Postcards have rather gone out of fashion. When I was younger, no holiday was complete without the obligatory buying, writing and sending of postcards. It was a wonderful opportunity to give a taste of your vacation. Now we tend to send a WhatsApp or Instagram message. More pictures, fewer words and although these are always welcome, I miss the joy of a postcard clattering through the letter box; the professional shot of the location and the quirky stamps.
With our busy lives, I think it is a great time to reinstate the postcard. They only take moments to write, yet have a similar impact to a letter. They are colourful and pretty and make great temporary decorations to mantlepieces and fridges. An image, a few words and a stamp are all you need to show someone that you are thinking of them, and wishing they could join you.
Paperback writer
This one has been taken from the excellent volume, Playing with Books by Jason Thompson. Most of my books end up in the charity box, but occasionally, I keep them for the papers inside to use in craft projects. To make them into postcards, simply remove the front cover (or interior one) and cut so as to contain a complete image about postcard size. Curve the edges if you wish. If possible, find titles or images that relate to the recipient.
From cover to card Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
Art for art’s sake
Art cards can be a wonderful way of remembering a special exhibition – a pictorial souvenir. They are also perfect for short messages to a friend – matching their artistic taste with the card. For a cheap but elegant greeting card, glue the postcard onto card stock.
These are keepers! A wonderful exhibition of Henry La Thangue at my local gallery; a visit to Macau and a poetry/art collaboration
Zen postcards
Few activities are better at stilling the mind than a bit of colouring. No longer the preserve of five-year-olds, colouring is now for grown-ups. Intricate designs and beautiful illustrations are available as colouring-in postcards. I particularly love Johanna Basford’s whimsical designs.
These cards take some time to complete, but the act of colouring is itself a mindful, stress reducing exercise. Since you also get a gorgeous card to send, this is a win-win. One friend, who is particularly adept at these, uses the cards for birthdays and thank yous. I have several adorning my kitchen.
An enchanting activity Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
Miniature watercolours
For those wanting to go a step further and to create their own works of art, watercolour postcards are available at the National Trust shops and other art outlets. I love that this gives you the opportunity to play artistically and to send the result rather than having it languish in a sketch book. As it’s only a small postcard, if it all goes wrong, little is lost. If it goes well, you have a little piece of original art to send.
Whilst drying my poppy heads, I noticed they had a perfect flower shape on the top. What better stamp could I find? I added a wash of colour for the background and then stamped away. I hope you like the result.
Floral recycling! Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
The traditional
The pandemic has rather curbed our travels, but many of us are exploring our own countries and those close by instead. Sending a card from your destination allows us to do a little virtual travelling and to discover what is on offer. If you do manage to move beyond your borders, share the adventure.
New places to explore Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
And after the postcard has been read? Like all cards they can be displayed for as long as you wish or kept as bookmarks or perhaps you can find a more exciting use for them. If you do, get in touch. Answers on a postcard, please!
This year, I was blessed with an abundance of beautiful cards: some painted or drawn; others hand made or coloured and more still that were delightful commercial ones. All were thoughtful and reflected the things I love. I kept them up for as long as was respectable (two weeks), admired them once more as I took them down and reread the messages, but still was sad to throw away such pleasing miniature art works.
From card to coaster
Which was when I got my brain in gear to think of how I could reuse them in some practical way. If I could work out some use for them, I could continue to enjoy them throughout the year. Wiping down my rather old and tatty drinks coasters gave me the first bolt of inspiration. What if I could cut out the required shapes, glue them onto the old card and make new coasters. Would that work? It was worth a try. After all, the joy of working with paper is that if it fails, it simply goes into the recycling bin and nothing but your time is lost.
An assortment of cards Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
I made my first selection on the basis of beauty, colour coordination and image size. A coaster with Happy Birthday scrolled across it was unlikely to look very professional! One, a print of an artist friend’s work, didn’t quite work for the coaster size, so I selected another, joyful and quirky one.
If there were any skill involved in all of this, it only lay in selecting the right part of the card to cut and use on the mat. With a little twiddling, it was quite easy and if you were really intelligent (unlike me who has only just thought of it) you could cut out a tracing paper template so that you would know exactly what the image would look like rather then just eye-balling it.
From card to coaster Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
The mats were placed face down on the back of the cards and I used a scalpel to cut out the squares as close to the mats as possible. I used a regular glue to attach them and a bone folder to ensure that they were absolutely flat. All that was needed next was several coats of good craft varnish and voila! New mats and happy reminders of my friends. They are surprisingly sturdy and now my husband is suggesting I redo the place mats. I’m thinking book covers might be fun…
The reimagined birthday card
Since a lovely friend’s birthday was coming up, I also needed to make a card for her. Could I recycle a card I had received in an imaginative way? One of my birthday gifts had been a fantastic paper cutting book and that gave me an idea. Using a very pretty floral card, I could make a backdrop for my paper butterflies. By layering the elements, it would give a 3D effect and I am rather partial to 3D.
Having carefully cut out the base of the card for the floral scene, I used chalk to colour the background, glued on the base and decorated with butterflies. For a June birthday, it seemed the perfect format for my greeting. ‘May your day be filled with sunshine and butterflies, friendship and flowers.’
Flowers and butterflies Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
It is far from perfect, of course, but I hope my friend will forgive its failings and enjoy the sentiment behind it.
Birthday wishes to bookmarks
My husband is a terror with bookmarks. I sometimes wonder if he eats them. No sooner have I given him one for the book we are reading than it is gone, only to be replaced with a blade of grass or an old receipt. My cards gave me the opportunity to fix that problem. I would make a plethora of pretty bookmarks, leave them in a pile on the coffee table and never again would we have to search for the page we left off.
Aesthetics are all, so rather than just cutting strips of card and leaving it at that, I used my corner cutter to give them a more finished look and added complementary coloured ribbons (recycled of course!) to add a little flair. It took only minutes, but gave the results I was hoping for. This tiny project is a great way to use any greeting card and makes a pretty touch to a book you are giving as a gift. If you are able to coordinate the bookmark with the book – even better. Just make a pile of them!
Book embellishments Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
The equipment needed for this project is again very simple. I use a scalpel and cutting mat, but if you have a steady hand, scissors will do fine. Again, I used my corner cutter to neaten the edges and took my bookmarks from the margin of the card and recycled the birthday wishes part. If you don’t have a single hole punch, stick your ribbon to the back or leave plain.
Passing on greetings
Good things should always be passed on in my view, so I decided that those cards which were suitable in size and design should be made into postcards for little messages. Sometimes, you just don’t have that much to say, so a postcard is the perfect solution.
Bespoke postcards! Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
This idea is slightly modified from one I found in another paper art book. The author there used paperback covers (also good) and I used my cards. Once again, my corner cutter made itself useful. On the plain side, draw a few lines for the address and if you wish write, ‘postcard’ on the perpendicular. Royal Mail will post anything (I once had a friend who posted his girlfriend a banana skin and it got there.) Other countries might be more particular.
Once you begin seeing how to repurpose cards and paper, there really is no end to it. My new paper cutting adventure has just begun and already I am hooked. Other projects are in the pipeline, but for now, I think I’m going outside to enjoy the sunshine and be inspired by nature.
Everyone loves to receive a letter or card. This is why the greeting cards industry in the UK generated a whopping £1.506 billion in 2017. There are few better ways to start the day than with a missive from a friend.
Yet, though we all love receiving mail, most of us are not so good at sending it. We text, we email, we telephone, but seldom put pen to paper. This post is intended to encourage you to do just that. With a second lock-down in the UK beginning this week, we will all be feeling a little more isolated from our friends and family. Through correspondence, we can bridge that gap.
All you need to get started Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
When I was a little girl, my letter writing began with the obligatory thank you notes. Then I began to correspond with my best friend who had moved to Yorkshire at the end of primary school. The wonderful options available to youngsters today was not available to me, so it was write or lose the friendship. Neither she, nor I, wanted that, so we wrote. I doubt our letters were very profound or even particularly interesting. I imagine that there were numerous complaints about dull lessons and wet PE, but I’m sure we also chatted about our latest crushes and minor triumphs.
The years passed. Very occasionally, we would have an opportunity to meet up, but despite the vast periods of time between, whenever we did, it had none of the awkwardness of a long separation. Because that is the brilliance of letter writing. No matter how far apart we are or for how long, our words form a firm chain of connection.
Writing allows you to fully tell your story
The reason that letter writing keeps you close is that it is the most honest form of communication. We plan what we want to say, we choose our words and are not side-tracked by interjections or subject changes. If we feel that we have said something the wrong way, we can edit it. Correspondence has all the joy of conversation with the benefits of time and contemplation.
Writing also allows you to be more personal. If you need to explain something at length or express a difficult emotion, the space and control that correspondence gives, allows you to do that. Perhaps this is why letters are the favoured form of communication for lovers. In the safety of the page, we can say what we feel without fear of censure or embarrassment.
Good letters are not bragging round robins, but rather portraits of the ordinary.
Letters are equally a window into the writer’s life that I honestly have never enjoyed in any other form of communication. By writing of their day to day existence, especially when it relates the minutiae, we get a glimpse of their reality. Good letters are not bragging round robins, but rather portraits of the ordinary: a book you are enjoying; a funny incident at the supermarket; a social event. My favourite writers include what they are doing as they write – ‘I’m on the second cup of coffee and eyeing a croissant’ or ‘Just thought I’d add this before the washing is finished’. By sharing our thoughts and the details of our lives, we connect with each other in very special ways.
Of course, cards and letters are also vehicles for marking important events, but if they become solely this, we are in danger of our letters becoming a bulletin of social highlights. And just as a picture without shadow becomes two dimensional, so does such a letter create a caricature.
I suspect that people often don’t write because they do not have anything especially exciting to say. To this, I cry, ‘Of course, you do!’ Whatever you are doing will be of interest to someone who cares about you. Have you been selecting and planting spring bulbs? Got on with the knitting project you spoke of last time? Managed to do some yoga practice? We are not in a competition to see who has done the most exciting stuff. In the privacy of a letter, we can share our most mundane achievements and express our fears; in other words, be fully human.
Stationery
Choices! Choices! My idea of heaven would be a giant stationery shop with an endless budget. There are so many ways that we can communicate with each other from micro letter/envelopes to pristine A4 cartridge paper. Choosing the right form for the task is part of the pleasure. And it should be a pleasure – selecting a card or paper or perhaps even which pen would suit. Our selection in some way is a nod to the recipient too. Not only should our stationery reflect ourselves, but what we send to whom should match. I have some pretty crazy stationery that I know some will love and others be bemused by. Send what you think they would love to receive.
Postcard
Reluctant letter writers can take heart that a postcard is an excellent form of communication and requires the most meagre amount of writing. I love that a few folks still send cards from their holidays: the scenes and stamps giving a real flavour of their location.
Art postcards too are perfect. Been to a good exhibition? Buy a card and send it with your news or get a stash of images you love and pass them on. After they’ve been read they can adorn the walls or be used as bookmarks.
The more ambitious might indulge in a little DIY here. Colour-in postcards are fabulous or you can buy watercolour books to create your own designs.
One done, one in progress Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
Envelopes
An interesting alternative is to use a letter that is itself an envelope. As a student in America, airmail letters were my life-line. They were relatively cheap and if you wrote really small, you could cram in a surprising amount of news.
Or use an envelope template (take a regular envelope and deconstruct it) and make your own on maps or gift wrap. Add lines on the reverse side and write away! Just remember to leave the areas that need to be glued blank or fold and seal with an imaginative sticker. If you want to go further, it is very easy to make origami envelopes for messages as small or large as you wish! Old magazines have an endless supply of beautiful images to work with.
Envelopes great and small Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
Cards
These are not just for special occasions. My lovely aunt sends me beautiful photography cards and my friend in the States hilarious ones to make me smile. More often than not, these adorn the mantlepiece for weeks to come and many are stored away as happy keep-sakes. This is hardly something one can do with email.
Scenes of Scotland Image: Karen Costello-McFeat
The letter
And finally we come to letters. I love the ones that go for pages and are, perhaps, written over several days. I am a paper fan, so letter writing gives me every opportunity to indulge in the most gorgeous stationery.
Though it is perfectly okay to type a letter, a handwritten one feels infinitely more personal and friendly. I even like to choose the pen and ink I will write with. If you’re going to the bother to write, you may as well go the whole way!
As the days become shorter and lock-down encloses us, it’s time to stock up on stamps and stationery. I can think of no better way to spend our time and share our love. And speaking of which, I have some letters to write.
