Travelling Postcards! [ TAKE PART & JOIN IN THE FUN! ]

A few months ago one of my first ever travelling postcards arrived back with me! I had completely forgotten I'd even sent it out, so it was a wonderful surprise when it was back in my hands.

I can't remember how long ago I started it as, being one of the first ones I'd sent out I didn't really know what information I wanted to included on the card so forgot to ask people to put the date.
I kept it simple and just asked people to put their name and where they were from on there.

Everyone who took part also added their Instagram and a little message which was really sweet. It was nice to see what was added as it was sent from one person to another, and it gave me ideas on what I wanted to include on any future travelling postcards.

I know it must have been a long time since I sent it out because it had my old email address and blog on the info sheet, both of which I hadn't had used for a good half a year. I've now obviously updated this and it's something to keep in consideration, you need to make sure at least one of the contact details isn't something that will be changed in the next year or so.

It can sometimes take a while for them to get back to you, but at the end of it you will have a postcard that has been lots of different locations.

The info sheet to send along with your postcard will contain your contact details (an email and your IG if you have it), so when it's complete the last person can contact you to get your address and then send the postcard home, this way you only have to give you address to one person.

There's also information on what to put on the postcard, and a short section with some rules and guidance for anyone who is new to travelling postcards.

I have actually created a PDF file that you can easily print off, cut out and fill in to send with your postcards. So the 'hard work' has been done for you! You can of course create your own, you might have a particular goal in mind, like specific places you want your postcard to travel to, or a certain number of people to take part. Make sure you include this information on the info sheet to make it easier for the people contributing to your postcards.

I have created a facebook group for travelling postcards and this is where I have uploaded the file for anyone to use, so feel free to come over and join in the fun. I'll talk a little more about the group at the end of this blogpost.

When it comes to what you actually need to send out a travelling postcard, it's pretty minimal.

You'll need postcards (obviously haha), preferably the classic size as you are going to be sending these along with a penpal letter or on their own so you'll want to keep the postage cost's low. You'll also need the info sheet, a paperclip to attach the sheet to the postcard and an envelope to send it in!

I get many of my postcards from Paperchase, they have an amazing selection, and thanks to them I've become a bit of a postcard hoarder! So I thought it was about time I found a way to get the postcards travelled but also ultimately be able to keep them.

So if like me you hoard postcards but feel a bit bad that they are sitting in a box blank, then this might be something you want to try. At the end of the day if they go missing you've lost out on a postcard and a bit of postage, BUT if they make it full circle it's an awesome to find out where it's been and who's contributed.

They also don't take up a ton of room, so once you get them back you can easily store them in a photo album or something.

The point of these postcards isn't to share a story or a message with one person, it's to share a journey across the world with many people who also enjoy sending snailmail.

If you don't have any penpals then you can still join in! As I said before, I've created a Facebook group where you can find people to take part. You will also have access to the printable info sheet so you can get started straight away! Come join the group here.

I just want to thank everyone who took part in my first ever travelling postcard, especially Erica for getting it back to me safely!

I'm looking forward to getting some travelling postcards sent out, and fingers crossed contributing to some of your postcards too! If you have any questions then let me know.

- Daisy X

P.s. 'Travelling' is spelt right, we spell it with two 'L's' here in the UK ;)

Fancy Paperie Etsy Shop Share!

So recently I was sent a beautiful package of paper goodies to share with you guys from Fancy Paperie!

 I featured them in my recent Collective Haul video, you can see that here.

Amanda, who is the owner of Fancy Paperie sent me a variety of products to show you, all of which she designed herself. She has a pretty unique style which is one of the things I really loved about her products. They have a lovely hand painted feel, and the colours used are so beautiful!

Above is the Pastel Floral letter set, included in this set are x6 green envelopes, x12 sheets of card stock to write on, and then x6 letter seal stickers. I was surprised that the cards you write on were in fact card not paper! It's definitely different to any other writing set I've had before, and I was really impressed with the quality of the card.

The stickers have been hand cut so they aren't 'perfect', but again I think that adds to the handmade feel of all the products.

The Fancy Floral postcard set was definitely my favourite out of everything I was sent!

I think I just preferred the pattern and colours used on these, plus I'm a bit of a sucker for pretty postcards. You get six in a pack, and they are completely blank on the back. These are also the only product I received which have a glossy finish to them, which I definitely prefer to the matt finish of all the other products.

Above is the Hello Doll Floral Greeting card, this was completely blank on the inside so it can be used for any occasion. I tend to use cards like this a lot when I'm sending RAK's or when I want to add a little note in a giveaway package. Alternatively if you want to write a letter to a penpal on something other than a letter set, greeting cards are just as lovely to use. 

The last thing Amanda sent me was one of the cards from her Holiday Greeting cards collection. Again this card is blank on the inside, so it is more versatile. You can buy this card in a pack of ten, you get x5 of this design, and then you'll receive x5 of the white fox design! They all come with a brown kraft envelope.

Overall I am impressed with Amanda's designs, they are beautifully unique and I can't wait to start using them! I feel like the print on the postcards is much better quality than the rest, I'm not sure whether this is just because they have a glossy finish or what. But they are just much more crisp than the other designs.

Saying that though, her prices are very reasonable for the products you receive. The postage is a little pricey to the UK, so definitely keep that in mind if you aren't from the US.

Overall I definitely encourage you to check out Amandas shop and social media links, all of which I will leave below for you:

Etsy Shop

Storenvy

Twitter

Instagram

Thanks so much for reading!

- Daisy X

Incoming Swapbot Swap! #1

Today I thought I would share one of the Swapbot swaps I received a few weeks ago!

I've really enjoyed taking part in swaps recently, it can become quite addictive. Especially with how much variety there is on Swapbot!
This swap was a Postcard Shuffle. So your swap partner sends you 5 postcards, you can either keep them all, or keep the ones you like and send the others onto someone else in another Postcard Shuffle swap! I'm pretty sure the same person runs the Postcard Shuffles on a regular basis.

The swap partner I had, sent me some extra goodies! It was SO sweet of them, as it wasn't part of the swap criteria. These little bits and pieces are perfect for Smashbooking, as they don't really have a specific purpose, but they are too cute not to keep! 

I absolutely LOVE the monopoly themed card they sent they extra little goodies in. I love any sort of bright, quirky print! Overall I was extremely chuffed with everything I received in this swap, and I will most definitely be taking part in future Postcard Shuffles!

I have a couple of Swapbot blogpost's planned, as some swaps aren't quite big enough to make a video out of, but they are too sweet not to share with you guys. So keep an eye out!

Click here to check out the Swapbot website!

- Daisy X

Weekly Incoming Postcards!

So for a couple of weeks now I have been receiving beautiful postcards, from postcard swaps I have done with people. I did postcards swapping a LOT about a year ago, but I stopped for a while as other things took over, work got busier so I had other priorities. 

But I recently realised how much I missed having those little bits of happiness coming through my door!

I thought I would share this weeks incoming postcards with you guys!

As you can most probably tell, I tend to pick out fun/bright/cartoon/illustrated postcards when searching for swaps! I know some people like map postcards, others like views from other peoples hometowns. But I like the ones which are fun, and bright!

Of course the stamps are also the other beautiful part about postcard swapping! We don't get many 'pretty' stamps here in the UK, I try my best to search them out, and tend to hoard them for such times like this! But one of the main things I love about swapping postcards is you never know what stamps you will receive, it's like an extra little surprise when you turn it over to read.

These Incoming postcard blogposts won't be gigantically long, but they are too pretty to not share.

If you like snailmail but aren't so into the commitment of penpalling, then postcard swapping might be worth a shot! These were all one of swaps I did with people.

- Daisy X