Well, it happened. My Postcrossing fantasy happened: I GOT A POSTCARD FROM ONE OF YOU.
YES! It’s true! It was from Colleen A Madison Mom. You should have seen Colleen and me FLIPPING OUT about it. Sample dialogue:
Swistle: SQUEE SQUEE SQUEE!!
Colleen: SQUEE SQUEEEEE!!!
Swistle: OMG SQUEEE!
Colleen: SQUEE SQUEE SQUEE!!
Swistle: I KNOW RIGHT???? SQUEEE!
And actually, it got me thinking: maybe I’ve gotten postcards from OTHERS of you, too, without knowing it (Colleen had put her blog url on her postcard—otherwise I wouldn’t have known). And maybe I’ve sent postcards to some of YOU without either of us knowing it! So what I was thinking is that we ought to do a little CODE of some sort: something that wouldn’t look weird to someone else, but something that would catch our eye if we got a postcard from each other. Maybe a little triangle across one corner, like this?
I’m doing that from now on! If you’re on Postcrossing and you get a postcard with a line-corner, it’s from ME! And tell me about it so I can FLIP THE FLIP OUT!
But, if everyone is doing it, then it could be from anyone who reads this blog. Right?
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh….I see what you mean. Like, it could be a corner-line postcard from Colleen to Anonymous, or from Anonymous to Colleen, and both of you would be like, “OMG a SWISTLE LINE!!” Hmmm. More thought may be required for this plan. I think my circuits got over-squeeed.
But we would all know that we got the IDEA here and there would be THAT link.
I love postcrossing! I have a hard time finding postcards to send…it seems no where sells postcards here unless it has a Mickey on it. Any suggestions?
Fingers crossed that I will get a postcard with a Swistle line! :)
I’ve bought some postcards from Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com. Like, Norman Rockwell and Valentines and cowgirls.
We have two local Hallmark stores, and one of them sells a ton of postcards and the other sells NONE.
I also find a good supply at a local tourist shop that sells keychains, and tiny containers of foods the area is known for, and t-shirts, and the like.
why don’t you just put a little pink or some other color s in the corner then they know it would be from swistle, the others could put their initials on them. just a thought, i’m not even a blogger, just de-lurking.
jill
Thanks, for the ideas! I will go hunt out postcards today!
OMG SQUEEE!!!! Not only did I randomly get to mail a postcard unknowingly to Swistle… we’re talking about it!!! This is just as exciting as the back and forth e-mails right after you got my postcard!!! SO COOL!!!
Oh… and I gave up on looking for post cards. I couldn’t find them anywhere easily. So… I started printing my own with Snapfish.com. I use my own photos and have my message printed on (I’m so very lazy.) I buy like… 25 at a time.
OMG I have to post this now!
I think you’ve done it. I think you’ve convinced me I MUST join postcrossing immediately. Well, by immediately I mean tonight when I’m not technically at work (oops)
I think it’s fun that the line means it could be from ANY blog reader. Like, you get a postcard with a line on it and then you post about it being like, WHO SENT THIS? And if nobody answers then everyone who IS reading should cross-post so that all THEIR readers can look and see if it was them. Like a little mystery puzzle, right?
Every single time you write about Postcrossing, I decide to do it and then forget. This time, I signed up, got my first address, and spent my lunch picking up Akron-themed postcards…Looks like I’m finally going through with it! Love the idea about the mark in the corner, but I agree, you should put an S or something in the triangle so we know that it’s from YOU and not another Swistle reader.
funny thing is… I signed up for postcrossing two days ago! I already have my address, in FINLAND! So Swist..unless you live in Finland…:) Guess we’ll just have to hold the squee.
I just came back to ask where to buy postcards. I live in a flipping tourist town and I can’t find any and I refuse to drive down to the beach. I like the snapfish idea, I tried on shutterfly but they weren’t helpful.
Where else?
Do you have a big bookstore near you? I’ve often seen a small postcard rack in a bookstore like Barnes & Noble or Borders.
So, can you explain to me why you do postcrossing? I don’t understand the appeal. It seems like a lot of work (find postcards, address postcards, haul everyone to the post office if it’s an out-of-country address) and then in return you get a neat postcard, but what do you do with it? Recycle it? Otherwise it’s just clutter in exchange for work. Am I missing something? Like a postcard-appreciating gene? I don’t mean to rain on your parade – I’m honestly curious.
I have a postcard collection, and also I love to choose gifts from registries (tie-in: I love choosing just the right postcard/stamps for each recipient). Other people do it as a way to, like, homeschool their kids: we got a postcard from here, let’s see if we can find it on the map, let’s learn about this picture, etc.
Oooh, I like the idea of using it to teach geography. I could make MY KIDS pick out/address postcards and then we could learn about the different places we send to and receive from. That’s a great idea!
I joined! I will be sending out 5 postcards to 5 different countries this weekend. I am excited to postcard shop!
Walmart ending up being my answer, as much as I hate them they were the only place that had post cards.