Pen to Paper: Postcards

Welcome back to the Pen to Paper where we embark on a letter writing and snail mail adventure!

 

 

 

Did you complete your mission last week? Did you send a little thank you note to someone?  I did, in fact so did Munchkin. We found out last month that his daycare is closing and he has been in the same class for over a year now and absolutely loves his teacher. So with the end nearing we put together a nice little package for her, some little Minion goodies (because she is totally obsessed with them), a card made by Munchkin and a thank you note from myself and Hubby because she has been so amazing.

 

 

 

So on with today's topic, Postcards!

 

As I mentioned in my tips last week, it is best to start out small if you hope to become a regular correspondent and snail mailer.  There is nothing better for starting out small or a quick note than a post card! I know many people collect them too so if you find a pen pal it is a great way to send a little something to hang on the fridge.  Post cards come in such a wide variety, you can pick them up for your local area, get them on vacation from a gift shop, order them on line or even create your own!

 

Here is just a small selection from my stash

As you can see I have a wide selection, some from my local area, artistic ones from Etsy, some I have received from gifts or swaps, I even have some printed from Pictures of Munchkin to send to family.

 

Some things to keep in mind with post cards:

 

~ The note always goes on the left when you are looking at the back of the card, the address of the recipient on the right and the stamp in the top right corner (you don't need to put a return address on it, unless you want).

 

~ Postage for post cards is less than a standard Forever Stamp. I believe it is currently $.34 and the post card stamps are lovely little hummingbirds. I am not entirely certain if this is the same for international (I usually just use my international stamps).

 

~ The writing space is very limited, so it is best to use for people you are already know. It would be very difficult to introduce yourself to a new pen pal on a post card.

 

~ As I said before you can find post cards in many places, though it is some times hard as they aren't in any big box stores. Some of my favorite places to get post cards are museums, Etsy.com and Zazzle.com (this is where I had the ones of Munchkin printed since you can make your own).

 

~ You can also create your own post card, they must be 3.5" X 5" to 4.25" x 6" in size and they must be flat (no 3-D elements but flat stickers are okay). Also keep in mind if you are making your own, they could be exposed to weather and humidity so keep that in mind with the supplies you use to make them.

 

~ Don't forget stamps when you go on vacation! It is fun to send friends and family a post card from your vacation. I have also sent some to myself when on vacation as a fun reminder when we get back to real life after the vacation (and for scrapbooking/memory purposes).

 

 

This week's mission: Send a post card to someone.

It only takes moments to fill out a post card, no envelope required, just a stamp, a card and an address. And start building up your own stash of post cards for those quick notes.