Postcards here from Dana Point, San Francisco and Bakersfield
It was well over fifteen-years-ago when my now thirty-one
year old daughter went off to Summer Camp bringing along her exchange student “sister”
from France. Sandra, the student, was a young woman I fell in love
with instantly.It is an unspoken rule that one must send mail to her children at camp, so I decided I wanted to send postcards. Instead of Bakersfield postcards, though, I sent postcards cataloguing Sandra’s visit so far. My favorite postcard was of the two of us with our arms around a street kid on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles near the Chinese Theater. Back then, the homeless teens would pose with you if you gave them a dollar.
Since those days, the characters around the Chinese theater have gotten quite professional. Last Summer they were working in teams and one particularly aggressive Superman told me it was $3 a photo for each of them. I liked it better when it was children working for food.
I’m getting off course, though. What I wanted to share with you is this: if you are like me and can’t find the most picturesque postcards, why not take literally seconds and make your own with items you more than likely have in your home right now.
Choosing Your Photos May Be What Takes the Most Time!
Supplies:
One or more 4 X 6 index card(s)
One or more 4 X 6 photo(s)
Spray adhesive (or other glue, I just like how spray adhesive adheres)
One of more recipient(s) happy to receive your mail.
Here are the couldn’t be simpler than this steps:
- Line up your index cards and choose the photos for the postcards you plan to make during that session.
- Spray adhesive on up to three index cards at a time.
- Carefully line up the photo with the index card and press them together.
- To feel secure about the adhesion, you may want to put your fresh cards underneath a large reference book just for extra assurance.
- Write your note and send it off!
Today I am making cards from Jack Kerouac Alley in San Francisco, the beach in Dana Point, Emily Dickinson’s home in Amherst, Massachusetts, the Mojave Desert and finally some scenes around the town I call home, Bakersfield. The inspiration to make postcards is the February Letter Writing exchange called “Lettermo”. Some of the participants collect and send postcards. Since I like to give people what they want, I figure, “Postcards it is!”
Tonight I am taking a friend to the airport in Los Angeles and I plan to spend the evening there, visiting some places I have never been in the past. As I made my postcards this morning I realized how much my photography has changed over the years and decided to challenge myself to take some uniquely Los Angeles photos I will turn into post cards tonight.
You can even do this when you travel. I use Walgreens to develop my photos, so you could simply upload your photos to the Walgreens website and get them printed in whatever city you are visiting at the time. How fun for your friends at home to have a tangible photo with a handwritten note about your trip to Zion National Forest with your children’s faces smiling back at them?
Sharing online is great, but do you remember receiving your last postcard in the mail?
If you make extra postcards, you will have plenty for your next mailing or to write while you are the passenger on your road trip. You may have your children decide which photos to use or write a note to Granny or Mr. Lollar or the teen who is feeding your cats at home.
My daughter is at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. I may send her a postcard of my and Elmo soon: yes, I had a photo taken with a life size Elmo the last time I was in Hollywood.
Like most creativity, it has inspired me to make more art.
When will you take a moment to make and send some personalized, artful postcards?
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Julie Jordan Scott is a Creative Life Coach, a Poet Performer, a Writer and a Mommy Extraordinaire. Stay in touch with her via twitter or facebook or you may always call or text her at 661.444.2735 to arrange a complimentary coaching session.
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© 2013 by Julie Jordan Scott
