Sooner or later in the hobby, most postcrossers recognize the slogan ”postcards made with love”. It belongs to Postallove – a Poland based web shop with unique selection of postcards and postal accessories. One of their success stories is Greetings from… series (widely known simply as GF), a collection of awesome fact sheet cards of different countries. There are lot of GF enthusiasts worldwide. The passion for design of GF cards has also brought a whole range of copycats. Finnish Postcrossing Friends had the opportunity to interview Ewa Słocińska, the owner and the heart of Postallove.
Ewa, could you introduce briefly yourself? How long have you been writing postcards/letters yourself?
– My name is Ewa Słocińska and I live in a beautiful Polish city called Wrocław. I’ve always loved sending postcards. It was the first thing on my to do list when I was on holidays.
– I discovered Postcrossing over four years ago. I found info about PC on some Polish cat blog! I loved idea of sending and receiving postcards and meeting new people. I wasn’t thinking long – I created my account (decollage) the same day I learned about PC! My first postcard travelled to Germany.
– I was very active Postcrosser for the first two years. In these days unfortunately I don’t have so much time to send so many postcards as when I started my adventure with PC, but I still love to do it from time to time.
Leon is Ewa’s CEO
What are your favourite postcard topics?
– All the people who know me, know that I love cat postcards. Since I have cat – Leon – I love cards with fluffy animals. But I like not only this kind of postcards. I’m always happy when I found a card in my mailbox. It’s such a nice thing to get a few words from someone from the other part of the globe.
Postallove – postcards made with love
When was Postallove founded and what was the main motivation for it?
– I really like to make people happy. But on these days, three years ago, when I was going to send postcard to someone I often had a big problem to buy theme cards (for example with cats). In my city it was very hard to find postcards other than typical tourist. But as you know not everyone likes this type of postcards (I’m not a big fan too).
– I worked for many years as a graphic designer and I thought that I have to try to design and print cards for people like me, for people who love beautiful images. After a few months of work Postallove.com shop was ready.
What is the origin and meaning of name Postallove by your own words?
– This place was made from love to postcards. It’s still a big part of my life. I have a lot of luck that I have work I love! In this situation you can say it’s not a work, it’s a hobby!
Aga and Karolina handle all Postallove’s orders from beginning to end – they prepare, complete and send all parcels.
Do you have your own shop in Poland or if not, do you have plans to open one?
– We have only an online shop right now, but I dream about a real one. I hope that I can create place like this in the future!
Who are your most active customer groups in addition to Polish?
– We are proud to have customers worldwide! People from Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and from … China (!) are our most active clients. I’m so glad that Postcrossers from all over the world like our cards. In this place I want to thank them for all words of support we got these years from them!
Greetings from…
GF cards are incredibly popular, when did you come with the idea about those cards and what were the first ones?
– I wasn’t planning to design GF series in the first place. In the beginning I was only thinking about Polish postcard. I designed postcard with info about my country, because I wanted to share all this funny facts with people from other countries to make Poland closer to them. When my first Polish postcard was released I got mails from other countries if I can make a similar card for them. And I did it.
– Right now in GF series there is 70 countries from all over the world. I’ll do my best to work on this series in next months, I know that people from many places still waiting for their official GF card.
Greetings from… Finland and Åland Islands
Did you ever thought this GF boom would get this high that there are even own Facebook groups dedicated to them?
– The thought never crossed my mind. But I’m, very happy that so many people like this series and that they swap cards with each other. It is the biggest reward for a designer, please believe me!
How does the creation process go from an idea to the actual card? Do you get help or wishes from local people or do you use actively Wikipedia or other information sources?
– Designing a GF postcard is a time-consuming process, especially if it concerns small countries. I always prefer to work with people from country I try to create a card. This kind of help is invaluable! I really appreciate it.
– I’m looking for all kind of sources, not only Wikipedia. A lot of interesting information is waiting on official tourism websites of countries and cities. I like funny facts sites also, but this kind of knowledge is sometimes hard to verify.
– If you ask about time – sometimes GF card is ready in a few days, designing other takes me months. I hope that people can forgive me that it takes so long in some cases. Especially in last months it took longer than usual, but in my defence I have this that I’m waiting for my first baby and I was not always in a best shape. I hope that you can forgive me that.
It is obvious that no matter what you do you can never satisfy everyone and making country identity related cards could be very sensitive to some people as we have already seen in social media. Do you get lot of feedback and/or wishes about GF cards?
– Yes, it’s true – it’s hard to make all people happy. But I really appreciate all critical voices, thanks to them GF cards become better.
There is – we can say – own sub-culture of GF styled card. Some call them nicely as “unofficial GF cards”. These “unofficial cards” covers huge variety of things – not only countries but just almost everything. How do you feel about them?
– I’m very happy that people like GF series so much! But frankly I’m not a big fan of “unofficial GF cards”. It’s a source of confusion for Postallove customers. I often get questions if these cards are available in the store. And I always say that there is so many ways to create your own design that it’s a shame to copying someone’s idea.
Can you tell what long-term plans you have for GF series? Do you have plans to make 2nd (or so) versions of most common countries (like you have three versions for Poland) in some future?
– In next months I want to publish a few more GF designs. And I really like the idea of second versions of the most popular cards. I hope that I can manage it in the near future.
Which GF cards are your own favourites you are very proud of and why?
– I’m proud of all my GF cards. Each of them is a single story. Thanks to them I met so many wonderful people, with many I’m still in a contact! It’s the best reward for me.
Finally, do you want to say something for all GF lovers/enthusiasts?
– Yes! Thank you for all your kind words and suggestions! Without you this series wouldn’t be possible!
I really like to make people happy.