Chain Mail arond the World and Back

Of course, Postcrossing is an exchange of postcards, where sender and recipient are connected by a computer, you send, you receive, and you enjoy the moments of surprise and news from other parts of the world.
Have you ever heard of Keri Smith?  You might, she "Wrecks Journals" and she encourages people to do so, too. She triggers your creativity, and if you hesitate to go out of the box, she will encourage and coach you  to try it.
If you don't want to use a journal, you can use postcards, like the postcard book "Everything is Connected"
And here - of course - is the link with Postcrossing!

One day - february 6, 2015 - I started a chain letter to my friend maleko in Hawaii.

When he received the postcard he wondered where the card might go, and with a subtle note he made sure that the card would find it's way around the world, back to me.

In the meantime, the card has travelled to Hawaii again. Thanks to all who have passed it on!

EVERYTHING  IS  CONNECTED!

"You and Your Museum" Project 2014

Dear Postcrossing friends,
I think I have neglected you for some time!
As you might know, begin 2014 I have started a Postcrossing project: "You and Your Museum".
(you will read about it in my profil, or maybe you already have...)
High time now to share some experiences!

When I started postcrossing in 2011, one of my first postcards ever received was a card from a museum:

Salinen-Museum Halle, (D)

The chandelier is made of salt covered willow branches, and the card comes from the Saline Museum in Halle, Germany.

Every now and then people sent stunning museum postcards with art and artefacts from all over the world, maybe because I have told in my old profile that I am interested in culture, history, art and textiles...

Bill Viola: The Greeting
De Pont, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tilburg (NL)

Terracotta Warriors and Horses, Xian (China) 

Corset
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, (GB)

Casa Tivadar
Open Air Museum Maramures (RO)

I must admit: I love museums. The small and the big ones, hot spots or secret, big and shiny or hidden. 

And by starting the project I asked people to take me on a tour to their museum, invited them to share their favorites and to tell me about their relationship to museums.

To my great surprise, since then I receive the most diverse museum cards every week!

A great compliment to all fellow postcrossers who contribute to my project so thoughtfully and with love. 

Even if you haven't got a museum card at hand, often you contribute with a story! To me, your thoughts are surely as meaningful as the photo on the card! So if you tell me about the museum of your village, or your dream of your "Night at the Museum", your card will also be a part of my "Museum of Museum-cards".

Only the thought of what people want to "keep" and see over a thousand years in a museum seems to be a bit inconvenient. Still, if you agree to go go on that imaginary journey into the future and look back, I'd be happy to know! 

And sometimes it happens that a whole "tsunami of love" hits my mail box! 

See:

Glass Button and Jewelry Museum
Jablonec (CZ)

Africa Museum, Tervuren (B)
A complete collection with
a real vintage postcard, a recent postcard,
a ticket and a special stamp

From Ireland the wonderful Celtic Harp 2014 Europa stamp
(I have voted for this one :-)  )
and Art Photography from three different musea of three different countries! 

Is there a museum I dream to visit?
Yes, sure, there are a few, for various reasons...
but there are still so many museums I don't even know that they exist!
So, I stay curious and I hope to learn much more!

Confused about Holland or The Netherlands?

There is a widespread confusion about the country where I live.
Is it "Holland", or is it "The Netherlands"?

Well, sometimes we even add to the confusion  when we send postcards with "Greetings from Holland":
the pics will show the typical Dutch tulips at Keukenhof or the windmills of Kinderdijk.
Aren't those the most iconic items to signal:  this is a card from The Netherlands?

The following video can make things clearer, but be prepared for some surprises :-)

(video by CGP Grey  on YouTube)

Mother's Day Out - Den Haag

For quite some time I had planned a day-trip to Den Haag, the city where the Dutch government is seated.

One of the many interesting sites of Den Haag is the Vredespaleis (Peace Palace). 

This building celebrates it's centennial this year. Today the Peace Palace houses two main institutions:

the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the International Court of Justice 

The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial branch of the United Nations, and it is the only primary organ of the United Nations outside New York. 

Unfortunately, as I went there on a normal business day, it was not accessible for visitors.

It is a kind of office, after all.

(Guided tours are offered on saturdays, if there are enough requests)

But there is a visitor's center, where general information is provided by audio tours in many languages, and there is a little shop where they sell books and - yes: postcards.

To my surprise they had small packages with a set of cards - and a sheet of stamps, published by the Vredespaleis as Dutch "private stamps".

And here we come to another special item of the International Court of Justice:

They have got their really very own stams, which can only be used for ICJ office mail, and

they have got an own post office, where their mail is stamped.

Of course, they have their own cancellation, too.

As I happened to have a few of those special stamps I asked the friendly ladies at the visitor's center if they could mail some cards for me via the "Court mail", and it was no problem.

So I had a lunchtime picknick on the "peace" border and wrote postcards in the autumn sun.

What a peaceful day!

Unicorn Farts of: Scheetjes van een eenhoorn

Een poosje geleden heb ik op Postcrossing een verzoekje geplaatst aan de Postcrossers in Amerika, of ze misschien een zakje van een bepaald merk limonadepoeder zouden kunnen opsturen, omdat ik op het internet gezien heb, dat men daarmee ook prachtig wol verven kan.

En dat wilde ik heel graag uitproberen.

De reacties waren ongelofelijk!

Van alle kanten van de VS kwamen ontzetend lieve brieven, begeleid van zakjes limonadepoeder!

Zelfs uit Italië kwam een verrassings-brief met kaarten en kleurtjes!

Een hele regenboog uit Hawaii!

En een nieuwe hartelijke vriendschap is ontstaan!

Dit is het moment om de eerste resultaten te laten zien en iedereen nog eens hartelijk te danken voor de moeite die ze gedaan hebben!

Some time ago I asked my Postcrossing friends in USA if they could send a sachet of Kool Aid for yarn dyeing. I came across some tutorials and I wanted to try it!

The reactions were incredible!

There came lovely letters from all parts of the US, with sachets of fantastic colours!

There was even a letter from Italy with cards and colours!

A whole rainbow from Hawaii!

And new wonderful friendships developed!

This is the moment to show the first results and thank everybody for their kindness, generosity and the efforts they made!

De eerste streng - the first skein

Verrassing: de kleur zit echt in de wol - en de natte keukenpapieren zijn gewoon keurloos!

Surprise: the colours are in the wool - and the kitchentowels absorbe only water!

AMORE  uit Italië

AMORE  from Italy

            Kersen- en bessen-kleuren
            en de sokken in wording!







           Cherry-berry colours
          and the socks in progress!






 

De regenboog-kleuren

The rainbow colours 

p.s. 

Unicorn Farts is een manier hoe je wol kunt verven om een mooi regenboog-patroon te breien :-)

Unicorn Farts is a certain way to dye wool to achieve a rainbow pattern :-) 

Bad-eendje

Een grote verrassing in mijn brievenbus:
De 16,5 m grote "Bad-eend" van Florentijn Hofman in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong 

(met speciale postzegel en stempel) 

Hij is op wereldreis... wie heeft hem gezien en stuurt een kaartje?
;-)

Hong Kong goes Dutch :-)

A big surprise in my mailbox:
The 16,5 m high "Rubber Duck" by Dutch artist  Florentijn Hofman floating at Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong

(with special stamp and cancellation)

It travels the world... who has seen it and will send a postcard?
;-)

Geen kwaad!

geen kwaad horen - geen kwaad spreken - geen kwaad zien

hear no evil - speak no evil - see no evil

"Gotochi" - kaarten uit Japan zijn erg gewilde collectors items!

Door een "tag" (soort "ruilhandel")   op het forum van Postcrossing werd ik gisteren verrast (en verwend!) met een Gotochi - kaart uit de prefectuur Tochigi: De Drie Wijze Apen! Oorspronkelijk zijn ze beelden in de Nikko Toshogu Schrijn - een van de UNESCO Wereld Kultuur Erfgoederen!

"Gotochi" - cards are very popular collectors items!
In a "tag" (kind of swap)  at the Postcrossing forum I was surprised (and spoiled!) with a Gotochi card from the Tochigi-prefecture: The Three Wise Monkeys! Originally they are in the Nikko Toshogu Shrine - one of the UNESCO WHS!  
 

Postcrossing

Ongeveer twee jaar geleden ontdekte ik Postcrossing. Het idee is: stuur een (ansicht)kaartje naar iemand ergens in de wereld, en krijg een kaartje van iemand anders ergens in de wereld terug. Zonder envelopje, gewoon van die ouderwetse enkelvoudige kaartjes met een vriendelijke handgeschreven boodschap en leuke postzegels.  De hoofdtaal is Engels (waarom ik hier ook in het Engels schrijf). Maar met een beetje goede wil en een vertaalmachine kom je er wel.  Er is ook een forum voor verzamelaars en mensen, die er niet genoeg van kunnen krijgen... 

Uiteraard is iedereen vrij te kiezen hoeveel kaarten men wil sturen. In het begin kan je hoogstens vijf adressen tegelijk aanvragen, maar dit verandert hoe meer kaarten je hebt verstuurd.

About two years ago I discovered Postcrossing. The idea is: send a postcard to someone somewhere in the world, and get one back from someone else somewhere else in the world. No envelopes, a simple postcard with a kind handwritten message and nice stamps. The main language is English (that's the reason for my bilingual blog). But with some good-wil and a translating programma one can manage. There is also a forum for collectors and people who can't get enough...

Of course everybody is free to choose how many cards he wants to send. At the start you can have up to five cards travelling, but it changes with the amount of cards you have sent.

Hoe weet je dan wat je moet opsturen of wat je moet schrijven?  

Als je je aanmeld op postcrossing kan je een profiel aanmaken. Daar kan je aangeven wat voor ansichtkaarten je leuk vind en wat je graag van andere mensen wilt weten. Tip: lees eerst een aantal profielen van anderen en kijk wat anderen op hun prikbord hebben staan. Als je een adres krijgt kan je zien wat de andere graag wil en je kan op zijn prikbord kijken welke soort kaarten hij graag wil en wat hij al heeft.

How do you know what to send and what to write?

When you sign up in postcrossing you can make a profile of yourself, where you can tell people what kind of postcards you like and what you like to know from others. Tip: read some profiles from others first, and look at their wall of postcards. If you get an adres you can see what the other likes to receive and you can look at his received postcards / favourites wall whant you could send.