*If you are new to my blog, you can read about The Postcard Project here.

<a href=”http://veronicascornucopia.com/the-postcard-project” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://reciperhapsody.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/the-postcard-project-buttun3.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”The Postcard Project”></a>

<a href=”http://veronicascornucopia.com/the-postcard-project” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://reciperhapsody.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/the-postcard-project-buttonc.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”The Postcard Project”></a>

Looky looky looky! I not only made buttons, but buttons that you can GRAB!! I’m such a genius. (OK, not really, I used the tutorial I found here, and that worked for my side bar but not on this blog post, so I had to do a bunch more Googling to figure out how to get the code to stay in html code below the buttons and after a million years, I finally got it!)  So if you like, copy the code below the button of your choice to add a Postcard Project button to your blog’s side bar. Wheeee!

I’m sure you are all as thrilled with the buttons as I am, but I suppose we should go ahead and move on to the giveaway anyway.  :)  The winner of a dozen crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, blue ribbon-winning, delicious brown butter chocolate chip cookies this week is…

Suzie Shaw from Michigan!

Can you hear us clapping for you, Suzie?  Wait, this might help…

Congratulations!  I already have your address, so I’ll be getting the cookies out to you on Monday, along with the postcards you requested.

OK, we’re two weeks into the project now, and have almost doubled in participants!  Wilma from Indiana sent the most mail with 16 pieces (let’s hear a hurray for Wilma!  Wilma, go back to the video and play it for yourself. :)), so she’s in the lead for most total mail sent as well (not counting myself), with Teri, Mary Toland, and Donna G. all coming in very close behind her. Keep racing, ladies, because the person with the most mail sent by the end of the month will be awarded an entire batch of my cookies.

I’m very excited that two participants joined us from outside the US, one from Russia and one from Canada!  (Questions regarding eligibility for those outside the US will be answered below.)  Thanks to everyone who is participating–you rock my face off! *L    <– See look what you did to my face! It looks like that because you rocked it off! hahaha

This is the final week of the month which means next Saturday there will be two prizes awarded.  A dozen cookies will be awarded to one participant, drawn randomly from the names with any number, other than 0, in the “completed” column for this final week.  And as I mentioned above, the person with the most mail sent for all three weeks of the project combined will be awarded an entire batch of cookies.  So be sure to update the spreadsheet with any mail you haven’t reported in past weeks of the project.

Q&A

I have gotten a couple questions from readers and want to address them here.

Q: Does it help the US Postal Service if I mail something to the US from Russia?

A:  The answer is quite complicated, but it boils down to this: if you’re sending mail to the US from another country, even if we do not profit from the sale of the stamp on your letter/postcard/package, there is a higher likelihood that the person who receives the mail from you will respond in kind and send a letter back, which does help the US Postal Service.  And it most definitely fulfills the first priority of the project: spreading joy and cheer!  So, if you are outside of the US and would like to participate, go ahead and add your name to the spreadsheet, but make sure the number you are reporting is mail sent to the US only.

Q: Will you ship cookies overseas?

A: YES! If you live outside the US and win one of the drawings for cookies, YES, I will totally ship them to you.  ANYONE that sends mail will be entered in the drawing.

Q: Do bills count toward my total number of mail pieces sent?

A: Although mailing bills does help support the Postal Service, it only fulfills one goal of the project.  You can count bills if you include a note with it, such as thanking the company or person that you’re paying for their service.  I’m sure they never see a personal note accompanying a bill and I bet that would really brighten their day!

My postcard collection

I’ve emailed with a few readers and exchanged my address with them because I’ve started a postcard collection, trying to get at least one from every state, and one from as many countries as I can.  So far I have one from six different states and one on the way from Russia!  If you would like to exchange postcards with me, please send me your address to vraklis@yahoo.com and I will do the same!

Please remember

If you will be sending mail this week, please return to the spreadsheet to report how many pieces you plan to send.  I always include a reminder at the end of my Friday morning blogs to return again and report your mailing as “completed,” since only those that do are entered in the drawings, but if anyone has a better idea of how to help people return, please let me know!  I could do the reminder Thursday, perhaps, or maybe I need to rethink the whole “sign up sheet” process to make it simpler.  Give me your ideas and I’ll do some brainstorming.

I apologize for the very long post.  Let’s do a recap so you don’t have to read it again to remind yourself of the bullet points:

1) If you have a blog, would you do me the favor of grabbing a button and adding it to your sidebar?

2) If you would like to exchange postcards with me, send your address to vraklis@yahoo.com.

3) Please remember to update the spreadsheet with your current goal, and update your past numbers if you need to, then be sure to return by Friday night to report how much mail you sent in order to be eligible for the drawing.

4) Just for fun, check out my favorite card this week:

5) Thank you for spreading joy and cheer, and helping support the U.S. Postal Service!  Let’s make it a great week!