red envelope exchange

i have joined in a couple of envelope exchanges for a yahoo group i am in, called calligraphy exchange. the idea is to hand letter your envelope and include a personal hand-written note -- both following the rules of the exchange.

this example of 2 that i did were for "red". the top example is a folded page from a magazine that was predominantly red, so i used silver sharpie for the lettering. the other envelope was folded from scrapbooking paper in a red/white design. i wanted the letters to look something like asian-style lettering, but it didn't quite work out the way i saw it in my head. first i lettered the stuff all out in dark red pen, which i was afraid would not be easily readable when it go to the post office. to make sure it was readable, i used a black pen to do some outlining of the letters. they are definitely more noticeable now, but i'm not sure i like them as much.

i've signed up for 2 more envelope exchanges coming up in this group, so i guess i'll start working on those ideas. i think i have it fairly nailed down on what i want to do, but will need some time to work on it to get it to where i want it to look.

feel free to make comments, suggestions, or throw ideas!!!