Hello, it’s been a while since I used Postcrossing and not a day went by when I didn’t miss it. I used to love sending a Postcard and practicing language skills and then eagerly waiting for the mail in the morning to see if I had received something that would, without doubt, lighten up my day. However, when I moved back home, everything changed.
My active period was when I was at university and also when I briefly studied abroad. As you can imagine, the variety of postcards was immense. And choosing which to send to whom was such a difficult choice, as they were all so beautiful, and they all showed a different aspect of our culture, nature and society. So imagine how I felt when I moved back home and couldn’t find any local postcards.
So here I am, asking for your friendly advice. The lack of local postcards has meant long inactivity, and quite frankly, I’ve been feeling sorry for myself. And as I can no longer stand this feeling of FOMO from the best website on the internet, I’ve decided to buy some blank postcards in bulk and work from there. However, I can’t just send blank cards. That just wouldn’t be fair. So here’s the question:
If you were in my shoes, what would you do? I’ll be returning back to my full-time job as soon as this lockdown finishes and I’m eager to get back into Postcrossing. Should I decorate my cards? Does anyone have first-hand experience at doing this? Does this infringe on any Postcrossing rules? Any friendly advice would be much appreciated, and who knows? Maybe our paths will cross with postcards some day.
In my opinion: Yes! you should decorate your cards yourself! I love handmade cards. You can get some inspiration in this topic: Show us your handmade postcards and Mail Art. As you can see, there are many ways to do it.
There are also a ton of other solutions to not having a lot of local cards to chose from. Depending on what you are willing to spend, you could go with postcard boxes, ad cards, or even vintage/old cards (which can often also be bought online). Also, I live in a town with not that many cards to chose from, and I sometimes send tourist cards from the county’s capital. I’ve had no complaints. In fact, they are my most favorite’d cards ever.
The most important thing is that you get back to postcrossing. we need people like you who really love and appreciate it!
That’s very much what I wanted to hear. I just searched on Amazon and found some beautiful sets, such as Mindfulness sets with inspirational quotes. I had never thought of this as an option until now. What’s taken me so long? Thank you for your help!
This is US-7018833. Because my postcard blanks are pretty flimsy, I drew this mama deer and fawn on a separate piece of cardstock, then cut her to size and adhered her to the postcard blank using double-sided adhesive. Ensure that you have excellent adhesion, especially along the edges, so that the layers won’t separate and be destroyed. Good old Mod Podge can also seal any edges that might come loose. If you are worried about smudging your medium, use a spray fixative.
I also took a pile of old magazines that were taking up space on the bookshelf and harvested their innards to make stupid collages, like this:
You could also draw directly on the card if you’re brave enough. (Not me.) If you do make your own card, check the postal regulations of both your country and the destination country. Some countries require cards with lots of non-paper embellishments to be sent in envelopes to avoid potential damage to their machines.
Not everyone appreciates handmade cards, which is a real shame. (Talk about missing out!) As mentioned above, you can find cards at reasonable (and a few unreasonable) prices online. I like to grab a glass of wine or three and hunt around Etsy for a nice selection.
No fine arts degree necessary (I certainly don’t have one!) to make collages or abstract doodles–just suitable materials and your own creativity! Good luck!
You are free to decorate your card or not) As for me I love to do it. But sometimes the only thing I want to do is to write and write, and write=) It depends on my mood))))
There are a lot of conversations about “handmade cards”. Some people love them, some people hate them, some are happy enough with them. If it is your only option, then go for it!
However, I looked at your location and if, in times without lockdowns, you are able to get yourself to any large (or even not-so-large) city in your surroundings, there are a lot of options, even more than it seems at first glance. And perhaps you have some local museums or other local office with some postcards too? I don’t know your town specifically but I lived in the area for a long time and had no problems stocking up. I never bought online and I am not crafty or patient enough to make my own, I printed some out of photographs as I mentioned elsewhere but in the end found out it wasn’t so necessary.
As others have mentioned, there are a gazillion online shops. You can still make your own and then mix it up with others you buy, if that is an option for you!
Also, another pesky question: can someone from the United Kingdom confirm that a postcard to anywhere in the world now costs £1.45 each? When I was at uni, it was only 88p. It’ll be worth it in the end. That’s over five pounds extra per every ten postcards haha
You are definitely free to decorate your cards, or even print on them (I wish I had the talent to do this.)
However, there are also some Postcrossers who specifically request not to receive any handmade postcards, so perhaps these cards would be better received by others who are open to receiving them.
I think the Postcrossing community has been gaining traction so there are a lot of online shops now. Unfortunately I live in Singapore and the online shops where I shop from are unlikely to be relevant to you (shipping will cost a bomb), so I am unable to help in that aspect, sorry!
Postcrossing also has ads from time to time about limited edition postcards, so do keep a look out on the main site too
That drawing of the deer is AWESOME! Honestly, if I had that kind of talent (and I don’t), I’m not sure I could drop something like that off in the mail, and trust it would arrive halfway around the world undamaged. Shows that in addition to being an artist, you have a giving heart. Thanks for sharing!
Kind of a fun way to get a mixture of cards to send is to buy lots on eBay - if you’re brave, you can get some odd and interesting stuff from thrift and antique stores that post their stuff there!
(Talk about missing out!) As mentioned above, you can find cards at reasonable (and a few unreasonable) prices online. I like to grab a glass of wine or three and hunt around 
I will share more, I promise! 
It’ll be worth it in the end. That’s over five pounds extra per every ten postcards haha
(I wish I had the talent to do this.)