My 10-year Postcrossing Anniversary, and an etsy bargain

I write about Postcrossing a lot on this blog. (I recently received the lovely colorful cat illustration postcard shown above, DE-4784491, from Germany.) It's one of my favorite mail pastimes, and I've been Postcrossing far longer than I've had this blog. For a look through the years, you can check out all my posts tagged with Postcrossing. There are a ton of them.

I am really excited for an upcoming milestone: next month (March 2016) I will celebrate 10 years with Postcrossing. Wow! I wasn't active all the time -- there were definitely a few dormant years in there, and sometimes I send more than others -- but it is really fun to think about how long it's been in my life, and how many thousands of postcards I've exchanged. (As of this post, I've received 1599*, sent 1605, and have 16 traveling -- but those numbers are constantly changing!) I have lived in, and sent postcards from, 4 different states throughout my 10 years of Postcrossing participation.

To celebrate my 10-year anniversary, I'd like to offer a little unofficial discount in my etsy shop, where I sell, among other things, original designs of mail-themed postcards. If you order postcards in my shop, mention "Postcrossing" in the notes to seller section when you place your order, and I'll throw in an extra postcard . That's 6 postcards instead of 5, and I will do that for every postcard pack ordered (up to 5 postcard packs / extra postcards total). This offer is good from now through March 31, 2016.

Happy mailing, and happy Postcrossing!

*Update: a few hours after I originally wrote this post, I received Postcrossing postcard #1600. Woo-hoo!

Krtek the Mole postcard

I recently received this great Krtek the Mole postcard from the Czech Republic, CZ-597292 via Postcrossing. I have received a few of these throughout the years, and love the children's illustration by Zdeněk Miler. I don't know much about it, other than it was a much-beloved Czech animated show for many decades -- I just think the artwork is very cute and makes a lovely postcard.

Fabulous mail to kick off 2014

Already 2014 is a fine mail year. I've spent a good chunk of my free time writing, and have received some spectacular mail in return.

Above, a handmade gocco postcard from the fabulous Carroll, whose mail art and artwork always just astounds me. This postcard is going up on my bulletin board right above my writing desk! Have a look at her own photo of this artwork, which she sketched from her ink storage shelf.



Next up, brilliant bat mail from Donovan of the Letter Writers Alliance. Wow, does she ever know me, and is she generous, or what? It's a light wooden bat ornament, which is probably also going to somehow fly from my writing desk bulletin board. It came beautifully and soundly packaged, and I was able to preserve that loveliness with some fancy fingerwork with my special craft knife, which I had to use to open it. I love mail challenges!



Finally, I have acquired a new pen pal. Normally my pen pal roster is closed, but the 3-year-old 4-and-a-half-year-old son of my dear first cousin wrote to me. He actually wrote me FIRST, out of the blue, and I haven't even seen this fine young fellow in more than a year. So of course I wrote back, and he's now written me a couple of times, most speedily - and he always mentions cats (which just wins me over even further). Here is one of his annotated illustrations from his latest missive.

And now... off to write some letters!

What exactly happens when you send a letter to the L.W.A. P.O. Box

Longtime Missive Maven readers may recall that I am a very enthusiastic member of the Letter Writers Alliance. If you're a letter enthusiast, you really should check them out. They are the most enthusiastic / classiest epistolary cheerleaders I know.

One member of the dynamic duo, Donovan Beeson, has an incredible hand-drawn/hand-lettered blog called The Intangible Blog: "nothing not created by me, by hand, or by inky device." It is always worth checking out, and chock-full of interesting letter-writing information, mail ephemera, etc, but one of her recent entries is among the most charming ever: "What EXACTLY happens when you send a letter to the L.W.A. P.O. Box". It explains the process of fetching the L.W.A. correspondence, how it gets read and sorted, and each step has a lovely illustration. (If you need to see it larger than in the blog entry, click the illustration and then click it again in a new window to enlarge it. I admit I often have to do this.) I guarantee you'll love it.

Dark on Red

This offbeat and exquisite blog reader letter came from Lithuania, a country from which I don't receive mail too often. I wish I had taken a photo of the letter, because the sender has excellent and interesting typewriter-like handwriting, and she drew a couple of illustrations on the letter as well.



This artwork on the envelope was the most detailed and eye-catching. Can you tell that the background in the window is "dark" repeated many, many times? I like that use of words as texture in the drawing.



And here's a closer look at that Tall Ships stamp. I really appreciate that the sender included the continued panel next to it, for the full picture! What lovely postage, and other than a tiny rip at the top, it survived the journey well.