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Post by katiel on Oct 2, 2017 22:25:10 GMT
How cool, Erin! I wonder if I'll "run into" anyone I know on there. Time will tell, I guess.
I decided that if I was going to do a proper test of this, I should probably send out all 5 post cards, and I think that if I get at least 3 back that make me smile and feel happy, then I will continue. So I dug out 3 more postcards from my stationary stash and had a good ol' time matching them up to the people who would enjoy them most. It was surprisingly fun writing short little messages (still 10-20 sentences in my tiny writing, but just a quick 10 minute endeavor I could do on my breaks). I even sent a recipe on one to a lady in Luxembourg who liked recipes (an apple post card to go with the apple crisp recipe!). This is fun!
I'm thinking of getting my sister in on this, too. She loves letters and mail, but with two very little ones at home she doesn't have time to sit down and write an actual letter. This might be perfect for her. Especially since she doesn't have to request an address until she actually has the time to sit down and write.
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Post by katiel on Oct 1, 2017 13:47:20 GMT
After hearing so much about this for so many months, I thought, maybe I should at least give this a try. So I signed up and decided to start with 2 since I happen to have 2 postcards left over from our impromptu camping/off-roading to the sand dunes last weekend. In concept it sounds really cool. But we'll see if it seems worth it in reality. I can squeeze a lot into a postcard in my tiny writing to make it seem "worth sending" postage-wise for me. But I'm just not sure what to expect coming back my way. But it could be interesting. We will see! My first two will go out tomorrow. It is. If you select the option to send within your own country, that might help. If you have postcards travelling to Russia, you will need patience as post can take its time to get there (someone mentioned it seems slower than usual). Someone here mentioned elsewhere about sending a Postcrossing postcard to her penpal! How fun would that be! And I'm glad you mentioned about Russia, as my second card is headed there. Maybe I'll have to dig through my stationary and see if I have any other interesting postcards. And I just went and checked the box for sending within my own country, too, so thanks for the tip on that as well. Looking forward to seeing how this goes.
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Post by katiel on Oct 1, 2017 12:33:15 GMT
After hearing so much about this for so many months, I thought, maybe I should at least give this a try. So I signed up and decided to start with 2 since I happen to have 2 postcards left over from our impromptu camping/off-roading to the sand dunes last weekend.
In concept it sounds really cool. But we'll see if it seems worth it in reality. I can squeeze a lot into a postcard in my tiny writing to make it seem "worth sending" postage-wise for me. But I'm just not sure what to expect coming back my way. But it could be interesting. We will see! My first two will go out tomorrow.
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Post by katiel on Sept 19, 2017 23:32:00 GMT
I don't like to complain, because I sort of feel like any letter is good mail, especially if they've taken the time to write an actual letter. But I was a little underwhelmed by the number of cards I got in February that simply said, "Dear Katie, Happy InCoWriMo! [signed]" Were those 5 or 6 words really worth the cost of the stamp? Sometimes they were cool anyway because they had used neat cards or stationary. But one I got was just written on a white sheet of printer paper in black ballpoint pen. Just those 6 words. ... That's a common complaint over on Postcrossing. The postcard's message only includes the postcard id and Happy Postcrossing. There's a difference in, say, a postcard sent to you with the words, "Saw this and thought of you" or "just a quick note to say.... " to just general salutations. I totally agree! Short messages are great if they show some thought or intention toward the recipient. Especially something like "saw this and thought of you" where it shows you were on their mind (everyone likes to know they are being thought of, right?)
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Post by katiel on Sept 19, 2017 23:23:31 GMT
I don't like to complain, because I sort of feel like any letter is good mail, especially if they've taken the time to write an actual letter. But I was a little underwhelmed by the number of cards I got in February that simply said, "Dear Katie, Happy InCoWriMo! [signed]" Were those 5 or 6 words really worth the cost of the stamp? Sometimes they were cool anyway because they had used neat cards or stationary. But one I got was just written on a white sheet of printer paper in black ballpoint pen. Just those 6 words.
I appreciate the effort of reaching out, and like I said, any real mail is good mail. But I will admit that I found myself a bit disappointed when I would open the envelope and see that short message.
On a different note, I also got a strange letter from a guy that was the complete opposite. He acted like we had been life long friends and told stories about people I had no idea who they were, going places I had never heard of. Was Johnny a friend, cousin, brother, uncle? When they went to "Rick's" was that a friend's house, or a pub? It was never really clear. It was kind of like starting a book and realizing it must be the second book in the series because the author is acting like you already know the characters and setting. I don't know if I could call it a bad letter though. If I had known the people or places, the letter would have been awesome and newsy. But as it was, I just felt really confused when I finished reading it. It was tricky to respond to, and I never did hear back from him. But I'm not sure if that was because he realized it was a case of mistaken identity or simply because InCoWriMo ended.
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Post by katiel on Aug 7, 2017 23:44:56 GMT
Sooo, do any of you have a blacklight and would anyone like a note or letter written in Blue Ghost? I actually *do* have an ultraviolet flashlight - my sister-in-law bought the boys one, thinking it was a regular flashlight. It might be fun to actually have a use for it since it's just been sitting on the shelf unused for years.
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Post by katiel on Mar 31, 2017 12:59:43 GMT
The US will be getting a new global forever stamp next month - a succulent. I really like the moon, massive improvement over the wreaths prior, but these succulent stamps look great. We only had the wreaths briefly, here (in addition to the standard ones). I really loved the rainbowy-world ones before the moon ones, though. I was sad to see those go.
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Post by katiel on Mar 31, 2017 2:37:10 GMT
The US will be getting a new global forever stamp next month - a succulent. ooo! I just did an image search on that, and I like it. A LOT! But my son (who is super into astronomy) is going to be so sad the moon stamp is being replaced. I'll have to stock up for him before the switch.
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Post by katiel on Mar 15, 2017 14:47:59 GMT
Oh my goodness! That's crazy! Thanks for posting this. It's good info to know. I think my mom recently ordered something from vistaprint. I'm definitely going to pass this info along to her so she can keep an eye out for anything questionable on the card statements.
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Post by katiel on Mar 4, 2017 11:45:34 GMT
I kind of like it when people write a lot about themselves in the first letter, so I can feel like I'm really starting to get to know them. But I've found what really makes me enjoy a first letter is when they tell me a good story. Either something neat that happened to them, or that they experienced, or a funny story. The stories that stands out most in my mind was a girl from InCo who told me about rock climbing in a canyon near her home and being surprised to round a corner and discover herself being watched by many owls tucked in every little hole in the rock face, she wrote it really well, too, so you felt like you were there with her. Also, a member here told me a story about her cat bouncing off the screen door at full speed (also very well written) which really had me laughing. It really helps you feel more connected to the writer.
I also like it when they ask questions. Obviously, I *could* just write my reactions to what they wrote, but it's nice to know what they'd like to hear about, and makes me kind of feel like they are curious about me too, and not just talking about how awesome they are.
I did get what I suspect were two "form letter" first letters as InCo surprises. They were very short and dry. Basically just who they were, what their job was, and a sentence about their fountain pen and ink. Literally, I think their whole letters were 5 and 8 sentences long. Those were a little less exciting to reply to (but still fun to get in the mailbox!). But in their defense, they did have cool ink. Which I find I'm enjoying, even though I don't know much about fountain pens.
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Post by katiel on Feb 6, 2017 17:29:17 GMT
But I should probably add, the letter calls to me the entire time it's waiting on the couch. It's hard to wait, when mail is so exciting, but I want to fully enjoy it, so it's worth the wait.
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Post by katiel on Feb 6, 2017 16:16:45 GMT
Our postman arrives usually just at the same time the school bus does at the end of the day. So if I get a letter, I set it on the couch to wait for me while I get the kids inside, get the backpacks unloaded, talk about their day, feed everyone dinner and get the kids started on their homework. Then when all is quiet, I curl up on the comfy couch with my letter and savor it in peace. I usually start mentally forming my response while we're out later at whatever that evening's extracurricular activity happens to be, and then by the time I'm ready to reply the next day or the day after, it's easy to just write it all down, but I do usually re-read it again to make sure I haven't forgotten anything. The good news about the postman coming so late in the day is that I can usually get the reply out in the mailbox before he arrives.
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Post by katiel on Jan 28, 2017 12:49:24 GMT
I know this is an old thread, but since this thread is what got me started on this forum (I've been a lurker for about a month), I thought maybe I should add some of my usual ideas. Here are some of my favorite tuck-ins:
Koolaid packets Stickers Window clings Pixie stix Adult coloring bookmarks Seasonal socks (thin ones) Balloons Small wooden ornaments or shapes Feathers from local birds (after freezing them) Pressed leaves or flowers Trading cards (my sons send Pokémon cards) Sticks of interesting flavored gum
I got some other interesting ideas from this thread that I'm going to try. Thanks, guys!
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