Graceful Envelope from Start to Finish - Part 3

Across the front of the envelope in white ink which doesn't show up in the scan, are the lyrics to The Wheels on The Bus.  Around the perimeter of the envelope, are the words to the verse I made up done in a loose Roman capital with a Gillotte 303. The people on the bus can sit where they want, thanks to Rosa Parks. I measured the stamp and left room where the stamp would be placed.

I wanted the overall effect of the envelope to be whimsical and childlike. Decided not to rule lines and used lower-case Copperplate for the hand.

The pen point caught the fibers of the paper or a blob of paint and made the "f" turn out quite fugly. I blotted it with a wet paper towel and then erased what I had written as the ink was still wet. I had used Ziller Glossy Black ink and when wiped it smeared a bit darker in the one spot. Waited for that to dry and then brushed on some gesso over the black area like white out. All this because I was too lazy to cut another sheet of paper, paint the background and letter. I was hoping to salvage my work. When the gesso dried, I applied another layer of black watercolor and plastic wrap. The writing would be difficult to see so I switched to Winter White Ziller ink. Not bad.

While the paint dried, I used watercolor pencil to color the bus and cut the bus out. The paper glued to the front of the envelope, plus the bus cutout would, most likely, cause the envelope to go over the one ounce weight for first class mail. Another stamp would be needed. I decided the flag stamp would fit nicely on the grill of the bus.