SCUBA Chuck: Sent to Belgium, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, & Taiwan

TWENTY outgoing cards in this post! This all happened over the course of a few weeks.

Several more Postcrossing Forum tags heading out. Charlie Brown & Woodstock are heading for Shanghai, China. If you poke around the Santa Rosa area, you will find many Peanuts statues, decorated by local artists in many different styles. My favorite of the few I’ve spotted stands outside a seafood restaurant in a coastal area: it’s Charlie Brown in SCUBA gear.

The food package is going to Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. I don’t remember much about the cookies, but it says “crisp and buttery,” so therefore I know I loved them.

From Guangzhou, Guangdong, we go to Guiyang, GuiZhou, China— that’s where this big “Let’s Go with Lucy” card is headed. A card as large as this leaves a large canvas for stickers & washi tape, as well as plenty of room for a message. I’ve obscured the message, but you can see the stamps, stickers, & washi tape below.

Lucy pounding sand went off to Hirai, Wakayama, Japan; and Linus the door-to-door salesman to Tsushima, Aichi, Japan.

I chose Charlie Brown for a recipient in Tokyo, Japan. The evil queen went to Shanghai, China, and the beautiful sea otter was destined for Eutin, Germany.

“California is So Cool.” When I made a Disneyland trip not so long back, I tried to find postcards in the park, but failed. This I bought at a convenience store across the street, and now it goes out to Koriyama, Fukushima, Japan in a Disney cards tag.

“California Has Everything.” Now we are clearly bragging. This one is heading for Ashikaga, Tochigi, Japan, in a “what I’m reading now” tag. I’m reading The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead.

Completing the California trilogy is the California Coast Highway 1 postcard, careening off to Hong Kong.

Another California card? Yes, this view of Point Lobos goes via a rare Postcrossing draw, to a recipient in Gnesta, Sweden, who expressed a preference for cards showing places–and Point Lobos is a great place!

A second Postcrossing draw; this one goes to Dirgenheim, Germany. Sad to say, this lovely series of national park postcards neglects to mention the state where each park is located. This despite a long passage of text on the back so expansive that it leaves room for only a single stamp! The designer really does not understand the postally-obsessed. Not to mention that the postmark will more that likely obscure all of that printed prose.

Another one of the national park cards: okay, this one does mention on the back that Acadia National Park is on the Maine coast. This one is a regular Postcrossing draw, and goes to Lahti, Finland. The recipient requested that people not use stickers or washi tape on her cards, so I won’t bother to flip this one over for you.

Scuttle and his dinglehopper are going to Kuwana, Mie, Japan, in a Disney cards tag. Ursula is on the back of the card (proof below).

Now several more regular Postcrossing draws: not something I do so often any more, but I am just in the mood to send out more cards (and by extension, receive more). The California Natural Wonders card was actually in the “favorites” of the person to receive it; she lives in Zoetermer, Netherlands.

The lemurs are going to a paleontologist in Omsk, Russia. She wanted illustrations of animals, so here she goes!

The map card goes to a map card lover in Taipei, Taiwan; and the bridge card goes to Dendermonde, Belgium, to a lover of touristy cards.

Lucy and Schroeder are going to a Peanuts lover in Espanola, Ontario, Canada. Unlike the recipient in Finland, this person loves a decorated card, so I did my best on the backside.

Time for stamps, stickers, & stuff. I love these brand-new Bioluminescent Life stamps from the USPS!

Only a Monster Would Do That: Sent to Czech Republic, Japan, Taiwan, & the U.S.

The scene from the Monterey Bay Aquarium is going to a swap-bot member in Belton, Missouri.  She’s a turtle lover, so that’s why the sea turtle card.  The swap theme was the book we are currently reading, so I told her about that: “The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America,” by Michael Eric Dyson.

The cathedral goes to Vejprty, Czech Republic, to a Postcrosser who expressed interest in arts, history, churches and pictures of saints.  I like saints, too.  Saint Bernards.

Tom & Jerry went to Changhua City, Taiwan, in a Postcrossing Forum “last movie I’ve seen tag, and the last movie I’d seen at the time (I sent that card out over a month ago) was “Fan.”

The zebra card went to a zebra lover in Tamaki, Mie, Japan.  I like this person; she’s all about the message part of the postcard:

“I’m happy to receive any postcard from you. It’s a special moment for me when I read the messages.  I’d like to know about your life. Any messages would be interesting for me even if it seems very trivial events for you. It would be also nice to hear what you’re doing now, for example, writing while drinking a hot chocolate or waiting while baking cookies! 🙂 Or, how was your day? How did you spend it?”

All I wrote on the card was “Happy Postcrossing!”

Just kidding!  Only a monster would do that!  I wrote about someone I know with the same last name as her, and then I went on to tell her what I would be doing that day.

Stamps, washi tape, sticker:

Spirited Away to the Sea: Received from Germany, Japan, & the United States

Look at the stamps!  Look at the tape!

Look at the big blue blocks protecting the privacy of both sender and recipient!

I love the Peanuts & chipmunk stamps, and the Studio Ghibli tape.  That’s the backside of a postcard I received from Suzuka-Shi, Mie, Japan, part of a Postcrossing Forum Studio Ghibli trade.  Since I have no Studio Ghibli cards to offer, it’s good the other half of that trade is “something from wishlist,” and I had something the person I tagged wanted.  I think this is the first Studio Ghibli card I’ve received!  Makes me want to go grab my copy of Spirited Away & revisit that world.