Hey, All!
Our Cat (Craig) left an excellent comment on the last post. I know that not everyone reads comments, but this one had valuable content and shouldn't be missed.
So here's what Cat shared (taking her info from the USPS):
U.S. First-Class Mail® International Letter maximum length is 11-1/2" long, 6-1/8" in tall ,or 1/4" thick.
I have a piece of cardboard that I've cut a 3/16"-wide slit in. If my card slides
through that (even if it's a tight fit), I know I am good for standard
postage. (GREAT TIP, CAT!!!)
Square envelopes and rigid envelopes (non - machinable) cost
just a bit more.
Standard U.S. postage right now is $1.15 for "normal size
and shape" envelopes; rigid or square costs $1.36.
Anything 1.1 - 2 ounces costs $1.98 to $2.19.
Once you get beyond that 1/4" thickness, regular-size envelopes (whether US or International) are classified as packages and the
price goes up quite a bit.
If anybody else has any information they can copy and paste into a comment from their country's postal office, we can create a database for easy reference.
Deborah, Gail & Jo
Friday, 28 April 2017
Friday, 14 April 2017
Lowering the Costs of International Postage
Hey, All!
Just wanted to remind everybody that the world's post offices can stick it to you with international postage if you're not careful.
It costs about $3 here in America to mail something out of the country. However, if I add any bulk - anything they can "feel" (gems, buttons, more than 1/4"-thickness of lace, etc.), they add about $10 to the cost! Nobody wants to spend $13 (or more) on postage for a card, right?
Another thing about the higher cost is your card's reclassification as a "package." (Now you've done it!) "Packages" (even though they're envelopes) can take much longer to arrive than "official" envelopes.
You aren't required to send anything other than your card, but if you want to send a little something extra, stamped images, or die-cuts, or stamped die-cuts are flat and shouldn't add anything to the cost of postage.
(Unless you stick about 80 of them in there.) LOL!
Feel free to do whatever you like, of course, but we don't want anybody to ever feel like they're obligated to send any "extras" - the gift is in the card itself!
Have a great weekend,
Deborah, Gail, and Jo
Just wanted to remind everybody that the world's post offices can stick it to you with international postage if you're not careful.
It costs about $3 here in America to mail something out of the country. However, if I add any bulk - anything they can "feel" (gems, buttons, more than 1/4"-thickness of lace, etc.), they add about $10 to the cost! Nobody wants to spend $13 (or more) on postage for a card, right?
Another thing about the higher cost is your card's reclassification as a "package." (Now you've done it!) "Packages" (even though they're envelopes) can take much longer to arrive than "official" envelopes.
You aren't required to send anything other than your card, but if you want to send a little something extra, stamped images, or die-cuts, or stamped die-cuts are flat and shouldn't add anything to the cost of postage.
(Unless you stick about 80 of them in there.) LOL!
Feel free to do whatever you like, of course, but we don't want anybody to ever feel like they're obligated to send any "extras" - the gift is in the card itself!
Have a great weekend,
Deborah, Gail, and Jo
Friday, 7 April 2017
May 2017 Sign-Up
Hello and
welcome! If this is your first time here, we hope you'll sign up and join in
the fun! We've now exchanged over 2,267
cards by participants from 38 of
the 50 United States and 30 countries.
This is
an international card exchange. Please do not sign up unless you are willing to
actually make and send a card. Please email a 100-200k photo of your handmade
card to cardchainchallenge[at]yahoo[dot]com by Monday, 29th May, 2017. Your card should arrive at its destination by Wednesday, 31st May, 2017.
Challenge Directions
Make a card using at least one of the following four options. (You can actually use two, three, or all four options, but you are only required to use one of them.)
Make a card using at least one of the following four options. (You can actually use two, three, or all four options, but you are only required to use one of them.)
Color Palette Option
(Exact matching is not required.)
or
Sketch Option
(Orient as desired.)
or
Theme Options: Stars/Trees/Friendship
or
Product / Technique Options: Washi Tape and Origami
Sign Up Deadline
You have until Saturday, 6th May, 2017, to sign up below.
Reveal Post
All of the cards with links to their creators' blogs or online photo galleries will be revealed here on Friday, 2nd June, 2017.*This is an international card exchange - you send a handmade card to the person above you on the list, and you receive one from the person below you on the list. We do a reveal of all the cards with links to the challenge participants' blogs or online photo galleries - which is a great way to increase exposure to your blog or photo gallery! Please read the Rules and FAQ's if you want to play along.
Sign up below and please include a link to your blog/photo gallery. Please sign up using your first name followed by your state, province or country. EX: Ann in Texas; Betty in Ontario; Darla in Italy.
See a past CCC reveal.
Total cards exchanged as of 31st March, 2017: 2,267!
Total cards exchanged as of 31st March, 2017: 2,267!
An InLinkz Link-up
W H O' S B E E N P L A Y I N G
W H O' S B E E N P L A Y I N G
Past participants have hailed from: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Holland (aka: The Netherlands), Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Norway, The Philippines, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, South Africa. (We only need to get some countries that begin with L, O, Q, R, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z to keep up with our alphabet list! We have 161 countries to go before we have total global participation!!!
As for the USA, past participants come from: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. We're still missing: Connecticut, South Dakota, Delaware, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
As for the USA, past participants come from: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. We're still missing: Connecticut, South Dakota, Delaware, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Sunday, 2 April 2017
March 2017 Card Chain Challenge Reveal!
Hello and welcome to the 2017 March Card Chain Challenge Reveal!
We had 23 participants who exchanged cards across the globe this month (making our total, 2,267 thus far!) using at least one of the following options:
Sketch
or
Themes: Flowers / Fish / Friendship
or
Products/Techniques: Stampers Anonymous Stamps / Sequins / Fussy Cutting
Who Sent What To Whom
And that brings us full circle.
Thank you, everyone, for sharing your artistic talent and doing your part for global relations! We've now exchanged over 2,267 cards by participants from 38 of the 50 United States and 30 countries!!!
If you want to see more of these artists' card art, check out their blogs and please leave 'em some love in the comments! (Don't forget to Pin your favorites.)
Our Next Two Challenges
Hey, Gentle Readers, if you want to join in the fun, you can sign up for the April Card Chain Challenge from Tuesday 7th March to Thursday 6th April. All cards exchanged will be revealed here on Tuesday 2nd May, 2017.
The May Card Chain Challenge sign-up begins on 7 April and ends on 6 May. All cards exchanged in that challenge should arrive at their destinations by 31 May and will be revealed here on Friday 2nd June, 2017.
Hope to see you here!
Thanks for stopping and have a blessed day!
Deborah, Gail, and Jo
W H O' S B E E N P L A Y I N G
We had 23 participants who exchanged cards across the globe this month (making our total, 2,267 thus far!) using at least one of the following options:
Color Palette
or
or
Sketch
or
Themes: Flowers / Fish / Friendship
or
Products/Techniques: Stampers Anonymous Stamps / Sequins / Fussy Cutting
Who Sent What To Whom
And that brings us full circle.
Thank you, everyone, for sharing your artistic talent and doing your part for global relations! We've now exchanged over 2,267 cards by participants from 38 of the 50 United States and 30 countries!!!
If you want to see more of these artists' card art, check out their blogs and please leave 'em some love in the comments! (Don't forget to Pin your favorites.)
Our Next Two Challenges
Hey, Gentle Readers, if you want to join in the fun, you can sign up for the April Card Chain Challenge from Tuesday 7th March to Thursday 6th April. All cards exchanged will be revealed here on Tuesday 2nd May, 2017.
The May Card Chain Challenge sign-up begins on 7 April and ends on 6 May. All cards exchanged in that challenge should arrive at their destinations by 31 May and will be revealed here on Friday 2nd June, 2017.
Hope to see you here!
Thanks for stopping and have a blessed day!
Deborah, Gail, and Jo
(If you're reading this and have never participated, please consider doing so. And if you see that your country or state has never been represented, you are honor-bound to sign up and show that y'all are friendly and interested in building global peace - and your stamp collection - one card at a time!)
As of 31 March, 2017, we've exchanged over 2,267 cards in this little jaunt - most of which were made by regular participants. And where do they come from? Read on....
Past participants have hailed from: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Holland (aka: The Netherlands), Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Norway, The Philippines, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, South Africa. (We only need to get some countries that begin with L, O, Q, R, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z to keep up with our alphabet list! We have 161 countries to go before we have total global participation!!!
As for the USA, past participants come from: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. We're still missing: Connecticut, South Dakota, Delaware, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
As of 31 March, 2017, we've exchanged over 2,267 cards in this little jaunt - most of which were made by regular participants. And where do they come from? Read on....
Past participants have hailed from: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Holland (aka: The Netherlands), Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Norway, The Philippines, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, South Africa. (We only need to get some countries that begin with L, O, Q, R, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z to keep up with our alphabet list! We have 161 countries to go before we have total global participation!!!
As for the USA, past participants come from: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. We're still missing: Connecticut, South Dakota, Delaware, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
If you're new to the Card Chain Challenge ("CCC") this is an event where everybody wins. Basically, you make a card for the person above you on the chain and you receive a card from the person below you on the chain. It's a personalized swap, sort of, and it's a ton of fun! Go here for past Chains.