Melvin the Mini Machine

So I was putzing around on CNN last night and I found this really neat article. Little did I know it would actually have something relevant to this blog in it! Check out the video that was part of the article..and then if you wish..read the article here.

Neat huh? Ever thought of making a machine like that?

Sometimes Amazon Ships Later Than Expected...

 This box of Pixar cards were supposed to be a Valentine's Day gift from Brad. Which would have been super cute...cause then we both would have given each other postcards. However, Amazon was backordered, so they said they would be there in 2 weeks. 2 weeks came and they sent Brad another email saying..well..nope they would let him know when they would ship. Guess what showed up last week without any notice!

They are all super cute! I have been thinking of doing a special project with them. Asking people to "adopt" them and write about the movie that the art is from. But a lot of work has to be done before I can do that. What do you think? Would it be worth it? 100 cards would be a lot to have up for adoption, especially since they are all from the same few movies.

I just know I would like to keep them all! Haha.

Gingerbreadman Postcard Run

For anyone not following the LWA (Letter Writers Alliance) blog I thought I would repost this here.

"L.W.A. member Laura sent this project our way. It's another class postcard project, but this one has a fun, holiday theme.

They have a Gingerbread Man in their classroom and will read stories about him and one day he will disappear and they will discover he has run away (like in the story). The class will make a plan to get him back and try to solve the mystery of where he went. Here comes the "need help" part. They need friends and family to send postcards from other places to report sightings of their missing friend. They will map each postcard and track his journey. If you can help please send a postcard to the address below keeping the points below in mind.


-Begin each postcard with "Dear Madison"

-Say that you were doing something ordinary when you spotted the Gingerbread Man

-Report that you tried to stop him, but he turned and shouted "Run, run, as fast as you can. you can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

-Mail them to:
Mrs. Schindler's Kindergarten Class
Nottingham Country Elementary
20500 Kingsland Blvd
Katy, TX 77450

Neat,huh? I wish a teacher would have done this with my class when I was younger. Who knows...maybe we will do this in the library next year?

Do You Ever Search Google Archives??

I do! After searching for a bit, I found this article that is from todays date, 1961. AND...it is about postcards! Neat huh?

Try searching their news archive sometime..it can be lots of fun.

"Real" posts to come following the holidays.

Mystery Postcards

I thought this was rather clever:

I love a good mystery. =)
Then the next day I got this one..

The doll on the front (Blythe) is pretty creepy, but otherwise I am amused by these cards. The only question..err...mystery (if you will) is who the sender is. Though, until they decide to reveal themselves..I want them to know that I am very much enjoying their mystery cards. =)

Have you ever gotten a mystery in the mail?

Postcards To A Good Cause

I copied the following from Bev Sykes' blog The PenPal Project. If you haven't..stop by and have a look at her site. Then send a postcard to the address listed below. =)

"His school is collecting postcards from around the country and around the world for their diversity/international day in the early spring.

It doesn’t matter if they get multiples from each state, they're just trying to rock the class's world with the amount that Hunter can bring in!

So, if you wouldn’t mind sending a postcard to him, that would be great, I know we have people EVERYWHERE!

Before taking them in to the school Kelly plans to put them all out together and take a picture, she says she’ll be sure to share the picture when they’re done. There is no set deadline, but she's thinking if you can do it between now and the end of November that would be best.

Hunter Johnson
8443 Sand Point Drive West
Jacksonville, FL 32244

Feel free to share his address with any friends and family you may have in other parts of the world as well, the more the merrier!"

The Awesome Flea Market Adventure of 2011

So it appears that I have been having a lot of adventures as of late...but really it was just a good weekend for it. =)

So today Brad and I headed out to the Hartville Flea Market. It is basically one of the larger flea markets around and also includes a nice indoor marketplace. To get there we have to travel into a fairly rural area.

Lots of nice open fields and some wonderful barns as well. You've gotta just love areas like that. I mean...I have farmers fields around my house as well...but nothing like the ones that are out that way.

The above picture shows you an aerial view of what the market place looks like. As you can see there is a building in the center and then two arms coming off the one side. Those are basically areas that are underneath the roof...but have no walls..more open air, but good if it is going to rain. Then surrounding those arms are outdoor vendor spaces. 800 of them to be exact. And today was a prime day to visit. It sprinkled before we got there and then rained a bit afterwards. Needless to say we got the rain day specials..and saw a cute duck in the parking lot.

One of the first tables we found was full of boxes labeled..."3 for a dollar"! Oh my goodness..I found such lovely things. I mean how could you not with boxes like these?

Then we found a guy who had a few boxes of postcards. He originally said he would sell the chrome (or newer) postcards for 10cents a piece. Which is an amazing bargain! THEN...after he saw that we were both happy postcard hunters, he offered us a box and told us that we could put some in there and pay $10 for all. Well...now he was REALLY speaking our language. And thus we came home with this:

I know that photo is dark, but there are roughly 200 postcards in there. AND it was a mix of linen and chrome cards. Mostly unwritten. Which means some of these lovely cards may end up in a mailbox near you!

(Saving more of the spoils for the end) After we left the flea market we decided to stop in the Toys r' US store to check on some lego figures. But before we did that we had a wonderful post shopping lunch of Penn Station Subs.

Brad's always trying to steal my fries...just kidding! We were actually sharing them. So...now for the rest of the spoils. =)

Lovely lighthouse postcards...4 for $1

Clear postcard protectors (just like the ones I just had Brad order from Amazon (for $5 a piece)..2 dollars a piece at the flea market.

Older postcards...2 for a dollar.

A very nice writing utensil postcard. 50 cents. Too bad it was written on I know two people who would have loved having it arrive in their mailbox. ( Limner and Missive Maven).

I am a sucker for "greetings" cards. And so these Ohio cards suited me just fine. I believe most were a dollar a piece. (Hey sometimes I splurge...)

And other "greetings" from outside of Ohio. =)

Even more "greetings" and some art cards as well. Most of these came in that $10 box of cards.

Being July 4th weekend...why not pick up a few patriotic cards?

Some paper goodies from the 3 for a dollar boxes.

Some old keys...a lighter..and a...

Heinz pickle pin!! I had one...a newer one from a visit Brad and I took to Grove City, PA..but I lost it! So I just had to have the pickle pin for a dollar.

How about a metal ruler? It is 3ft in length and reminds me of the slap bracelets I used to wear as a child. Ah nostalgia.

Wondering why I bought a calendar from 1985?

I bet you aren't now. =)

Thanks for coming with me on this adventure. If I don't post again before the holiday..I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend!

Great Postcard Hunt of 2011!

What better thing to do one National Postage Stamp Day than search out postcards? Well, I suppose I could have sought postage stamps...(which I did!)...but alas, I was in need of some good cards to send.

Brad and I started the journey in Chagrin Falls, OH. Chagrin is a quaint little town that is so absolutely picturesque that I told Brad, "Movies should be filmed here." And I meant it! This shoddy cell phone picture from the car window simply doesn't do the town justice.

We first went into a little giftshop called Chagrin Cards and Gifts, if you get a chance check out their website. They basically sell everything known to man! What more would you need? They have rows and rows of traditional cards, then a whole wall of stationery items (including a wax sealing kit), fresh cut flowers AND postcards! There now..there were lots of other things as well, but obviously if I took the time to list it all..I would pass out on the keys as it is already past my bedtime. =)

I didn't take any photos inside..cause I was too excited about the postcards to even think to do it. I also just feel a bit awkward about snapping photos in a store. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get over that? They had a full rack of postcards each were 60 cents (a bit pricey, but when you cannot find them anywhere you pay what you have to). I picked up a few that I knew I wouldn't be able to find elsewhere (mostly cards that said Chagrin Falls on them) and we decided to move on. This was a good move cause I could hear the stationery calling my name!

Our next stop was a bookstore called Fireside Book shop. It was a nice little bookstore that carried a bit of everything you would want in a book shop. Though the best part to me was that they carried TONS of journals! I mean, literally any journal you could want, you could find it there. Then I found stickers that are supposed to be used to jazz up your mail. They were shaped like stamps and had different pictures on them. ( And once again I didn't take a picture of them...I also didnt purchase any because they were a bit pricey.) What I did purchase was a few more postcards (different than the ones from the first stop) and a tin of postcards that are produced by Cavallini.

There were a few sets but we determined that New York was the best! And here is the back:

And finally the cards themselves. There were 18 cards total, two of each design. Which means that you could keep one and send one. Though I plan on sending them all except one of the maps..

Awesome right? They retail for around 10-14 dollars US depending on where you purchase them. I know that Amazon has a BUNCH of different ones. And each set comes in its own tin.

From there we moved on to Cleveland. We decided to visit a store in Tower City That we had shopped in before. Personally I enjoy it because they have postcards 3 for $1. Makes it nice and easy to stock up!

After stocking up on postcards we hit one last store, because it was called a Card store. We figured there might be some POST cards at this store and we were there so why not? Well...we didnt find any postcards but I found this neat pouch to keep some postcards:

And as you can see the postcards fit nicely.

Before leaving Tower City we stopped by the post office to buy some stamps. It was National Stamp Day after all... How would you like your mailbox to look like this??

It was a pretty nice adventure. We ended the night with dinner at a place called P.F. Chang's. Pretty good chinese food and a nicely decorated place..but a little too loud for my taste. I like to be able to think while I eat. =)

Alright, well I shall end this OVERLY long post here. Tomorrow brings an early morning with the possibility of flea marketing! I shall share pictures (If I can remember to take some) of that adventure tomorrow.

Another blah day..except in the mail

So I am on day...well I've forgotten which, of a sore throat and runny nose. I am sooo sick of..well...being sick! Haha. I did, however, drag myself out of bed to trudge to the mailbox. I had some Valentine goodies to mail off for re-mailing ( see one post back ). And boy I am glad that I made that walk! I had some goodies waiting for me too!!



The first batch was all postcards. Including a nice one from Russia, sent through Postcrossing . They were nice enough to translate the message on the front for me. " Anticrisis #8. At this exact moment they had everything they needed to be happy. The rest has been taken away by bailiffs". I dont really get it..then again maybe its a translation issue. It did however have a very nice set of stamps.



The one of the shoes was made and sent by Liz. We connected through the Good Mail Day blog. And the final card was another I sent to myself from Mexico. I dated the card 11/7/2010...the postmark from Mexico read...9/11/2010 (they do day, month, then year). And it just arrived in my mailbox today. Almost three months after I sent it!! Crazy! (sorry for the crummy picture)



The last thing I pulled from the box was a letter from Patty who writes the Just Letter Rip blog. I have been following her blog and sent her some mail a week or so ago. She was nice enough to send me some back! (ps. I don't mind posting her addy cause its posted on her blog. Normally I wouldn't post one that wasn't already out there in the blogosphere.)



I love the envelope. As you can tell she has recycled one from a local bank. Very clever idea!! I am definitely going to have to do that with all that junk mail I get. Here is what she included:



She is trying to go all year without buying any new paper! I think it is a very good task..and I may try it myself. Then again...I kinda like buying papers. Call it an obsession if you want. Either way I was happy to receive her mail! I will have to put my mind to the task of sending something equally as interesting back.

One cool thing Patty pointed out was that in those silly credit card envelopes there is always a spot where they have your entire name and address listed. She clips them out to use are address labels on the things she sends! How cool is that?? I am sooo going to start doing that.

Anyone else out there recycling paper like Patty?

A Good Mail Day

Today has been a very Good Mail Day (with exception to a few bills that came..)!

Usually walking to the mailbox can be a rather dreary task this time of year. I mean after all winters in Ohio can be very bitterly cold. Today we had a pretty steady wind with HUGE snowflakes! I was headed to the car so I thought I would make that trek out to the box and I am soo glad that I did! I pulled out all the wondrous mail and found that there were only two bills!!

The first was this wonderful envelope from my new pen-pal Amy.



She made the envelope out of a colorful paper bag and sealed it with those wonderful circular stickers that keep your punched holes from ripping! How ingenious an idea! Inside I found a short letter saying she wanted to be pen-pals which is great! You can never have too many of them in my opinion. She also included two postcards, a vintage envelope and a postcard booklet. How awesome was that?!? I will have to work on something to send in return.

Amy and I found each other (sounds sooooo cheesy!) from the Call for Correspondents post on the Good Mail Day blog. Whether you are a budding or full blown mail artist, I highly recommend joining the fun.

Next I found a group of postcards from Postcrossing. I am not nearly as active on there as I have been in the past. I really need to change that. Regardless, I got three wonderful cards in one day!



The first one in the top left of the winter scene is actually from China. Nommy writes that she is 18 and from Shanghai, China. Then she wrote some Chinese for "hello", "Thank you", and "Bye". Very neat! The second on of the ocean scene is from Hamburg, Germany. Victoria told me that she had a huge party with lots of good food the day before she sent this card! And finally the card on the right of the cats is from Cheng Hui Zhou from Taiwan. Cheng is a student studying Russian! Quite an awesome bunch of people sending such nice cards!

And even though I didnt get this last set in the mail..they will be going in the mail soon.



I found these cute vintage looking Valentine's Day cards at the local Barnes & Noble store. I couldn't believe what a deal I got on them!! 7$ for 24 cards and envelopes! And they are all different too. So who wants an awesome Valentine??

When was the last time you had a great mail day?

New Postcard Project

Ok, so I was going to post this tomorrow (mainly to maintain the one post a day schedule) but I was too jazzed about this to wait. I love to read the news! That said, sometimes I stumble onto some really interesting articles. I usually search for things I normally wouldn't see in my local newspaper or featured on my local news station.

Today while I was at work..I was browsing the news when I came across this article. It's basically an article talking about Portsmouth, NH searching for their next Poet Laureate. Now, unless you are fortunate enough to live in Portsmouth, you are not eligible to participate. (Don't fret...I'm not eligible either.) But this article got the cogs in my brain turning.

As you may know, from reading a previous post, I am a member of Swap-bot, an online community of artists who share their art by..swapping it. I have created my own swaps at times when I thought I had a killer idea and I may have to do that now too.

In the article mentioned above the most recent Poet Laureate from Portsmouth wrote small poems on the backsides of cards and sent them to artists to design the cover. Most likely the artist created something relevant to the poem on the reverse side. From looking at the postcards you can tell there were some pretty neat designs created as well as wonderful poems.

I love the idea of making mail art collaborative and thus I am debating about making this swap. I am curious to see what kinds of ideas people come up with. After all, what is art if its not for sharing? And what better way to share it than the post?

365 Postcards in 2011

So today I had a spark of brilliance. Why not start my own postcard project? I mean I am the first person to send off a postcard to virtually any other project I stumble upon. I have sent to http://www.sendmeamillionpostcards.com/ more than a few times. I am an avid Postcrosser (http://www.postcrossing.com/) as well as a Swap-bot enthusiast (http://www.swap-bot.com/). I have even been known to anonymously share my secrets with the world through the Post-Secret Project (www.postsecret.com/). Not only that, but I love to do projects throughout a year. It is nice to see things come together over the 365 days that make up our year. And thus my projects idea was born.

I have a passion for postcards both old and new..handmade or store-bought, I love them all. And with that said..I must admit that I love the ones from other people the most! I think postcards were the original text message..or twitter update. Postcards to not give you much space for your message, though if you are creative and have small handwriting...you can fit a wonderful message on the back side.

So my goal this year is to receive 365 postcards. One postcard for each day. I am a little amiss as to whether the Postcrossing and Swap-bot cards count. I am thinking they will..I mean I love to send the cards as much as I love getting them right? So why not. Anyone who is nice enough to send a card that isn't from one of those sites will get a special thank you in return (assuming I have an address to send it to).

I am also doing two other projects that will be 365 projects. One is writing a postcard to myself each day for the year. The other is following the 365 Letters blog (http://365lettersblog.blogspot.com/) and writing letters each day as well. I am in love with mail..so why not?

What kinds of 365 projects are you involved in? Do you know of any neat mail swaps I need to be part of? Drop me a line and let me know.