Handmade... Is this really a postcard?

Yes. Share your art. But be open about sharing it. I love the idea that someone is going to send me a little pierce of their mind if I get a handmade card!

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It can also mean “good” in terms of quality of the materials, its durability during travel, or contents. Some cards are too thin, easily damaged, the decorations comes off, and so on. And there are cards that shows very little effort and there is no art at all (for example, just a piece of paper or cardboard affixed with stamps and little message without any decoration or personal touch at all). Maybe some people just want to avoid that, even though they actually want to appreciate handmade cards.

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Sure - but that’s the exception when it comes to handmade cards, not the rule. I’ve received cards like that maybe four or five times in my now thirteen years on postcrossing. Is this miniscule “risk” really worth alienating all those hobby artists who will then be too afraid to send their heartfelt art in case it’s not appreciated? Also, when I receive a card like that, I have to wonder why it looks the way it does. Did the artist really not care (which seems unlikely) or do they have some kind of disability? Are high-quality craft materials hard to come by or simply too expensive where they live? I try not to judge.

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Hello,
I ask myself this question because I like to make handmade cards.
First of all, it seems important to me to respect if the profile of the person specifies that they do not wish to receive handmade cards, just as if a profile specifies "Please do not send me cards with insects, or no kitten too cute I don’t like them at all :wink:
And I try to get as close as possible to the profile, if it’s really not possible for me then I will choose as a last resort a card from my region or a place I visited recently giving some information about this place .But one handmade card usually takes me 2 hours sometimes up to 6 hours I really do it with passion and that’s what I like to receive above all else, Whatever the card represents, whether it is to my liking or not, what seems to me really important is the time and the energy that the person puts into it just for me And like many of you I find it almost hurtful to receive a “sloppy quick” item masquerading as a homemade card just to get an extra send, that’s not how I define the postcrossing spirit.
Finally I would like to end like this: the most important thing is the message we want to send, by art or by words as we want :wink:

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@Auroreandco I agree with everything you just said!!!:green_heart::green_heart::green_heart:

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I’m currently on vacation in North Carolina, and am walking by a racks of tourist information that contain advertising fliers that easily could be great postcards.

They are high-quality glossy prints with ads for restaurants, musuems, theaters, galleries, outdoor activites, etc… They are interesting (to me) b/c they are bigger than typical postcards, very colorful and advertise something very unique and local!

Here are 4 examples:

BUT, they are not truly postcards. On the back thy have printed information about whatever the thing is that it’s advertising. These are the backsides of the 4 examples I posted above:

So… I was thinking I could buy high-quality large Avery white label stickers (8.5"x11") and cut them down to fit the backside of the postcard.

Then I can address the backside of the postcard, and in my note tell the story of where I got the postcard while on vacation.

If any of these were actually printed as real postcards on the backside, I would love to get them via Postcrossing. But that’s just me.

Would you be bothered or feel cheated if you got this in the mail? Do you think people on Postcrossing would report them as “fake” postcards?

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I think these are called handmade postcard, it’s also very eco-friendly. It’s the most novel process, REUSE.

You can also look for this section

You’ll see on some people’s profiles " no ad cards please" so I wouldn’t send them to those folks, but many people here do appreciate an interesting ad card - enjoy!

Yeah, I think anyone who asks for no ad cards or no handmade cards wouldn’t be interested. But I’m sure plenty would be. I like that it is very eco-friendly. And it’s kind of similar to food packaging cards.

Why knock yourself out? If you want to send out ad postcards, go to eBay and you’ll find them for $0.10 each.

I love promotional cards - there are sooo many wonderful ones, but I also want to be able to read what is written on the back.

And I also like handmade cards made with love - unfortunately I am too uncreative for that myself.

For me personally, a flyer with a piece of paper on the back is not really a handmade card - it’s just a piece of paper/cardboard with paper stuck on it.
But that’s only my opinion.
And of course I would register such a “card”, if I get it.

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Those type of leaflets are often very papery, are these?
Maybe members would like more if you send them a card in envelope, and add these so they can see and read them all, not partly.

I get profiles like that, and have sent for example a biking map of Oulu and some leaflets of my favourite music events.

I’m not so sure about the eco-friendly, if this makes them buy something, like the label paper?

I have actually received this style, one didn’t have a message, only a label with something stamped, I don’t remember did the other one. I didn’t need to register at least the other one. I always ask this, because I don’t want to “support” sending leaflets as I know so many much more prefer the normal postcard obviously.

The cards that I have are made from thick cardboard and are printed with glossy colors.

Some of these are thinner, but the ones I’m talking about are as thick as any normal postcard

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I agree! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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I really like these and would welcome them into my mailbox, even with the backside with information covered :smile:
I personally enjoy ad cards (this I have written on my profile) and if they were also somehow handmade, that would be an exciting combination!

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I love hand made postcards! the fact that someone took their time not only to choose but to make a postcard for me… I find it so cool, I don’t care if the person is skilled enough or not, for me is about conecting, not collecting.

Other thing that matters to me is the message in the back of the postcard, the stickers or stamps if there are any, the decoration etc

For me, there’s something charming about hand made postcards :love_letter:

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Maybe the thick ones I could turn into postcard if the receiver seems to be ok with such, otherwise I’d send such items along with a postcard, so the receiver can read all text in the leaflet :slight_smile:

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Hi All,

I love sending and receiving handmade cards. However, I have seen some profiles explicitly say they would not like handmade cards. I am really curious what portion of the Postcrossing platform prefers!

Here is a link to a little poll - You can also just post your thoughts below :slight_smile:

-Nic

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I am not sure if you know but you can make a poll when typing by hitting the setting button and build a poll.

I love handmade cards and store bought!

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