UPDATE on sharing the love..

Make My Neighbour Smile has made it out into the world...I've been hard at work (well sort of) preparing my tiny envelopes for the world beyond the postal service...these are the first three to adventure out on their own. I have left them all in public places for people to find. I probably said in the previous post but I will reiterate anyway, this is what their tags say:

"Neighbours are important people...they shouldn't be stranger...

If you've found me then please send me to a neighbour you don't know...

Please don't waste my stamp."

The back says:

"...get involved..." and has this web address on it.

As you can see they are all stamped and ready to go, I'm hoping that by leaving them with stamps on it will further encourage people to send them away.

I had to enlist the help of a friend as it would have looked more conspicuous if I had been seen leaving them and photographing them on my own.

^

 This one was left in the entry way of a late night coffee shop. 

^

 This one was left in a Starbucks. I've included two photo's of this one so you can see clearly what it says on the front.

^

And this one was left on one of the benches in the train station. A gentleman nearby watched as i left it and photographed it so I have a feeling that this will be one of the first to be picked up.

What do you think? Let me know if you've seen any, or even better if you were the person to pick one of them up! :) 

Tea, Biscuit, Chat...

I spent ages trying to figure out how I could fit tea onto an envelope some how, seeing as it's the great British drink and all. Not just that though, sharing a cup of tea and having a natter over the garden fence used to be a regular occurance, these days it's not. This envelope illustrates how that is missing from todays society. It is also a subtle way of asking my neighbour if they would like a cup of tea, a biscuit and a chat :)

Originally with this envelope I was going to add words in the same style as I usually do, however I got part way through adding the letters and then went to bed. After sleeping on it, I decided that actually this envelope looked pretty good on it's own and that adding something would propbably ruin it. So it's just a simple one.

...more greetings...

These next two envelopes are both continuing on with the positive greeting the me. I'm really enjoying the overall effect that the cut out colourful words and photocopies have and so I have used them both again and I'd imagine will continure to so. 

I'm really pleased with the one below, I will happily admit I had some trouble coming up with the words to go along with this one. I was reluctant to send it as just the banana and therefore it hung around half finished for a wee while why I tried to figure out what to put on it. My patience seems to have payed of with the play on words I came up with...

This one was a little easier to come up with, the only consideration I has was whether to use the scots: 'wee' or to use a word such as 'little' or 'small' instead. Eventually I decided seeing as these are all personal and 'wee' is what I would naturally say, as well as the fact that it is frequently used by the majority of people in the area, that it was safe to do so. Perhaps surprising I had put some consideration into where I should place the hand, after playing around for a while I came to the decision that as it is my left hand and if I were to face someone and wave it would be on their right (of course) it was best placed on the right hand side of teh envelope..hopefully that was the right decision.

Look our for more greeting envelopes coming soon..I feel this may only be the begining of this theme...

Positive Greeting

Here's the newest of the latest series of envelopes making their way through the postal system. For those who are wondering, yup that is my hand and yes I drew on it and it. I enjoy the aesthetic of the photocopied image, espeically when it comes to photocopying body parts - minds out of the gutter please. I think this may be the happiest envelope I have made so far, it even makes me smile looking at it now despite the fact that I've spent most of the day looking at it! I really really hope that whoever recieves this loves it too. 

As you can see I've made this one portrait rather than landscape but I reckon it works better seeing as it's a wave and all! :) I think choosing to use a yellow envelopes adds to the happy vibe of the whole envelope. Like I said I think this is the happiest envelope yet!

Fun with photocopies..

These latest idea's were born partly through sheer frustration and getting inspiration from writing: 'I <3 You' on a banana and sending a pictute of it to my boyfriend. All but one are personal to myself as always..the banana, well that was just for fun :) 

You can only just see it but in the centre of the mug it says: 'Hi'. 

Unfortunately because scanning a photocopy doesn't work so well you can't read it here but the tag says: 'I love to read fantasy novels about magicians and other worlds...what do you love read?'.

Like I said this one was just for fun, sticking the banana on upside down was a happy accident that I reckoned fitted in pretty well with the vibe of this envelope.

If I'm honest I'm not really sure I like this one but it might be odd enough to provoke a reaction.

This one goes out to...

...I wish I could send this one out to ALL the people I know who look in the mirror everyday and think: "huh, not bad", of course I'm not one to talk but all the same I think people should be able to look in the mirror and think: "huh, pretty amazing" and this project is about making my neighbours smile after all so hopefully whoever opens this in the morning will think a little better about themselves for that one day at least. 

Assuming of course that they don't already think they are amazing..maybe they do and this envelope will be an extra boost...either way every postal worker who handles it will read it and hopefully think the same :) 

I deliberately made sure that the word amazing had no black and white letters as I think amazing, colourful and happy all go hand in hand. - You can't see from the image but that 'N' is not actually black and white, darn scanner..

I was very tempted to put eyes in the 'o's of look but in the end decided against it..doing so may have ruined the overall effect.

Sharing the love...

Make My Neighbour Smile goes out into the world...

The decisions been made that it's time I was more active in encouraging other people to get to know their neighbours...so I found a use for my tiny envelopes! I'll be leaving these wee guys around in coffee shops, libraries, book stores etc. I'm optimistic that people will find one, read the Tag and then send it on to one of their neighbours that they don't already know. 

This one (below) was cut straight out of the envelope and then I stuck coloured paper underneath...pretty basic but I think the contrast works..

As you can see both of the envelopes have stamps and the end of the tag reads: "Please don't waste my stamp..." hopefully people will heed this request.

LOOK OUT for updated photo's of this series and where I have left them and KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED for any while your out and about! 

Illustration Reply.

Hello Hello...sorry things seemed to have slowed down a bit lately...perfect timing for me to receive another reply really! Yup that's right I received a reply a couple of days ago from my letter that went with the sewn "Hi There" envelope that you can see here: http://makemyneighboursmile.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/sewing.html

and in turn I sent a reply yesterday. In keeping with my decision to keep things more happy and less serious I decided to draw a wee neighbourly illustration on the outside of the envelope. I have blurred out the name and address as usual for the privacy of my neighbour. 

I know the whole things a little squiggly however I think that it gives it it's own unique personality and style. I made the conscious decision not to use a ruler for this reason. What do you think, did it work?

This is the reply that I sent a long with the envelope, as before if I have permission from the sender I will also publish their reply, so watch this space!