FD collects postcards and other ephemera, including books about ephemera. FD particularly likes postcards that have been enhanced by artists. Barbara Andrews, a post card collector and romance novelist, has a very recognizable style. She takes older postcards and adds or enhances some aspect of the card with cut out images, yarn and embroidery thread. Other artists use ink or paint and/or various kinds of collage to change ordinary postcards into unique art works. There’s a Flickr group with almost 600 images that show the range of current experimentation, and the blog The Little Red Mailbox has devoted this year to altered postcards and also has a great blogroll of mail art and postcard sites.
Similar to altered postcards are illustrated envelopes. During the Civil War both Northern and Southern publishers created envelopes with images to inspire correspondents. David Swales and Harriet Russell have both had books about their decorated envelopes published, and collected by at least FD. It’s a tribute to the patience of the post office that some of these envelopes were delivered! FD’s efforts aren’t as elaborate, but colorful envelopes are created from calendars and catalog pages and other papers that come our way, and are sent out to friends and relations, most of which do get to the recipients.