A Postcrossing Adventure: Weeks 33, 34 & 35

Week 33

 

// outgoing: 

 

TWO cards this week: A Sydney scene-scape was sent to Indonesia (AU-362185), together with the Bunya Pine to the UK (AU-362186).

 

 

 

// incoming: 

 

I received THREE lovely cards during Week 33, one each from Finland (FI-2122505), Lithuania (LT-377077), and China (CN-1327298).

 

 

 

Week 34

 

// outgoing: 

 

Cards haven't been taking too long to arrive at their destinations of late, so I've been able to keep up with my aim to send at least TWO cards each week.

 

In week 34 I sent the last of my "Australian Game" maxicards to Poland (AU-363744), and the Alice illustration went to Germany (AU-363745).

 

 

// incoming:

 

Just TWO cards came in during week 34, both themed on books: The Wizard of Oz came in from the USA (US-2838285), and the Franz Kafka card arrived from Russia (RU-2754217).

 

 

 

 

Week 35

 

// outgoing: 

 

I've mentioned before how much I love Burra, and this week I got to share its beauty with a card I sent to Switzerland (AU-365221).

 

The second card I sent to the USA (AU-365222); it's one of the many great designs from geekery.ca, and I've been waiting such a long time for Postcrossing to give me the perfect recipient.

 

 

// incoming:

 

One solitary card came in from the USA this week (US-2850379), but I don't mind one bit: Waterhouse is my favourite of the pre-Raphaelite artists, and it was so great to get this card in the mail (of his painting "Echo and Narcissus").

 

Postcrossing postcards sent to date: 73

All time: 129

 

 

Postcrossing postcards received to date: 71

All time: 128

 

 

Expired postcards to date: 3

A Postcrossing Adventure: Weeks 30, 31 & 32

Week 30

 

// outgoing: 

 

TWO cards went out in week 30 of my Postcrossing challenge: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with Prince George (AU-358520) went to the Ukraine, and a viewcard of the Painted Desert (near Coober Pedy here in South Australia) was sent to Finland (AU-358521).

 

 

 

Week 31

 

// outgoing: 

 

Another TWO cards went out in week 31: The last of my Leichhardt First Day of Issue postcards to Germany (AU-360025), and a wonderful shot of Memory Cove on the Eyre Peninsula was sent to the USA (AU-360026).

 

 

 

Weeks 30 & 31

 

// incoming: 

 

Over the course of the fortnight I received a total of EIGHT cards: Two came in from the Netherlands (NL-2503004 and NL-2503003), and another pair from Germany - postcards of the same lighthouse, no less (DE-3191018 and DE-3220361)!

 

I also received one a piece from Taiwan (TW-1270571), Romania (RO-85123), Russia (RU-2306779), and China (CN-1313987).

 

 

 

Week 32

 

// outgoing: 

 

We were away vacationing on Kangaroo Island this week, so I wasn't able to scan in the postcards prior to sending them. Tacky photos don't quite cut it, do they?

 

A postcard of Remarkable Rocks I sent to Belarus (AU-360679), and the Penneshaw sunset postcard sent to the Netherlands (AU-360680) - posted from the island itself.

 

 

// incoming: 

 

Just the one card came in this week, from Belarus (BY-1298534).

Postcrossing postcards sent to date: 67

All time: 123

 

 

Postcrossing postcards received to date: 65

All time: 122

 

 

Expired postcards to date: 2

A Postcrossing Adventure: Weeks 28 & 29

Week 28

 

// outgoing: 

 

To make up for not sending any postcards out in week 27, I sent out THREE cards during Week 28: Journey of the Coastal Koori went to Russia (AU-355829), a Waterhouse art card to Germany (AU-355830), and some yellow orchids to the USA (AU-355831).

 

 

 

 

// incoming:

 

I received my first Postcrossing themed postcard this week, and it came from Ukraine (UA-1026994). 

 

 

 

 

Week 29

 

// outgoing: 

 

Another THREE cards sent out this week: A view of Wilpena Pound to China (AU-357181), Maggie Beer to the Netherlands (AU-357182), and an Australian dinosaur to Taiwan (AU-357187).

 

I did not receive any cards this week.

 

 

Postcrossing postcards sent to date: 61

All time: 116

 

 

Postcrossing postcards received to date: 56

All time: 113

 

 

Expired postcards to date: 2

A Postcrossing Adventure: Weeks 25, 26 & 27

Week 25

 

// outgoing: 

 

I sent another TWO cards during Week 25 of my challenge: An Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-14 First Day of Issue postcard was sent to Lithuania (AU-351761), and a First Day of Issue postcard celebrating the christening of Prince George of Cambridge went to Belarus (AU-351762).

 

 

 

 

// incoming:

 

Four colourful, bright and happy cards came in during Week 25: Two from the Netherlands (NL-2428376 & NL-2428375), one from Germany (DE-3089291), and my first card from New Zealand (NZ-102612).

 

 

Week 26

 

// outgoing: 

 

More bad luck in Week 26, with card AU-342311 sent to Russia in Week 18 having expired.

 

I sent TWO more cards: A carnivorous plant to the Ukraine (AU-352840), and a view of the Flinders Ranges (Arkaroola) to the Netherlands (AU-352842).

 

 

 

// incoming:

 

Just the one card this week, from Portugal (PT-357338).

 

 

Week 27

 

A busy week this week, so I did not have the opportunity to send any cards, nor did I receive any.

 

 

Postcrossing postcards sent to date: 55

All time: 112

 

 

Postcrossing postcards received to date: 50

All time: 112

 

 

 

Expired postcards to date: 2

 



A Postcrossing Adventure: Weeks 23 & 24

Week 23

 

// outgoing: 

 

A bit of bad luck this week: The vintage postcard from the London Transport Museum that I sent during Week 15 to the Ukraine (AU-337684) expired after having not been registered within 60 days. Perhaps it got lost, or perhaps the recipient has been distracted by the recent political turmoil in his country. Unless, by some miracle, it turns up, I guess I'll never know!

 

So, I sent another TWO cards: A Joan of Arc art card to China (AU-349141), and an Australian Game First Day of Issue card to the UK (AU-349142).

 

 

 

 

// incoming:

 

Finally, a card! A beautiful, snow-filled card from Germany (DE-3055229)!

 

 

 

 

 

Week 24

 

// outgoing:

 

Another TWO cards went out this week: Life's a beach for Germany (AU-350204), and the dazzling glamour of Sydney Harbour is on its way to the USA (AU-350517).

 

 

 

// incoming:

And would you believe it? SEVEN cards arrived in my letterbox this week, all on the same day! There were two from Hong Kong (HK-230790 and HK-232324), and one each from Hungary (HU-67729), the UK (GB-532581), Poland (PL-875188), Spain (ES-286896), and Austria (AT-177038).

 

 

My favourite message came from Chris in Hong Kong, who wrote:

"How are you doing today? Enjoying the lovely sunshine in Australia? Actually, I come from a similar city called Hong Kong, where you can get the same amount of sunlight. But trust me, you don't want to come here in the raining season as umbrella's no use while you're in such heavy rain. I haven't been to Australia, but I went to New Zealand last summer and the weather there is so changeable! The rain usually caught me off guard while I was there!"



 

 

Postcrossing postcards sent to date: 51

All time: 108

 

 

Postcrossing postcards received to date: 45

All time: 107

Storing Postcards: How to make a ring-bound booklet

 

I've been wondering for awhile now about what to do with all the Postcrossing postcards I've had stashed away in the cupboard.

 

I really didn't want to lose any, but I am beyond wanting a "postcard wall" or anything along those lines. What I wanted was a means by which I could store the cards without having to worry about them getting lost or damaged, ensuring their longevity, but still allowed them to be viewed.

 

Initially, I thought a solution may be to put them into a photo album or journal, but upon investigating this option, I realised that photo albums can be quite expensive, and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on this project, nor was I overly keen on the album designs. It soon dawned on me that if I were to use albums, the backside of the postcards, where the senders have written their messages, wouldn't be visible.

 

Then last weekend I was cleaning out some drawers when I came across an abundance of old curtain rings. These were left here by the previous owners (perhaps even the owners before them) for the large, heavy drapes they had at the windows. But since we have removed and replaced those with simple lace curtains, we've not had a need for the rings.

 

That is, until now!

 

I realised pretty much immediately that I could put those rings to use and make booklets out of my Postcrossing postcards, binding them together in a way that will prevent any from getting lost, whilst still displaying both sides of the cards.

 

It's so quick, easy and inexpensive (even if I'd had to purchase the rings, it would still have been cheaper than photo albums) that I thought I'd share the process, in the event that anyone wants to do the same thing.

 

 

First, collate your cards and put them in order. I found that 30 cards per booklet was a good number, as it makes it comfortable to flip through the cards once they've been bound.

 

Then using a two-ring hole-punch, punch your cards. I like to stagger the positioning of the holes, so the cards are in a slightly different place within the booklet. This makes the booklet feel sturdy.

 

 

Once you've punched holes in all your cards, feed the rings through the holes, one card at a time (as pictured above), starting with the last/bottom card first and working your way to the first/top card (one placed on top of the other).

 

 

Once all cards are on the rings, you should have a neat little booklet that hasn't cost a fortune to make, and allows yourself (and others) to browse at leisure, without having to worry about losing or damaging the cards.