My favourite pen collector!

Shungo who collects pens as his other hobby has perfected a style which carries all the energy that he puts into his work. The flowing script contrasts nicely with the jerky, restless lines of the image, another beauty!
Thanks Shungo.

Splat!

Tatuaki's autumn leaf card is made using a spatter technique, it is very lovely and delicate and the pink is one of the more subdued tints of the season but very effective.

A second card is of a lemon coloured fruit, delightfully simple and reflecting the reductive nature of etegami when practised by a great proficient.

Thank you Tatuaki!

Is it Autumn up there?

Rhetorical question, of course it is, else, why would I be the happy recipient of so may autumn themed cards!
This one from Matt in San Francisco, yes I even love SF when it's foggy (is it ever not foggy?). Matt has sealed his card with his charming signature bicycle stamp but I really would rather he made a stamp of himself riding the bike in his kilt!

Thanks Matt.

Mmmm Chocolate.

From Lisa in West Australia comes this traditional etegami illustrating a memory from her childhood.  Lisa's late Grandmother was very fond of this chocolate (Bertie Beetle) and Lisa found it in a showbag at the local agricultural show so she bought it in memory of her gran.

Thank you Lisa.

The balloon goes up!

This cheerful circular etegami from Fumiko is ready to hang, and I shall put it on my wall immediately.
Done on recycled card it is just the thing to brighten up  my house as well as demonstrating that what constitutes an etegami can be quite flexible while still giving a nod to the rules.

Thank you Fumiko.

Arigatou Tohru.

A first exchange from Tohru from Kirishima city Japan. Tohru is a very prolific etegami maker, always something from him on the Etegami Fun Club page on Facebook.

Thank you Tohru, happy to have a new friend in the etegami world.

Merci Corinne.

Merci Corinne, thank you for the pumpkin, just in time for Halloween!

Lovely subtle colours.

So sorry.

Yes sorry about the fact that the Australian quarantine is so strict. Fumiko sent me a couple of sparkly cards and she enclosed a few cotton plant seeds with the cards. Unfortunately, they are a prohibited import and were destroyed. My warning about this came too late as Fumiko had already sent the seeds in response to my comment on the Etegami Fun Club page about cotton plants being very nostalgic for me as I had worked with them at a research station as a teenager. It was a lovely thought for her to send them but....
I am consoled by the cards she enclosed.

The painting of a cotton boll which prompted my comment.

I think this flower was meant to go the other way but I can make it bigger this way.
Thank you Fumiko for your kind thought.

Friends forever!

Thank you Hideko for the THREE lovely etegami plus several blank cards for me to use and some pretty postcards by a Japanese artist. Blank etegami postcards are a great gift as they are impossible to buy here in Australia and require much effort to order from Japan sight unseen. So thank you for that thoughtful gift Hideko.
 Hideko was a bit concerned that I was upset that she had not sent cards earlier, anytime is fine by me when cards like this arrive so friends forever seemed like a good heading for this post.

Hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil, very good advice if a little difficult to follow sometimes..we can only try.

A rose, is a rose, is a rose...especially when Hideko paints it. I have often remarked that it is among the most difficult of flowers to paint well but her roses are unfailingly lovely.

Last but not least is this etegami of two figs, simply superb.

Thank you Hideko.

Snail mail delivers....

A snail!
As well as this delightful etegami, Carolyn from Victoria included in her package a cloth worked in Sashiko and a fun keychain collection of delightful things which you can see on my other blog. I really appreciate a gift of handmade things as I know the time and creativity invested in them.

Thank you Carolyn, you're a natural at this.

Double take.

Mayumi has sent me two lovely etegami  but wait, there's more, she has done one more on the back of each. One is an early Halloween pumpkin and the other a drawing of a slice of cake she received as a gift., delicious looking but it was actually a washcloth folded to look like cake! This 'trompe l'oeil' packaging is common in Japan, the land of all things beautifully packaged.

 Thank you Mayumi.

Wobbly bits.

Yep this card from Alison in Washington DC has some deliberately wobbly bits, it is a cutdown from a bigger painting but makes a great etegami!
In the tradition of etegami her opening sally in our postcard sending friendship is about the weather. I sure wish I could be there  in the mountains of the east coast of America to see the gorgeous fall colours. I expect after such a hot dry summer they will be magnificent.

Thank you Alison (did you see the little ant stamp? it is a play on Alison's name in Japanese).