How to Make Cool Postcards from Your Travels

Kelly making post card collage at Sitka, AK library.

Marty looking for material.

While traveling 10,000 miles over 3 months with our most recent Alaskan adventure, we (mostly Kelly, ha!) managed to collect several tourist magazines, maps, brochures, etc... while stopping at several visitor centers.  It's a good way to familiarize yourself a bit when you arrive in a new place.  But, it's a bit problematic when you have a BIG bag of magazines that are no longer very useful when you are living out of a tiny car.

Instead of recycling all of the materials, Kelly had the great idea to collage the materials to make postcards.  Although it takes a while, the end result is much more interesting then a typical postcard with a cheesy font.  It's also a fun way to re-contextualize the popular reoccurring icons that define a place while reflecting on your experience.

All you need is:

-A bunch of travel brochures

-Thick white paper or post card stock

-Scissors

-Mod Podge glue (and small foam brush to apply)

First, we cut out the magazines and sorted elements by background, text, people, animals, etc...

For white paper stock, we had a book of water color paper that we used to cut several postcards from.  We went to a library to borrow their paper cutter and set up a work station.  You can use several different papers as long as it's thick enough and you can write and address it.    Make sure you cut your postcards to the right size by USPS standards.  That way you save on the reduced postcard stamps.  If you're mailing a lot like us, it adds up.  Or, if you don't have any paper already to use/reuse, you can try to find blank post card stock to make it easy.

Next: collage!  Your imagination's the limit!  A few ideas: We really enjoyed sending people "bear tips" which were found in several of the travel mags.  Another approach is to cut out a map and write notes about your route and the places you visit.  This gives a better visual description of your adventure and is much more personal.

When you've created your collage idea, glue it down with Mod Podge.  Your average glue stick won't cut it.  We tried a few post cards and the pieces fell off.  You can pick Mod Podge up from a craft store.  Get a small foam brush for applying the glue.  Glue the backs of your pieces first with a nice coat.  Once it dries, apply a coat over the entire top of the postcard to give it a nice seal.  Mod Podge also gives the post card a nice texture.

Although it's fast drying, the longer you can wait, the better... then write, address, stamp, send, boom!

We mailed nearly 65+ post cards for our Kickstarter backers.  It took Kelly and I 4-5 full days to do everything.  We had a lot of fun with our work and would like to share below!  Some are fun, some ridiculous, and some may not make any sense!

Enjoy!

Where Are We? What Are We Doing? Current Thoughts, Plans, Goals...

Our first night back in Michigan.  Camped on our friends lawn.

Hey Dreamers,

Sorry for the past 2 months of hiding... this post is nearly 6 weeks late...

But here's a few thoughts and events that happened, is happening, or is changing in regards to our Pan-American Dream:

1.  We drove from Portland, OR back to Michigan in early October to shoot our friends' wedding.

2.  We decided to stick around Michigan for the holidays.

3.  We loved Alaska very much and there's still so much for us to explore...  So... We plan to return next summer May/June, perhaps try a winter there too!  Who knows?  

4.  We had a great road tour of Alaska, but next time we want to get on some planes and boats to explore more of the village communities.

4.  Kelly got a job in Vail, CO as a snowboard instructor!  She moves this Saturday after Thanksgiving and will be there until the end of April.

5.  Marty applied for jobs in Vail... no luck yet... 

6.  Marty will probably spend most of his time in Michigan to shoot a short film he's been meaning to make for a while now...

7.  We also just upgraded a lot of our software so we can edit our photos now!  So expect photo updates on our blog in the near future!

8.  We have a LOT of video to digest... we'll be sharing it on our blog as it becomes available.

9.  Marty hopes to organize an exhibit of this past Alaskan trip.  It will take place somewhere in Michigan.  It will include photography, videos, and stories.
 

10.  Next May, we get on the road again.

Stay tuned for updates!

Keep Dreaming!

Palmer, AK Youth Film Workshop = Success

Our first youth film workshop in Palmer, AK was a success! We had 7 students registered with 3 in attendance. Although we didn't have the numbers we would have liked... we had the enthusiasm- and that's what counts!

Day 1: The students learned the principles of photography and shooting with manual settings.

Day 2: The students we're introduced to stop motion animation and experimented on their own.

Day 3: The students received a crash course in Final Cut Pro, a professional editing application, where they edited their short animation with music.  The finished work was screened with a public audience during the Food Film Festival presented by the Palmer Arts Council.

We thank Daisy, Magnolia, and Bayli for their participation in the workshop.  We appreciated your enthusiasm and the work you produced in little time is impressive and shows great potential for your future creative endeavors.  We also thank the Palmer Arts Council for their support in hosting the workshop!

It was rewarding to here that Magnolia has already signed up for a photography class at a local charter school. Her family just moved into a new residence and she even requested that her mother buy her a DSLR camera instead of furniture. We wish her luck and are excited to see her future film/photography work as she pursues photography while sleeping in a bare room...

Alaskan Farmers' Markets + Fresh International Gardens

Although the Alaskan growing season is shorter, the long days of summer sunlight (maybe not this season with a record breaking amount of rain…) allow for some intense crop production. This intensity is displayed every year at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer where world records for giant produce are broken. One of the most notable competing crops is the giant cabbage. Steve Hubacek from Wasilla broke the world record in 2009 with a 127 lb cabbage! He took 1st again this year in the Giant Cabbage Weigh Off with his cabbage weighing in at 105.6 lbs to bring home the $2000 prize.

If you go to one of many Alaskan farmers’ markets, most of which are concentrated in the south central region of the Matanuska Valley and the Kenai Peninsula, don’t expect to see 100 lb + cabbages for sale at $2000. The giant vegetables are mainly a novelty for agricultural hobbyists. However, you can expect to see a bounty of fresh, great tasting local produce. You can also expect to see the “Alaska GROWN” slogan and logo everywhere. The slogan is represented with great pride throughout the communities. We’ve spent few days traveling in Alaska where we haven’t seen someone sporting the “Alaska GROWN” sweatshirt.

After perusing around some of the markets, we tried a rhubarb lemonade, which was a delicious local treat!

But what really caught our attention was the “Fresh International Gardens” stand. It wasn’t their produce that stood out, although they had great produce, but the organization itself.

“Fresh International Gardens” is part of the Refugee Farmers’ Market Program, which was developed in 2007 by the Catholic Social Services Refugee Assistance and Immigration Services (RAIS) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service. This program helps refugees resettle in Alaska by working on a community garden where they can sell their produce at the farmer’s market. It allows refugees to learn business skills, practice English, and earn a supplemental income while gaining a sense of community. It’s a great transition for the refugees as a majority have a long cultural history of agriculture. The program is funded by donations and volunteers so all proceeds go directly to the gardeners.

This year refugees are from Bhutan and Nepal. At the market, we met 2 Nepalese gentleman and Kelly Ingram who was part of Americorps VISTA and was managing the garden. After talking with them a bit and picking up some potatoes, we exchanged emails so we could volunteer at the garden to see more of the project in action.

Kelly and I showed up to the 8,000 sq. ft plot on a Friday afternoon. There were about 10+ refugees working on controlling the weeds at the time. Some others we’re planting lettuces. Kelly Ingram greeted us and gave us some gloves to get to work. We pulled some weeds and harvested some potatoes for a few hours until it began to rain… Before leaving, the refugees worked out their schedules for the upcoming week with Ingram and we said our goodbyes.