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Canada Post delay announcements

What mail times have been like for me recently (Sept/Oct 2020):

Quebec to Ontario: 2 days

Alberta to Ontario: 7 days

Ontario to British Columbia: 10 days

Ontario to Ohio: 8 days

Ontario to California: 10 days

Ontario to Wisconsin: 6 days

Ontario to Washington: 15 days

Idaho to Ontario: 15 days

Ontario to Texas: 6 days

Netherlands to Ontario: 7 days

Re-sends sent to:

• montigneyrules -- August 2020 -- Ontario to Maryland, first postcard never made it. Second postcard made it and in normal time.

• Coss - August 2020 -- Ontario to Tennesse, first postcard never made it.

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ATCs

Currently I'm doing a lot of ATCs (artist trading cards). I like the small format and that each is handcrafted.

If you have a Canadian mailing address, there's a Canuck ATC Group available.

Postcards

Borrowing from @NRGordon s description, I like making postcards from found images. If you like making postcards and you are my swap partner, send me one of your creations. Let me know how you made it and tell me something about the image you picked (why you picked it, what you like about it).

Cut n Paste postcards are one of my favourite style of postcards. They are fun to make and receive. I like rummaging through magazines for images that will make a great postcard.

If you're a swap-bot member in good standing, also like self-made postcards and ATCs, and want to have a private swap, let me know. Send me a PM (personal message).

I prefer postcards naked, stamped and written.

Please don’t feel you must include extras in our swaps. Your creative art is enough to make me happy.

I think I'm the cat's meow. Anyone else feel like that too?... You make your card and think "Wow, I made that!". Mostly I'm astonished at myself for making something that looks (at least I think so) half-decent. 😆 I'm still a kid at heart when it comes to creating.

I put a return address label on everything I send out.

If you haven't received a card within a month of my send date, please let me know.

I'm nearing retirement.

In mid-life I started to lose my hearing and now I'm profoundly HOH. I lip-face read. I do not know sign language.

Personality style: ISFP - Adventurer

🤗 Things I find interesting:

• Hygge concept - cosy, comforting, calm, zen
• Little Free Library visits while wandering and exploring
• Dogs (and generally all animals including spiders and insects)
• Coffee shops
• Whimsical things
• The beauty and peace of trees and forests
• Tartan and plaid
• Coronation Street viewer for over 30 years, but there have been many times where I've thought about quitting -- the writing can be more miss than hit most of the time
• Landscapes
• Farm/rural/pastoral scenes
• Wiener Werkstätte
• Folk art (e.g. Maud Lewis, Grandma Moses)
• Canadiana (or your country's stereotypical/cultural/characteristic things)
• Amateur art made by regular people
• Outsider art --learned the term from @Wanda
• Public art galleries
• Artist Co-op stores
• Keri Smith--in particular her Wander Society concept. Solvitur Ambulando!
• Documenting things a la the Wander Society

📺 What I've been watching:

• Dirty John / Betty Broderick

Both seasons portray some shocking human behaviour, and serve as a warning. I remember the Betty Broderick court case when it occurred in 1991. At the time it seemed the media portrayed it as a woman-scorned case. Watching this story on Netflix gave me a different perspective.

• Planet of the Humans

Without fossil fuel we have no green energy. We use about as much fossil fuel to make green energy. The planet is expected to run out of fossil fuel around 2080.

• Tremors

It's still a great comedy horror movie. One of the best.

📘 Currently reading

Finished Tea Girl on Hummingbird Lane I liked the first half. The second half became a little “Danielle Steele”-esque.

Finished Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. An epic tale. Forrest Gump meets Life of Pi.

My book club is now looking for a fun/funny/light-hearted/life-affirming novel to read. Any suggestions?

FYI, I don't use the Relationships/Friends feature. I don't understand this feature or the benefits involved, so I'm going to ignore it. But it doesn't mean I don't value swap-bot members. I do, very much.

To all those people who join my swaps and rate promptly and with a nice note...

A quote from VivaLaDiane that I like:

• I feel a 5 says - you did what you said when you said.

• A comment says "and I appreciate that".

• A heart says "you cared about more than just fulfilling your obligation - you cared about my happiness"

My hope is to brighten someone's day with what I send.

If you join one of my swaps here's what you should know about my hosting style:

Nudge

I send out nudge 'please rate' messages around the 2-week mark after everyone has mailed their cards. Please, no serial nudging, it makes my hosting job harder. Rate quickly so it doesn't end up forgotten in a pile of postcards.

If you haven't received a postcard around the one month mark, let me know.

Blank comments

When rating please comment on the card received. Let's make our partners feel like their postcard matters. So please, no blank comments. If you have a hard time thinking about what to write, this example might help you: Thank you for {describe the item}. It brightened my day...Thank you for the Van Gogh sunflower postcard. It brightened my day.

Finished

I check to see that everyone is rated and will add a "Finished" stamp to the Discussion section when all postcards are sent, received, and rated.

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Great advice and a checklist here:

Thinking of hosting a swap? Things you should consider.

Swap-Bot Terms of Use:

• You must be 18 years and older to use this site. You are responsible for any activity that occurs under your username.

• Swap-bot is a service and venue where all adult people (over the age of 18) are welcome to participate

• Swap-bot's services are not available to children (persons under the age of 18)

Here's a great wysiwg site for writing in Markdown. https://stackedit.io/app#