Postcrossing Blog

Today we’re chatting with Teresa (aka Triplightly) from Utah, USA! Her postcard journey started with letters to friends when she was a child, and has grown into a whole postcard room, meetups, friends around the world, and even postcard-writing lessons for elementary school students. She also hosts fairy tea parties, which might be one of the most magical hobbies we’ve ever heard of!

How did you get started sending postcards? What is your earliest memory of them?

Growing up, I moved almost every year due to my father’s employment. Back “in the old days”, it was expensive to make a phone call to keep in touch, so I started writing letters to friends when I was 9 years old.

When I saw that postcards also included interesting and pretty pictures, I started writing those as well. It was exciting to send and receive mail and that feeling has continued to today.

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

While searching for new postcards on Amazon, I kept seeing the comment “these are great for Postcrossing”. It got me curious, so I researched it and joined that day!

What is your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

I do get a thrill when I open my mailbox and see a card waiting for me, but my favorite part is connecting with people around the world — getting to learn about what matters to them and having a human connection. I now have many awesome pen friends around the world because of Postcrossing.

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

Once I started Postcrossing, my postcard numbers went from around two boxes of 100 to more than I can count. I store them in a big cupboard and file them either by category in containers or just store them all jumbled together.

When my son got a place of his own, we turned his room into “the postcard room”. 😂 It is always a bit of a mess because when I write I like to have everything in reach. Writing is no longer just pen and postcard. It is now stacks of postcards, stickers, pens of all shades, washi tape, etc., etc., etc.

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

Like most people, this is a tricky question to answer because I have “favorites” for different reasons. The day I received a Gotochi card was incredible! They are expensive to send and rare to receive, even more rare now that they are no longer produced, so I was elated to receive it. Postcrossers are very generous.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies or collections?

I like hosting and attending tea parties. Every summer for years, I would host a tea party in my garden for friends and family. Then I started caring for my disabled mother and no longer had the time to put such a grand event together. Thankfully, my friend Merida started hosting fairy tea parties at the summer solstice and she lets me help.

There is always a theme and wings are required — it is fantastic! My avatar photo is when I dressed as Cruella de Vil for the Disney Villain themed party last year.

My favorite though was when we had the party up in the forest in a mountain near my home. We hung lights from the trees and sat until dusk chatting, listening to the fairytale Merida writes for each party and feeling the magic around us. It was delightful when hikers would pass our little alcove and enter the lighted path and gaze in awe at a hidden fairy world. Everyone needs some magic in their lives and it doesn’t take much to create it.

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

My 11 year old niece has enjoyed receiving postcards so much that she has decided that she wants to be a “postcard designer” when she grows up. 😀 That tickles me!

Also, as an elementary librarian, each National Postcard Day, I give every student a postcard, teach them how to write an address and write a short note. I give the older students a stamp so they can mail it to a family member or to themselves. I encourage them to say positive things about themselves and then send the card to themselves.

I always send a postcard to myself when I am on vacation and give myself a pep talk or pat on the back. It feels fabulous and I want the students to feel that too. It is a delight to watch them get anxious about when the card will arrive and then get excited when they receive it. The students now look forward to the activity.

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

When I received a card from Cuba, I was over the moon because I know that is rare. It made me feel special, or as I like to say, la-de-dah.

Have you met any other members in real life?

I’ve been lucky to meet several people in our amazing postcard community. Each year we have a meetup in Utah, so it is great to meet local members.

One of my favorite meetups was when a Postcrossing friend of mine from Germany came to visit me and she met with us and we shared stories and experiences. She and I then spent a week together touring the incredible national parks here in Utah. It was an amazing adventure.

Last year I was able to go to the Netherlands and meet another Postcrossing friend, Neeltje. We feel close through correspondence, but it is even better to meet in real life — it solidifies the friendship. We toured Rotterdam, had tea in a windmill in Delft, laughed and talked — so wonderful.

I like the postcards, but I adore the people who write them.

Is there anything else that you are passionate about?

I truly care about the mental and physical health of children. Hobbies, activities and even home life have changed, and many children are not as active as in years past and overall health is declining.

Each January I teach a “Take a SELFIE” lesson that was developed by a licensed psychologist and I have tweaked it a little for children. I make a special bookmark for each student and encourage them to share the information with their families. They are things that we can all benefit from:

• Sleep (we could all get more sleep)
• Engaging activity (non-digital creativity like drawing, building with Legos, baking, writing postcards)
• Light (physically and mentally we need sunlight)
• Fitness (get up and move)
• Interact (talking face-to-face rather than through a screen)
• Eat healthy (whole foods, and plenty of water)

Every time I teach this lesson, I am reminded that I could do better to take care of myself. I am especially excited when a child tells me that they rode their bike that day or that they made sure they drank extra water during the week. Even small changes help us be healthier and happier.

What’s one way that postcards have changed your life for the better?

It has helped me broaden my view of the world, to care about people in every place, near and far. Like The Postcardist (the host of my favorite podcast) says, “Postcards connect people”, and that is not only true, but more important than ever.

We need to see our similarities, learn from and value our differences, and be united. We all live on the same planet and need to take care of each other.

Good news, everyone! Just like in the last couple of years, Geocaching is joining the World Postcard Day celebrations with a special souvenir!

In 2025, 20,791 geocachers logged attendance at a World Postcard Day-themed event, and many postcards also made their way to Geocaching HQ in Seattle, where they were proudly displayed around the office. Look how cool their walls look!!

So we’re happy to share that Geocaching is continuing this collaboration in 2026! 🎉

Here’s what you need to know: from September 27 to October 4, 2026, geocachers will be able to earn the World Postcard Day souvenir by attending or hosting a Geocaching Event, as well as finding and logging one Letterbox Hybrid geocache. The dates line up neatly around World Postcard Day, which is on October 1.

By now, I think everyone knows what Geocaching is all about… but for those who might not be familiar with it, it’s a global treasure-hunting game played outdoors with the help of a GPS or smartphone. Players search for hidden containers (called “caches”) all around the world, sign their logbooks, and then share their adventures online. It’s all about getting out there in nature, looking out for treasures with friends!

This year’s extra challenge is kind of cool too: Letterbox Hybrid caches are inspired by letterboxing, a hobby that combines navigation, puzzle-solving and rubber stamp artistry. Many Letterbox Hybrid caches include a stamp for visitors to use in their own logbook… but which could also be used on a postcard, to make it extra fancy! 😍

If you’re organizing or attending a Geocaching event during that week, why not bring a few postcards along? You could write postcards together, exchange them, send one to Geocaching HQ, or even invite other curious geocachers to discover Postcrossing and the World Postcard Day.

And if there isn’t an event near you yet, you can always organize one yourself on the Geocaching website, making sure to follow their event guidelines. If you need ideas, you can check out Geocaching’s wrap-up post from last year, with photos and stories from the 2025 celebrations.

So let your postcards tag along on a little Geocaching adventure! Pack a pen, bring a few postcards, keep an eye out for Letterbox Hybrids, and see where the adventure takes you!

A little while ago, Clarisse (aka Cstar9) managed to interview Kirsten Lubach, and we’re pleased to get the chance to share that now and introduce everyone to Kirsten’s work. Kirsten Lubach is an accomplished designer and engraver based in Vienna, Austria. As an engraver, she contributed to her first postage stamp in 2006. She has designed stamps for the Austrian national postal service annually since 2012.

Clarisse learned about Kirsten Lubach’s work via Sibylle (Robin67), so thank you to her as well for drawing this artist to our attention! So without further ado, over to Clarisse’s interview with Kirsten…

How did you begin engraving postage stamps?

I was trained by a master engraver who himself worked in the field of stamp creation. So, when I got the chance to work for the Austrian State Press, which was in charge of producing post stamps, I took it.

But actually, I had already tried to engrave my first post stamp, when I was an apprentice, as a Christmas gift for my father, who is a philatelist.

How does a stamp’s small size affect your artistic approach?

The size of a post stamp of course affects the approach: it shouldn’t be too detailed, as the lines would accumulate into a dark, unrecognizable “something.”

On the other hand, the post stamp has to show the topic or motif clearly. It transports a message and is an ambassador of its country: sometimes not an easy task!

When you have chosen a subject, what does research look like for you?

Research is of utmost importance for me.

For the subject of the sea, I visited the sea and coast, made drawings, sketches, and photos, did research in Natural Historic Museums, aquariums, in books and on the internet.

I love researching not only because of the topic but also because of meeting interesting people and getting to know stories and anecdotes related to the topic.

Several times a year, you host a Philately Day at your studio. Where did that idea originate, and what do you enjoy about it?

Philately Day was actually started by the Austrian Post itself. They visited my workshop and were so delighted about the location that they asked me if I would open the workshop for Philately Day.

In 2024, the event will be held four times a year (more info here). The Austrian Post puts up a little stand in my workshop and sells their products.

Additionally, I invented for this event special post stamps and specially designed and engraved copper print cards for sale.

I like Philately Day a lot. People drop by for a visit, talk about philately and other things, have a look at the workshop – it’s like a little party of friends coming over. When I decided to give Philately Day a break after the first two years, everybody was so sad that I had to change my mind…

What is your personal relationship to postal mail?

Postal mail is great! When I was young, I had several pen-friends and it was great writing and receiving mail. Unfortunately, it diminished over the years, so I was really delighted to hear of the Postcrossing community!

Postal mail is something special as it endures over time. It shows somebody’s care in choosing a nice card or paper and the right words, with nice handwriting and a beautiful post stamp on top, and then – finally – carrying it to a postbox nearby. That is much more work than sending a short notice by email or other digital messengers.

Post mail has a soul! And papers and cards are such great stuff to work with.

What is a hobby you enjoy when you’re not making art?

I like hiking, yoga, watching birds, and playing the double bass when I need a change.

How does a sense of place (being in Vienna/Austria) inform your artwork?

Austria is a great country to live in. Vienna is a city with a lot of different aspects: the Natural History Museum is one of the top-ranking museums and perfect for research and detailed motifs. I have been drawing there since 2000.

On the other hand, you find great ornamental art on houses in Vienna from imperial times. That’s a perfect surrounding for an engraver, as engraving has a lot to do with ornaments.

And last, it’s only an hour drive into nature: lakes, mountains, or whatever I need.

Can you share with us a decision you’ve made in your artistic career that has required courage, or a trust in the unknown?

Oh, yes!

In 2021, I got a phone call from a colleague who wanted to retire. He asked me if I would take over his machines and his clients. Immediately I said “yes!” without thinking – because I knew, if I wouldn’t do it, his great work and workshop would disappear, because there was no other engraver left.

After I had made this decision, it became clear that it wasn’t so easy: I needed a new, bigger workshop, and the big machines had to be moved by special movers. It was a completely new start for me, with all the typical bureaucracy involved.

In the beginning, I was unsure if it would turn out nicely, but it did. And nowadays I am already known as “the engraver from the Ungargasse.”

What is next for you as an artist/engraver?

Good question. Last autumn I started teaching engraving at a vocational school for goldsmiths, so that´s a step into a future direction. I think it would be nice to educate an engraver apprentice for the future, but for several reasons, that is not an easy task. So, this is a project for the next 15 years.

As an artist: there are some post stamps waiting for me, and I would love to publish my children’s book this year. We’ll see. The days are – as always – too short!

Thank you as always to Clarisse for arranging and conducting this interview, and to Kirsten for being kind enough to share her answers and some of the images used to illustrate the post! If you’re curious to learn more, you can check out Kirsten’s website, check out her work in this gallery… and if you read German, there’s also more info in an article here.

And now, for a very special giveaway! Robin67 has kindly offered to send 3 viewcards from Wien/Vienna, each franked with Kirsten Lubach’s latest stamp featuring the rare white Baroque donkey!

For a chance to receive one, leave a comment below and tell us about a stamp from your country that you’ve used recently. The giveaway will be open for one week, after which we’ll randomly pick 3 winners and contact them by email. Good luck!

The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!

This month’s prompt is a suggestion that I found myself pondering—have you ever daydreamed about going to the Olympics? It was never a dream I was interested in, because I was really no good at sport except maybe rounders.

For me, if I was being realistic, obviously I’d get nowhere near the Olympics at all. Even as a kid I wasn’t really into any sports that could’ve led in that direction. I wasn’t a bad sprinter, and I was pretty speedy on my bike, but I didn’t pursue either of those in any kind of structured way.

If I could wish myself into some aptitude and just pick a sport that I think looks cool, I’d have to head to the Winter Olympics and go with figure skating, though! I was always mesmerised by that as a kid, and in my teens/early twenties I had an online friend who was obsessed with skaters like Johnny Weir (I remember his exhibition skate to Lady Gaga’s Poker Face very well!).

Of course it’s not realistic—I think I’ve only ever been skating three times in total! So now it’s over to you: what sport would you do in the Olympics? Do we have any actual Olympians on Postcrossing? We’d love to hear from you, on your postcards this month or in the comments!

Every so often I’ve been reviewing books for the blog, but this time I’ve got a bit of a change for you! I recently played a short game called Catto’s Post Office which I knew some postcrossers would be interested in, so I made sure to grab some screenshots along the way so I could show you all how cute it is.

First things first: Catto’s Post Office is available only on PC, via Steam. It’s a really short game (I completed it in under an hour, including all of the achievements), and it’s definitely suitable for kids as well. It can be played using keyboard and mouse or on controller: I played on controller and found the controls all very easy and intuitive, especially since there’s no need for precise controls or quick reactions: all round it’s pretty accessible and easy to play. I think the only thing I had difficulty finding was the button you have to press to meow—which isn’t very important!

The game takes place across one day, and follows the small adventures of its protagonist, Catto, the small town’s postal worker. Most of the story is very simple: pick up a package at the post office, and go to deliver it to the right place. The town is very small, so even if you get lost you’re probably not far astray, and there is a street sign pointing the various directions, and a map, near the post office.

Each delivery introduces you to different characters, or gives you a chance to talk to others and complete little sidequests or find little secrets. One example is the cat who asks you to find his parcel that he’s lost somewhere: it isn’t far away and he does give you a clue where he might have left it, but it gives you a chance to explore a bit more and look around. My bet is that it’d be fun to play it with a child who would need to think about it a bit more!

While you’re searching for the florist or café to deliver your parcels, or hunting for that lost package, you can also do little mini-games: kick a football into the net, clean up litter dropped on the floor… and find all the rubber duckies hidden around the town. It’s all very charming, and fun to wander around and discover the little touches like being able to knock flowerpots off surfaces (as cats are wont to do).

But there’s one more thing: it’s actually a special day for Catto. It’s his birthday! And everyone seems to have forgotten… Unsurprisingly, though, I promise there’s a happy ending, though Catto does spend a bit of time wondering why nobody remembers his birthday.

It’s a very cute little game, and even as an adult I had fun with the simplicity and sweetness of it, though I can definitely see having a lot more fun introducing a kid to it, since I think kids would find the story a bit more surprising and could engage in a lot of imaginative play while exploring. Older kids could play on their own, but I don’t think there’s anything too complicated, so it’s something that you could do with a younger child too, letting them choose where to go and what to do.