Postcrossing Blog

It’s been a while since we’ve had a giveaway on the blog… so when our friend Addis (aka sumares) found this cute stamp-themed puzzle and offered to send it to a lucky postcrosser, we immediately jumped at the offer! Little Paulo showcases it below:

Isn’t it cute? It’s a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, featuring the “Wonders of America: Land of Superlatives” commemorative stamps! Here’s an introductory video highlighting the concept and artwork of the stamps, which were released almost ten years ago, in May 2006.

Stamps and puzzles and mailboxes… so many our favourite things put together in this charming package! Little Ana is ready to write a name on the mailbox…

If you’d like a chance to win it, all you need to do is leave a comment below. Oh, and if you have seen or played with other fun toys that promote postcard collecting or letter writing, do share!

Don’t forget to check back on this post around this time next week, to know whether your name was picked by Paulo’s random number generator. And a huuuuge thank you to Addis, who generously sponsored this giveaway!

Remember the Typographic Postcards’ Kickstarter project we mentioned back in June? The project was a big success and Harald ended up printing and shipping tons of postcards! We received our backer’s reward last week, and can confirm that the postcards are gorgeous, printed on high-quality paper with a very smooth finishing. The words on them are simple yet so versatile… there really seems to be a card for every occasion!

Harald kindly included a few extra packs on our reward, which we’re struggling happy to give away to 2 lucky postcrossers! :)

For a chance to win one of two packs of 26 postcards, leave a comment below and let us know of a word or very short sentence you think would be a good fit for these cards! Here are some that have already been printed:

Good luck everyone! Don’t forget to check back on this post around this time week to know whether your name was picked by Paulo’s random number generator.

PS – For fans of Harald’s work, he’s currently crowdfunding the 5th edition of his typographic wall calendar, which is entirely made of the same keyboard keys as these postcards… perfect present for a designer friend? :)

Postcrossing’s birthday month may now be over, but what a great month it was!

With almost 2000 entries, the birthday party map got pins in all continents (apart from Antarctica)! Sometimes though, even better than the photos and videos are the attached comments… everyone shared a kind word or experience, and we cherish each and every single one of them.

The submissions were closed yesterday, but you will still be able to browse the many lovely photos and videos from around the world in the coming months. At midnight UTC, these were the 10 entries with more votes*, which will receive some nice postcard sets, scratch maps and MOO postcards:

“Happy Birthday, Postcrossing, and to the next ten years!”

Linabella (from Germany)

“Happy birthday, postcrossing! We’ve known you for only three years, but you gave me the whole world! I communicate with people from different corners of the earth and it’s very interesting! I receive postcards from different points of the planet, I expanded my horizons and knowledge of the basics of the English language, I found a lot of friends – and it’s all thanks to you! If it were not for you my life would be boring, filled with gray weekdays…
I wish you prosperity and long life, my favorite postcrossing!
Happy birthday!”

Shchuchka (from Belarus)

“Happy 10th birthday Postcrossing! Here I made a cake with 10 postcrossing-coloured candles to celebrate ^^ I cut my finger and burned my thumb in the process but it was totally worth it. Postcrossing is an amazing project and a great part of who I am, so thank you and I’m looking forward for the next 10 years!”

hankadl (from Czech Republic)

“Happy birthday POSTCROSSING !
10 more years… and we’ll see what to wish ;-)
A really nice way to discover people and countries, thank you for all these meetings !
BON ANNIVERSAIRE !!!!”

jean-mimi (from France)

“Tadaaaa… Happy Anniversaryyyyyy. I’m so excited making my wall of fame from the very phenomenal cards of the year. LOL. Wishing for the great more years coming in the future and a lot of nice postcards. Cheers and spread smiles through postcards. Yeayyyyyy ^_^”

connz (from Indonesia)

Happy Birthday Postcrossing :)
We are from UTAR Postcrossing, Malaysia :)"

ming_zhe0423 (from Malaysia)

Postcrossing, you are the best! Happy birthday!"

Ereona (from Russia)

“Happy 10th Birthday wishes Postcrossing from us all here at Kereru Children’s Learning Centre in New Zealand.
We love getting cards in our mailbox and have made Continent boxes to store them all. :) We love learning all about the world around us and every day we 'read’ our cards. Thank you :) What a great learning experience you have given us. we can’t wait to see many more cards in the next 10 years!
One of our biggest joys is to choose which postcard to send to everyone. Once we learn what they would like, all the cards are put on the table and we select the perfect card to send. We hope you all enjoy our choices we have made. :)”

Kereru (from New Zealand)

“Happy birthday Postcrossing and all of the postcrosser around the world.”

dwicahyaningtyas (from Indonesia)

“♪Happy \(^o^)/ ┌ii​ii┐ \(^o^)/ ​Birthday♪
Thank you for sharing 10 years of postcards, surprises, creativity, smiles and friendships with the world.
I hope to enjoy Postcrossing for many years to come!
Hartelijk Gefeliciteerd, allemaal!
Happy Birthday, everybody!
Big hug from Barbara”

Ejderha (from Netherlands)

So much talent, so many smiles!! A big thank you to everyone who posted, favorited and shared, for making this party such a big success. Our gratitude to MOO as well, for sponsoring this giveaway with their lovely postcards.

We had so much fun going through all your entries that we’re planning to highlight more of them throughout next week… stay tuned!

* Naturally, we won’t count our own entries! :)

We know lots of postcrosses are big fans of Lali’s riddle cards — we are too! The charming colourful illustrations, the puzzle to solve and scratch on the back… what’s not to love?

So we’re stoked that Lali herself agreed to reply to a few questions about her art, tell us all about her famous postcards, and even decided to offer some postcards to a few lucky postcrossers! YAY! Read on to learn the story behind these lovely postcards… and to win some! :)

When did you first start designing your style of riddle cards? Which one was your first one, and what is the story behind it?

After I graduated from “Les Beaux Arts” in Annecy in 1999, I worked for a while for Pylones, a famous brand of decoration and gadgets items. There, I designed touristic t-shirts with animals on them. At the time, I was already thinking about drawing child’s games, but it’s not easy to do that on a t-shirt and furthermore, the editor was not really interested in the idea.

In 2001, I found a job as a cashier in a famous stationary in Annecy. A bit dreamy, I was scanning child’s books but also illustrator’s postcards that were more and more playful. One day, my colleague, who was also responsible of the postcard section, encouraged me to try my luck at showing my sketches to an editor’s representative who would soon be visiting the store. So, I took the bull by the horns and I drew a few riddle games, amongst them were hearts, cats and clovers.

Afterwards, I went and defended my idea, my own concept to the editor in chief. He was seduced at once by my riddle postcards, it was a totally new idea at the moment. He gave me one month to send him about fifteen new drawings. Shaking my hand at the end of the interview, he said: “I think we’re going to work together.”

I was 26, I was a cashier, and I was about to be edited for my artistic skills. Tears of joy!

In November 2002, as I was sitting at my cash-desk, I started scanning the barcode of MY VERY OWN postcards. When I scanned the one with the clovers on it, with a sentence saying ‘TRY YOUR LUCK’ I must admit I beamed.

What inspires you?

First of all, I like paper, the soft touch of it, and the smell. I like going to stationery shops, where I can smell the ink and the school scent. I also like old books smell… I had always dreamt of becoming a librarian.

I also like postcards, the small size, and the purpose. It is like a little travelling bird, carrying good news.

For my riddle postcards collection, I get my inspiration absolutely everywhere, depending on my desires and on what’s happening in my life.

I rarely work because of a special demand from my editor. Even if I keep the idea of a collection in mind, I am a bit of a chameleon; I love playing with different themes, colours and even sometimes playing with different graphic styles.

I always try to be curious, to follow the new trends. Animals, my favourite theme, are also fashion victims! (indeed, cows in the 2000s were soon to be replaced by bugs, owls and swallows). Therefore I have to adapt to the tendency. Bugs, monsters and food are still my favourite since they can be easily adjustable, and I can really let my imagination work.

What techniques/means you use to draw your postcards? For instance, do you draw by hand first, or perhaps using the computer only?

Thanks to the progress of technologies, my technics have improved tremendously. Since the beginnings I’ve drawn by hand, I scan and then I re-draw the contours in Photoshop, then I colour the entire piece. But today with the introduction of the graphics tablet, the contours are way neater. It is such a gain in time, a great tool to use.

Do you know how many you’ve done so far? Do you have a favourite one?

I think I have drawn about 200 postcards, lots of which are not printed anymore… Right now, there are about 80 different types on the market.

My favourite postcards are not the most successful ones. Some are timeless, but others are more fashionable, and thus last less.

It is more pleasant to draw the ones that tell a story, with a setting which incudes many scenes. For instance “le potager” (the vegetable patch), “le grand huit” (the roller coaster) or the last one “le colibri” (the hummingbird) are some of them.

I’d say that two cards are like turning points in the collection:

• The monsters: at that time, most of the background I was drawing were white. I mistakenly clicked and coloured the background in black. The result was great and so obvious. Today, this card is one of the best one of the collection that is composed of many black background cards.
• The library: it is part of my second new collection, signed ‘Lali & MG’. For its really long and tedious realisation, I asked the fans of my Facebook page to give me names of famous couples. That was so much fun!

Are you a letter/postcard writer yourself?

I’m not going to lie, I use to write many more letters and cards before the invention of mails and text messages, which are my worst enemies…

But for a little while now, I’ve been using Postcrossing and I’ve just received my three first postcards. And it’s so nice and pleasing!

Thank you Lali, what a great interview! :) You can check Lali’s designs on her website, www.lali.fr, and you can also interact with her and follow the evolution of her collection on her Facebook page, facebook.com/lali.officiel.

And now for the best part: Lali kindly offered 3 packs of her wonderful postcards and other goodies to give away to 3 lucky postcrossers! For a chance to win a pack, check out her postcard designs, and leave a comment on this blog post, telling us which one was your favourite. We’ll randomly pick 3 winners this time next Wednesday and announce them on this post. Good luck! :)

A parting message from Lali:

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the warm comments you posted on the blog. I am more than ever motivated to find new riddle postcards and bring a little joy and fantasy in your letterboxes :-) Good news: Gradually, all the riddles will be translated into English at the back of the postcards. If you want to try your luck again, join me on my Facebook page, I often organize contests. Happy summer and happy postcrossing!”

Guy Atkins has been collecting postcards for years, especially from the Edwardian era. This was the golden period of postcards, which were then at the height of their popularity. With up to 6 daily mail deliveries (imagine that!), many people used them as we use Twitter or text messages these days — just to say “I’m thinking about you” or to convey some practical information (“I’ll arrive on the 10am train”).

It’s not so much the pictures on the postcards that capture Guy’s curiosity — instead he prefers the fascinating messages they hold. It all started when he was browsing an antiques market in London, where he found a perfectly boring postcard, sent on 21 December 1904 to Miss Emerson… which hid a very intriguing message. It said:

“Come home at once, all is forgiven. We have not had any news from father. There is heaps of m – – – y waiting for you to spend. Surely after that you could not stay away.”

One cannot help but wonder… what happened? What did Miss Emerson do that needed forgiving? And did she stay away or go back home?

I guess we’ll never know. And yet, the thrill of that mysterious message stays with us, and it stayed with Guy as well, who decided to collect other such intriguing postcards from that time. He has just launched a book with 100 of his best cards, appropriately titled Come Home at Once.

We’ve had this book for a week or so, and I have to say, it is delightful. Perfectly sized, filled with mysterious messages that just draw you in and make you wonder. Some are funny, others shocking, some just confounding. Many don’t seem to say much at all… until you note the strategically positioning of the stamp, hiding a whole other layer of meaning. Some… well, we’re still trying to figure them out!

In order to promote his new book, Guy and his publisher have generously offered to give away 10 copies of the book to 10 lucky postcrossers! It’s like an early Christmas treat! :)

For a chance to win one, all you have to do is leave a comment below. And if you have any tips on how one could make the message on a postcard more intriguing, do share!

Good luck everyone! Check back on this post around this time next week for the winners (randomly picked by Paulo’s number generator, as usual).