Author Topic: And that, dear postal services, is why people don't send letters anymore...  (Read 3684 times)

Offline Inked botanicals

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Ok, I think you all here will understand me. We are that weird people that like to send letters to our dear ones, that always look at their mailboxes and get sad when there are only bank receipts, and that spend quite a lot of money in postal stamps. Am I right?

Then come the postal services and do that!!! Why??? Who on Earth though that was a good idea????

That is a postcard (see image attached) from a Flourish Forum member, we have become postcard penpals. Calligraphy has become secondary just because of the little space for writing that a postcard leaves, but that is the thing with postcards, right? But then, somewhere on its way to me someone put a sticker all over the writing. I don't know is that happened in the USA, or when it entered Spain, or anywhere else on its way. And I hope that is done by a machine, because, really?? It was necessary a sticker just there?? The same code printed on the sticker is also perfectly printed some cm down. There is even some blank space at the end of the postcard. That sticker evokes on my mind images of a monstrous evil mailman that hates people and want to make them suffer.  :'( :'( :'(
Alba.

Instagram: @inked_botanicals

Offline Estrella

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 :o Oh, I feel your pain! So frustrating.  :-\

Offline Jamie

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Oh no, Alba! I can't believe they did that to the postcard I sent!!! D:
Have you tied to see if you can pull it off? That particular kind of sticker has come off easy for me in the past.

Offline Inked botanicals

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Oh no, Alba! I can't believe they did that to the postcard I sent!!! D:
Have you tied to see if you can pull it off? That particular kind of sticker has come off easy for me in the past.

Truth is I did not try, I did not want to tear the paper apart or anything, and I was kind of angry at the moment. And well, with the correct lighting the sticker has some transparency so I could read it, don't worry! But maybe I (carefully) try to pull it off when I find a calm moment.
Alba.

Instagram: @inked_botanicals

Offline Bianca M

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My ears just got a little hot seeing that!  In the states, we are supposed to leave 5/8" clear at the bottom for the sticker.  At first I was thinking that since they didn't have that clearance, they just put it wherever.  But, I'd bet money that they just did it willy-nilly.  Because that's how it goes these days, doesn't it? 
« Last Edit: May 25, 2016, 02:27:15 AM by Bianca M »

Offline Jamie

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I didn't even know about the 5/8". Whoops.

Offline evjo

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Most of the time the sticker will peel off without damaging what is beneath.  Maybe the rule is that the fancier the writing is, the more the sticker will be difficult to remove.  Murphy's Law.
Ev

Offline Bianca M

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I didn't even know about the 5/8". Whoops.

Most people don't, or wouldn't know.  I learned the hard way - designed a client's save the date postcard, and the website was neatly nestled within a design right in that area, about 3/8" up from the bottom.  It looked great, but most guests didn't know there was a website!  Had to send another post card, and pay for it, of course.

Offline Erica McPhee

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Believe it or not, the post office uses those stickers so they *can* be removed and to not print directly on the mail.  ;D
Warm Regards,
Erica
Lettering & Design Artist
Flourish Forum Shop
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Offline sybillevz

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Actually, I have to admit I'm ok with the stickers as they are usually easy to remove without leaving any marks on the paper...
What makes me crazy is all the "litterature" they print on the envelope (usually next to the stamp).  That can't be removed and it makes a pretty envelope look  :'(
Try to remove it carefully, I'm sure it'll come off  ;)

Offline himasf

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That's not so bad. Look at this letter I sent to a potential client last year. I don't even know how this could've happened but it did. I think it was delivered by a pack of wolves. Photo: Michael Klein

Offline Bianca M

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Um.  Did the wolves set it on fire, too?

Offline jeanwilson

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there are lots of videos that show how fast the mail is going as it is processed. when the part of the flap that is not gummed snags on the machine, it's pretty easy for the whole envelope to be torn. this has happened to me so many times with the translucent vellum envelopes that i now used the transparent seals to adhere the non-gummed part of the flap. the seals are round, with a perforation and are meant to fold over the edge. i tear the circle in half and put one half on each side of the envelope.

Offline AnasaziWrites

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there are lots of videos that show how fast the mail is going as it is processed. when the part of the flap that is not gummed snags on the machine, it's pretty easy for the whole envelope to be torn. this has happened to me so many times with the translucent vellum envelopes that i now used the transparent seals to adhere the non-gummed part of the flap. the seals are round, with a perforation and are meant to fold over the edge. i tear the circle in half and put one half on each side of the envelope.
That's a good idea. I often use a glue stick to fasten down the non-gummed part of the flap to lessen the probability of the envelope being shredded.
That machine also illustrates why the USPS charges extra if the envelope will not bend or contains a rigid or irregular object. Can you imagine putting in a pen in an envelope and have it run through the sorting machine? Big problem.

Offline Inked botanicals

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That's not so bad. Look at this letter I sent to a potential client last year. I don't even know how this could've happened but it did. I think it was delivered by a pack of wolves.

Oh my!! Very wild wolves!!  :o

By the way, I took off the sticker. It was not really easy, and there is a little bit of gum residue, where the writing was. It peeled off quite well where there was no ink. But it keeps readable!
Alba.

Instagram: @inked_botanicals