October desk calendar PC swap

The first in a monthly desk calendar swap:

This swap will be to make a simple post card with a hand-decorated desk calendar on one side and a nice note on the other. Here are some examples of very nicely decorated ones:
here
or here
and here
another one
more
and even more

Some of these are letterpress or rubber-stamped, but they are just to give you an idea of what I’m looking for; I’m sure you all can come up with your own ideas to do by hand. Your decorations do not have to be monthly themes, but you do need to put a little thought and work into making them nice. These cards are to be mostly hand drawn, you can use pen and ink, watercolor, colored pencil, markers, etc. (No excessive stickers or collage or rubber stamping.) Just make sure it is something that will not get smudged or ruined in the mail; these are meant to be sent naked. You can decorate just the top portion or the whole card, but please be sure that the year, month, days and numbers remain clearly visible. These are meant to be used, so no taping or laminating, so that the recipient can mark off the days if they wish.

You can hand write the year, month, days and numbers on the card, or use rubber stamps, or you can make and print your own template on the computer, or you can use this template I created (this is a open office file, it should open in the more common word processing programs, it is formatted to fit a 4.25 x 5.5 card). Just remember this is meant to showcase your art, so be sure to leave plenty of room.

To display your card once you receive it: an empty, flipped open CD case will hold a postcard perfectly.

The easiest way to make a handmade postcard is to take an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of card stock (120lb is perfect) and cut it into quarters to make four (4) 4.25 x 5.5 inch cards. You will only need one for this swap, so you can save the others for future swaps!

I've never had a complaint about the card stock going through the mail, but if you want to use a different weight paper or to make a different size card, please make sure it will go through the post; the USPS site for postcard standards is here at the USPS site (click on the 'Rules & Restrictions' tab). International swappers, please check with your local postal service to verify proper postcard sizes and postage, but size restrictions are likely to be similar.

As with any swap, please don't forget to write “swap bot”, the group name, the swap name, and your user name somewhere on the card so your partner knows who to rate!

The send deadline is the last week of the previous month so that the cards have time to arrive before the first.