8 Comments
Oct 31Liked by Sue Mell

Love this. I make a lot of collages and love all parts of envelopes!

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How am I not surprised? (I mean I was, but then wasn’t, because our tastes/preoccupations seem to align)

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So beautiful, Sue, and a resourceful and very creative idea!

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Thanks so much, Christine!

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Nov 1Liked by Sue Mell

How funny that you are writing about envelopes, when that is the business my husband's family was in for 3 generations! My father worked in the Long Island factory, trouble-shooting the up to 200-foot(!) long machines. A roll of paper began to unfurl at one end, and as it traveled, it was printed, cut, glued, windowed, folded, and sent into the hands of an operator who boxed them. Some envelopes were die cut...if you carefully unglue the diagonal seams, you'll see the shape that stacks of paper were cut into. These then were run through a different type of machine to be printed, glued, and folded. To your point about the safety printing: The factory had a full art department. That's where I gathered many of my graphic design skills. (I also "gathered" my future husband the first summer I worked at the factory.) The end rolls of paper became indispensable to my PTA for painting huge decorations upon, and the unfolded die cut envelope extras were always on hand for my kids' art projects. For a large part of my life I was surrounded by envelopes! So, if you have any questions about those paper marvels, ask away!

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Okay—that is just crazy and amazing! What are the odds? (Good, apparently!) Thanks so much, Lisa, for sharing your story and description of the factory et al. I started thinking about those envelopes 3000 miles away, and all the answers turned out to be here (or pretty close to here) in my own NY backyard. So wild! And quite wonderful too. Who knew there was love and marriage involved? 😁❤️

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It kills we that we can’t comment with pictures. I’ll try notes. ..

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Ooh! I’m eager to see!!

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