Postcrossing Blog

Hurray! July 14th is Postcrossing’s anniversary and we couldn’t be happier! Eleven years of connecting the world, one postcard at a time… feels great!

Postcrossing is not just a platform or a bit of code on a server. What makes this project great is definitely its community… which means YOU! Every single one of you, that perhaps looked at this idea with suspicion in the beginning but decided to jump in anyway and give it a go. All of you who ensure the world’s mailboxes are filled with smiles and kind words. Those of you who help each other in the forum, who organize and attend meetups, who send us tips and ideas, who send thousands of postcards to lovely ladies on their birthday. We’re thankful for your trust, support and enthusiasm in the past 11 years. Long live Postcrossing!

A couple of postal operators neatly lined up their Postcrossing-themed stamp launches to mark the occasion, so today, Poland and Guernsey see new stamps come to life!

Polish Post drew inspiration on the theme of traveling through postcards, and re-imagined a “postcrossers’ suitcase”… which naturally has a mailbox on the side!

To celebrate the stamp launch, Polish Post is holding several events in Wrocław. Among the activities, there will be a free tour of the Post and Telecommunication Museum in Wrocław, a competition with some prizes and, of course, the opportunity to buy the new stamp and even receive a special cancellation mark.

Today is also the day two new stamps from Guernsey Post make their debut! International postage is being updated, and the stamps (for Europe and Rest of the World) reflect this change. Guernsey Post’s new stamps were drawn by Sue Hamon and aim to share the island’s rich flora and fauna with the world through the postcards they’ll be traveling in.

Guernsey Post is also launching a set of related products along with the stamp, on their online shop, including first day covers and maxicards.

So, happy birthday Postcrossing! Now it’s time to blow those candles and grab a piece of cake while we write some postcards — do join us! :)

PS – Speaking of stamps, the German Postcrossing community has been trying for years to convince their Finance Ministry that a Postcrossing-themed stamp would be a good idea… with little success so far. As Germany is the country with most postcards sent in the project, we think they deserve it. So if you have an extra card, give them a hand in turning this dream into reality!

Today, we’re happy to welcome Austria into the club of countries that have issued Postcrossing-themed stamps! Here’s what their shiny new stamp looks like:

The stamp was designed by Robert Sabolovic and depicts a stylised “wall of postcards”, with the word POSTCROSSING in front of it, painted in the Austrian flag colours.

To celebrate the stamp launch, a meetup was held on Hirtenberg’s Kulturehaus today, where postcrossers came together to write and send postcards with the new stamp and special first-day cancellation mark.

Photo by Eva (aka Meixi)

Mr. Sabolovic, who designed the stamp, was also in attendance, and autographed postcards and stamps.

Photos by Anita (aka honeybee)

Photo by Sabine (aka turtles)

In the end, a wonderful time was had by all, and hundreds of postcards were carefully stamped, postmarked and put on their way. Maybe one of them will land on your mailbox soon? 😊

Hoera! Following the success of the first stamp ever dedicated to Postcrossing, PostNL is issuing a second sheet of stamps to honor the project this year!

The new sheet of 10 different stamps features an eclectic mix of popular Dutch highlights, connected through postcards. There are national parks and picturesque villages, fields of tulips and marvels of engineering… and everything in between! Without further ado, here they are:

Do you recognise all the sights?

From the top left corner (left to right, and top-down), they are: Delta Works, Frisian Islands, Hoge Veluwe, Binnenhof, Alkmaar’s cheese market, Bollenvelden, Giethoorn, Marken, Zaanse Schans… and our personal favourite, a character from Rembrandt’s most famous painting The Night Watch, wishing us all a “Happy Postcrossing”!

Keeping in mind that Postcrossing postcards travel mostly to foreign destinations, PostNL created a set of stamps that double as tiny tourism ambassadors, helping draw attention to the country’s most interesting and attractive sites. The resulting design (by Reinier Hamel from Sin agency) is a bright sheet of stamps, which promises to bring a conversation topic (and burst of colour!) to many future postcards.

The new stamp sheet will be available on all Bruna shops from March 29th, and you can also pre-order it online (along with a neat First Day Cover) from March 22nd on CollectClub.nl.

To celebrate the stamp launch, Dutch postcrossers are organising a meetup in Rotterdam on March 29th, and planning to send lots of postcards with the shiny new stamps. Do join them, if you can!

If you’re not in the Netherlands, keep an eye on your mailbox — your next Dutch postcards might feature their new Postcrossing stamps! 😀

Hurray! October 9th is World Post Day!

This is the day to celebrate traditional mail, and the important role it plays in connecting the world… not to mention making sure our postcards reach their intended destinations, in all corners of the planet! So we invite you to celebrate the day, pat your mail carrier on the back and send a few extra postcards on this very special day. :)

With your help, we’ve contacted many postal operators and museums worldwide to find out how they were commemorating World Post Day. Sadly, most seem to have forgotten their own day… but a few replied, so here is the list of the events taking place this year:

If you find any more, leave us a comment below and we’ll add them to the list.

Today is also the day in which the new Ukrainian Postcrossing stamp makes its debut! If you’re in Lviv and Kiev, don’t forget there will be launching events in your city, which you can attend. Elsewhere in Ukraine, you should be able to spot the new stamp on your local post office. If you do, please share a photo with us — we’d love to see how it looks on a postcard!

Happy World Post Day everyone! 📯

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.