Postcrossing Blog

2015 has been the best year for Postcrossing stamps so far. After 10 years and over 30 million postcards, it seems more postal operators have started to take notice of the postcard revolution happening right under their noses mail sorting machines! :)

The next country to join the club of countries-with-Postcrossing-stamps will be Ukraine, the 9th most active country in Postcrossing. Their stamp will be issued by Ukrposhta on October 9th, World Post Day. Here is how it will look like:

The cheerful stamp was designed by Nataliia Andriichenko, and shows a girl holding a pen, while wearing a traditional Ukranian national costume.

A matching cancellation mark and first day cover were also designed, this time featuring a dove, the symbol of peace. It also symbolizes the postal service itself, as a means of international communication and understanding.

To celebrate the Ukrainian stamp launch, the Lviv branch of Ukrposhta is planning a postcard exhibition and other events starting at 11am on October 9th, at the House of Scientists (Lystopadovyi Chyn St., 6). Special postcards will be printed on the spot, and will available for sale.

Meanwhile, in Kiev, the first day cancellation mark will also be available at the Central Post Office (Khreshchatyk St. 22) throughout the day.

Caitlin (aka Harbs0412) is a wedding planner and postcard-lover from the USA. For her own wedding earlier this year, she decided to combine her two passions and include postcards on her special day! She explains:

Letter and postcard writing is a big part of my life. I have been a postcrosser for over 3 years and I have 7 penpals – a few friends from college but also some I have never met. My husband and I also have a long tradition of writing letters as he is in the military and when we are separated we write each other letters."

For some time before the wedding, Caitlin collected postcards from different places via Postcrossing. She then used her favourite received postcards to make a back drop in a frame for cocktail hour.

She also collected blank postcards and had all her guests write notes on them… a guest book of sorts, written on postcards. A friend then saved the written cards, and will be in charge of mailing them to the couple throughout the year. Brilliant!

What did people write on the cards? Caitlin says a little bit of everything, from advice for the newlyweds to kind words about the wedding… They’ve gotten a few of them back already, and had a lot of fun reading the spontaneous messages from their special day.

Doesn’t that sound like a lovely idea for postcard lovers? Well done Caitlin, and congratulations! :)

Oh happy day! The new Czech Postcrossing stamp is now out and about, and we’re beyond excited to finally be able to hold it in our hands!

A small event was held at the beautiful central Post Office in Prague for all the stamps which were launched today, and it gathered an excited crowd of philatelists as well as stamp authors and engravers.

To celebrate the stamp in a more relaxed setting, a Postcrossing meeting is planned for the coming Saturday at Sberatel/Collector’s fair. So, if you’re in the area, do join us there for a chat and some postcard writing! :)

And if you’re not in the area, keep an eye on your mailbox just in case — your next postcard might feature this lovely new Postcrossing stamp! :)

Anyone who has ever received a postcard knows they’re tiny windows to far away places, transporting us to different landscapes and realities. Sometimes those places are so enticing they make us wish we lived close enough to pay them a visit! The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota is one of these places. Have a look:

No… those are not huge tapestries on the walls… they’re murals made out of corn!

Built in 1921 in the Moorish Revival style, the Corn Palace is an arena where different types of events take place. But the special thing about it is that every single year its facades are decorated by local artists using corn ears, as well as other grains and native grasses. Corn is a major crop in the area – and they’re proud of it!

Postcards from the Corn Palace tell the story of each year’s theme. 1957's theme was “Popular Athletic Games and Attractions in the State”:

In 1999, the theme was “Building as a nation”:

And in 2009, “American’s destinations” were featured:

Between Memorial Day and Labour day each year, a theme is picked and new decorations are stapled and nailed to the walls, and you can follow the corn-structions on their Corn Cam. :) The theme for 2015 is “South Dakota’s 125th”, so if you’re in the area, go check it out – and maybe grab a postcard for the rest of us!

A big thank you to Brenda (aka 9teen87), who owns a huge postcard collection, and brought these great postcards to our attention. You can see these and other interesting postcard topics on her blog.

Remember the Armenian Street Festival we mentioned here on the blog, back in June? It took place last weekend in Bucharest, and it was a great success!

Many of you responded to our call for postcards, and the organisers were flooded with your kind messages and support. George (aka Nazareanu) sent us some photos of the postcard display they built:

George tells us the people in attendance were quite impressed, and so are we! It warms up our hearts to see people getting up and close with the postcards, taking the time to read them. If you’re curious, you can see many more photos of this colourful event on their Facebook page… from concerts to calligraphy workshops, seems like a good time was had by all! :)

The participants took the photo above to say thank you to everyone, and sent us the following message:

Every card received is amazing and the messages are unique and very emotional for us. We appreciate your gestures very much and this way, we want to thank all the Postcrossing community and the wonderful people around the world who wrote us!

Well done to the organisers of the Armenian Street Festival — and a big thank you to every postcrosser who sent a card to the festival!