Postcrossing Blog

Carol (aka carolreader) hails from Ohio, a northern US state. She’s been a postcrosser for over 8 years, juggling a stressful job, family life and distance running, along with sending postcards! :)

Here is what she had to say:

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

My daughter always finds new and interesting things. She told me that she’d joined Postcrossing and received a postcard from a teacher in Japan. I thought that was so cool!

When I first joined, I asked for only one address. I had no postcards, nor did I know where to buy any. So I took my lunch hour at work and walked around downtown Cleveland, Ohio, looking for a postcard to send. I found a nice one! Since then, I’ve learned where to find postcards, and try to have a variety of cards on hand to send.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

I am addicted to distance running, and I run between one and twenty amateur races every year. This was actually an obsession a few years ago – I spent two years trying to qualify to run the Boston Marathon — to do this, you have to run another marathon in a certain time, depending upon your age. I achieved my goal in 2009, and ran Boston in 2009 at the age of 58. I consider this one of the great achievements of my life. I started running in my 40’s, and I’d never been athletic. I worked for this, and got lucky.

But the older I get, the harder it gets to run. I keep at it because it makes me feel good, and good about myself. But I’m too old for marathons now!

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

This is the letter box at work where I mail many of my cards:

My postcards albums for received cards:

And boxes of cards on hand to send out:

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

Picking out the right card to send, absolutely. I love trying to find different kinds of cards, so that I have the right card to fit even an odd request or interest.

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

I love quirky cards – and I love animals. Here are some quirky animal cards that I like a lot:

The one below from Russia translates to “Smile, it irritates people.” I thought it was funny, and loved the great message on the other side.

But another card sticks in my mind – it wasn’t just a card, it was a card and a letter and two photos. A group of girl guides from Poland sent me group pictures, and told me about themselves. I love all the cards I receive, but every so often one arrives that warms my heart –and often from an unexpected place!

Have you met any other members in real life?

A few years ago, I went to a small meet up in Minneapolis with forum members. It was great fun. I would love to see a meet up in northern Ohio. In a year or two, when I retire from my job, I hope to organize one. In the meantime…perhaps someone else will volunteer?

Is there anything that you are passionate about?

I love hearing from people all over the world, regardless of the politics between our countries. I don’t know if this type of person-to-person communication would have been possible 40 years ago. I can “talk” to people in other nations now that I would never have dreamed of back in those days. I need to hope and believe that this doesn’t stop!

Ten years ago today, Paulo was sitting on the balcony of his room in the north of Portugal, laptop balanced on his legs. University exams were over, graduation was weeks away and his internship was going well… and yet, he wasn’t thinking about work or school. He had been toying with his new “postcard crossing project” for a few months now, and time had come to open it to the world.

So he did, changing settings on a command line, and refreshing the page a few lot of times, waiting for his friends and curious strangers to sign up. He didn’t have to wait long though, as word quickly spread from his friends to their friends, and then to the whole world.

Ten years is a long time, and it feels like it should be enough time for us to come to terms with how much Postcrossing has grown and the impact it has had on thousands of lives… and yet, it’s still hard to believe somedays. On Postcrossing’s 10th birthday, we’re thankful to each and every one of you, for believing in this crazy idea, for giving it a try, for coming along for the ride, sending postcards and spreading the word. The project wouldn’t have made this far without you!

Ok, enough with the teary-eyed speeches… it’s time for that party! :) Postcrossing’s birthday map is filling up rather quickly with all your lovely photos and videos! From Argentina to Western Sahara, postcrossers are joining the birthday celebrations, bringing with them cookies, cakes and sandwiches, balloons, mailboxes, songs… and lots and lots of postcards and smiles!

Meanwhile, we’ve been busy putting together 10 prizes for the most voted entries, including postcard sets, scratch maps and MOO postcards!

So don’t delay your participation — you only have until the end of the month to upload, share and favourite the photos and videos on the map. Good luck everyone! And happy birthday Postcrossing!

Woohoo! Postcrossing is turning 10 later this month… can you believe it? By internet standards, we’re practically dinosaurs… and we think that’s a good thing. In a time when websites come and go rather quickly, we’re still sticking around, quietly connecting the world, one postcard at a time. Cheers to that!

Remember when we used to make videos with your lovely photos for these milestones? We loved seeing all your smiley faces, but the videos were getting a bit too long as more and more members joined… so we decided to change things a little.

This time around, we’ve set up a special page with a map, and would like to invite all postcrossers to pin either a picture or a video of yourself celebrating Postcrossing’s 10th birthday. Sing “Happy birthday!” in your own language, hug your postbox, bake a postcard-themed cake, or take a selfie with your wall of postcards… anything’s allowed as long as it is creative, festive and sets the mood for our 10th birthday party. Oh! And it must have something to do with Postcrossing too.

All submissions will show up as markers on the world map, and we hope to have it filled with smiles by the time the anniversary comes around on July 14th. Until then, we encourage you to browse, share and favourite the best ones — there will be prizes for the most favourited photos and videos, of course!

Only one entry is allowed per person, and entries can be submitted until the end of the month — but naturally, the earlier you do it, the more chances you have to collect favourites.

So, let’s go! Put on your most festive shirt, grab your camera and make something that puts a smile on everyone’s face! Let’s show the whole world what a Postcrossing party looks like! We’ll be browsing the entries and cheering you on, with our balloons and party candles in hand! :)

The Little Mail Carriers helped us come up with these photos to get the party started! :)

Ahoj, everyone! After Russia and Slovenia earlier this year, Czech Republic is about to enter the exclusive club of countries with their own Postcrossing-themed stamps!

The Philatelic department at Czech Post has some very enthusiastic fans of the project, who successfully pushed for the stamp to become a reality. The stamp design was commissioned to graphical designer and illustrator Maria Nogueira, who imagined a playful way to translate the idea of Postcrossing into the tiny format.

The design went through several different stages, until it concentrated on the essence of Postcrossing: a never-ending flow of postcards, from hand-in-hand, connecting different people all around the world! :)

The new stamp will be launched in early September at the yearly Sběratel/Collector’s fair. We look forward to it, and will share more details about the launch event closer to the date!

We know lots of postcrosses are big fans of Lali’s riddle cards — we are too! The charming colourful illustrations, the puzzle to solve and scratch on the back… what’s not to love?

So we’re stoked that Lali herself agreed to reply to a few questions about her art, tell us all about her famous postcards, and even decided to offer some postcards to a few lucky postcrossers! YAY! Read on to learn the story behind these lovely postcards… and to win some! :)

When did you first start designing your style of riddle cards? Which one was your first one, and what is the story behind it?

After I graduated from “Les Beaux Arts” in Annecy in 1999, I worked for a while for Pylones, a famous brand of decoration and gadgets items. There, I designed touristic t-shirts with animals on them. At the time, I was already thinking about drawing child’s games, but it’s not easy to do that on a t-shirt and furthermore, the editor was not really interested in the idea.

In 2001, I found a job as a cashier in a famous stationary in Annecy. A bit dreamy, I was scanning child’s books but also illustrator’s postcards that were more and more playful. One day, my colleague, who was also responsible of the postcard section, encouraged me to try my luck at showing my sketches to an editor’s representative who would soon be visiting the store. So, I took the bull by the horns and I drew a few riddle games, amongst them were hearts, cats and clovers.

Afterwards, I went and defended my idea, my own concept to the editor in chief. He was seduced at once by my riddle postcards, it was a totally new idea at the moment. He gave me one month to send him about fifteen new drawings. Shaking my hand at the end of the interview, he said: “I think we’re going to work together.”

I was 26, I was a cashier, and I was about to be edited for my artistic skills. Tears of joy!

In November 2002, as I was sitting at my cash-desk, I started scanning the barcode of MY VERY OWN postcards. When I scanned the one with the clovers on it, with a sentence saying ‘TRY YOUR LUCK’ I must admit I beamed.

What inspires you?

First of all, I like paper, the soft touch of it, and the smell. I like going to stationery shops, where I can smell the ink and the school scent. I also like old books smell… I had always dreamt of becoming a librarian.

I also like postcards, the small size, and the purpose. It is like a little travelling bird, carrying good news.

For my riddle postcards collection, I get my inspiration absolutely everywhere, depending on my desires and on what’s happening in my life.

I rarely work because of a special demand from my editor. Even if I keep the idea of a collection in mind, I am a bit of a chameleon; I love playing with different themes, colours and even sometimes playing with different graphic styles.

I always try to be curious, to follow the new trends. Animals, my favourite theme, are also fashion victims! (indeed, cows in the 2000s were soon to be replaced by bugs, owls and swallows). Therefore I have to adapt to the tendency. Bugs, monsters and food are still my favourite since they can be easily adjustable, and I can really let my imagination work.

What techniques/means you use to draw your postcards? For instance, do you draw by hand first, or perhaps using the computer only?

Thanks to the progress of technologies, my technics have improved tremendously. Since the beginnings I’ve drawn by hand, I scan and then I re-draw the contours in Photoshop, then I colour the entire piece. But today with the introduction of the graphics tablet, the contours are way neater. It is such a gain in time, a great tool to use.

Do you know how many you’ve done so far? Do you have a favourite one?

I think I have drawn about 200 postcards, lots of which are not printed anymore… Right now, there are about 80 different types on the market.

My favourite postcards are not the most successful ones. Some are timeless, but others are more fashionable, and thus last less.

It is more pleasant to draw the ones that tell a story, with a setting which incudes many scenes. For instance “le potager” (the vegetable patch), “le grand huit” (the roller coaster) or the last one “le colibri” (the hummingbird) are some of them.

I’d say that two cards are like turning points in the collection:

• The monsters: at that time, most of the background I was drawing were white. I mistakenly clicked and coloured the background in black. The result was great and so obvious. Today, this card is one of the best one of the collection that is composed of many black background cards.
• The library: it is part of my second new collection, signed ‘Lali & MG’. For its really long and tedious realisation, I asked the fans of my Facebook page to give me names of famous couples. That was so much fun!

Are you a letter/postcard writer yourself?

I’m not going to lie, I use to write many more letters and cards before the invention of mails and text messages, which are my worst enemies…

But for a little while now, I’ve been using Postcrossing and I’ve just received my three first postcards. And it’s so nice and pleasing!

Thank you Lali, what a great interview! :) You can check Lali’s designs on her website, www.lali.fr, and you can also interact with her and follow the evolution of her collection on her Facebook page, facebook.com/lali.officiel.

And now for the best part: Lali kindly offered 3 packs of her wonderful postcards and other goodies to give away to 3 lucky postcrossers! For a chance to win a pack, check out her postcard designs, and leave a comment on this blog post, telling us which one was your favourite. We’ll randomly pick 3 winners this time next Wednesday and announce them on this post. Good luck! :)

A parting message from Lali:

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the warm comments you posted on the blog. I am more than ever motivated to find new riddle postcards and bring a little joy and fantasy in your letterboxes :-) Good news: Gradually, all the riddles will be translated into English at the back of the postcards. If you want to try your luck again, join me on my Facebook page, I often organize contests. Happy summer and happy postcrossing!”