Postcrossing Blog

Claudia is a creative Postcrosser from Italy, she even illustrates her own postcards. Read more about her in the following Spotlight interview!

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

I discovered Postcrossing reading a newspaper – I immediately thought that it would be a great chance for me to experience the world outside my window in Naples in a brand new way: not just by seeing pictures of new places but also by discovering aspects of people’s lives and cultures through senders’ words. I also loved the idea of establishing random contacts, as this allows the whole Postcrossing adventure to be free from any boundaries of age, color, culture or religion.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

I have many hobbies, but I should admit that I am not dedicated to all of them. I am dedicated in playing with my pets, reading books, watching movies and TV series, drawing, sun tanning and eating chocolate [I’m definitely too active in that :)] Then I sometimes love creative activities such as decoupage, scrapbooking, making beaded jewelry, and sewing bags for my niece or Halloween costumes for my pets. I would love to learn more about cooking and baking, especially foreign recipes.

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

My youngest cat Pepe hidden in the mailbox, ready to scare the mailman to death :)

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

I have received many beautiful postcards and I love them all for different reasons, but I do actually have my top three:

I generally love picturesque street view postcards, as they let me dream about how great it would be to walk those different corners of the earth.

This postcard litterally left me breathless, because when I was 4 or 5 years old my dad built a wooden model of this same ship for me! Now I know it’s the “Endevour”, the vessel in which Captain Cook first sighted New Zeland in 1769.

With this third postcard I want to thank every single postcrosser who accepted my invitation to swap one or more of my favourite postcards with me. It’s amazing to discover that there are people around the world ready to do their utmost to find a postcard you like, just to make you happy.

What is it your favorite part of the Postcrossing process?

Receiving a postcard is always a big joy for me, but what I love most is to make my own postcards. Ever since I joined Postcrossing, I created my handmade postcards, because I wanted to share more of myself than just the few lines you can write on a postcard…to give them a “personal touch”. So, inspired by my beloved pets (1 mini-pinscher dog, 4 cats and 4 parrots), sketch by sketch, my handdrawn characters – the “Nextlola’s Zoo” – materialized in front of me… hoping to bring a smile to the receivers’ faces. I was hugely surprised by the extent of appreciation from other postcrossers, and because of the enthusiastic support of some of them (very special to me), I decided to try to turn my hobby into a job by printing my own postcards and selling them on my website.

Meet Iris from Hong Kong. Teacher and student who loves theater, books and much more!

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

A few years ago, I was looking to start new hobbies, which ended up being old hobbies revisited! I recalled my love of writing letters as a child and started seeking for penpals. While I was browsing the penpal site Interpals, I came across a profile that mentioned Postcrossing and naturally, I was intrigued. I visited the site and in a blink of an eye, I was hooked. I collected a few postcards as a child and used them to decorate my room, but I didn’t take collecting seriously until I came across Postcrossing. To this day, I don’t consider myself a collector. The person who’s sending it and the message on the back can sometimes mean more than the card alone. Blank, pristine, unwritten cards, even if they’re pretty or rare, are great, but what makes them truly unique are the words written on them and the sentiment they express, or the moment in time they capture.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

One of the greatest loves in my life, apart from my obsession with snail mail, is theatre. I have worked in a backstage capacity since I was 13 years old. Again, it was an instant passion; I loved it from the first moment I stepped on my secondary school stage. I really love the idea of helping craft a piece of art without being seen. In a way, a play or a musical is like a postcard. It has a time and a place. The character of a postcard comes from the inscription, and the setting is in the picture. Both tell a story.

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

When I started postcrossing, I put my postcards in photo albums and stored them on the shelf.

But I realised I don’t like this, as I can’t touch or hold my postcards properly this way. I am just beginning to file and store them in a box.

I also have a CD stand by the side of my table which holds my most recently received postcards, which I haven’t filed away yet.

I am seriously considering investing in a proper rotating postcard rack, like the ones you find standing outside souvenir shops, so that I can browse through my cards at any time!

Here is my mailbox where I receive my mail and a photo of me posting some postcards.

Here is my local post office

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

This is the most difficult question to answer, since there are too many to choose from. I really love this Mona Lisa light switch cover card from Roelof in The Netherlands because it describes me to a T – classic with a touch of irreverence; serious and funny at the same time. I had such a good laugh when I received this card, and it still makes me smile.

Have you met any other members in real life?

We recently held the first ever Hong Kong Postcrossing meeting in August 2010, and eight of us met. It was really nice to meet other postcrossers in Hong Kong! Other postcrossers I have met are kasi0408 and Markus_from_Finland when I was in London in 2008. I was also very lucky to meet Ana and Paulo when they were visiting Hong Kong a few years ago!

Is there anything that you are passionate about?

I am passionate about education and literacy. I really believe that a formal education should not simply focus on forming the students’ ability to pass exams, but to equip them with life skills. I am a tertiary level teacher and I volunteer with the local chapter of Bring Me a Book, an international charity that focuses on making good books accessible to underprivileged children and encourages the strengthening of parent-child bonds through reading aloud. As a child, I read voraciously by myself and with my mother. I know this really helped form my character, as well as giving me a lifelong hobby and skill.

Karoly is an Hungarian living in Serbia and is admittedly addicted to collecting. He is 59 and during his life he started collections of a lot of different items, but he admits that postcards are his favorite.

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

I was just surfing the Internet and I found Postcrossing. It seemed to be very interesting and I gave it a try – I immediately got hooked!

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

Oh yes, a lot! I like nature walking, fishing, cycling, reading, visit museums, photography and, of course, collecting – and I collect everything! Some of the things I collect are: postcards, stamps, paper money, coins, beer/wine labels, books, pins, etc. My wife isn’t very happy about me collecting all this.

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

On the photo below you can be see my mailbox in the background – that’s where I receive all my postcards. And in front is my daughter (she married last 10th of october!) and my granddaughter.

And below you can see part of my postcard collection – I have now about 10000 postcards.

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

They are all so beautiful! I love that they don’t bring just everyday pictures but rather uncommon sights – special ways of seeing the world! Here are some of my favourites:

Desiree from The Netherlands. She read about Postrcrossing in a magazine and found it was exactly what she liked. She owns an entertainment called Alles Kids. Read more about her now!

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

A little bit more than a year ago I read an article in the dutch Magazine Flow. It described what I had done since I was 12 or so, writing cards, little tokens of friendship. But not only to friends now, this was worldwide! I loved how you can throw confetti of friendliness all over the globe!!

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

I collect – too much ! Almost everything … like: holy waterfonts, old Mother Mary statues (I’m not religious at all, but spiritual …yes!) fairy tale cards, vintage stuff, Medici Society cards, cards and cards … and CARDS! Also I am drawing Mandalas, and I’m always busy creating something out of nothing!

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

Dees mailing her cards.

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

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

Yes very much so! At one point on the forum I had told that I was becoming Grandma. I was totally overwhelmed by the cards and even packages I received for my grandchild! I opened a thread then and it ended up in the “Welcome Baby Emma – album” In the end I had more then 100 babycards from all over the world! Emma’s parents were flabbergasted and overwhelmed by so much human warmth!

Have you met any other members in real life?

Yes!! The Dutch are very communicative … I have attended to 5 meetings last year. Real friendships have developped. I’m pretty active in the meet-ups myself! I organized the last meeting in Alkmaar. We went to the Dutch Headoffice of Art Unlimited. It was a super day, with almost 40 people attending the biggest meeting I think!!

Ruan from South Africa has an interesting request on his profile: he wants to learn which are the cool (pop&rock) bands in other countries and asks postcrossers to talk about them. We think that’s quite a fun way to learn about music and other cultures, don’t you think?
Here’s what he has to say about his Postcrossing hobby.

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

I first read about Postcrossing in a local stamp collector’s magazine, and then forgot about it. Months later I remembered again, and thought I’d just have a look to see what all the fuss was about. Well, I got 100% addicted straight away! I love the randomness of the project – to hold in my hand an object chosen specifically for me and sent halfway around the world by a stranger; and then to return the favour. It’s great to be able to exchange ideas and information with people you would propably never meet.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies?

I also collect stamps, I have a large music collection, do a bit of gardening, and when the mood grips me, I imagine myself to be an amateur artist.

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

This is the post ofice where I do all my postal bussiness.

This is the posting box where I send all my cards and letters.

And this is the mail collection point where I receive all my mail. I have circled my box.

At first, I kept all my received postcards in a box, sorted by country. We are now busy putting a selection of interesting cards up on a wall in the passage, hoping to have the entire wall covered soon!

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

If I had to try to pick only a few favourites, I’d still end up with almost a hundred! So thanx to all the wonderful people in the Postcrossing community whose thoughtfulness never ceases to surprise me.