Postcrossing Blog

Letterpress (the magic art of relief printing with a press + movable type) holds a very special place in my heart. I love to stroll my fingers on the paper and feel the reliefs, knowing they were made through the love and hard work of a very patient person.

It turns out there are tons of patient, creative people with antique presses out there, as I found out while surfing Etsy… So many in fact, that it was nearly impossible to resist the temptation of stretching this post to include just another card… :)

So here you go, a post with a selection my favorite holiday cards, from the hands of the letterpressers of the world. Enjoy!

sarahparrott825

Fugufugu press

maidavale

amyb13

paperlovelypress

sweetharvey

brooklynbookbinder

Got any tips to more letterpress goodness? Do share! :)

Do you consider yourself a postcard collector?

If you think you’re serious about collecting postcards, think again! Introducing… Mary L. Martin, Postcard Collector to the Extreme!

This amazing lady from Perryville, Maryland, USA has a postcard collection that numbers not only by the hundreds, definitely not by the thousands, but by the millions!

Started forty years ago, her huge collection features postcards from the past and present, from celebrities and ordinary people, from every city, every town, and every country, and just about anything you can think of.

Here’s a two-minute video of Mary and her Perryville postcard shop as featured in WBAL’s Rob’s Attic by Rob Roblin:

If you want to check out more about Mary L. Martin and her postcard collection, visit her official site at http://www.marylmartin.com. Millions of postcards are also for sale in this website.

Mary L. Martin Postcards is the largest postcard shop in the whole world. If you and your Postcrossing buddies live near or around Perryville, Maryland, this shop is a good place for a meetup. If you guys are from somewhere else, this destination is an interesting idea for a Postcrossing field-trip!

So we told you about those cool postcups and about the world’s tiniest and cutest telegrams in this blog. We’re sure you guys are still hungry for more cool and unique ways to send telegrams to your loved ones, relatives, friends, and of course, your Postcrossing buddies!

Well, here’s another lovely and rare telegram mode that you can use to “wow” your receivers and “mmm” them at the same time.

Introducing… the delicious Chocotelegrams!

Yes, they’re basically telegrams that are made from delicious, high-quality milk chocolates! Imagine your letter recipients opening a cute wooden case and seeing blocks of delicious Belgian chocolates speak for you. This is just so sweet! Literally.

The most popular company that both produces and sends these chocomails is United Kingdom’s Choco Mail UK, Ltd. Their service is very easy to use. All you have to do is click on their telegram-making interface and write a message that you would like to be inscribed on your chocotelegram.

Your message must be 7 to 60 letters long, which can include various symbols such as smiley faces, clover leaves, stars, Christmas trees, hearts, deer, and even a menorah.

You can also choose the type of chocotelegram package you’d like them to use. You can send your chocomails in brightly colored cardboard boxes, regular wooden cases, and luxurious wooden boxes.

Another website that offers this service is the Netherlands’ Tasty Present. The chocotelegram customizing steps at Tasty Present’s website are basically the same with the ones at Choco Mail. The only difference between the two is that Tasty Present offers a few more chocolate arrangements in addition to Choco Mail’s traditional rectangular arrangement. At Tasty Present, you can ask them to arrange the chocolate tiles into a heart-shaped or letter-shape chocotelegram.

You can ask the company to either directly send your chocomails to your intended recipient or send them to you. This is a really great telegram idea for Mother’s Day, graduations, Valentine’s Day, thank-you letters, and anniversaries, etc.

Oh, and it’s not just the United Kingdom and the Netherlands that have this service. Portugal has it too and even if you are not in one of these countries, look around, it might very well be that there’s one for your country too!

Oh yeah, Easter is coming up so why don’t you do something different this time and instead of sending Easter egg chocolates or marshmallow chicks, use a Chocotelegram to both express your Easter greetings and fill your recipient’s tummy with choco goodness!

Sometimes when we are surfing around on the interwebs, we find little pearls that we want to share with you all. Today we want to tell you about the “World’s smallest postal service”!

Anyone can use this to create the tiniest and cutest little letters. Here’s how it works:

“You write a letter (up to 120 words!) and it is transcribed onto tiny stationery (1 × 1.5 inches) with a magical transcription device. It then goes into a tiny envelope which gets addressed, stamped, and sealed with a minuscule wax seal with your initial on it.

The letter then goes into a see-through folded coin case and is packaged up with a magnifying glass in a larger glassine envelope, finished off with a large “World’s Smallest Letter” wax seal. It is put in a sturdy mailer for shipping. I can send your letter directly to a recipient of your choice, or to you if you would like to distribute it yourself.”

The result is completely adorable and the only problem is that we might want to keep it for ourselves instead of giving it someone else! And it can be used for so many things: thank you letters, birthday cards, super cute love letters – they even have a “World’s smallest card from the tooth fairy” one!

This idea was created by Lea Redmond, who explains it like this:

In the summer of 2008, the idea just popped into my head and it was so hilarious that I had no choice but to materialize it. For the first “performance”, I strapped my miniature desk to my back inside my grandmother’s old wicker suitcase, filled the milk crate on my bicycle with tools and supplies, and coasted down to Sweet Adeline Bakeshop in Oakland, CA, nervous as all heck. I was delighted to find that there are lots of people out there that are equally charmed by these little curios.

Impossible not to love it! And if you are San Francisco area, you can actually see it in person and get a handwritten version of it! But if you are not, you can order everything online and she accepts international orders so be sure to check the website for more information about it!

PS: Do you know other postal-related cuteness online? Share it with us!

Need an idea for a Valentine’s day present to the love of your life? Does he or she like postcards too?

We have just stumbled upon the perfect little gift: the postcup!
Postcups are lovely mugs that have a heart or message engraved on one side. On the other side you can customize them with your own message – as if they were a postcard :)

Isn’t that sweet? They’re handmade by Etsy user baileydoesntbark, and you can get them in her shop.