Postcrossing Blog

When Christine (aka Chriz) joined Postcrossing back in 2009, she would had never guessed where it would lead her. She loved postcards but quickly discovered that she also really liked to make her own cards, especially through collages…

Everyone seemed to like receiving her special made creations, so she decided to print them and open a webshop! Things were going well and half a year later, a publisher found her cards on a local bookstore and got in touch with a business proposal. These days, By Kris cards are sold all over the Netherlands (and also abroad), in giftstores and bookshops, both online and offline!

In her own words:

I think it’s amazing how one step can lead to another. Yes, it was scary and yes it was exciting, but I learned to believe in myself and not to be afraid of challenges.

Christine says Postcrossing brought a lot of good things to her, and so she’s happy to give something back – by offering 10 sets (of 10 postcards each) to 10 lucky postcrossers! :)

To win one of these packs, visit the By Kris shop, and leave a comment below, letting us know which card is your favourite! We’ll pick 10 random winners on Monday next week. Good luck!

Nobody loves their postcards like postcrossers do – and so we want to make sure that they are safe and sound at all times. We’re often asked the best way to store and transport them, but with so many options and alternatives, it’s hard to cover them all… Nevertheless, we thought we’d give it a try!

Postcard boxes are a popular storage method and you have tons of color and pattern choices to select from. Amazon sells a number of different postcard boxes, but often you can also find them in local card shops.

From left to right: Vaultz acrylic box, Vaultz locking cabinet and Semikolon file box (comes in all sorts of colors).

If you cannot find a fun color or style that you like, you can get creative and decorate the outside with fabric, markers or anything else that speaks to you. Some of these boxes have dividers that make it simple to store the cards and then find them easily using the labels on top of the dividers.

There are also sells a variety of different postcard albums that are ideal for keeping your postcards looking like new for years to come.

From left to right: Hobbymaster postcard album, Hobbymaster linen style album and Trademark postcard organizer.

Make sure that any album you choose is acid-free, as well as free from PVC and has plenty of quality pocket sheets, which will really keep your cards covered nicely. Place the cards inside of the plastic and they will be kept out of harm’s way for good safekeeping.

And now for something slightly different…

A fun way to show off your postcards and keep them stored in style might be by placing them in the pockets of a shower curtain. Yes, there is such a thing! Urban Outfitters sells a shower curtain with vinyl pockets that lets you keep your postcards in a safe place and display them in style. Check it out on their website for more details.

We’d be slightly worried about humidity damaging the cards – so you might want to keep your most beloved cards away from it, but other than that, seems like a nice solution for a postcrosser’s bathroom!

So don’t just throw your postcards in a drawer! Keep them safe and sound so they can look great for a long time to come. :)

PS – How do you store your postcards? Share your tips in the comments!

Back in May, the city of Sochi, (which will host the 2014 Winter Olympics) experienced a Postcrossing day! The event was organized by Polina and Alena with the help of Katya. It included an exhibition, contest and lottery, a postal fairy and even a dragon – with postcards hidden on his mouth! :D

We were so impressed by what the three of them managed to accomplish that we asked them to tell us all about it! Alena described the event for us:

It was a bright sunny day in May, when Rivera Park in Sochi became a meeting place of postcrossers and future postcrossers! :) For one day, the park was turned into a fabulous Postal Square. The Carrier-Dragon went among the old trees and every brave child could try to get a postcard from his mouth. The Postal-Fairy flew near the rainbow of the fountain splashes and brought gifts to the children who enjoyed the event.

It was the Postcrossing day in Sochi! All the members had a lot of fun and the fun of Postcrossing was showcased to the visitors. Moreover, the event was also very informative, people could learn greetings in different languages and also find out more about countries that are participating in Postcrossing. Many of them were surprised and interested in the project. Some of them got a postcard as a present, but not immediately – the winners addresses were written on the postcard, and after a couple of days they received it on their mailbox.

We hope that such events would bring more people to Postcrossing and be thrilling for both organizers and visitors. Maybe soon we will read about the Day of Postcrossing in your city too?

Bravo! We bet everyone had a blast! :) If you’d like to see some more pictures, we highly recommend Polina's gallery of photos from the event!

On this week’s spotlight interview, we feature Wei Yi, (aka WY), from Kaohsiung, Taiwan. He’s an avid collector and also likes studying history and international relations – and has a very cute daughter who is as excited to receive postcards as he is!

Here is what he had to say:

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

Firstly, I must say thank you to whom recommended me to have this opportunity to be interviewed by Postcrossing.

I actually heard about Postcrossing for the first time while browsing a Japanese blog circa 2007. The blogger showed her postcard collection through Postcrossing. However, I formally joined Postcrossing in 2008, the same year my elder daughter was born. Since then I’ve been hooked on sending & receiving postcards – until now. Sometimes I send more than a postcard to satisfy the receivers, and sometimes I receive something unexpected including banknotes, maps, brochures…etc. That’s why Postcrossing is so fascinating. My elder daughter “joined” Postcrossing together with me when she was 2. She’s more excited than me while receiving postcards!

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

Here are some photos modeled by my elder daughter showing Taiwan’s postboxes, our letterbox and where we enjoy reading the postcards.

The green postbox is for domestic ordinary mail. The 2 holes are for local (Kaohsiung) & outgoing (other cities & counties in Taiwan). The red one is for international airmail & domestic prompt delivery. The number “812” showing on the Postboxes is the zip code of Siaogang District, Kaohsiung.

Our letterbox always brings a lot of joy while opening it. Of course, we feel disappointed in case it’s empty or bills only…

We like to read postcards freely on the floor. After reading we store them in shoe boxes and simply catalogue them by continents (Asia/Oceania, Europe/Africa & Americas).

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

It’s really hard to decide which ones are our favorite among more than 1000 postcards received. We don’t set any wantlist or preference on the profile. Every card we get are our favorites and we appreciate every sender. If I really need to pick a special one, I think the one (SI-29912) sent by Paulo, the founder of Postcrossing, is very representative and unique. It’s really my honor to receive the postcard from him while he stayed in Slovenia.

I’d also like to share some splendid postcards received by private swap. They’re from & DiannaMacau of Macau and sevvie of Finland.

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

My favorite part of the Postcrossing process is sending and receiving. It’s also the basic spirit and principal of Postcrossing project. Waiting & cards getting expired are also important parts of Postcrossing process from my point of view. I know it makes us upset, but I think it’s also a part of our life. Nothing is always smooth and successful.

Have you been surprised by any place that you have received a postcard from or sent a postcard to?

Most of the postcards are sent/received to/from European countries & United States. However, I still had the opportunity to receive postcards from Lebanon, Guatemala & UAE and sent to Oman, the Bahamas and Brunei. They’re the special countries to me so far.

Early today we’ve reached 13 million postcards! Congratulations everyone! They seem to be coming faster and faster these days! :)

We’d like to feature a couple of designers who are also postcrossers, and have used their talents to create postcards especially for the project.

We discovered Alex’s (aka Shurkala) postcards by accident, but were immediately in awe of his skills! Alex told us that the postcards were born of an experiment with typography and combining digital vector drawing with watercolor. He’s very happy with the results, and started printing and selling his postcards on Shurkenberg, his Etsy shop.

The second designer, Femke (aka Mevrouwtjetheelepel) is a product designer from the Netherlands. Her mother, sister and aunts are also very active postcrossers so she created the 'Holland’ postcard for them to send it to other postcrossers around the world. It’s a beautiful card, filled with all kinds of things which we associate with The Netherlands:

We spent a good deal of time going through all the items, laughing at the unexpected ones :) You can check out this and other postcards made by Femke on her site (Dutch).