Postcards Swapped

 A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was participating in a postcard swap hosted by my friend Mark Montano...

Kayleen and I enjoyed our morning together making and creating.

She used a children's reader from the mid 1940s as her background of the postcards...

My postcards included copies of letters and text from blog posts included in the Pieces From The Past Sew Along and pictures of local landmarks that were printed on fabric.  On the back of the postcards I included a label that stated my social media handles and a QRC that, when scanned by a smart device, will direct the individual to my blog page for the sew along announcement and my family's story of coming to America.

When the postcards were finished we packed them up and sent them off to Mark and then waited.

A short time later I received the return parcel containing a variety of 10 postcards...  Mark had more than 150 participants in this swap.  It was an overwhelming success!  So much so, that many more individuals expressed their disappointment in missing it.  So Mark had announced that he will be hosting a second swap.

It was a fun and creative activity for me to participate in.  If you might be interested in participating in his second swap you can find all the details over on his facebook page - The deadline is November 15.

Here are the details from his post...

I'll be sending out the postcards to a group of special ladies that I haven't seen for a while...

 Join our international POSTCARD SWAP! The theme for this swap is UPCYCLED, LAYERED & COLORFUL! Use your imagination!

*THE FIRST 40 PEOPLE WHO SIGN UP (and send me a screen shot of their paid participation fee AND their mailing address) GET A 5" X 7" GEL PRESS!

To be eligible you must send a screenshot of your paid participation fee to me at MarkMontanoNYC@aol.com with (GEL PRESS CONTEST) IN THE SUBJECT! Please include your mailing address in the email. We are going to try to get these out quickly so you can use them for your cards if you want! *Contest opens at 7 a.m. PST Friday morning, September 25th, so entries before that won't be considered BUT you can get everything prepared beforehand to email me at that time.

UPCYCLED 4" X 6" MIXED MEDIA POSTCARD SWAP RULES:

1. There is a $10 fee to participate in the swap in the US and $15 if you are participating from another country.

This covers the cost of envelopes, organizing with my assistant, packing and 1st class postage (with tracking) for sending the postcards back to you.

Please use my PayPal.me account here: paypal.me/MarkMontanoDIY *Use the FRIEND TO FRIEND option when sending the participation fee.

2. Postcards are to be 4" x 6" in size (no smaller or larger) and no thicker than 1/8". Create any kind of art you want! Make them colorful, sparkly, upcycled and something you're proud of.

Deadline is November 15th, 2020 meaning cards need to be here with me by November 15th.

3. Everyone submits 10 cards and gets 10 different cards in return. If you want to send 11, that's GREAT! *On rare occasion a card is destroyed in shipping OR a participant's cards get lost in the mail and arrive late...I keep sets of cards for them as well just in case and an extra is always appreciated.

4. Please sign your postcards on the back so people know who made them and include a social media handle so that you can make some new friends! You could also clip a business card to each postcard. Just let your new friends know who made it.

5. Make sure that you print your return address CLEARLY so that we can easily address your package and get it back to you without a problem. We ship everything in 6" x 9" manilla envelope. If you want to enclose a return envelope, that's awesome, too!

6. Please (try) to use an upcycled material like cereal box cardboard, newspaper, phone book pages, thin corrugated cardboard, magazines or old book pages. Whatever you toss out that can be incorporated!

7. Please put 4" x 6" pieces of wax paper between each card so that they don't stick together. Sometimes heat and humidity during transit can cause some paints to stick together. Wax paper will insure everything is pristine.

8. Send postcard packages to my studio: Mark Montano 2126 Cove Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90039

9. Deadline is November 15th, 2020 meaning cards need to be here with me by November 15th

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU MAKE!

I'll be sending out the postcards to a group of special ladies that I haven't seen for a while...

Who would you send some sweet love to?  

If you were to participate, what sort of upcycled items would you use?  

I keep thinking about mini quilts... all fabric, but 4"x6" is pretty small... even smaller than the 5"x7" cards I have made.   I may give just one a try and see how it goes.  Maybe raw edges, trimmed with pinking shears... Hmmm........ 

Leave a comment... I always love to hear from you!

Piece Happy!

Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Pieces From The Past Sew Along

that features vintage Kansas City Star quilt blocks!

Linking with:

UFO Busting at Tish’s Wonderland

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch

What I Made Monday at Pretty Piney

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts