Member Giveaway!

Lovely BPS member Rachel currently has not one but TWO giveaways on her Number 8 blog! The first is a fantastic box of vintage paper ephemera that includes "everything from antique magazine pages, music sheets, children's illustrations, fake money and monopoly cards, cigar bands, stamps, joss paper and much much more" — perfect for making your own postcards.

The second giveaway is your choice of one of two lovely 8 1/2" x 11" giclee seashell photo prints — one of a grouping of seashells printed on luster paper, the other a beautiful piece of coral on matte finish paper.

Hurry over here before January 18 for a chance to win!

PostSecret

Have you heard of the intriguing PostSecret project? To quote from the site: "PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard." The results are funny, sad, thoughtful, poignant, hilarious, dark, cranky and/or a complex mix of emotions — and a little window into the souls of strangers. Have a look here. Note: some of the postcards are NSFW or suitable for the kiddies.

Thanks so much to lovely BPS member Olga for sending me the link!


(shown above is a submission to PostSecret)

BPS Café — January 2010

If you've received a January postcard from a sender who prefers to remain tantalizingly mysterious, you can still say thank you! Members can leave a comment here to let other members know how much they appreciate the postcard they've received.

Note: If you've just received your December postcard and would like to thank the sender, you can still leave a comment in the December BPS Café post! For earlier postcards that have finally arrived, please check out the quick links to the appropriate BPS Café in the Related Links section on the right.

(photograph via nom nom nom)

BPS Flickr News!

Now that things are beginning to calm down a little around here, I'd like to open up the BPS Flickr group so that members can post their own postcard photos. If you'd like to upload your own pix, email me and I'll send you an invite for the BPS Flickr group!

P.S. Did you see Hedy's sweet New Year comment below? If you still haven't received a December postcard, be sure to check out her lovely and generous offer!


(the lovely photograph is by Kathryn of perfectbound via oh hello friend)

Postcard Teas

I think we've just discovered the spiritual home of the BPS. It's Postcard Teas in London, and owner Timothy d'Offay is not only a dealer in rare and fine teas from all over the world, but a fanatical postcard collector, too. He even offers an amazing service called the Tea Postcard — choose the one you’d like to send (available as an option for any of their teas), write a message and address on the virtual postcard, and it will be printed and mailed (along with your chosen tea) to anywhere in the world. Sounds like the perfect gift for more than one BPS member ...

Thanks so so much to BPS member Julie, who sent me the lovely email about Postcard Teas — and has a great post about this wonderful shop on her own lovely blog rock @ lulu!

A New Year

Happy New Year! Hope that 2010 will be filled with all good things for you. A quick update — the addresses for the January 2010 mailing were sent off on December 31, just before both Greg and I went off to visit family over the last of the holidays. We're back now, so if you have any questions about the January mailing, please email me directly, as there's not always contact info on your comments here for me to respond to you that way. Thanks!

I'm also beginning to catch up on the rest of the BPS stuff, so if you've emailed me over the last couple of weeks, rest assured I'm not ignoring you — I've just been away! I'll respond as soon as I can.

P.S. Don't forget to check your spam folder if you don't see your January mailing address in your email inbox!

xo


(pretty photo by girlhula, via beauty in everything)

January 2010 Mailing

A quick note to let you know that we're getting things ready for the January 2010 mailing and hope to have your addresses off to you soon, but there is a possibility that they might be a bit late getting out as we're in the middle of family holiday plans right now. Thanks for your understanding — rest assured we're doing what we can to get these out to you ASAP!



(lovely photo by Susana via beauty in everything)

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas season — hope you find lots of good things in the mail as well as under the tree (and in your stocking)!

Lori
xo


(vintage photo from the George Eastman collection on flickr, via creative inspiration)

Postcards to Ornaments

Aren't these amazing? They're wooden postcards that become ornaments, and are so pretty that they'd be lovely to receive at any time of year, let alone Christmas. Designed by Anne Paso of Finland, they're available in black stain, white stain and natural and in bird, pig, ball, and egg shapes. Via Apartment Therapy LA.

Thanks so much to BPS member Jesse Lu for the link — one of the sweetest people I've never met! :-)

Why Wear Anything Else?

Interested in helping out a fellow BPS member? Samantha in Istanbul, Turkey is a finalist in a design competition and needs your votes! Last year she designed a shoe for Fluevog that was eventually made into a real shoe named the Zaza (after her). This time around, she's in the running for a competition to design the ad for the Zaza. The winner is determined by the number of votes their design receives, so Samantha needs as many votes as she can get to win. Help her win by voting for her beautifully illustrated ad, called Why Wear Anything Else?, here. You can vote once a day until December 22.

Good luck Samantha!!!

A Little Recognition

I'm stunned but happy to announce that my automatism blog has made The Times list of 50 of the world's best design blogs! I'm in some amazing company, too — have a look here.

RCA Secret 2009

RCA Secret is an annual exhibition and sale of original postcard-sized art at the Royal College of Art in London, made by professional artists, designers and illustrators plus the Royal College of Art’s current postgraduate students. This year’s exhibition contained 2,000 pieces donated by over 800 artists — have a look at the postcards here. Shown here is a postcard by Jane Gifford. Inspiring and wonderfully diverse, too.

Note: some of these images are NSFW and/or not suitable for the kiddies.

Thanks so much to BPS member Clare for forwarding the link!

Looking Ahead

One of the interesting discoveries that I've made about the BPS project is that, besides being about generosity, it's also about commitment — being able to make time to find or create a postcard and mail it off at a certain date. Not everyone is able to do this, for various reasons — and sometimes it's only when you're involved that you realize it's not for you. We've had a few people drop out of the BPS so far — one due to a serious illness (we're sending our good wishes for a speedy recovery to Edward in Tennessee), many due to moves and needing time to deal with the upheavals a move brings. It's life, and, while I'm sorry to see people go, is understandable.

Lately, though, I've found myself doing a lot of follow up emails for members who are waiting on postcards that were mailed in October and November. And though many were simply mailed late (such as those delayed due to the database issues in November) or went missing in the mail, I fear that some were just forgotten about altogether. With this in mind, please let me know if you feel you can no longer commit yourself to the monthly BPS mailings. I'm totally fine with that — after all, it's supposed to be fun and not a chore! — and you will still be a cherished member whether you contribute to two months or to all twelve. I also have a growing waiting list of people who'd love to become a member, so if you can't continue don't worry — there's someone who's ready and willing to become one in your place!

I hope this doesn't sound too grumpy, but it's disheartening to hear about the lack of postcards for so many members. Here's hoping that we can get this sorted out so that the lack of postcards is minimized. In the meantime, I continue to be amazed at the generosity, creativity and big hearted spirit of the BPS members. You are all so wonderful and it's truly a privilege to know you.

Lori
xo


(photo via perfect bound on flickr)

BPS Café — December 2009

If you've received a December postcard from a sender who prefers to remain tantalizingly mysterious, you can still say thank you! Members can leave a comment here to let other members know how much they appreciate the postcard they've received.

Note: If you've just received your November postcard and would like to thank the sender, you can still leave a comment in the November BPS Café post! For earlier postcards that have finally arrived, please check out the quick links to the appropriate BPS Café in the Related Links section on the right.


(photograph via nom nom nom)

Mailing Day

It's mailing day today! Have fun. And if you haven't received your December mailing address yet, please check your spam folder. If it's not there, let me know right away so I can re-send it to you!


(photo from snap & tumble, via we heart it)