As an Official, someone once sent me a flyer (printed on copy paper, not heavy paper or cardstock) with all text (in a language I do not read or understand) and no picture. They pasted a label over part of so they could put my address on it and wrote the ID in the margin. This is the only time I have asked the admins if I needed to register it because to me it was absolutely not a postcard. They asked me to register it anyway, perhaps because I do say in my profile that I welcome handmade cards.
The worst non-Official was a food-package tag card where the flaps had been raggedly torn off by hand and the only message was “Food Package Tag” and the User’s Forum ID. The sender was from an English-speaking country and an adult, so presumably language or the ability to use scissors was not an issue. Why the person cared whether or not the card was received is beyond me.
Fortunately, though, this kind of thing has been very rare, usually even the cards of dubious quality look like someone spent a little time on them.
I wonder why I didn’t find this topic earlier on the new forum… I only remember the one in the sandbox!
I had a “please no handmade cards” preference in my profile a few years ago, then I removed it because some handmade card senders are real artists, and it’d be a pity to miss the chance to receive their artwork.
It’s been a while since I last received a handmade card I totally dislike. I remember I went crazy when I got my first one from Finland, in the very beginning: a creepy image cut from a newspaper and glued on a thick piece of paper.
I have become more tolerant since, and have actually received some cute handmade cards.
Moreover, many postcards you buy at a local shop happen to be uglier than a well-done handmade card.
I still haven’t received a piece of paper cut from a food package, but I think I’d like it if the back side were customized, decorated, fully written. Beautiful postcards without a proper message make me sadder nowadays…
I love handmade cards, even when they have a simple drawing.
The effort that someone put to do something just for me make them wonderful.
Sometimes I do the same when I find someone who ask for them or just inspires me.
Are cards that you order from Zazzle considered handmade? They are made commercially so I don’t consider them hand made cards. I like to have cards made from some of the pictures I take of my cats. I won’t use bad pictures one was actually in a calendar for our local shelter. My Roxy was Miss July.
I love collecting herbarium. I make postcards out of them. I also love watercolor. I haven’t sent any drawn postcards yet. Some people don’t like hand-drawn postcards, and I don’t want to upset them with drawings, because I’m not an artist. Therefore I am sending the herbarium. I also like to look for special cards in book stores.
I’m only new to Postcrossing and haven’t received either really ugly or really beautiful handmade postcards yet. But I’m wondering for all you veterans out there who may have, what would be the percentage of really ugly, to really beautiful handmade cards received? If someone writes on their profile that they don’t want handmade, are they not cutting themselves off from receiving beautiful/interesting/curious/artistic cards as well?
These are lovely, they obviously mean something to you, and I would be thrilled if one of these ended up in my letterbox, but please be careful which country you send them to. I’m in Australia and quarantine would confiscate something like this as soon as it came into the country, we have very strict food and plant material restrictions. I would never receive it, and that would be not only to my loss, but to yours as well for sending something that you have put effort into .
I think I will be thrilled to receive the specially made cards, by which I mean those printed-photo that is taken by yourself, either shows the scenery in your trip, the landmark/skyline in your city/country, or the gathering of people in a holiday or festival, your pets or cute animals, etc., and the story behind that too. I really appreciate the time and effect you spend in doing this.
I have had a few postcards that were photos glued to card, and in some cases, the photo wasn’t even that great (blurry, out of focus), so my first reaction was always a shred of disappointment. But in all cases, the writer told me something about the picture, what it meant to them and why they chose it, making the card very personal, and so I ended up liking them a lot.
I’m glad you liked it💐. I didn’t know that plants cannot be used in some countries. Thanks for the information. If there are such rules, then it is necessary.
I’m a beginner too. I was thinking about sending my drawings, but I came across two people who don’t need handmade cards. Therefore, I am sending the herbarium and purchased postcards. I’m not sure if my drawings will be liked because I am not an artist.
Hey, I really appreciated your reply! You don’t need to be artistically gifted to make meaningful pieces of mail art… There’s always something more important, more “human” that connects us – we are not on Postcrossing just because we want to receive art, are we? We’re here mainly to establish new connections and know people from all over the world! I just hope everyone understood that
(Sorry for the very late reply, I always like to procrastinate, and it’s already been more than half a month! Time flies aha!) But yeah, you are perfectly right! And that was also my original point, which I’ve duly reported below:
My little rant on children’s drawings was actually out of place aha, a little pet peeve of mine so to speak. If you think about it, it’s actually a kind of human thing to do – to have a small personal opinion that doesn’t fit at all with everything else that’s been said… However, I hope that, in the grander scheme of things, such insignificant pet-peeves are allowed and don’t contribute towards a complete “deconstruction” of one’s original argument
But yeah, just ignore that part, I stand by my (initial) words – please count me on the “pro-handmade” side of this argument!
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