There is something quietly satisfying about a stack of envelopes—especially the kind you don’t quite remember saving. They surface in drawers and boxes, tucked between the practical and the sentimental, carrying with them a faint suggestion of intention. This project began, as many good ones do, with that kind of rediscovery: a small collection of envelopes made from thick, watercolor paper, too beautiful to discard and too intriguing to ignore.
Hello again—I’m Kim Hamburg, mixed media collage artist, and today I’m working with the April 2026 StencilClub stencil set, Ribbon Dance, designed by Jennifer Evans. In this project, I’ll be transforming a handful of envelopes into a small, sculptural book with exposed pockets—spaces ready to hold ephemera, tags, ATC cards, and whatever fragments of story you feel compelled to tuck inside.
Jennifer Evans’ designs feel particularly at home in this kind of work. She creates stencils that lean into abstraction—marks that resemble intuitive, almost instinctive gestures. They are wide, expressive, and open-ended, suggesting a structure without confining it. There’s a generosity in that approach: the stencil offers a starting point, but leaves plenty of room for the artist to respond, layer, and reinterpret.
And of course, when faced with envelopes and pockets, I had to make a pocket-book.
Supplies
- Envelopes (any size; I used five, but the number is entirely flexible)
- Acrylic paint (at least two colors)
- Paintbrush, brayer, or sponge
- Adhesive (I used PVA glue)
- April 2026 StencilClub Set - Ribbon Dance
Optional:
- Gelli plate
- Markers, pens, or other embellishing tools
- Additional collage materials or ephemera
The Process
I began by painting each envelope, front and back—thinking less about perfection and more about establishing a base layer of color and movement. Some envelopes were printed using a gelli plate, which gave them a soft, atmospheric variation. Others I painted directly, letting the brushmarks remain visible, like handwriting.
Once everything had dried, I returned with the stencil set and a second color. This is where the structure began to shift into something more expressive. One of my favorite moments in the process was layering all three stencil designs together on the gelli plate at the same time. The result was unexpected—a kind of visual overlap that felt almost chaotic, but in a way that suggested rhythm rather than disorder. Marks collided, repeated, dissolved. It created a beautifully abstract, slightly jumbled surface that I wouldn’t have arrived at if I had approached each stencil separately.
From there, the envelopes began to take on a new identity—not as individual objects, but as pages. Glued together along their edges, they formed a small book, each pocket left open and accessible. The structure invites interaction. It asks to be filled.
How to Assemble the Pocket-Book
Take two envelopes and place them with the flap side facing up. Tuck the flap of one envelope into the body of the other, so that one flap is secured inside while the other remains extended. That remaining flap becomes your connector—it slides into the next envelope, whose flap will then extend outward in turn.
Continue this rhythm—tucking one, leaving one—until you’ve linked together as many envelopes as you like. To finish, simply glue the final flap to the envelope it meets.
What makes this structure especially satisfying is its flexibility. Because nothing is glued along the interior spine, the book isn’t fixed in size. It can grow. You can continue adding envelopes, extending the piece over time—an expandable object that evolves alongside whatever you choose to place inside it.
Why This Works
There’s something compelling about using envelopes this way—their original purpose lingers, but shifts. Instead of containing a single message, they become containers for many small ones. A scrap of paper, a stamped tag, a handwritten note—each addition becomes part of a layered narrative.
And that’s really what this project is about: not just making something, but making space. Space for collecting, for holding, for returning to.
It’s a small book, yes—but also a quiet archive of whatever you choose to keep.
You get lots of great benefits as a club member, including a coupon for 25% off all regular collection stencils, a project and PDF from the artist, and an additional project by me that is for members only. So don’t delay!
Get more information about Stencil Club here
Stencil Club
I would love to see your work. Please tag me on Instagram — check out my IG
https://www.instagram.com/gluepaperscissors_/?hl=en
Kim Hamburg on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/kimhamburgart
Artist Jennifer Evans on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdoBz3l_piQ
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