Postcards!

Recently I was turned on to a site that promotes international communication.  It’s called Postcrossing, and it encourages people to send postcards to strangers.  They give you names and addresses after you set up a profile.  Once a postcard you send is received, then you become eligible to receive one from someone.  I love this idea!  I love receiving mail through the post office, I love pictures, and I love the idea of connecting with others from different cultures. 

I signed up in January, went out and purchased a couple of postcards and started sending.  You can send as many, or as few, as you would like.  I’ve sent out six so far with one getting ready to go today. 

The one I’m sending out today is going to a girl in Germany who wouldn’t mind getting a homemade card.  Some people specify that they want specific cards – art, places, history, dogs, cats, etc.  This girl likes food and recipes.  It gave me an idea.

I went to the local craft store to see if I could get a postcard stamp.  Alas, no luck.  I ended up ordering a set of Tim Holtz postcard stamps.  

They seemed the most versatile.  The others I saw didn’t appeal to me, but I always try to keep an open mind.  The stamps were delivered to me yesterday, so last night I set out to work.  The only food photo I found was of the birthday cake I made a few years ago for Gaige.  

I trimmed the edges a little and set it on a 4”x6” piece of cardstock that I had salvaged from an old report.  I glued it on with Aileen's Tacky Glue.  I really want this photo to stay on during shipping.  I stamped the back and let it dry and now it’s ready for an address and note!

I really am excited about sending it out.  I hope she likes it.  What I truly want is to have a pen pal.  I had one when I was a kid.  She was from Japan and we sent letters all the time until we were in our late teens.  I don’t know why we stopped.  Perhaps it was boys and dating.  I know in my case that was probably it.  I wish I knew what happened to her.  I miss learning about someone else’s culture through private letters.  It’s one thing to read Wikipedia.  It’s another to read it in someone else’s handwriting about their very own experience.

I hope you like the postcard and the idea of it.  It’s a pretty simple project, but one that can give you a lot of satisfaction and could definitely brighten another’s day.