Tag Archive | snail mail

Christmas Postcards!

Announcement time!!

Last year I wrote a Christmas poem to include in all of the cards I send out to family and friends. I had so much fun doing it that I want to write a small Christmas poem again this year… but I’m going to share it with you too!

If you aren’t already on my Christmas card list and you love snail mail that isn’t asking for money or selling something, then I’d love to send you a Christmas postcard with a poem on it this year.

I’m not putting a limit on how many cards I’ll send out just yet. If the requests are overwhelming I’ll edit this post that I’m no longer accepting addresses for this year when I hit a limit on what I can handle.

I am accepting requests from now through November 30th. International addresses are okay.

(I hope to mail everything the first week of December.)

Please post your name and mailing address in a comment below or email me at lissa.clouser@gmail.com if you don’t want the information publicly visible.

Legal/Privacy: I will not be sharing your name or address with anyone. This is simply for the purpose of a one-time postcard mailed to you. Addresses will not be kept afterward.

*Photo by user Jo-B at Pixabay, creative commons usage

Worldwide Post Report: 2018 Part One

Aug1

Time for a fun post and something simple while I’m still tackling brain fog and fatigue that makes snails look fast.

It’s been quite some time since I posted an update of my postcrossing adventures, but I’ve been getting back into the habit slowly this year and have a few new favorites to share.

For those of you new to the blog in the last year or so, postcrossing is a hobby in which you receive the address for someone in the world, write them a postcard, and when they mark that card received YOUR address gets handed off to someone else so that you can receive a card. You never know where in the world the cards will come from or who you might meet. Most people treat these as one-time interactions, but I have actually found a long term pen pal this way.

This first one is from Russia. The postcrossing project asks that all cards be written in English (unless the person you are writing to has specified they can read another language), but unfortunately this one is written IN Russian so I’m not sure what was said. The handwriting is very flowy and beautiful though! Continue reading →

Letter Writing Extravaganza

Mar23

In February I decided to take part in a challenge known as InCoWriMo or International Correspondence Writing Month. The goal was to write and mail or deliver a letter every single day in the month of February. These letters could be to family, friends, or even strangers. Many participants shared their addresses on the InCoWriMo website for those who wanted to write to strangers. I added my own address to the mix.

Honestly, I had hoped to receive maybe a dozen letters throughout the month. What little I found on the internet about the challenge didn’t really seem to tell me much about how big the event may or may not be, so I was careful with my hopes on the receiving end. It would at least be a chance for me to indulge my desire to send a bunch of snail mail while waiting on replies from my regular pen pals and that was good enough for me.

I wrote to a combination of existing pen pals, family members, friends who wouldn’t expect to receive letters, and the occasional stranger. Due to some health flare-ups I only got 20 letters sent out. (My hands didn’t work the best there for a few days, so letter-writing wasn’t really an option at that time.)

What did I receive? Continue reading →

Worldwide Post Report: January – February 2017

Mar12

This is the last postcrossing update for a little while again. Stamps are expensive! And for now there are other things that I need to take care of. But you’re not here for that talk. On to the postcards!

Germany postcard I love this not just for the ocean (I always love the ocean), but also for the quote. I’m a person who very much loves her comfort zone. Very, very much. But I’m also aware of how much that comfort zone sometimes limits me. Last year I had the opportunity for international travel and that very much changed my views on the comfort zone. I still love it dearly, but I’ve always seen the wonder that is out there when you leave it behind. This postcard came from Germany. Continue reading →

Worldwide Post Report: October – December 2016

Jan6

I had to slow down my postcrossing habits a bit due to time and finances during the holidays, but thanks to several gifts of stamps and postcards I am back to it with the start of the new year! I hope to have many more lovely cards to continue to show you in 2017, but let’s wrap up 2016 for now.

From Canada, from a lady who said she dreamed of designing costumes for theatre when she was a child.

I’ve always really enjoyed this style of art and so I was excited to get this card in the mail. What a fabulous outfit! I’d love to know what she’s up to. Perhaps someone gave her those flowers? I sense a scandal! Continue reading →

For the Love of Writing Letters

Sep5

Most people like receiving mail. Not bills or credit card offers or sale ads, but the kind of mail that means something. Birthday cards. Christmas cards. Just thinking of you cards. A brief note saying hello. An announcement of good news. The old-fashioned sort of letter catching a friend up on one’s life.

Most people like receiving that sort of mail, but most people don’t seem to want to take the time to write it, and that’s the problem. It’s not that we want less snail mail in our lives, it’s that no one believes they have the time to send it.

This last month I’ve been on a bit of a mailing binge. I’ve sent out 15 postcards and 4 letters. It would have been more if my postcards had registered faster or I’d received more replies. I suspect September’s numbers on those fronts will grow now that it seems I may have some new pen pals as well. Continue reading →

Getting Back to Postcrossing

Jul5

‘Postcrossing‘ is one of my favorite hobbies. I love snail mail and postcrossing helps to satisfy that love, especially in a world where so many people don’t even send birthday cards or Christmas cards through the mail anymore. It’s as easy as uploading my mailing address to the site and creating a basic profile. I request an address from someone else in the world, write them a post card, and once they have registered it as received, someone else is given my address! (Your address is only seen by the people who are given your address as someone to write to. The general public cannot see it.) You never know who you will write to or receive from next.

The nice thing about this hobby is you can easily put exactly however much time and money into it you want. When we hit a rough patch in finances and were saving for some big expenses, it was easy for me to simply stop requesting new addresses and thus put the hobby on hold.

I’m happy to say that I’m actively postcrossing again. I’ve missed it dearly.

Here is the first one received after nearly a year of taking time off…

To be honest, I didn’t even know postcrossers really had meet ups. This one of course had already occurred and this was just a commemorative card they had made.

For me, I think, I prefer to stick to the snail mailing side of things. I think it is awesome any time a group of people can get together over a hobby they share (assuming that hobby is, you know, non-detrimental to themselves or society). But for me when it comes to postcrossing it feels a bit odd. I like the slight anonymity and briefness of a postcard and leaving it at that.

Do you still send snail mail?

Worldwide Post Report: April & May 2015

Jun12

New favorite cards from the last couple of months!

Life got busy in May and I wasn’t able to send out many cards for a while, so I don’t expect to receive many over the next couple of weeks, but honestly that is one thing I love about Postcrossing. Do as much or as little as you want/are able. It’s not a contest.

On to the cards! Continue reading →

Worldwide Post Report: February & March 2015

Apr6

The last couple of months have been busy Postcrossing months for me! Lots of postcards sent all over the world, and many more received.

Instead of uploading every single card that found its way to my home (like I did in January), I thought perhaps this time I would share only some of my favorites. Continue reading →

Worldwide Post Report: January 2015

Feb1

I’m a giant fan of anything to do with snail mail and good, old-fashioned, written correspondence. There’s just nothing like having something tangible delivered by post. I find that I write in a very different way when I do so by hand than by keyboard, and I like the me that shows up in ink.

Long term pen pals can be difficult to keep up with, not to mention difficult to find. So many people only like the concept of snail mail for the first few letters before they grow bored with the idea.

Enter postcrossing: the perfect combination of low-commitment and the love of sending letters! Continue reading →