The Last Few Postcards of This Month

This week has provided my mailbox with nothing but boredom and emptiness, literally! Without even realizing it, I had stopped sending out postcards for a short while, and of course, I was reminded once again that the postcard realm was karma-ruled! While my last outgoing (18) postcards are slowly reaching their destinations and I have nothing to register, scan or blog about, I can dedicate all my free time to cleaning, ironing, working out and being a productive, over-achieving woman in her late twenties...

Here you go. And now the petty excuse of happy mail:

From Belarus via Postcrossing
I really like this series! This postcard is called "The Dream", perfect for a sloth like me :)

From China via Postcrossing
Taihao Mausoleum at Huaiyang

From The Netherlands via Postcrossing
Amnesty International tribute card

From Belgium via Swap-bot
("Unesco WHC swap #13")
The Market Place in Brussels. A vintage card.

Sadly, that's all! See you in July!

"Mail Art: Cats!" Swap

I wasn't particularly interested in doing this swap as, to be honest, I'm quite fed up with all the "catness" that Swap-bot is contaminated with, but then again, once I stumbled upon it, I couldn't really continue browsing through the website as if I hadn't noticed it :) I thought my swap-partner was a nice lady and when it comes to cats, my imagination just starts pouring out of nowhere, so I opted for a small package rather than a flat mail item. Sometimes I just feel like going all out, but almost never when it's an obligation (Type 3 swap).

Here's what I cobbled together for the creative part of this swap:

I used pink washi tape, black fabric tape with polka dots, some deco tape with cat images, Staedtler permanent Lumocolor (fine black), random cat stickers, silver sharpie and a cut-out from a booklet advertizing the "Lion King" musical. I used cardboard as a firm base. Cha-chan! Perfectly kitschy, as I like it! :) It was a subconscious tribute to my little Nietzsche, who has the attitude of a lion and the agility and grace of an extremely hairy hippo. That's an exaggeration, but the poor thing is quite clumsy, although adventure-thirsty.

That's what finally went on a postal journey:

The snacks I added for the recipient's cats are very popular with the feline part of my household. As for me, I can't really see the difference between random cat food that they get every day and these crackers, but I guess the cat DJ image only appeals to the target audience, hahaha :D

Goodbye, packagey!

 

My swap partner seemed to be delighted by what she received, and I had a great time shopping/ crafting. Yay for both of us.

I also received a great envie from my partner, and the goodies she sent were truly exceptional. Inside the envie I found some stickers she had made herself and she sells these and many other designs on her etsy shop. Check out her work! 

Letters Mingle Souls

Super cute, isn't it?

Now go take a look at your pet, realize once again it's the greatest pet in the world, get inspired and spread your love via mail art!

Short Messages and Big Records

After some time of almost exclusively dedicating myself to envelope decoration, I'm back to latent postcard craving. I really missed that lottery-like feeling of drawing new addresses, creating compact notes, fitting Bible-long Asian addresses into three printed lines, choosing the perfect image, licking that delicious glue off the stamps and having an excuse to try yet another handwritten font that never comes out as expected and leaves me biting my own hand in anger. 

Postcard writing is a special "alone moment" that I usually treat myself to at night, when I'm the only one awake and in no rush. It's usually the last activity before going to sleep for me, so when I finally get to writing I am so tired of being tired(!), worried, stressed or frustrated because of all that's happened during the day or that has been bothering me lately, that simply holding the pen and preparing the desk for writing instantly begins the therapeutic session. It's weird how being such an obsessive and nervous person I manage to switch to a kind and empathetic writer. I suddenly feel able to relate to what people tell about themselves on their numerous postcrossing accounts, I honestly feel like while I keep writing the postcard I possess the power to brighten their day and I feel proud, elated and engaged. The magic happens when you're not looking, and this is very true for postcard exchange. Penpaling is also very much enjoyable, but it's closer to the real life being a laborious, slow and obliging activity, and real life is what I try to keep off my postcard business.

Now, don't the messages on the postcards often seem lame, repetitive, boring and meaningless? Of course they are, and hooray for that. I don't attribute any more or less value to them as I would to a daily greeting of a neighbor. However, I always appreciate a "hello" and a smile from a stranger, and his/her tiny bit of attention may positively influence my mood, which is an effect of simple courtesy that transcends the moment, the people directly involved and the effort made. So I always try to be nice to strangers or better yet, I send them postcards! :)

I suppose I missed wishing someone a nice day and complimenting their haircut in the profile picture so much that yesterday I sat down and wrote 18 postcards in one go! This is my absolute record so far, but I suspect it may soon be beaten :) I was also glad to had stocked a solid variety of postcards and even bought some decent stamps that would hopefully be to the addressees' liking. I recently came back from a trip to Barcelona, and as it's visible in the photos, I felt like spreading my new-born love for the city through the postal system :)

I might as well now go and write a couple more... Would you like one, too? 

June So Far... In Postcards

Finally my two-week long (forced) vacation has begun! I thought if I didn't start writing my blog at the very moment, the perfect time to do it would never come. So here it is!

First off, I feel the need to brag about something insignificant yet so long waited that it's value has doubled. Today we moved the furniture in our bedroom to make some space and fixed a couple of shelves on the wall for my and only my personal clutter. In fact, there's never been clutter in our house, but I didn't have a desk, drawers or shelves to keep all my things together nicely organised (which is catastrophic for me), so my postcards, crafting supplies, books and sentimental rubbish was placed wherever it fit, in other words, all over the house. It's funny how I would find forgotten wrapping paper stuffed behind the winter clothes in the wardrobe or pieces of cardboard "stored" in the same box with cat litter...  Needless to say, I am thrilled and excited, but most of all surprised to see I can even fit a small desk into our already tiny bedroom and convert it into a mini daytime studio! I will definitely update on how the desk shopping is coming along, since it feels like early Christmas for me :)

And now on to the mail-related matters. It took me a month to learn photo editing basics, and I must assure you it was very much needed. I had tons of photos scattered between folders on my computer, most of them smartphone quality. I photographed many great envelopes I had received in the past with a real camera and that's pretty much the only parameter of the camera that I can give you... That, and that it weighs a kilo or two. Arh, let's face it, the only thing I suck at more than at photography, is cooking and "housewifing". Anyway, what I meant to say was that when I got the idea of starting a blog, it didn't occur to me that it was going to be extremely time-consuming and even more so if the person doing it was as detail-crazy as me. I guess once I get into the routine and have written the retrospective posts about all the great mail stuff that must not remain unwitnessed by the world, it will become easier, quicker and less frustrating.

Today I will show you the postcards I have received so far this month. I have been a postcrosser for almost four years, I sometimes participate in tags and round robins in the PC forum, I exchange postcards privately, I also had an account on the short-lived Walltype project website, I'm on a constant lookout for interesting postcard swaps on Swap-bot... Well, you get the picture of a typical New Age Postcard addict :)) Paper plus internet equals an amazing dynamic that I had been looking for since childhood, when penpaling was like a disco party for an introverted individual, except that you could find the courage to go up to somebody make and acquaintance. As of today, I have received 358 written and stamped postcards (actually, I thought it was more), some of them make me drool every time I go through the collection, some of them are butt-ugly (I am sorry if it was you who sent me a church in the middle of a field), some of them are nearly illegible and others are like masterworks of calligraphy. Most of them also come with nice stamps, which isn't the case for most of my outgoing mail. Pretty and varied stamps are almost extinct in crisis-stricken post offices in Spain. However, even the cheesiest and least artistically valuable postcards are very dear to me. They all smell of paper, glue and ink, and that's the greatest side effect of sending "naked" postcards!

So here's the first postcard dose of June.

From The Netherlands via Postcrossing

So cheerful!

From Japan via Postcrossing

From Russia via Postcrossing

This postcard is actually curious. It's an ad-card advertising touristic trips to Norway. You can see the amazing Preikestolen here. I've only visited Oslo in Norway, and I'm dying to see the Northern part and more of the nature.

From Israel via Swap-bot

("My Favorite Time of the Day" swap)

From U.S.A. via Postcrossing

The sender included most random facts and personal details, like that his three chihuahuas together weighed 16 lbs or  that 1692 nineteen people were hanged in his town... Hilarious! This postcard really made my day.

From Canada via Postcrossing

This great "Where is Waldo?" posctard came from Newfoundland. Oh, how like its rounded corners and the puzzle!

From Germany via Postcrossing

Gorgeous!

From The Netherlands via Postcrossing

This was one of my favorites on the site. How kind of this postcrosser to send me the card!

From Japan via Postcrossing Forum

(Japan & Other Countries RR Group)

From Russia via private swap

A hypsometric map print of the Russian Empire in 1912.

From Russia via Postcrossing

Isn't it just the most "summery" and mouthwatering postcard ever?

From Jordan via Swap-Bot

("One Person From Each Country" postcard swap)

My first postcard from Jordan!

From U.S.A via Swap-Bot

(Serial PC Swappers - Week #114: Birds)

From Sweden via Postcrossing

Yeeeeeaaaah ABBA!!! Although Agnetha Fältskog looks (?) rather pregnant and Frida Lyngstad seems to have puffy hangover circles around her eyes, ABBA still is the perfect representative of the '70s.

From Taiwan via Postcrossing

Ten different countries in two weeks! Let's see what the final score of the month will be! 

Thanks for stopping by!