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Postcrossing 2016

Connecting Through Postcards

By Danica Eliana Ferino

December 12^th, 2016

On postcrossing.com

I've always been curious about sending snail mail. Sure, I've written letters - birthday cards and whatnot for other occasions, but I don't drop these at the post office. I just hand it over to the recipient. I never had someone who I could send snail mail to when I was younger.

Come 2016, long distance relationship happened. My boyfriend now lives in Guam and I'm staying in the Philippines. I started writing and sending postcards to him. At first it was monthly, and then it became weekly. It felt as if I'm sending a piece of myself with every letter I send. I asked if I was spamming him already but he's not complaining. :)

Seven months ago, I learned about Postcrossing and decided to join. I've sent and received a few cards by now and I plan to continue this hobby for the following year.

Here are some of the postcards I received these past few months.

I was able to send postcards to preschool children through the initiative of their teacher on the Postcrossing forum. She wants to share with her students her postcards so they would know how the big the world is. Oh, just think of all the places they could explore as they grow older!

One of my favorite books is Anne of the Green Gables. I used to collect all the books from the series with my friend. It felt very nostalgic when I received an Anne of Green Gables card from Prince Edward Island.

Create and Gift

I stumbled on a site that offers free hand-drawn postcards. They also started an art initiative. It's a great cause where you can gift your art to someone else. They believe that you'd always have more as you give more to others. I think that's true.

Here's their website: http://www.createandgift.org/

A Swap

I also had my first swap from Instagram. This happy mail came from a lovely lady in Taiwan. It's the most beautiful mail I've received so far - it felt like opening a wonderful gift on Christmas day.

Details

I love envelope art, hand-drawn art and calligraphy, and interesting stamps.

Sometimes, PhilPost manages to ruin the aesthetic of the cards by stamping on the front side. It breaks my heart. :(

Christmas Swap

I joined a Christmas swap with the Postcrossing Philippines group. I received so much.

Thank you. Thank you.

One of the best postcards I received from the Christmas swap. Yay, glitters!

Personal Postcards

Last July, I traveled to Siargao with friends. The place is so postcard-perfect. Here are some photos I took from there, for posterity. I had it printed on 235gsm 4" x 6" paper.

If you want to have a copy/ copies of these, just drop me a DM at Instagram and we can work something out. These are open for swaps.

Handmade Postcards

Here are a few postcards I painted. The first one is of Bantay Bell Tower, Ilocos Sur. The middle one is the postcards I sent for the Christmas swap with Postcrossing PH. The last one is for official Postcrossing.