The envelope, which I show below, was such a pretty design that I wanted to keep that vibe for the collage on the back.

envelope front. The dark background of the stamp doesn't quite go, but that's what I had in flowers:)

I started with a little watercolour sketch of a Japanese anemone based on a photo I took last year on the back on of a piece of junk mail that attempted to differentiate itself with somewhat more premium envelope paper—it had a nice ribbed texture and as you see took watercolour reasonably well.

watercolour sketch on scrap paper. 18mar2023:18:47; cell phone picture, transform and crop tools applied

This proved remarkably easy to do, and as you tell from the time stamps, came together in less than half an hour—much less time than to write the letter:) I admit to being substantially helped by having an assortment of pretty floral stamps, some in the same colour scheme, even—I was really happy to get the fancy yellow orchid stamp, and knew the fact that it shredded a bit when I removed it would make for a more interesting look. So why can't I deliberately tatter these things?

watercolour sketch, purple doodle, magazine cutouts (from Fran;), envelope scraps, teabag tags, stamps, green pen, glue; 18mar2023:19:08; cell phone picture, transform and crop tools applied

Since I made it the day after St Patrick's Day, I amused myself by adding a few shamrocks.

Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.