Bonnie Jeanne (aka PostMuse) hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is passionate about snail mail, mailart... and postboxes! :) Come discover more about her on this Spotlight interview.

How did you come across Postcrossing? What got you hooked?

I discovered Postcrossing via Bookcrossing. I have been exchanging postcards most of my adult life, 30 plus years. When the Internet came about, I joined lots of online postcard groups, and that was fun, but often the exchanges were between the same group of people. I love the randomness of Postcrossing! I think that is the thing that most attracted me to the site.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

I sew, and I do a lot of mailart. I also love to travel and visit museums, especially little known museums, like the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania. I'm also a backyard birdwatcher and enjoy the constant chatter of the birds while I sit on my patio and write postcards and letters.

Show us your mailbox, your mailman/mailwoman, your postoffice or the place where you post or keep your postcards!

The mail chute is at work and I love using it. I only work three floors up, so I can actually hear the mail hit the bottom :)

The photo close-up (left) of my open mailbox at home is taken from the front. You can see how the back is also open so that in the winter I don't have to go out on the snowy road to get my mail. A lot of people outside the US also don't realize that we can leave our outgoing mail in our home mailbox for the mailman to take away. I leave LOTS of mail in my home mailbox.

The photo on the right shows my home mailbox in the spring. I do decorate my mailbox for seasons. In winter, I'll string twinkling snowflakes on it and add a few other festive details. At Halloween it had a giant black spider with purple twinkling lights.

This photo shows postcards of my home mailbox inside the same postcard... very "meta"! :)

The metal mailbox is my post office box, where most of my incoming mail goes. I do get some mail at my home mailbox, but it is safer to have most of my mail go to my post office box ... it is always dry, plus it is close to work, so I can get my mail before lunch and enjoy it while I eat.

Show and tell us about your favorite received postcard to date, and what makes it special.

My favorite postcards are pictures of the sender's mailbox, even if it is only a mailslot. Some of the recent ones I've received are NL-1247688, DE-1267457, DE-1251668 and TW-455583.

Sometimes people write on the back of regular postcards that their mailboxes are not cute or interesting enough for a postcard. But, I think ALL mailboxes are beautiful. They are our connection to each other, even more so than email because you can hold snail mail in your hand.

Have you inspired anyone else to join Postcrossing or start collections of their own?

Oh yes! A former coworker is now quite involved. As are my two oldest grandchildren. I help them with the project because they are only 5 and 3, so too young to write postcards. And I ramble on to whoever will listen about Postcrossing, at any opportunity :)

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

My very favorite part of the process is when I get an address of someone who welcomes mailart because I LOVE to make postcards.

Is there anything that you are passionate about?

I am passionate about snail mail. I send about 40 or so pieces of mail a week and I love the connecting with other people. Somehow political/cultural differences don't matter when one is writing to another about some shared interest, like fountain pens, or beekeeping, or novels, or the cute little bird that sat on the back of my patio chair and sang me his life story.

Thank you so very much for listening to me my Postcrossing story! And thank you very much for this wonderful site.