Creative Corner (7): Poetic Postcard Swap

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(or visit Rachel's site here for a better view)

Blend in with the trees
Make use of their breadth
Think wild...

from Save the trees (or else) - by Rachel Fox

Fellow poet, Rachel Fox, and I have been swapping our poetic/photographic/poetic greetings cards.

Rachel sent me a set of her ten poetic postcards in exchange for a (rather eclectic) selection of my Coastcard items. It was Rachel's idea, and we both felt that it would be an interesting and experimental venture. Who knows where it may lead...

I promised to mention the swap on my blog. Rachel's cards can be purchased from her website: www.crowd-pleasers.net. Let me give a few more details:

• A set of ten costs £3.50 via PayPal (I assume for UK sales)
• The cards can (sometimes) be bought from the following outlets, though Rachel suggests that it may be best to buy direct from www.crowd-pleasers.net if you would like to have 'all the set'. Outlets as follows:
  
• Loch Croispol Cafe, Bookshop and Gallery, Durness, Sutherland
  Oathlaw Pottery and Gallery, by Forfar, Angus
  Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton's Close, Edinburgh
  Tarts and Crafts, Balmedie, Aberdeenshire
  The Forest Bookstore, 26 Market Place, Selkirk
  The Windsor Gallery, 61 Perth Road, Dundee
  Unique Arts, South Square, Thornton, Bradford, West Yorkshire
  Wisecraft, 10 Lower Mill Street, Blairgowrie, Perthshire
  Word Power Books, 43 West Nicholson Street, Edinburgh
• Rachel's cards are (in non-metric measure) approx. 6"x4"
• I really like the fact that they are made on recycled card, and printed in Rachel's home locality.
  
• You will find Rachel's email on her site, if you have any queries.
  
• All cards (image, design and poetry) are the copyright of Rachel Fox.

The postcard set comprises ten poems. Most of them are in an American Typewriter-style font.

• The sisters said it best - on 'estuary sand-coloured background'
  
• Crowded out - on indigo/grey, with a lighthouse
• Save the trees (or else) - green background of birch trees
• Free at last - sand-coloured, with a balloon
• And so it goes - interesting and unusual shot of a car on mottled jade background
• Pluses and minuses - this witty and pithy poem is hand written for maximum impact
• Happy new hope - pink background, with handprint overlay
• Significant other deceased - pearl grey 'sky' background
• Diving - set against calm blue waters

and my personal favourite,

• Auchmithie road - muted brown background, with the words superimposed on a cliff edge scene. This poem has a liminal 'feel' to it. It was the one that particularly resonated with me, living as I do, high up in the clouds on the edge of Swansea Bay. Rachel's poem refers to Auchmithie near Arbroath on the Scottish coast.
  

Rachel's poems use rhyming quatrains and couplets. Most poems are not 'end-stopped', which gives them an open feel, and perhaps encourages the reader to add his or her own interpretation and ending.

Would I enjoy sending these poem cards to friends? Yes, indeed I would - and I have already done so. I feel they are good value - barely more (for a pack of ten) than one would pay for a single cup of quality filter coffee in town. They would make an unusual and welcome Christmas gift.

• Rachel's crowd-pleasers blog
• Rachel's crowd-pleaser PayPal page, where the cards can be purchased
  
• My Coastcard online shop (or you can click on the seal photo at the top right of my blog)

• Rachel reads her poems on YouTube
  

We look forward to your feedback!