Snail Mail and movies

Hi! It’s been a while! I don’t really love being on the computer much so I keep not showing up here. But I wanted to share a few things with you!

First, I’ve started shipping out the autumn edition of my seasonal Mail Club, Morning Light. (switched to monthly! HERE) Hooray! I’m really excited about the bundle I’ve put together for this edition. I also made an 11”x17” art print that I’ve had in my head for quite some time. (It’s included in the package and not available anywhere else!) I love giving myself project deadlines and actually seeing it through! I have just TWO spots left in Mail Club if you want in. Click here to see the details. It’s all about art and movies and simply getting a surprise in the mail.

I’ve been seeing a bunch of snail mail art and newsletter subscriptions popping up lately and I love it! I love that there seems to be a collective desire to move away from everything digital and start holding real physical things again. I’m subscribed to multiple email newsletters but seem to fall behind with reading all of them because I don’t love reading long-form on my computer or phone. I wish they would all arrive as photocopies in my actual mailbox!

I’m planning to switch my mail club to a monthly subscription next time around. Would you sign up for it? I’ve got to figure out how to create a recurring subscription listing on my website but I know it’s possible and I feel very excited about it! A monthly thing was actual my original plan - did you see when I had a Patreon for a few days a couple years ago? haha I wasn’t ready yet so I quickly shut it down, but I’m ready now! I want it to be very similar to my seasonal package, except spread out over many months, instead of a big stack of stuff at once. It’ll be original artwork and artist interviews and mini zines and poems and recipes and whatever I am drawn to at that moment in time. My biggest challenge with Morning Light has been deciding what to include and what to save for later. I want to do a monthly mailing so it’s all more immediate. Sharing what I am looking at right now. Less second-guessing myself. Just jumping in. I need more of that. I also want it to be an affordable subscription so you’ll get a surprise in the mail each month without having to manually sign up each time, and maybe you’ll forget a little bit so it will be a true surprise! (And I can focus on creating the contents of each mailing without having to market it and sell each individual spot). Really I just want more time away from the internet. I have loved making photocopies and zines and stacking piles and stuffing envelopes so much these past couple of weeks. It’s one of my favorite things! And such a nice break from sewing.

Anyway, go grab yourself a spot on my current Mail Club before it’s sold out! Right here. I’ll be back to share about what’s next for Morning Light soon.

In completely unrelated, just for fun, news: a few weeks ago I picked up a VHS copy of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever because I’d never seen it and the cover is just so good.

I want to find the movie poster to frame and hang in my bedroom. To have Babs watching over me. This movie is a little bit bonkers but Barbra Streisand is wonderful as always and everything about the film is beautiful. The opening is so good! When looking for a nice little clip of the opening credits to share in my ig stories, I ended up going down a rabbit hole of title sequence videos on youtube. It made me realize how much I love movie openings! I’ve always loved movie openings, but suddenly being aware of it allowed me to seek them out specifically. I proceeded to spend at least an hour watching just the first few minutes of all my favorite movies! I get such a great feeling the moment a production logo pops onto the screen before a film starts. That feels super nerdy (especially to have favorites! haha) but that’s apparently where I’m at these days. I really love this old paramount clip:

I think watching a snippet of the opening credits is my new favorite way to check out a movie I’ve never seen before. I tend to never watch full movie trailers because they show too much of the movie. But a movie opening… that shows you the *vibe* of the movie right away.

Here are a few of my top picks. It was very hard to choose just a couple because there are so many good ones! I might need to start a little series to show you more! Would you be interested in this? Just go ahead and say yes so I can start saving alllllll the best ones. Watching these is my new favorite distraction from reality. I actually spent a lot of time the past few months making mental lists of the best summer-time movies. I think it kind of became an anxiety coping mechanism to make these lists. Something totally easy to focus on that just felt good for a bit. I’ve found myself turning to movies quite a lot, over this past year especially. Even if I’m not literally watching a movie, I’m probably making a plan about what I’ll watch next, or out hunting for vhs with Justin. We’re building a really nice collection of physical media.

Do you have a favorite movie where the opening is especially special and I should watch it right away? Please tell me!

QUICK SHOP NEWS:

I’m having a sale on pre-order items if you want to get an order in for the holidays. Buying fabric for quilts has become fairly challenging over the past few months, between prices going way up and the small shops I’ve been buying from for years constantly running out of stock (now that Joann’s is gone and everyone seems to be flocking to the same 3 or 4 online shops). So I’m not sure how many quilts I’ll be making this holiday season. Ordering early is always the best idea.

So here’s a 20% off incentive! Use code YESPLEASE at checkout to get a nice discount! The coupon code is good for all orders over $35 (no mail club). Most of the quilts are limited to only one available in each design, so don’t hesitate if you’ve been eyeing something specific (like the ever popular Red Portal Quilt. That red fabric has been very hard to get my hands on lately! I have enough to make just one more right now!)

Thank you in advance for any and all support. I love this work I do and I so appreciate you being here. Even just a simple like or comment cheers me on and encourages me to keep going.

Ok, this has become a pretty long newsletter. 🙈 This is what happens when I don’t do this enough! I have so many things I want to share but I can’t put it all in one email. This is already too much! So I’ll just pretend I’ll write again soon. Maybe I will! We’ll see!

Thanks friends!

xo, Ashley