The ‘Dear Me’ activity is part of the ‘Crafting During Coronavirus’ research project. The idea for this activity is, if you could craft a postcard to send to your past self (March 2020) from your current self (March 2021), what would you say to yourself? What craft would you use for your postcard?
I spent some time reflecting on what I’d like my postcard, to my past me from my current me, to say and how I’d like it to look. I knew I wanted to use something I’d made during 2020. For me, it felt like a tangible, crafted piece of positivity and I love the idea of showing my past me (even if only hypothetically) that there will be positive things/times/creations in the year to come.
On the 17th March 2020, before lockdown started here in the UK, I did some marbling at home.
I was watching the news and I was increasingly anxious about it all but I also found comfort and calm in the soothing repetition of marbling (something I haven’t done for many, many years). I shared a video on my Twitter showing some of the process: https://twitter.com/naomia_creative/status/1239934199102091265?s=20
I haven’t used the marbled paper since but this activity felt like the right time to use some of it.
So, I cut a piece of card (160gsm) measuring 6″ x 4″ and wrote my “dear me” message on the back. I didn’t leave space for a postal address (which postcards normally have on them).
I then cut a piece of marbled paper so it would measure 6″ x 4″ too.
I then turned over my marbled paper and put a border of acid-free double sided tape around all four edges (on the back of the piece) as well as a diagonal strip from one corner to the opposite corner to make sure the middle would be stuck too.
I’ve tried normal double sided tape but find that after a few years the acid can ruin whatever I’ve made.
I peeled off the double-sided tape’s protective backing and then stuck the back of the written postcard to the back of the marbled piece.
This is my completed “Dear Me” postcard for the ‘Crafting During Coronavirus’ research project! I also made a second postcard as I wanted to do a tutorial for making a fabric postcard which you can find here: https://naomialice.co.uk/2021/03/12/fabric-postcard-tutorial/
The writing on the fabric postcard was exactly the same, but I used fabric that I printed during 2020 and which I wrote about in my ‘Crafting During Coronavirus’ diary.
