Postcrossing Blog

A few of you sent us the link to Dear Data this week — an intriguing project mixing information visualization with postcards and mail. We loved reading about it and thought we should share it with everyone!

Giorgia and Stefanie have a few things in common: they’re the same age, only children, love drawing and are both information designers. They live across the ocean from each other, but decided to embark on an adventure together: to send each other weekly postcards, depicting their weeks as data graphics!

Each week has a loose theme, which they turn into an infographic. For example: counting the number of times they check themselves on a mirror, how much complaining they did or how often they picked up their phone… When the postcard is done, they mail it to each other!

Each card is unique and mysterious, urging you to check the legend on the back before having a second, closer look at the front image.

The result is really fascinating, an analytical yet intimate glimpse into Giorgia and Stefanie’s lives and the way they see and measure their world.

Right now there are 10 weeks of postcards posted on the website, and we’re already eagerly anticipating the next ones! What do you think they should measure next? And how would your week look like, if you gave it a try? :)

February is just around the corner… which means it’s time for another Month of Letters challenge! Are you in? :)

On September 2011, Mary Robinette Kowal decided it was time for a break. She spent the entire month offline, and asked her friends to communicate with her through letters. The results of this personal challenge were a revelation:

When I write back, I find that I slow down and write differently than I do with an email. Email is all about the now. Letters are different, because whatever I write needs to be something that will be relevant a week later to the person to whom I am writing. In some ways it forces me to think about time more because postal mail is slower. “By the time you get this…” It is relaxing. It is intimate. It is both lasting and ephemeral.

How so? I find that I will often read the letters that I receive twice. Once when I get them and again as I write back. So, that makes it more lasting. It is more ephemeral because I don’t have copies of the letters that I write and I am the only one who has copies of the letters that my correspondents write. So, more ephemeral.

I know a lot of postcrossers share these feelings – this is part of the reason why Postcrossing exists!

Mary’s decided to turn February into a Month of Letters, in which she challenges herself and everyone who decides do join to write and send at least a piece of postal mail every day. Here are the rules:

• Mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
• Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.

We can’t help but feeling postcrossers have their work cut out for them in this challenge… :) Nevertheless, we wanted to dare you all to do it! Write postcards, letters or aerogrammes or surprise a friend with an unexpected package. Maybe even pick a Facebook/Twitter friend and send them with an offline “hello!”.

Are you up to Mary’s challenge? Grab your stationery and stamps and start writing!

Annett (aka knetty) from Germany joined Postcrossing about a year ago. A fan of crafts, she had the idea to invite members to send her pieces of fabric with their postcards, so that one day she could make a quilt with all the fabrics. Slowly, she started receiving colorful pieces of cloth from other sewing enthusiasts all over the world and putting them together on a single quilt.

Fifteen fabrics from 11 countries (and a lot of work) later and she is done… oh, it is a beauty!

The patchwork resembles postcards laid out on a blanket — and on the border, Annett stitched the names and countries of the postcrossers who contributed to her project!

When the quilt was finished, she went out to photograph it in the sun and met her postman, who agreed to let her photograph it on the bike used to bring the pieces to her!

We’re in awe of Annett’s skills and this lovely idea, which she carefully documented on her blog. And she’s already planning a second one… :)

Do you know of any other crafty projects using postcards or Postcrossing? Do share!

February is just around the corner… which means it’s time for another Month of Letters challenge! Are you in? :)

On September 2011, Mary Robinette Kowal decided it was time for a break. She spent the entire month offline, and asked her friends to communicate with her through letters. The results of this personal challenge were a revelation:

When I write back, I find that I slow down and write differently than I do with an email. Email is all about the now. Letters are different, because whatever I write needs to be something that will be relevant a week later to the person to whom I am writing. In some ways it forces me to think about time more because postal mail is slower. “By the time you get this…” It is relaxing. It is intimate. It is both lasting and ephemeral.

How so? I find that I will often read the letters that I receive twice. Once when I get them and again as I write back. So, that makes it more lasting. It is more ephemeral because I don’t have copies of the letters that I write and I am the only one who has copies of the letters that my correspondents write. So, more ephemeral.

I know a lot of postcrossers share these feelings – this is part of the reason why Postcrossing exists!

Mary’s decided to turn February into a Month of Letters, in which she challenges herself and everyone who decides do join to write and send at least a piece of postal mail every day. Here are the rules:

Mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.

We can’t help but feeling postcrossers have their work cut out for them in this challenge… :) Nevertheless, we wanted to dare you all to do it! Write postcards, letters or aerogrammes or surprise a friend with an unexpected package. Maybe even pick a Facebook/Twitter friend and send them with an offline “hello!”.

Are you up to Mary’s challenge? Grab your stationery and stamps and start writing! :)

One of the most frequent ways members find out about Postcrossing is through penpals… which leads us to believe that many of you love to write long letters as well as postcards! So for those of you, today we have a recommendation of a special league, a sort of penpal club with a twist… meet the League of Extraordinary Penpals!

The League of Extraodinary Penpals (LEP for short) was started by Laura of Please Deliver To and Julie of Penpal of the Week, both postcrossers and penpals. Their goal was to connect lovers of letters and postcards with other extraordinary mail enthusiasts.

You might be wondering what makes it so extraordinary… well, everyone in the league goes by their superhero alterego, complete with superpowers! These range from “composing legible letters while hurtling through the New York City subway system” to the ability to make “super duper awesome envelopes”. :)

Subscription is paid but well worth it: members have access to their monthly newsletters, filled to the brim with interesting articles, printables, member’s spotlights, mail challenges, stationery offers and of course, penpal opportunities! Plus, there are exclusive LEP groups on several social media websites, on which you can chat and exchange ideas with other members of the community. But be warned – they’re extremely addictive in their contagious enthusiasm for all-things snail mail & stationery!

Sounds interesting? Then head over to their page for more details!