Postcrossing Blog

Woohoo!! We’ve just reached the amazing milestone of 30 million registered postcards, and couldn’t be prouder of every single one of you! Isn’t 30 million a lovely round number? :)

And now ladies and gentlemen, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: postcard number 30,000,000 (DE-4221494) was sent by Postkartensammler in Germany on May 14th and registered today at 00:27 (UTC) by blooaum in Portugal. Hurray!

All spots on our guessing game were taken quite some time in advance, and the big winner was Licena, who picked the exact minute that postcard was registered. Congratulations, your new set of Urban Sketching postcards and the code for your shiny MOO postcards are on their way!

The other four lucky postcrossers who came the closest to the right time were olgaga98, Lara_and_Xavier, ThomW and vsemsnyatsasny – well done! You’ll all receive a pack of 20 postcards from MOO!

Both the sender and the receiver will also receive a surprise pack of Everything is Connected, Keri Smith’s wonderful book of adventure postcards.

And last but not least, our big heartfelt thank you to our team of volunteers, to MOO for generously sponsoring this giveaway, and most of all to you – all of you who send postcards and take this project further with your enthusiasm!

Onwards to the next million — one postcard, and one smile at a time! :)

Hurray! The new Slovenian Postcrossing stamp is out and about, making its way across the world to many mailboxes!

The stamp was presented to the public on Thursday in Trbovlje, during the bi-yearly stamp exhibition FIMERA/FIRAMLA, where Iztok gave the attendants a short presentation about Postcrossing.

The stamp was officially launched on Friday, at a meetup that took place at the main post office in Maribor. Quite a few postcrossers came from all around the country to attend the meeting, and send postcards with the shiny new stamp and first day cancellation mark.

We were able to join the event via Skype and say hi to everyone!

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Anita (aka anity) bought some sheets of them in her post office near Kranj, where she made everyone wait until the clerk at the counter found them… She says it was worth it though, because they’re gorgeous! :)

Brilliant! Stay tuned for more exciting stamp news later this year…

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re proud to introduce the latest Postcrossing-themed stamp, from our beloved Slovenia!

The country might be just shy of one thousand members, but they’re a fiercely active bunch, with over 100,000 sent postcards so far! It’s their passion for traditional mail (and persistent requests!) that drew Slovenia’s Post attention, and paved the way to their shiny new stamp:

Isn’t it perfect for a summer of postcard-writing? :)

The stamp will be launched on May 29th and we’d like to invite everyone in the area to attend a small celebratory Postcrossing meetup in Maribor’s main post office. It’ll be an informal gathering of postcrossers so that the community can come together, celebrate their hobby… and of course, send postcards with the lovely new stamp and first day cancellation mark! :) You can find more details about this event on the respective forum thread.

Being a special commemorative stamp, it will only be available for one year, but we hope to see it on many postcards in the coming months!

This year’s EUROPA stamp competition is officially open, and the theme promises to melt your heart…

Can you guess what it is? That’s right — old toys! Teddy bears, hula hoops, dolls, tin robots, rocking horses, slingshots, wooden trains… they all make an appearance, filling us with nostalgia and bringing back many happy memories.

To see all the stamps and cast your vote, go to the competition page and pick your favorite. May the best stamp win!

We’re always curious… which one did you pick? And if you’re European, what do you think of your own country’s choice of featured toy?

Madeleine (aka poissonrouge) is a Swiss teacher and the only postcrosser in Guinea (not to be confused with Guinea-Bissau or Equatorial Guinea). She has done a remarkable job of putting her adopted country on our map, by sending over 400 postcards from there… though this isn’t an easy job, as you will read on her interview!

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

I was reading a book in English, and I stumbled upon a new word for me: swap. To fully understand what a swap was, I googled it, and that’s how I discovered this postcards swapping project. I immediately loved the concept and I registered and sent my first cards at once. Now I really know what a swap is! :-)

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Raising hens!

Some time ago, I received three beautiful Senegalese hens. Now I am looking for a Senegalese rooster, to start a small breeding. After a couple of months, I shall be able to train other women to do it too.

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

There are no mail carriers in Guinea, and hardly a few post offices.

Every week, my friends in Conakry fetch my post. They put it in a blue metal suitcase, and give the suitcase to a bus driver who drives the 600 km to Kissidougou once a week. The driver gives it to another friend in Kissidougou, and I go fetch it on my motorcycle. I am always eager to open it, as I never know what will be inside. Postcards and letters for me and my colleagues of course, among other gifts from friends everywhere in Guinea, as we have several suitcases travelin the whole country.

And when I want to send cards (that is, every week), I put them in the same blue suitcase, and it goes back to Conakry.

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

It’s not about this very card specifically, but I collect cards about rice and cards about fields, so no wonder I cherish every rice field card.

Rice is the main food in Guinea: no rice, no life. I think seeing rice fields of different countries (or rice grains, or rice dishes), is very interesting. My Guinean friends love to see them too. They are amazed at this card especially, because a machine is doing all the work. In Guinea, men and women do all the work, sometimes with oxen. Here you have the harvest, Guinean style:

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

My mother joined Postcrossing too some time after me, and then my sister. Unfortunately my sister stopped when she opened her own surgery. That was too already much work.

I tried to convince people in Guinea, but it’s very hard: sending a card costs what a poor family needs to eat for one day. And richer people misunderstand it as… a global dating service :-)

Is there anything that you are passionate about?

I am passionate about my job. I love all aspects of it (apart from accountancy). It could be called “helping people, especially women, to get self sufficient”. Training literacy teachers and trainers, writing or translating booklets in the Kissi language, teaching French and African literature, teaching how to make medical ointments or beauty creams, sewing, baking, … there are many useful things to do here.

But of course now with the ebola epidemic, I put all my strength in the fight against this disease. So instead of writing booklets about the medical uses of the papaya, it’s all about preventing ebola.