Sign Up | Dates & deadline | Rules | Benefits | Share the joy | Resources | Inspiration | FAQ | Newsletter

---

iHanna’s DIY Postcard Swap

Would you like to send out some happy mail?

Dates and deadline for Spring 2024 – join today

Please note: The rules and guidelines are simple, but please read through this entire page, especially if this is the first time participating, and check the FAQ linked above if you’ve got questions. Thank you.

Sign up by (last day to sign up / join us) is	June 1, 2024
Deadline (the Date when your Postcards Should be ready to send out)	June 5, 2024

The DIY Postcard Swap Rules

1. Join the swap by paying the 8.50 dollar fee	This swap is growing every year and I love that, one year there were way over 200 participants! To be able to take the time to arrange it, I need to charge a small fee. To pay is easy, quick and secure. Your payment goes through the well-known site of Paypal. You can also pay with a credit card: Just click the paypal button and instead of logging in, choose card payment at the bottom of the page.
2. Fill in the registration form	Filling in the registration form below the paypal button is a very important step to get you into the swap, don’t miss it. After paying via paypal or credit card you must also fill out the sign-up-form. In the second field of the sign up page (after prefered email) please state in this order: full name postal address, hit one enter after each line, thanks include your country – yes even if you’re from the USA (!) Press ENTER after each row, the box will expand to accomodate your full address including country last. Please note: You are not entered into the swap if you do not complete this step. You will get a google confirmation email containing your entered details, if you can’t find it check your spam folder. In that e-mail you should double check that it’s all correct, and if you need to change or add anything contact me. If you are not sure the page submitted correctly please contact me as soon as possible.
3. Make 10 handmade postcards	You will make 10 postcards. Your choice of postcard size and style. Just remember no copies – just original art. Bought postcards are beautiful – but those are not your best choice in this swap. Instead try to be artistic with your handmade postcards, and have fun while making them. DIY actually means “Do It Yourself”, and you can experiment with what you’ve got at home. Try collage, mixed media, create flat fabric art, alter an existing postcard from your paper stash (!), paint with watercolors or acrylics, draw a mandala, make a scrapbook style card, embellish, sew, paint, embroider, etc! I’ve got plenty of blog posts with postcard inspiration, all listed below.
4. Send your cards out on time!	You will receive ten different addresses via e-mail from iHanna after the deadline date. You will get postcards from 10 other people. Finish and send your postcards in a timely manner, please. It’s not okay to let people wait several weeks after deadline! Simply get your postcards to the post office on time, thanks. See all dates above and Note the Dates in your Calendar. After you’ve signed up you should note the date of when the postcards should be ready to send (see deadline), and that is also when you can check your e-mail to have our 10 addresses. So, please have 10 handmade postcards ready to send out by the Postcards Deadline date above. A few days or so before that date you will receive your addresses, so you should be able to get them out that day. Please, please, make sure you have added my e-mail address to your digital address-book by then. It’s hanna (at) ihanna . nu
5. Some Optional Ideas	Detail on these ideas below, but just quickly: Invite your friends to be in the swap! Help spread the word by sharing the link button on instagram. Host a postcard party! Document your process in photos, video, make a instagram reel or a blog post! Share your postcards online! Blog about them! Add your postcards to the Flickr Group! Comment on other’s images and be encouraging and kind. Use the hashtag #ihannaspostcardswap on Instagram, Flickr and Facebook!

After Signing Up – important to also read through

It is your responsibility to check for the google mail confirmation, read through it and to make sure you have typed in the correct address.

Hanna will personally send you the 10 addresses via e-mail after the deadline (last day to sign up but before Send Day)! If you can’t find that email Please first check your spam folder, your paypal e-mail address – and then contact me via another e-mail of yours or lastly via instagram, thanks.

If you did not receive your addresses it is your responsibility to let me know ASAP – and I will resend them to you, maybe to another of your e-mail addresses?

If you do not get a reply from me within a few days it is because your email service provider is blocking my domain name/email and you need to let them know – and contacting me another way to let me know, best from another email address. Thanks for your understanding.

If you want to be notified about the next swap, please sign up for my Newsletter.

       

How to share the graphics

Click on the button above that you like the most, save the big image to your computer/smart phone/tablet and then upload it to where you want to share it, for example to instagram or your blog.

If it’s on your blog link it to this page (http://www.ihanna.nu/postcard-swap/).

You sharing the swap with your friends, family and followers helps me a lot, and I appreciate it immensely. Thank you!

Document & share what you make

Once you’ve made your postcards we’d love to take a peek! This is optional, but rather fun and full of possibilities…

If you have a blog and write about your art process there, please share a link to that post in the comment section of the current swap post on my blog. Also feel free to take photos (or to scan) finished postcards and share them in the Postcard Flickr Group.

There is no need to tag me by name in every photo or tweet you share, I’ll see it if you include the hashtag #ihannaspostcardswap when posting on social media like youtube, instagram, facebook or twitter!

You don’t need to have a blog to sign up, nor do you need to share anything online – but it would be nice if you took the time to be supportive in our creative community (commenting, making extra cards for those who don’t get all of theirs etc). Swapping is about being a part this awesome group of people who loves to swap too!

Thanks for visiting other participants, spreading your creativity and leaving encouraging comments etc. Include your email if you want to be contacted/thanked by the receiver (connect with each other!), that is much appreciated by most swappers. It’s much more fun to get a postcard from a fellow human being than someone that reminds more anonymous.

Back story of the DIY Postcard Swap

iHanna started the first swap in spring 2010 and since then it’s grown a lot.

In fall 2015 we reached the 6th year of the DIY Postcard Swap – and we’re continuing. Up until then there have been 10 swaps and over 10.000 handmade postcards generated though this swap, and after that even more. That is not bad, for keeping the postal workers busy!

On our second year a whopping 2800 postcards were created – the record so far. Spring 2014 more than 200 participants singed up and in spring 2016 we were 180 participants. In the DIY Postcard Flickr Group, started the 4th of February 2010, you could find 2,160 photos and 320 members a while back, and even more today.

Most participants are from the states, then Scandinavia and Europe – but we have had people from every continent joining at one time or other. This is truly an international swap. Your hostess, Hanna, is from Sweden.

You can read more about what goes into the swap here and a bit about sustainability here.