If you’re following my blog, you may not know that I’ve begun publishing a monthly newsletter to showcase new art and events. You can only get the good stuff by signing up. The September newsletter contains a coupon for $10 off any 2 items in my Etsy shop, so don’t miss out!

Way back in the days before many of you were born, newsletters were mimeographed and sent out by snail mail. The mimeograph machine was really fun to use. It printed duplicates with purple-blue ink, the paper slightly damp with an addictive smell. You could zip out endless copies. They were popular in schools – cheap to buy and operate.

If you had access to a mimeograph machine (perhaps in your church office), you could publish your personal news (hello, Christmas letter!). Fax machines were the next level of broadcasting. All you needed was a string of phone numbers to send spam and jokes over the phone lines to your friends at other businesses. Office managers loved it.

As the internet grew, email emerged as the perfect vehicle for dad jokes, long chains of confusing conversations, and personal news. That was roughly 30 years ago. And despite the dizzying pace of new communication channels, we still rely on email to communicate our ideas to friends, customers, and coworkers. And we’re still using HTML, which I’ve learned and forgotten more times than I can count.

Luckily, since I started using Mailchimp’s email builder, I’ve been able to produce nice-looking html emails for my ChubbellArt friends. Sign up for this once-a-month e-blast, and I’ll try to stick in some fun things, like coupons and coloring pages. So much better than a fax!