Postcardist

The work that Marti Mills and Sylvanus Paul are doing with Santa Fe Sticker Fest is really interesting. And there's a postcard link. Do you add stickers to your postcards? After this thought-provoking show, you will.

You can find Santa Fe Sticker Fest on Instagram here. And you can find the website here. If you submit stickers, don't forget to add your return address. You'll hear back from them with a cool postcard.

Marti's sticker designs can be found on Redbubble. And her shirt and merchandise can be found at Chocolate for Breakfast on Bonfire.

You can find Sylvanus Paul on Instagram at Letterdoggy.

More information at ThePostcardist.com

What are the odds anyone is going to read an email 50 years from that you wrote about a trip you took this year? But what if you wrote details in letters and postcards? The odds go up considerably.

Ana Padovani, the writer of Cartas y Postales is doing just that: looking at a series of letters and postcards from 50 years ago. And she's making the story come to life on her blog. In this show, we talk about that series, Ana's writing, and the price of postage in Argentina. Oh, and there's an extra guest you'll just have to listen to find out who.

When a set of postcards started arriving at my house over the course of a week from Atelier Jean d'Eaux, I knew I was in for a mystery. The artist gained notice initially for sending sets of cards cut from record albums to chefs in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That set off a series of articles by a food writer in Milwaukee to suss out why the cards were sent. Now I have a set. And I set out to discern what they mean.

I'm joined in this episode by journalist and novelist, Ana Clara Padovani, who helps me unravel some of the clues that came with the set of six postcards from Atelier Jean d'Eaux. We play amateur sleuths and professional journalists. Do we answer all the questions? You can read an article, listen to this podcast, and watch a video to find out. Let's go. Let's play detective.

What can we learn from postcards? In this episode, I grabbed 10 random postcards from my incoming stack and decided to see what I could learn if I looked at them closely and was curious enough to discover more.

Documentation of this show, including photos of the postcards I discuss and a full transcript, can be found at ThePostcardist.com website.

Imagine your Grade 4 social studies teacher comes into class one day with a question: What if we tried to get postcards from all over the world? And then she did.

That's what teacher Stephanie Nadeau did at her Labrador Straits Academy in L'Anse au Loup, which is on the southern tip of Labrador, Canada.

Ms. Nadeau, as he students call her, set out a social media post in November 2021 that got it going.

In this episode, I chat with Stephanie about how the project started, what additional goals she has for the project, and the excitement the students have with learning about the world.

Photos and more links can be found at ThePostcardist.com

Orla created Imbolc postcards and is setting them out to catch Brigid's magic dew on the night of January 31 -- Imbolc Eve. Lucky are we who might benefit from a bit of this fairy dust in the form of a postcard.

In this episode of The Postcardist Podcast, Orla Hegarty and I talk about Imbolc; making postcards to honor the holiday; cognitive awe as we look out over the ocean; the mesmerizing qualities of humpback whales Orla sees from her living room window; giant potatoes and Irish immigration in Prince Edward Island; iron-on patches in school uniforms; and how Orla helped a small class of students in Labrador gets a large number of postcards from around the word. Postcards connect people -- and knowing smart people like Orla helps us connect to the world around us.

Details and photos and videos can be found at ThePostcardist.com

Music in this episode: The Banshee. Gravel Walks. The Old Copperplate by Sláinte is licensed under a Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

How often do you like to get mail? Or send mail?

Links to show notes at ThePostcardist.com

A show about why color postcards are predominant and sell more than black-and-white postcards. Some people have strong opinions about this topic.

Show transcript and visuals available on thepostcardist.com

Getting a postcard in my mailbox that's not mangled is remarkable.

Postcards get damaged in the mail. A lot. In fact, it's a surprise when I get a card that's unmarred. I've noticed the same reaction with others in the postcard community, who write with delight about receiving the rare undamaged card with words like, "This looks like it was hand delivered." Sadly, undamaged postcards are few and far between. Which led me to The Great Postcard Quality Project and this look at mangled mail.

You can find the complete writeup at ThePostcardist.com. It includes lots of photos of the damage.

Other links in this show include:

Grading collectible postcards

DNA from 100-year-old postcards

Pokemon Go Postcard Book

Postcards from places I'd like to go

Artists gather inspiration from many places. When you're a prolific postcard designer like Magda Wojcicka of Travel Trinkets Canada, that inspiration can come from playtime with her adorable Basset Hound puppy, Albert; from seeing the Aurora Borealis in the night sky in her town of Calgary; and by having coffee with her best friend who just walked 5km in -40C and had ice-frosted eyelashes.

In this episode, we talk about those inspirations, and much more. This is the last episode for 2021, and I wish you joy as we head into the New Year.

Travel Trinkets Canada

Magda's Stamp and Away IG account

Albert the Hound on IG