Postcards from September 2011

Postcards that I've made using the free template I created, which you can view and download for your own use here.

First Postcard

Creating Your Own Postcard

Today I decided to make some postcards to send out, similar in feel to the ATC's I've been making. I thought I'd easily find a template for the back of the postcard. Very wrong assumption. I've just spent a good half hour searching online, using lots of different search terms for an easy postcard template that I could print onto card stock, decorate & send out quickly. Finally gave up & decided to quickly make one in Photoshop. This of course led me to try to figure what size it should be.

I went to the USPS website and got the following information.

Postcard Sizes:

According to the USPS website you'll pay .33 (that's as of today, 2/14/13) to mail a postcard with a minimum size of 5" long by 3-1/2 " high by .007" thick to a maximum of 6"  long by 4-1/4"  inches high by .016 inch thick.  International postcards just went up (January 2013) to a whopping $1.10. The good news is that there's now a Forever International Stamp so we can stock up before the next rate change. The bad news is that it now costs as much to send to Canada and Mexico as it does to Nepal.

Additional notes from the USPS site:

• Any item smaller than the minimum dimensions is not mailable
• For postcards, length is the dimension parallel to the address
• Postcards must be rectangular and be made of unfolded and uncreased paper or card stock.
• Large cards that exceed the maximum dimensions of a postcard pay the First-Class Mail letter, large envelope, or package price 

This is what I ended up making. They're 4" x 6", so all there is to do is print them on card stock (I prefer 110#), decorate the front, address it, slap a 29 cent stamp on it & it's ready to go. I did the graphics in my current favorite color, indigo blue. Easy to print black & white instead of color when I want black instead. 
Please download the blank postcard template here in pdf format.