REVIEWING SOME GUIDELINES

hhc - from SC beach - October 2019

Hello Dear Mail Art Swappers, 

I apologize for falling behind in processing the two most recent group swaps.  After a long road trip, fatigue set in.  But, I'm back.

Lately I have been noticing some issues which I would like to address:

• Sometimes postage has not been included with swap art 
• Sometimes self-return labels (for your exchanged art to be mailed to you) are missing 
• Occasionally oversized art requiring 1st class postage (55-cents) comes in, but post card stamps (35-cents) are affixed or included, so there's a slight shortage
• More and more stiff, heavy, thick, 3-D art is arriving requiring non-machinable postage (70-cents) or flat envelope rate postage ($1.00 or more).  Remember the smiley/frownie test:  your art should bend/curve to a 45-degree angle in order to go through the sorting machines.  Of course we can give it special handling, but it's going to cost more to send.

The 3-D art coming in is certainly whimsical and beautiful, but it does require extra postage.  Sending it "naked" or even in a regular mailing envelope without padding (thin foam or thin bubble wrap) to even it out can be a sure recipe for destruction in the sorting machines.  You work too hard on your creations to have a machine chew them up and spit them out on the concrete floor.  (Pardon the drama, just sayin'...  Reality is stranger than fiction...)

I realize that not everyone has the time or the means to go to an actual post office and hand each piece of art over the counter (as I always do), but if you can do your best to estimate postal costs it will help swap processing to go a lot easier.  

So... if all of you wonderful participants remember to enclose 
SUFFICIENT POSTAGE 
and 
RETURN ADDRESS LABELS

I would be happy as a clam (see photo above).  Thanks for your consideration and for being a part of this amazing group of talented artists sharing art with each other and the world.  Enough "blah-blah-blah" from me.

Now, to start posting pictures of our recent swaps...

Happy to be here,
Honi