remounting and reorganizing all of my rubber stamps, I've felt compelled to use them more. Naturally, being me, I've also felt compelled to add to my collection, with one main goal in mind: to decorate my outgoing mail! Since I love themed mail, that's where I've been focusing my attention.

I decided to go kind of meta on some envelopes and include some vintage postage stamps from my collection in the theme. What ended up happening is that I started planning envelopes based on what postage stamps I could incorporate, and scouted out rubber stamps, etc. to fit the theme (it's just how my brain works). First up are some Edgar Allan Poe-themed mailings. I hope you enjoy! (See end of post for sources.)

[Disclaimer: none of this is necessary. The letter in the envelope is what counts, not what's on the envelope or, for that matter, the goodies inside. It's just another way to have fun with mail. I don't elaborately decorate every envelope, just some of them.]

To be honest, the first Poe/Raven envelopes didn't start out to be quite such a production! I found and ordered a Poe rubber stamp to go along with my postage stamps. I stamped it on white tissue paper, using a dark, solvent ink pad, mainly so I wouldn't waste envelopes if I messed up. That's when I discovered something that's probably common knowledge to other stampers: this ink was so dark that I could flip the paper over and use the mirror image. (Note: if you use this method, the ink will go all the way through the paper. I was luckily able to clean up my desk with alcohol swabs, but if I'd stamped on a different surface, I might have damaged it permanently. Next time, I'll have some scrap paper underneath!)

Poe facing left is a mirror image (back side of tissue paper).

I used modge podge to affix two of the images to envelopes, then decided that it needed more. I used some spray stains I have (that I still really haven't figured out how to use) to give the background some more detail. Should have done that first (which I did for the next two)! I then pulled out the small raven and "Nevermore" stamps that I had already planned to use, and also grabbed a new raven and candlestick and tried several variations. I tend to do "limited edition" runs, and quit at four.

But then... I realized that I had STUFF. I had some old recordings and put together a mini mixed CD. Ribbon became bookmarks, I split up a small sheet of raven stickers (only six to a pack) and, finally, remembered the Edgar Allan Poe bandages I had in my goody drawer. This is totally overkill, but it was so much fun to put together! Future envelopes will not be this extensive! (It was kind of exhausting. And, like I said, overkill.)

I will definitely not do the mini-CD again, since it appears that not many people have a drive that will accept them. It was fun, though, because it fit in the #10 envelope.

One last touch: I realized that if all of the little items ended up bunched together in the envelope, this could put the thickness into "package" territory once a letter was added. It's my goal to avoid this extra cost*, so I cut some thin cardboard (I save all of the sheets that come with postage stamps) to fit the envelope and taped all of the items to it. (It would also help protect the CD.) I also added a washi tape tab at the top of the card to help the recipient get it out of the envelope. I had to add an additional 22¢ stamp for the weight, not shown in bottom pics, but my goal of keeping it under the thickness restriction was met.

Later, I found a background rubber stamp with some of The Raven as text. I'm still experimenting with those, but they've been fun so far. The one pictured here went to the winner of the Halloween vintage postage stamps from a previous post.

*71¢ to 93¢ for a heavier envelope, but minimum $2.54 for any weight that exceeds the height/thickness limit. That's a pretty dramatic difference.

I recently posted a question on Instagram, asking my current pen pals to let me know if they would like (or wouldn't mind) getting Halloween-themed mail year 'round. I'm also sending out these little cards as letters go out. For any that say yes, I'm marking their page in my log accordingly. For those that are not interested, no worries. I have other ideas.

(l): normal stamped image; (r) reverse side of tissue paper

Sources

• Ink for the tissue Poe & CD: StazOn black. Other stamped images: Ranger Archival in Jet Black.Block of text background (red envelope) used Ranger Archival in Watering Can. The spray stain is from Ranger's Distress.line.
• Envelopes: The #10 gray envelopes are from Paper Source ("cement," being discontinued). The red envelope is from a random office supply store, left over from Xmas.
• Sticker from Little B (technically a crow, but they're related)
• Ribbon: sorry, can't give source. I bought it at a rubber stamp store in Northville, MI called Stampeddler Plus last fall.
• Bandages: Archie McPhee (for added fun, I bought mine in Hell, MI)
• Stamps
• Poe & Tree on Skull: Cherry Pie Art Stamps on Etsy.
• Small Raven: Lenore (small), from Stamp Francisco
• Large Raven & Tiny Bat: Paper Parachute (JoAnn Fabrics online)
• Nevermore: No longer available, but there are several on the market.
• Candle: Inkadinkadoo "Nevermore" set (Joann Fabrics online)