Have you ever heard of Postcrossing?

Postcrossing was a new term for me and the concept popped up when I was reading a blog post that I follow. You may be like me and not know what on earth Postcrossing might be. "It's a project that allows you to send postcards and receive postcards back from random people around the world," is the explanation given on the official website. 

I recall getting postcards from my Granny when she traveled. Sometimes the postcard would get to us days after Granny had returned home but we still loved getting the mail. Great Aunt Mae would also send us postcards sometimes. When I was a young girl, there were times when I traveled, I would be allowed to buy postcards and send them to family members. I remember my grandparents saving postcards that they got from relatives who traveled or from family members who were in the military service. When I was clearing out my mother-in-law's desk I found several postcards that she had saved over the years. Some had not been mailed and I wonder if maybe she picked them up from places where she had traveled and saved them as mementos over the years.

There were several about Columbus, Ohio and some of the landmarks of that city.

There were two or three from Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The back side of the postcard shown above had a printed message telling the reader that Highway 58 is the best road up Lookout Mountain to Rock City.

I remember seeing postcards like the one shown above that advertised places to stay. Usually the front side of a postcard depicted something like a landmark, in this case an image of the motel. Then, on the back there was a description or message about the picture with space above or below where a message could be written to the recipient. Of course, the most remembered message was, "Wish you were here!"  Then, the other half of that side of the postcard provided space for the recipient's address to be written and a stamp affixed. 

The motel postcard was obviously a means of advertisement. The image was the front side and more information about the motel was on the message side of the card. A postcard like this might have been a freebie found in the room in hopes that guests would send away, not only providing information about their stay, but encouraging the recipient to come for a visit as well. Notice the phone number on the postcard. Even if I couldn't tell the postcard is from long ago, that phone number would be a dead giveaway!

Somehow postcards seem to have fallen into a category of things gone by the wayside, something from the past, a part of a by-gone era. I'm sure relics like the ones I found in my mother-in-law's desk might be a collector's item for somebody. With our world being ever more virtual and digital, these days we simply send a text with a photograph or video. We might get a notification on our phone and see a selfie of a relative standing in front of some historic landmark. 

The Mister and I still get a few postcards but these are mostly advertisements for a roofer or new flooring or gutters or something like that. Rarely are the postcards in our mailbox something that is a means of correspondence from a friend or relative. Almost never is a postcard in our mailbox one that we would want to keep. In fact, The Mister generally grumbles about such mail and tosses it into the trash before he even brings the mail into the house.

Yet, Postcrossing is offering people the opportunity to send postcards as a means of "turning your mailbox into a box full of surprises." They suggest it as a means of learning about far away places, different cultures, or even practice foreign languages.

After reading a bit more information, my mind began to wander. I thought of other ways that this same concept might be a really good thing. Wouldn't it be a great exercise for a group of young people or a class of school children to create their own postcards and send them to a retirement home, or a collected group of addresses of folks who are shut-ins, or to patients at a children's hospital? The writers could:

• Create the image that goes on the front
• Write a little blurb explaining the significance of the image
• Practice their writing skills within the message
• Learn and practice the accepted way to address mail

This wouldn't have to be a formal school or civic group activity, although it could be. It could be something that a parent could do with his/her own children.

Again, the school teacher in me is coming out... A class of students could create postcards and write about a topic they just learned, a historical event, a scientific fact or phenomenon, a story they just read, a book they would recommend, etc. The teacher could collaborate with another teacher in another school for swapping these postcards. 

A grandparent or relative who lives in another town could exchange postcards about different landmarks or events with their grandchildren or relatives living elsewhere. 

A great gift might be to buy or create a set of postcards, address and stamp them, and give them to a college student going away to school, or a grandchild who lives far away, or just to somebody with whom you would like to keep in touch. The gift-giver might even make blank postcards, address and stamp them and ask the recipient to decorate the front and write a message on the back and stick them in the mail. There could be one for each month or for more frequent occasions. You could buy blank postcards here.

I know that I used to love to get mail when I was a kid - long before most of what was delivered to my mailbox was bills. I also know that the anticipation of getting a delivery is still pretty exciting - often really more exciting than that quick text that is an instantaneous means of communication. I just looked it up and a postcard stamp costs less than a dollar. Plus, I saw that there will soon be issued a special, triangular shaped Global Postcrossing Stamp for sending even international mail. Learn more about postcards here.

Examples of the Global Postcrossing Stamp

I'm sure that there are loads of other ideas for ways to communicate with postcards. I kind of like this old-school method of communication and might even take the opportunity to put it into practice myself. I don't know if I will formally join in and be a part of the Postcrossing group, but I'm thinking I see some postcards going out with my signature on them in the future. What about you? Do you think you might send a postcard or two? Would you become part of the Postcrossing movement?

We Wrote A Book!

I like to come up with something special for each grandchild as a gift for his or her birthday.  That was really easy at first.

The Cover (Isn't that a sweet little face?)

Then, when the number of grands started growing and each had siblings and there were toys galore and clothes as hand-me-downs and picture books filling shelves...

Opening Page

Well, we are blessed and so are our grands.  So, when it came time to give a special gift to our youngest grandson, we brainstormed and brainstormed.  It needed to be something that he and his older brother didn't already have.  It needed to be just for him.  It needed to be reasonably priced.  Well, I think you get the idea - lots of constraints.

Page 1 (A photo of one of their cows!)

Then, I saw a blog post where a parent had made a simple ABC picture book for a child.  Voila!  An idea bloomed in my head!

The grands and Mike's family have always called him Bay - what he was dubbed as a baby.

I began gathering photos that I had made which would fit letters of the alphabet.  Then, I noticed that some might be used for more than one letter - the barn could be R for red or it could be B for barn.  So, I decided I should brainstorm for words to go with each letter first.

When I first shot this photo, I was thinking R is for rooster!

I was quickly overwhelmed and called in the cavalry - Mike.  He was wonderful but he was also horrible at this.  For example, he first suggested A for ass.  Not really appropriate for children's picture book material!

Some of the images, like this one, are a bit grainy because I zoomed them after cropping them from other photos but all-in-all the quality of how it came out is great anyway!

Soon, we fell into a groove and he filled in the gaps for me with letters I couldn't think of something.

I liked how the site allowed me to bleed some photos onto two pages to vary the look.

Then, I began gathering the photos.  I had a reserve from this blog and some stored on the camera that I had never used.  So, there were only a few which I needed to capture.

This is one of the photos I got from open source.

I ran into a snag or two, like when I wanted a photo of the family dogs.  Photo hours were from about four o'clock till five o'clock when there was daylight.  Yet, their family store didn't close until six o'clock.  The two didn't coincide and I had to improvise.

I think I have an image of me holding almost all of the grandchildren and looking at them with pride.  

Glad I finally found a good way to share them!

For a couple of them, I wound up going into Google images labeled for reuse.  All-in-all, the photos came together alright.  Then, I had a bright idea that made things a bit more difficult.

Look at those sweet little baby feet!

I thought: why not write a short little verse to go with each photo?  What a great idea!  I forgot, however, that I stink when creating rhymes.

I had to borrow an old photo of the family dog and was a little inventive with the other image here!

So, again, I called in the cavalry.  Again, Mike was really good and really horrible.  Some of his rhyming suggestions were wildly inappropriate!  We persevered and we wound up being really pleased with the result.

The type of background I chose really worked well with my subject matter for this group of photos and topic.

I simply created the letters/words on top of the photos using Photoscape and my computer snipping tool.

Doesn't she look sassy?

I learned lots about combining photos, backgrounds, fonts, etc. on this project, too!

Then, entered the text using the available text boxes in the photo book creator on the Walgreen's website.  I chose a mat finish on my pages which we really liked.

I debated about what would represent our little historic town until I thought deeply and remembered a photo of Easton's grandpa captured during the building of the historic school where the local museum is now housed.

The pages are a heavy card stock which almost makes it like a child's board book.

This photo is a cell phone scan of a photo on our fridge!

There was lots to be learned about creating a picture book with this project but I think Mike and I are up to create another book for another grandchild's birthday in the future.

Okay, so that pasture scene is really more about the trees, hills, and sky background and the goats than the pasture 

and that isn't really a quilt but is a swaddling blanket and that is pretty close, isn't it?

The most important thing I learned is something I really already know...I don't take enough photos!

With the limitations of my photographic efforts, I had to be a bit inventive with my alphabet matching.

So, again, I'm resolving to take more photos and capture more of the beauty in our lives!

I love the cute shot Bonnie sent me with her cell phone.  He is so happy looking!

I also need to get the grands' parents to send me more photos of them doing the cute things they do! 

Using photos of important things to the child make it more personal, I think.

Of course, I also need to find more words that begin with X!

In this day and age when we always have a camera (on our phone) I find that I still don't shoot as many photos as I should.  Plus, I need to keep in mind that we need a variety of subjects for making these ABC Books.  

I had to shoot a photo of the bobcat at the last minute because 

I had planned to use one of Stephen driving the tow motor at the store

 - only to realize that the tow motor is not yellow!

I also need to start compiling things months in advance rather than weeks days!  Writing rhyming verses and sing-song statements is not something that really comes natural for me.  I'm far better with prose than poetry!

I do love that it can be personal and dated!

I also learned a lot about the Walgreen's website - it warned me that some photos would not look as good when they were zoomed the way I did but for the most part, we liked them anyway.  But the edge of the page is definitely the edge of the page.

I almost didn't get Easton's name on the back cover, which was my goal!

Mike and I were pleased with our creation and we think Easton and his family were, too!  We have already begun brainstorming for our next book.  After all, we already have eight grandchildren!  How did that happen?

Chalkboard Art - Keep It Simple!

I guess I'm a bit late to the chalkboard craze that is all over decorating.  I've liked it but I would think about the dust from the chalk and the dust I already have in my house and I just shied away from it.

I've admired it from afar.

I've pinned it to different boards.

I've even printed out small printables that look like it.

I put an easel chalkboard on my wish list and thought about places where I might set it.

Then, I got a chalkboard for my birthday and I realized what fun and creativity can be expressed.  I drew a design for Thanksgiving.  I drew a design for Christmas.  It was small scale.  It was simple.  It was fun.

A simple winter design on my chalkboard

I got the easel on my wish list.  My daughter, Bridgette, crafted it from pallets and plywood.  When I got it, she had sketched a message on it...

Simple Christmas greeting

A design on both sides.

Doesn't Toby look impressed?

Planning to do absolutely nothing on New Year's Day just to celebrate making it through one more year, I decided that chalkboard art was next to doing nothing and would be creative and fulfilling and fun.

I learned a few things.

Keep it simple.

It takes a good bit of chalk to make those fancy designs one sees out there in creative Pinterest and blogland.

I have big ideas.

Keep it simple.

My ideas are sometimes bigger than my creative drawing space.

Chalk drawing is forgiving and allows for erasure and do-overs.  (Thank goodness!)

Keep it simple.

I was right about all the dust created when crafting chalkboard art.

The letter S and the letter D are difficult to draw with dimension.  Heck! Any letter can be difficult to draw with dimension!

Remember to keep it simple.

Chalk is flaky and crumbly.

Going back to the drawing board can be more than just a saying.

Just because an inspiration drawing looks simple doesn't mean it really is all that simple.

My larger winter design - not quite as simple

Sometimes the inspiration piece is just that - inspiration.  That doesn't mean the end result will be an exact match.

While chalkboard art is creative and can be satisfying, it isn't always relaxing and pleasing to the creative soul.

Most importantly, I learned...

Keep it simple, stupid!