I absolutely adore going to the Postcrossing website and simply spending a while perusing peoples' profiles. Yup, I'm one of those curious types - "nosy", for want of a better word - and it's endlessly fascinating to see the different ways people use to describe themselves - and what wonderful self-portraits they often end up being. Something that always makes me lol, however, is when it comes to listing what cards people would like. More specifically, the ones they very much wouldn't like. This usually goes as follows:
- Animals
- Birds
- Children
- Flowers
- Self-made cards
- Ad cards.
Ok, I kinda get it with ad cards. I've had a few myself and of course it's a little disppointing that someone picked up the nearest piece of crap that fell out of a newspaper and sent it to you, all the while in line for someone else's thoughtful card. Major suckage, I know. Then again, I'm never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so into my organiser it goes, only to be retrieved on a day of self-flagellation.
But come on, chaps - who wouldn't like a kitten on the doormat? Or a puppy? An innocent child, a beautiful flower - or a sweet card that someone lovingly hand-crafted? Why would anyone rudely and pre-emptively reject what is only intended as the kindest of gestures? When you look at it like that, it all starts to seem a bit silly, this snobbery about "cutesy" (their word) cards. Each Postcrossing sent to you is a little moment of friendship so don't be so darned fussy!
People also moan about multi-view cards. This is quite unpleasant because not everyone has a big selection to choose from in their local shop, and anyway, multi-views are nice! They show different aspects of a place so it's always interesting.
I must give the best "Do not send me..." to myself, however. "PLEASE NO NUDITY" was the message I had to hastily add to my profile after several German Postcrossers inexplicibly sent me nakey men. I don't know what the postman must have thought.
Excuse the impertinence of such a title but I felt it only necessary, m'lud. Jennifer in Maryland, USA sent this little cracker to me today. She says she visited London in her student days and loves a bacon bap!
Postcrossers don't half love a vintage Crimble card. This one came from Janet in Ireland and I love it. Janet lives in Cork and said it's a surprisingly busy, vibrant place.
Michelle sent me this beautiful postcard today. It shows the Pin Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Californ-I-A. Amazing! Definitely one of my best cards yet!
This cute little chap came all the way from China to my doormat this morning. And it only took thrity days! I'm not mega sure what's going on in this pictorial but he seems to be sitting in a funny wicker basket while saying something into a mic - for which I refer you to my title.
Fangirls of the world unite! A Postcrossing aficionado was given a TV spot last week and you don't need a degree in Portuguese to enjoy the awesomesauce. I thought I had swapped cards with this dude one time but actually it must have been a different guy. Unless he uses pseudonyms! J/K!
Two Teutonic postcards for your visual consumption! The first is from Andrea in Nurnberg, a geometric smorgasbord of the town's main thoroughfares. It all looks very Brothers Grimm and I would be scared to cross a bridge in case of chancing a wicked troll - one considerably worse than the 4chan kind.
Frohe Weihnachten to thee and thou comes from Sebastian with this vintage delight. He used to live in Laaandaan Town and picked up a number of shabby chic finds while perusing the antiques shops. One of which he has kindly sent to me. Deck the halls!
Here at Musings of a... I like to think of myself as a friendly little bunny which is why I made this bloggle its very own Facebook page. That way it's easy to click the like button and get all my posts direct to your feed, no messin'. So please feel free to give me the thumbs up on there and I hope you'll enjoy what ye shall receive :))
Love this postcard from Jamie (not sure of their gender, soz). They love the exact kind of films I do: Terminator, Uncle Buck, National Lampoon...you don't get any more classic than that!
This beauty of a postal card comes direct from Reda in Burgandy. He says it's really cold there so I guess he didn't Zazzle this view in the last few weeks!
Good day to you Postcrossing lovers! Are you a Postcrossing widow looking for the perfect present for your obsessed other half? Or maybe it's you who loves PXing and you need a few ideas to add to your wishlist? Well, hopefully my little guide is going to help you. Here's some lovely things any Postcrosser would be delighted to open under the Christmas tree.
First up, a letter rack is perfect for Postcrossing enthusiasts because you can put your newly arrived cards in there to sort later or leave your newly-written outgoing cards there to post. It would look equally good on a hallway table as on a desk. There's tons of designs available but I particularly like this one from Amazon UK for £6.99.
Maybe this is silly but I love the idea! Buy this cardboard greeting card display stand, again from Amazon UK, and fill it with a selection of new postcards - the recipient can have it on their desk and it'll be like having their own postcard store every time they want to do some Postcrossing! How cool would that be?
This is the same kind of thing, but it might be better for people who send hundreds of cards a month, because it would be quite expensive to fill up.
But where to put all those precious recevied cards? I can't think of a better way to store - and pore over - your Postcrossing gems than a stunning leather-bound postcard album like this! But, oh dear, bad news. Though once popular they seem scarce available nowadays. Ebay or a local vintage shop might be the best place to look.
I do like this one, even if it doesn't quite have the same Antiques Roadshow vibe. It holds a whopping 200 postcards and is available on Amazon for £9.
There's also photo boxes like this that work equally well for ye olde postcards!
Without stamps there would be no Postcrossing, but how about a special place to keep them? Little silver stamp envelopes like this can be found in vintage or antique shops, or on eBay at quite reasonable prices. A useful item to really treasure!
Or, turn your postcards into an amazing wall hanging with this!
It can really enhance the Postcrossing experience if you get a map of the world to put on the wall and pin all the places you send cards to. Ooh, educational!
There's loads of really nice postcard albums available from book shops, online stores et al, but I hadn't seen one like this before! It's for sale on NotOnTheHighStreet.com for £4.50 and with it you can create your own ransom-style postcards. Ok, if you're going to use it for Postcrossing, be sure not to freak someone out with a threatening message...do a funny one instead!
This purse in a postcard design would do any Postcrosser proud!
I admit that now I'm getting into the realms of not-strictly-Postcrossing, but as I'm guessing most fanatics are, like me, stationary-heads, I couldn't resist sharing this amazing writing set in the Russian doll design. It's £22 but I'm willing to dip into my overdraft to get it! It's probably too nice to ever actually send to anyone but still ;)
So what is the best pen to write a postcard with? I have to say that I take my handwriting very seriously and I'm quite the pen fanatic. It's a very important point and I'm going to stick my neck out and say you can't beat the Pilot V5 Hi-Techpoint. It's smooth, ultra precise and makes my handwriting look better than ever before, almost like a proper grown-up's. That's unless...
...the postcard has a shiny texture on the back, in which case the Pilot V5 can be a bit wet and take literally hours to dry - and I'm at my most annoyed if I pick it up too early and smudge it to hell. No, the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner is a much better option for those shiny brutes, as the ink is kind of drier and doesn't sit on the surface like the V5. I swear to you that your handwriting will look a hundred times better if you use one of these pens! They are widely available in lot of shops' stationary sections so keep an eye out.
So there you have it! My Postcrossing gift guide is complete and I hope it gave you a few different ideas for Christmas. Or wait till their b'day and make them a cake like this (~_ )
This cute card arrived 'pon Saturday morning from the sweet Jan, a young boy who lives just north of Amsterdam. As I had amended my Postcrossing profile to give props to the World Cup coming up in Brazil in the summer of '14, he kindly sent me this one from South Africa 2010 and made a very cruel joke about England's prospects. Must've been high or something!
These pretties flew all the way from Russia and waited patiently on the doormat for me this morning. They look like three boiled prawns! Love it.
Holy snowly! Hoo boy, that's what I'm talking about. A good, proper McFlurry over the entire landscape. This card was made by Mike using one of his own pics and he says it really is as cold - and beautiful - as it looks. I can taste the crispy air from here. Thanks Mike!
