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Post by monklady123 on Jul 25, 2021 14:09:18 GMT
This sounds so interesting but I don’t think I could share my real address online.😩😩 The thing is, you're sharing it with people who live far away. Some of them REALLY far away. The closest I've ever had was a card from Montreal. And I've never ever heard back a second time from anyone so I don't feel like stalking is something these people are doing.
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Post by kiera on Jul 25, 2021 14:15:42 GMT
kluski a lot of people use PO boxes, but if you don't already have one and wouldn't use it for anything else, then it wouldn't be worth the expense. I used my real address for most of my time there but just switched it to a PO box yesterday because I decided to get one for future penpal purposes.
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Post by kiera on Jul 25, 2021 14:16:23 GMT
Hi kiera ! Thanks for the post. I am a member of Postcrossing, and always enjoy reading through their forum. Although I am a member, I have yet to send a postcard. I do have a few postcards via Amazon, however, they seem to be a bit smaller than the typical gift shop postcard. Do you think these postcards would be okay to send? If they are, I might try and participate once or twice a month. It's nice to get happy mail every now and then I think that would be okay, sure!
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Post by kiera on Jul 25, 2021 14:18:56 GMT
ETA A search on Etsy for postcrossing brought up everything from stickers (for i.d./temp/weather huh?) to i.d. # rubber stamps to postcards to a template to make postcards. Yeah, a lot of people will ask for the date and weather to be written so that they can see how long it takes for a card to be sent from that location, and also to see what the differences in weather are - it could be 65F here when I send a card, but for them it might be 29F and snowing. Just another way to learn about where your card came from!
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Post by CardBoxer on Jul 25, 2021 14:26:56 GMT
ETA A search on Etsy for postcrossing brought up everything from stickers (for i.d./temp/weather huh?) to i.d. # rubber stamps to postcards to a template to make postcards. Yeah, a lot of people will ask for the date and weather to be written so that they can see how long it takes for a card to be sent from that location, and also to see what the differences in weather are - it could be 65F here when I send a card, but for them it might be 29F and snowing. Just another way to learn about where your card came from! Fun! I was thinking that postmarks show the date, but it’s often not legible. I’ve gone down a rabbit hole on Etsy of the most amazing postcards, stickers...
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chendra
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,860
Location: The 33rd State
Jun 27, 2014 16:58:50 GMT
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Post by chendra on Jul 25, 2021 19:30:11 GMT
I’m a little surprised people wouldn’t want hand made postcards - that’s what I’d love most of all - a bit like ATC’s - little pieces of art. One thing many people do is decorate the heck out of the back! I've received paintings, drawings and a whole lot of stickers and washi on cards. One time I was trying to decide what color to paint my living room, so I put little blobs of color on the back and labeled them with the paint name. When the recipient registered my card, she commented on her favorite, which happened to be mine as well. Another time when I registered a card (from Australia, I think), I commented on the clear and beautiful ink cancellation design (as opposed to the ugly automated kind the US has now). It turns out that it was a hand cancellation that people could do themselves at the post office and the sender's husband enjoyed doing the stamping for her. He was so proud that I had noticed his effort! Forgot to say, for the Moonpie card, I just cut the box to the size of a postcard to heavily feature the Moonpie image and name. It was lighter than postcard weight, so I was a little worried that it might get shredded in a sorter, but it made it safely to its destination. The only reason I even had a Moonpie box was that I had brought eclipse-themed snacks to work for my staff (now trying to remember the rest of what I brought. Capri Suns, Orbit gum. . . something else).
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chendra
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,860
Location: The 33rd State
Jun 27, 2014 16:58:50 GMT
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Post by chendra on Jul 25, 2021 19:41:26 GMT
Oh, one item to consider. When you first register, you are able to send up to five cards at once. I recommend doing so, the reason being that postal system timing varies quite a bit in different countries. You will not receive a card until someone registers the one you sent, so you want to increase the chances of that happening sooner rather than later. The wait can be discouraging at the beginning when you are anticipating a card. Cards to Russia and China can often take a month or more.
Also, when you request multiple addresses at once, you are likely to receive a variety of countries as recipients. (Make sure you have not selected the option to have several cards traveling to the same country at once, unless you desire that. It doesn't guarantee you won't, but it helps. Obviously, large countries have a bunch of users, so seasoned senders who can send a higher number of cards will often choose this option.)
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chendra
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,860
Location: The 33rd State
Jun 27, 2014 16:58:50 GMT
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Post by chendra on Jul 25, 2021 19:58:19 GMT
I tried this years ago when my kids were younger. They were excited to see where we would get postcards from, but unfortunately 90% were from the same place (Braizil, I think) and we lost interest pretty quickly. I have no doubt I heard about it from 2Peas. That's so strange. My guess it that there was some kind of news feature or story published that attracted a lot of new users from Brazil at once. I'm sorry it didn't work out. I've never had that happen with any country.
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Post by kiera on Jul 25, 2021 20:28:35 GMT
Oh, one item to consider. When you first register, you are able to send up to five cards at once. I recommend doing so, the reason being that postal system timing varies quite a bit in different countries. You will not receive a card until someone registers the one you sent, so you want to increase the chances of that happening sooner rather than later. The wait can be discouraging at the beginning when you are anticipating a card. Cards to Russia and China can often take a month or more. Also, when you request multiple addresses at once, you are likely to receive a variety of countries as recipients. (Make sure you have not selected the option to have several cards traveling to the same country at once, unless you desire that. It doesn't guarantee you won't, but it helps. Obviously, large countries have a bunch of users, so seasoned senders who can send a higher number of cards will often choose this option.) This is a very good point!
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Post by Zee on Jul 25, 2021 20:32:00 GMT
Thanks again, I just registered and will be sending off five after I get the stamps! I have two ready to go.
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Post by kiera on Jul 25, 2021 22:03:16 GMT
You're welcome! I hope you have fun with it!
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Post by CardBoxer on Jul 25, 2021 22:57:14 GMT
I’m a little surprised people wouldn’t want hand made postcards - that’s what I’d love most of all - a bit like ATC’s - little pieces of art. One thing many people do is decorate the heck out of the back! I've received paintings, drawings and a whole lot of stickers and washi on cards. One time I was trying to decide what color to paint my living room, so I put little blobs of color on the back and labeled them with the paint name. When the recipient registered my card, she commented on her favorite, which happened to be mine as well. Another time when I registered a card (from Australia, I think), I commented on the clear and beautiful ink cancellation design (as opposed to the ugly automated kind the US has now). It turns out that it was a hand cancellation that people could do themselves at the post office and the sender's husband enjoyed doing the stamping for her. He was so proud that I had noticed his effort! Forgot to say, for the Moonpie card, I just cut the box to the size of a postcard to heavily feature the Moonpie image and name. It was lighter than postcard weight, so I was a little worried that it might get shredded in a sorter, but it made it safely to its destination. The only reason I even had a Moonpie box was that I had brought eclipse-themed snacks to work for my staff (now trying to remember the rest of what I brought. Capri Suns, Orbit gum. . . something else). What you did with the eclipse theme for your staff is beyond neat - and the postcard too! Since you’ve received handmade cards - or cards decorated on the back, which is kind of the same (or is it?), is that because you list handmade on your profile?
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Post by CardBoxer on Jul 25, 2021 23:00:18 GMT
Oh, one item to consider. When you first register, you are able to send up to five cards at once. I recommend doing so, the reason being that postal system timing varies quite a bit in different countries. You will not receive a card until someone registers the one you sent, so you want to increase the chances of that happening sooner rather than later. The wait can be discouraging at the beginning when you are anticipating a card. Cards to Russia and China can often take a month or more. Also, when you request multiple addresses at once, you are likely to receive a variety of countries as recipients. (Make sure you have not selected the option to have several cards traveling to the same country at once, unless you desire that. It doesn't guarantee you won't, but it helps. Obviously, large countries have a bunch of users, so seasoned senders who can send a higher number of cards will often choose this option.) What would be the benefit for anyone to select the same country? They just happen to want postcards from just one? I need to register - it will be clearer. But I don’t have any postcards yet so was going to hold off.
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Post by SweetTea on Jul 25, 2021 23:18:52 GMT
This is one of the many reasons I love the peas! This is such a fun idea, I just signed up. Thank you for sharing! 😊
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Post by CardBoxer on Jul 25, 2021 23:57:27 GMT
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Post by kiera on Jul 26, 2021 1:55:18 GMT
Oh, one item to consider. When you first register, you are able to send up to five cards at once. I recommend doing so, the reason being that postal system timing varies quite a bit in different countries. You will not receive a card until someone registers the one you sent, so you want to increase the chances of that happening sooner rather than later. The wait can be discouraging at the beginning when you are anticipating a card. Cards to Russia and China can often take a month or more. Also, when you request multiple addresses at once, you are likely to receive a variety of countries as recipients. (Make sure you have not selected the option to have several cards traveling to the same country at once, unless you desire that. It doesn't guarantee you won't, but it helps. Obviously, large countries have a bunch of users, so seasoned senders who can send a higher number of cards will often choose this option.) What would be the benefit for anyone to select the same country? They just happen to want postcards from just one? I need to register - it will be clearer. But I don’t have any postcards yet so was going to hold off. It's not a direct exchange, you can choose to send several cards to the same country but that doesn't mean your cards will be sent to you from that same country. I've had a card registered in China and then received one from Poland. It's randomly generated. I hope this clears up your confusion a little
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Post by CardBoxer on Jul 26, 2021 2:03:16 GMT
What would be the benefit for anyone to select the same country? They just happen to want postcards from just one? I need to register - it will be clearer. But I don’t have any postcards yet so was going to hold off. It's not a direct exchange, you can choose to send several cards to the same country but that doesn't mean your cards will be sent to you from that same country. I've had a card registered in China and then received one from Poland. It's randomly generated. I hope this clears up your confusion a little Right, understood. I was more wondering about, “Obviously, large countries have a bunch of users, so seasoned senders who can send a higher number of cards will often choose this option.” I’m sure it’s obvious and it’s just my wonky brain.
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chendra
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,860
Location: The 33rd State
Jun 27, 2014 16:58:50 GMT
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Post by chendra on Jul 26, 2021 2:49:44 GMT
It's not a direct exchange, you can choose to send several cards to the same country but that doesn't mean your cards will be sent to you from that same country. I've had a card registered in China and then received one from Poland. It's randomly generated. I hope this clears up your confusion a little Right, understood. I was more wondering about, “Obviously, large countries have a bunch of users, so seasoned senders who can send a higher number of cards will often choose this option.” I’m sure it’s obvious and it’s just my wonky brain. I'm sorry I was unclear. What I meant is that sometimes users "help out" by choosing this option so that other people can get more variety. Often it's people who are able to send higher quantities of cards, so for instance, if they are eligible to send 20 cards at a time, they might not care if they send or receive 10 cards to/from one country. In the FAQ, they explain how they attempt to "balance" distribution and how repeats are part of doing so. Also, some people just like to receive postcards and don't care as much where they originate, as every card is from someone unique. Some people like to collect postcards from as many places as possible, some people like the stamps, some people collect certain themes and some people just like happy mail.
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chendra
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,860
Location: The 33rd State
Jun 27, 2014 16:58:50 GMT
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Post by chendra on Jul 26, 2021 3:01:39 GMT
Since you’ve received handmade cards - or cards decorated on the back, which is kind of the same (or is it?), is that because you list handmade on your profile? I've only received handmade cards when I indicated on my profile that they are welcome, which I didn't have as a suggestion for the first couple of years (never thought of it, for some reason). In my experience, decorating the back to some degree is very common otherwise. You can generally tell from people's profiles who would be open to it.
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cycworker
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,375
Jun 26, 2014 0:42:38 GMT
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Post by cycworker on Jul 26, 2021 3:32:01 GMT
This definitely looks like fun! I will consider it for the fall!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 26, 2024 13:54:57 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2021 12:34:04 GMT
I would like to do this. The Moroccan postal system is spotty at best. I can't guarantee that my postcards would go out or that I would receive all. But it might be worth a try.
They sell some REALLY cool postcards here in the open air markets for tourists.
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Post by monklady123 on Jul 26, 2021 13:50:11 GMT
Also... another fun thing about Postcrossing is the new-ish thing of "vacation mode" or whatever it's called. You can set your country of origin to the place where you're traveling (if it's international) and then mail cards from there with that country's code. So when dd and I went to Israel I did this and was able to send out a bunch of cards from there with Israel's code. People like this because if the person is traveling in a country that has fewer Postcrossers, such as Israel, they might receive a card from a country they don't have yet. On the Postcrossing forums I saw several people who lived close to borders who did this for countries such as Liechtenstein or Monaco or other smaller places. I had a lot of people who told me the Israel one was their first from that country.
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Post by monklady123 on Jul 26, 2021 13:51:19 GMT
Since you’ve received handmade cards - or cards decorated on the back, which is kind of the same (or is it?), is that because you list handmade on your profile? I've only received handmade cards when I indicated on my profile that they are welcome, which I didn't have as a suggestion for the first couple of years (never thought of it, for some reason). In my experience, decorating the back to some degree is very common otherwise. You can generally tell from people's profiles who would be open to it. I've never thought of doing that either... glad you mentioned it! I'm going to go put that in my profile right now. I'd like to see what people might come up with for handmade cards.
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durangirl
Junior Member
Posts: 71
Location: Central California
Jul 1, 2021 19:05:23 GMT
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Post by durangirl on Jul 29, 2021 18:15:44 GMT
Hi Kiera I loved reading this post and I signed up! I have collected stamps and postcards since I was 5yrs old. My dad was a stamp dealer and I was in charge of the postcards. So...I am ready to mail my first card today but I am confused about sending. Do I need to take a photo and put it in my profile or does the recipient do that? I was reading the forum and people talked about adding their sent cards but I couldn't find any specific details. Thanks again for sharing this fun adventure!!
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Post by kiera on Jul 29, 2021 18:20:12 GMT
durangirl I'm glad you found this! You do not need to take a photo of the card - sometimes the recipient will, sometimes they won't, but a photo of the card is never required. Also, just to note (for you and everyone else), sometimes the person you're mailing to will ask for the card to be placed in an envelope. If you don't have an envelope large enough to hold the postcard, don't stress over finding or making one. They'll deal with it
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Post by CardBoxer on Jul 29, 2021 18:34:29 GMT
Hi Kiera I loved reading this post and I signed up! I have collected stamps and postcards since I was 5yrs old. My dad was a stamp dealer and I was in charge of the postcards. So...I am ready to mail my first card today but I am confused about sending. Do I need to take a photo and put it in my profile or does the recipient do that? I was reading the forum and people talked about adding their sent cards but I couldn't find any specific details. Thanks again for sharing this fun adventure!! Oh, your collection must be magnificent! kiera or anyone who knows, I’m curious about adding sent cards too, in case we want to.
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Post by Zee on Jul 29, 2021 18:39:30 GMT
Hi Kiera I loved reading this post and I signed up! I have collected stamps and postcards since I was 5yrs old. My dad was a stamp dealer and I was in charge of the postcards. So...I am ready to mail my first card today but I am confused about sending. Do I need to take a photo and put it in my profile or does the recipient do that? I was reading the forum and people talked about adding their sent cards but I couldn't find any specific details. Thanks again for sharing this fun adventure!! Oh, your collection must be magnificent! kiera or anyone who knows, I’m curious about adding sent cards too, in case we want to. There is a little button next to your "traveling" cards where you can upload a pic of the front of your card (it specifically says not the back, no address info showing). I did that. I'm waiting impatiently for my first cards to arrive and be registered and to get some in return!
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Post by kiera on Jul 29, 2021 18:54:43 GMT
Oh yes, only show the front! I just looked at my sent cards and can't figure out how to add a photo, though I'm at work and shouldn't be looking anyway lol
For the traveling cards, like @zee said, there's a little button you can click to add your photo.
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durangirl
Junior Member
Posts: 71
Location: Central California
Jul 1, 2021 19:05:23 GMT
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Post by durangirl on Jul 29, 2021 19:00:37 GMT
Hi Kiera I loved reading this post and I signed up! I have collected stamps and postcards since I was 5yrs old. My dad was a stamp dealer and I was in charge of the postcards. So...I am ready to mail my first card today but I am confused about sending. Do I need to take a photo and put it in my profile or does the recipient do that? I was reading the forum and people talked about adding their sent cards but I couldn't find any specific details. Thanks again for sharing this fun adventure!! Oh, your collection must be magnificent! kiera or anyone who knows, I’m curious about adding sent cards too, in case we want to. I have all of my favorites in Lighthouse postcard albums. Those have my hometown, my favorite place we lived on the central coast and vintage Disneyland. Then in a 3ring binder I have postcard pages that have all of the hotels, retro amusement parks etc. The bulk are in postcard boxes sorted by country. I still have 12 stamp albums that my dad gave me when I was 14 and my husband like to still help me with them. My favorite is my Australia Specialized album...my parents had the chance to move there before I was born or here in central California. Alas...I do not speak with an Aussie accent!
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Jul 29, 2021 19:22:50 GMT
this sounds neat! I think I may have signed up for Postcrossings once a while ago... probably because I heard about it here? But if I did, I don't think I ever sent or received cards. Getting happy mail instead of just junk mail would be kinda fun... especially if it didn't have any deadlines or restrictions associated with it. I didn't do well with ATC swaps, pocket letters, etc. because the 'theme' and deadlines pressure got to me after a while. lol. (plus, I think the pocket letter website I was on ended up changing to a paid membership, which sucked-- that took my enthusiasm for it away quick.) I do art journaling, and postcards might be a fun way to get interesting collage fodder for my journaling- stamps, postcard images, etc. kiera , you mentioned pen pals, too. Not to derail this thread, but I've tried a few times to find a site for pen pals... I think having a 'real' long-term pen pal who has similar interests would be fun, but I never had luck finding a good site. I think the couple I did find once upon a time sort of fizzled out after a couple letters. Do you have any suggestions for pen pal websites?
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