International - You must have a reliable mail service and can generally expect international mail to arrive within 5 weeks.
Pass and Paste postcards are a fun form of collaborative Mail Art.
Note: The above illustration is a typical 4 section pass & paste postcard. I'm changing this swap up a little bit to include postcards with as little as 3 sections or as many as 6 sections.
New participants
Start with a blank postcard. Cut postcard weight paper to postcard size or use a store-bought blank postcard.
Divide the front side of the PC from 3 to 6 sections. Sender's choice. They can be irregular sections or equal sections. The minimum size for a section should be a no smaller than 1"x1".
Decorate a section.
Sender's choice. Your section can be any theme (including open/free theme) and any art medium (collage, draw, watercolor, mixed media, stamped, etc).
The postcard may eventually be mailed naked so securely adhere items to your section.
Turn the PC over, and address the postcard to yourself.
Note: Do not include postage because the last person sending it home may not be from the same country as you!
The other part of the back of the postcard is the writing area where each contributor writes their username and date (and perhaps a very short description of their section).
Mail the postcard, in an envelope, to your partner.
Established Postcards
Use a collaborative postcard you have received from a pass & paste round. If your partner has already filled a section use a different P&P PC if you have one, or start a new P&P PC.
Decorate one of the empty sections and then put it in an envelope and send that PC forward in another round.
Finish
The goal is to have each space filled out by a different artist, and then sent home to the originator.
When you receive a postcard with only one empty square left, decorate it and mail it back naked. But if the finished PC is particularly fragile, lumpy, or things not adhered well, or wet weather is an issue, go ahead and send in a sleeve or envelope, though naked is preferred.
If you are assigned the creator as a partner, do not send them their uncompleted postcard. Start a new PC.
If you get assigned a partner and they have already worked on that PC, then hold it and send it in the next round to a different partner or please send it to me. Start a new PC.
If you receive an unfinished Pass & Paste postcard please always send it on, even if you decide not to participate any longer. Send it back to the original creator. Or send it to me (P.O. Box 31013 Willowwest, Guelph, Ontario N1H 8K1 Canada) and I will keep it in play. That way everyone should eventually get their postcard back.
Pass & Paste postcard examples on Flickr
|