Postcrossing Blog

You might have heard of a game called “Yellow car”, in which participants say yellow car! as soon as they spot one on the road. It’s a bit silly, truth be told, but it helps pass the time on boring stretches of commute or roadtrips.

The last time we were in the UK, Michael (aka gibsonms) introduced us to a postal-themed variant of the “Yellow car” game… using postboxes! It’s brilliant for short trips and we cannot stop playing it wherever we go, so we thought we’d share it with you.
Here are the rules:

• It’s simple, really: when you see a postbox, say “postbox!” and add a point to your total.
• If you see someone posting something on that postbox, wow, how lucky is that! Two points for you!
• If someone calls a postbox but it turns out that there isn’t one there, then that person loses a point…
• And if you see the mail carrier clearing the postbox, well… you win for that journey! 😀

Lots of variations can probably be added to make it more complex and keep you and your kids entertained, like spotting a post office or a golden pillar box (if you’re in the UK) so feel free to add or suggest new rules as you discover them!

Who’s ready to play? 📮

It’s no secret we’re big fans of the behind-the-scenes part of postal delivery (see here, here or here). Russell (aka SonOfBilly) from New Zealand, spotted this love of ours and sent us this video by New Zealand Post:

That put a huge smile on our faces! Samson’s enthusiasm is contagious, and pretty much a mirror of our own delight when we see these videos. Keep them coming! 😊

To say I’m a big fan of stationery would be the understatement of the year. Things like labels, washi tape, rubber stamps, or stickers just make me go all starry-eyed, sighing in delight… I treasure (read: hoard) all the bits and pieces that can turn postcards into mini-works of art.

Sadly, living in a small town does present some challenges, like the lack of nice stationery shops in a radius of 200km… which is why I’ve recently fallen in love with subscription services! They’re a godsend for those of us in rural areas, as the goodies come to us, pre-selected and nicely wrapped. Bliss!

Enter Pipsticks, a monthly sticker subscription club, offering an eclectic mix of sourced and self-designed stickers in two flavours: kids or grown-ups.

The kids pack (above) features animals, monsters, robots and funny puns in all their sparkly and puffy glory, while the grown-up pack (below) is a little less exuberant and more versatile, but just as much fun.

I quite like how their selection has a bit of everything: backgrounds, cartoons, labels, a white postcard, and of course both tiny stickers and bigger pieces, all ready to bring a pop of excitement to any postcard or occasion. Some people might prefer to pick and choose what they buy… but I for one, am quite happy to be surprised and not overwhelmed with choice. Also, it’s nice to have a selection of different things available instead of 3–4 sheets of the same designs.

To help you bring your postcards to the next level, Pipsticks is offering one lucky postcrosser a “Studio Sticker box”, which is a box loaded with washi tape, blank postcards and stickers. Sounds amazing, right?! 😍

For a chance to win all these goodies, leave a comment below letting us know one cool thing you’d like to see pictured in stickers more often! (Me? I’d vote for eggs. 🍳 The world needs more egg-citing stickers!)

Don’t forget to check out their website for more details on their fun subscriptions — or you can have a look at their Instagram for a peek of their previous and future packs.

As always, come back this time next week to find out which lucky postcrosser was chosen by Paulo’s random number generator!

Remember the Typographic cards we enthusiastically gushed about last year? Harald is expanding his already fantastic set of 26 cards with a special new one, and launching it with a bang on Kickstarter! He explains it better:

So far, 127 backers from 20 different countries have pitched in, adding 4 extra “sticker-cards” to everyone’s pack… and I’m about to add Portugal to that list!

So join us if you can, and spread the word to your friends in other countries. We hope many people will choose to back the project, so that everyone can receive as many cards as possible! 😀

Hurray! In 2 days, it’ll be World Post Day!

October 9th is the day to celebrate traditional mail, and the important role it plays in connecting all the people of the world… not to mention making sure all our postcards and letters get delivered in all corners of the planet! So we invite you to celebrate this happy day, thank your mail carrier for their work, and send a few extra postcards to friends, family or even strangers!

With your help, we’ve collected a list of celebratory events from postal operators and museums worldwide:

Since this year World Post Day falls on a Sunday, a lot of post offices and museums are celebrating a little earlier… so better check them now! And if you know of any more initiatives we can add to the list, just leave us a comment below.

Have fun, and enjoy World Post Day everyone! 📯