More Outgoing for June!

I'm excited to announce that I have a penpal! It's early days yet - this is only my first letter - but I hope it works out. May it arrive quickly!

I'm also still on a PostCrossing high, and I couldn't resist sending out another batch of postcards. One of the cards I sent last week arrived in Germany already, even with last Monday being a public holiday in Australia! That was exciting! I decided to turn on the 'allow sending to repeat countries' function, just to see what would happen. I drew addresses in Russia for all 3 cards. I don't mind sending cards to anywhere in the world, but I have to admit it is more fun sending cards to different countries in each batch. Perhaps I'll alternate having the function switched on and off in future.

The box at the back is a hard slip cover for putting my outgoing mail in to protect it while it's in my handbag. Things can get a bit rough when I'm on the tram, juggling my transport card, lunch bag, and sometimes even cup of coffee! The Petit Clover box came from Daiso and it originally held a letter set. I cut the end off to make slipping postcards/letters in and out easier. It'll get its first test tomorrow morning!

June Mailings

I've suddenly become interested in PostCrossing, after an absence of nearly 6 months. No, I should clarify: I was interested in it all this time, I just wasn't motivated to send any postcards. Today was different: I was so motivated that I even created some spiffy graphics for my blog!

I sent a batch of 3 postcards this month, to postcrossers in Germany, China and Russia. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy choosing cards based on the person's profile and writing a personal message to them. I'm out of souvenir-style postcards now, so I'll need to go on a little shopping trip soon!
There's also a long-overdue parcel at the bottom there, going locally.

And because I needed an excuse to use my 'Incoming' graphic as well, here are the last 4 postcards I received, even though it was a few months ago now. I really like all of these.

These come from:
[top left] Poland; travelled 41 days
[top right] Germany; travelled 19 days
[bottom left] Thailand; travelled 23 days
[bottom right] Russia; travelled 46 days

More Sent Mail!

Well, I couldn't resist sending out another batch of postcards! I figured I may as well use up some of the Christmas stamps instead of buying extra postage in the New Year. I hope they arrive to the receivers by Christmas!

I really love reading the recipient's profiles, choosing a card that I hope will suit them, and writing a note on the back. It all adds to the fun, I think. I haven't received any more postcards since the two from my last update, but I know that things are slower this time of year - I'm trying to be patient!

I've done some other crafty stuff too, but haven't had a chance to take any photos yet. Maybe tomorrow!

PostCrossing: mid-month update!

I was only going to have a once-monthly postcard post, but I was so excited, I just couldn't help myself! Two more of the postcards I sent have been received, which makes a total of 3. The one to J. in the Netherlands took 26 days to arrive, and the one to A. in Germany took only 5 days to arrive! I still have 3 postcards in transit at the moment.

Excitingly, I also received two postcards this week!:

The first card, from S. in the U.K., took 12 days to arrive, and the one from E. in Germany took 13 days. I was so thrilled when I found them amongst the bills and junk mail that Husband brought in from the mail box. I'm thinking of sending a second batch of postcards this month, reason being: the stamps I bought are special discounted Christmas stamps, and once Christmas is over, I'd have to buy additional postage to be able to use them. What can a girl do??

Postcards of the Month

A few weeks ago, I was talking about how I've joined PostCrossing and started sending postcards all over the world. And of course, receiving postcards in return (though not yet, as you'll see below!). I signed on with vigour, and dreams of many brightly-coloured postcards flying back and forth across the seas. It put me in mind of the excitement I used to feel as a kid whenever I received some fun mail. The only catch is that sending an international postcard is a little more expensive than it used to be! The postage stamp cost is AU$1.65, which is more than a chocolate bar; 2 would be about the same as a coffee-shop coffee. The postcards themselves range between 40c to $2.00 or more, depending on the quality, but I'm not so fussed about that cost as they're so fun to buy and collect. With the capability of sending 5 postcards at a time (to begin with), up to 100 at a time (for seasoned PostCrossers), this could turn into a very expensive hobby! I knew I had to find some way to restrain my stamp-spending while still having fun.

In my searching I happened to come across a Japanese phenomenon called Fumi no hi. It means "Letter Day" and it was started by the Japanese government in 1979 to promote regular letter-writing and usage of the postal system. 'fumi' means the number 23 and also 'letter', so the 23rd of each month was chosen as the monthly letter day. I really like the idea of sending out a batch of mail once a month, but I decided to choose the first of each month because it's a rounded number and it's easier for me to remember.

So welcome to the first monthly Postcard Day!

This month I sent out postcards to D. in Finland (top right), A. in Germany (lower right), and the Grade Four class of an elementary school in the U.S. (left). Sorry about the slightly bodgy picture, but it was past my bedtime last night when I took this!

Of the 3 postcards I sent last month, the one to A. in Germany has been received/registered. The ones to L. in Russia and J. in the Netherlands have not been received yet. Technically I only sent them 3 weeks ago, so I suppose it's reasonable that they haven't arrived in Europe yet. With one postcard being received, this means I'm eligible to receive one postcard! .... Which I haven't received yet, but I'm trying to be patient.

This whole patience thing is one that's interesting for me. I've become such a child of the internet and the 21st century. It's all about instant gratification and constant stimulation. Often it's over-stimulation, with hundreds of blogs on my reader, thousands of pictures on Pinterest, the TV on and often noise from Husband's computer-gaming as well! I'm being bombarded from all sides, and everything seems to be speeding up until it seems like it'll go off the rails. The thought that I might have to wait 3 weeks or more for something is almost unbearable!

I think this will be good for me - an enforced patience, a slowing-down. Taking the time to choose a postcard that matches the recipient's profile, taking a deep breath and writing something meaningful on the card. Seeing my own handwriting on more than just a shopping list or a work report. Waiting for the pieces of coloured cardboard to find their way to the other side of the world. Waiting hopefully for some to find their way to me.

Stay tuned for next month's Postcards of the Month!

Postcard Mania!

Last week, I was thinking about things. Lately I've been wanting to reach out to people more, and find people with similar hobbies to me. The problem is that I'm very shy. The internet has been both a blessing and a curse. I've seen and heard about so many amazing people, but been too shy to start a dialogue with them. It can be overwhelming and I become filled with doubts. I was thinking back to when I was a kid and I had penpals. I enjoyed it so much - sending and receiving letters, reading about other kids' lives, the stationery and the stickers and the stamps! They all petered out though, and for a long time I was closed off. Still, every now and then I thought fondly back to that time, but I just assumed that the art and hobby of letter-writing was dead.

About 6 months ago, I heard about the Letter Writers' Alliance from the Craftypod Podcast. The Alliance was formed to revive and promote contact through all forms of letter-writing. I was very excited and joined up straight away! I got my membership card and badge in the mail, and spent some time perusing the members-only section of the website. The cool retro stationery and the mail art, wow! But when it came to sending away for an actual penpal, I hesitated. The matching process didn't seem to be very detailed - you only had to supply your age and gender. I was worried that all sorts of things could go wrong. What if I didn't get along with my penpal? What if I couldn't think of anything to put and my letters were boring, or worse, short? (When I was a kid, short letters were the pits!) And worst of all - what if I got quickly bored with it as I have with so many other hobbies and projects in the past? (I have over 30 unfinished projects of all kinds, you know!) That would be really unfair on the other person and I would feel terrible. So I put the whole thing on the backburner.

Then last weekend, I was suddenly struck with sadness that I never use my fountain pens and other cool pens anymore. This must have coincided with one of those rare moods where I feel like reaching out to people, because I was suddenly struck with an urge to find myself a penpal! I looked up the Letter Writers' Alliance again which got me all excited again, but was still concerned about the lack of detailed matching information. After a bit of judicious googling, I found a couple of penpal-matching sites that didn't look too dodgy. Even still, all my fears about being a bad penpal remained. I'm just not ready to commit to that yet.

To cut a long and rambling story short, I joined Post Crossing! It's a site that co-ordinates members to send and receive postcards. It has hundreds and thousands of members from all over the world, and has lots of satisfying stats on no. of postcards sent/received, which countries, no. of kilometres travelled, etc.

I realised that postcards are perfect for me right now because: there's a limited amount of space on them so you don't have the pressure of having to write a lot; they come with pretty pictures that you can collect so there's motivation to keep sending more; you send/receive to different people each time, so you don't have the awkwardness of being 'stuck' with someone you may not get along with.

Initially, you can apply to send up to 5 postcards. ('Apply' makes it sound hard, but you just need to click the 'Send a Postcard' button!) I decided to send only 3, because the postage was a bit more than I thought it would be. You're then given an address and card ID number. I had to rush out and buy postcards and stamps at lunch time the next day so my buddies would get their postcards ASAP!

You send the card to the person, and when they receive it, they register the ID number. For every card received, you're put on the list to be sent a postcard. Once my cards are received and registered by the three recipients, then I'll be eligible to receive 3 postcards myself! I can't wait!

In the meantime I'll probably just peruse some of the letter-writing/mail art blogs I found when I was searching. I already have waaaaay too many blogs on my reader, but I just can't help myself!

All images from Pinterest.