April Mailing

The addresses for the April mailing are going out tonight — as always, please be sure to check your spam folder if you don't see it in your inbox. Happy mailing!


(photograph by Olga on flickr)

The Strange Case of the Missing British Postcards

With a few months of the BPS now behind us, certain patterns are beginning to emerge regarding mail delivery — and the most striking has been the ongoing issues we're having with postcards going to (or out of) Britain. It's quite extraordinary — nowhere else (and we mail all over the world) has there been such a problem getting postcards to or from one particular destination. As there's nothing we can do about a postal service that appears to be so lackadaisical, the next best thing I can do is let everyone know the situation and be aware that if postcards don't show it's not the senders — it's the mail. Thanks for your understanding!


(photo of silent film actor William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes via Scott Monty)

And ... Another Giveaway!

BPS member Hedy is celebrating one year of her lovely blog Tuulikki Titine with a fun giveaway! Head over here for your chance to win a set of her charming handmade Colours postcard sets — four different postcards featuring: glass people in a window display in Amsterdam; bobbins in the Textile-museum in Tilburg (The Netherlands); colourful chairs in Berlin and a collage of dancing figures by Hedy. Deadline to enter is March 30, so hurry!

Giveaway Winners!

I've run the numbers (via random.org) and am very happy to announce the three winners for the giveaway! Congratulations to Polly R, Claire and Silke — you'll each be receiving a set of two postal stamp magnets in the mail! Thanks so much to everyone who participated — and keep an eye out for future BPS giveaways, too!

:-)

BPS Giveaway!

I've been wanting to do a little thank you to the wonderful members of the BPS for a while, so I thought we'd have a fun giveaway for the BPS! Three lucky Benevolent Postcard Society members will each win a set of one large and one small stamp magnet, reproductions of antique European stamps. All you have to do is leave a comment below for a chance to win. Contest closes at 12 midnight (PST) on March 15 2010 — I'll announce the winners on March 16. Good luck!

Please note: this contest is open to BPS members only — thanks for your interest!

BPS Café — March 2010

If you've received a March 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 February postcard and would like to thank the sender, you can still leave a comment in the February 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)

Postcarden

How perfect is this for spring? The Postcarden by Aimée of A Studio for Design is an ingenious pop-up post card that becomes a mini-garden, adding a little note of fresh and living greenery to your environment. Currently available in three designs — botanical, city, and allotment — each Postcarden comes with a packet of cress seeds. You simply add water for two weeks of goodness (the cress is edible — add a little to your sandwich or salad on the spot). Right now it's only available within the EU, but Aimée plans to expand distribution to the U.S. and other areas soon. Via Oh So Beautiful Paper.

Thanks so much to lovely BPS member Daniella for the link!

March 2010 Mailing

Hi all! Greg has just finished sending out the BPS address mailing for March — you should receive your address tonight or tomorrow. As always, please be sure to check your spam folder if you don't see it in your inbox!


(photo of vintage postcard by Ana y Esteban, via Beauty in Everything)

BPS Café — February 2010

If you've received a February 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 January postcard and would like to thank the sender, you can still leave a comment in the January 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.

P.S. Sorry for posting the BPS Café so late this month — completely forgot!

(photograph via nom nom nom)

Envelope Clutch

Love this cute envelope clutch by Kate Spade, part of her Par Avion collection — such a playful idea.

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

International Fabric Swap — Plus Postcard

Attention craftier members of the BPS — check out this international fabric swap! Participants cut up two different pieces of fabric (one a traditional print, one contemporary) into four quarters each, then (keeping one quarter of each print) send the six remaining quarters to other participants, plus a postcard of where it's being sent from. In turn, you'll receive fabric and postcards from others taking part as well. If you're interested, you'll need to sign up before February 27 — find out the details on the A Bit of This and A Bit Of That blog here.

Thanks so much to lovely BPS member Amanda for the link (and who's also a participant)!


(lovely photograph by karaku via beauty in everything)

Gathering Up

A quick note to let you know that I'm still slowly following up on the missing postcards reported by BPS members — my apologies for taking so long with this, but there's been a lot of email about it! A lot of the January postcards seem to have gone astray this time around, most likely due to the holidays — but as a few reported missing are now showing up in February, I've been holding off on following up on those ones until now to give them a chance to arrive. But I will follow up — don't worry! I'm still gathering and sorting — and thanks as always for your patience.


(lovely photo by elly yap via pretty serendipities II)

Cookie Card

How cute is this cookie card by matomeno? Fun to get in the mail — or as an accompaniment to a gift of home made cookies!

Thanks to BPS member Olga for forwarding the link!

Pigeon Post

Inspired by legendary stories of eternal love, Keith-yin Sun and Judi Chan of Pigeon Post created a beautiful set of postcards featuring classical lovers from all over the world. The set consists of six cards in the shape of a stamp, a graceful nod towards the tradition of sending love letters through the mail. Shown above is the Greek/Babylonian legend of Pyramus and Thisbe — see the rest of the series here. So lovely — and now I really want to read (or reread) the tales that inspired them! Via grain edit.

Follow Ups

A quick note to say thank you for all your emails about not receiving postcards for various months — I'll be busy following up on these over the next few days and will respond to each of you individually when I find out where they are (or aren't, as the case may be). Hopefully through this process I'll be able to sort through and remove the non-senders, so we can be sure that the BPS is a collection of happily committed members!

xo


(lovely photo by Cori Kindred, via Beauty in Everything)