Four years of Mefi Card Club! April 21, 2022 9:39 PM Subscribe
Mefi Card Club was started as an ongoing card swap in March of 2018 , and is still going strong today - that is over four years! Do you want to show some appreciation to your co-senders? Maybe talk about how fun it is so we get fresh people joining? Or maybe this is the first you're hearing of it, and want to know more?
If you have never heard of Card Club before here is where it got started. The mechanics are basically the same, although the dates are now pushed out towards the middle and end of the month. More information is also in the posts tagged meficard club here . Basically, you sign up once and let me know what month you want to get cards in. After that, I send out an email monthly asking for who wants to send cards and how many, and then match them up with people to send to. That's it.
It's a very relaxed swap. I do not track if people actually send the cards that they sign up to. Some people send every month (I see you, and you are rock stars!) , some people never send. The only time I take people out is if they leave Metafilter, or request to be removed.
People sign up for cards all sorts of things (Birthdays are the most common). Some want to receive cards every month, some only 1 month out of the year, and a few people only want to send, never receive.
Right now, we have about a hundred members, and about 40ish ? are actively sending or at least filling out the opt-in. Each recipient should be getting about 6ish cards per request. There are members all over the world - N America, S America, Europe, and Asia are all represented.
If you want to be added, please send me an email at meficardclub@gmail.com, and I'll get you set up! I will be assigning the May cards next week (May 27-28), but if you get in after that, you can start with June.
If you have never heard of Card Club before here is where it got started. The mechanics are basically the same, although the dates are now pushed out towards the middle and end of the month. More information is also in the posts tagged meficard club here . Basically, you sign up once and let me know what month you want to get cards in. After that, I send out an email monthly asking for who wants to send cards and how many, and then match them up with people to send to. That's it.
It's a very relaxed swap. I do not track if people actually send the cards that they sign up to. Some people send every month (I see you, and you are rock stars!) , some people never send. The only time I take people out is if they leave Metafilter, or request to be removed.
People sign up for cards all sorts of things (Birthdays are the most common). Some want to receive cards every month, some only 1 month out of the year, and a few people only want to send, never receive.
Right now, we have about a hundred members, and about 40ish ? are actively sending or at least filling out the opt-in. Each recipient should be getting about 6ish cards per request. There are members all over the world - N America, S America, Europe, and Asia are all represented.
If you want to be added, please send me an email at meficardclub@gmail.com, and I'll get you set up! I will be assigning the May cards next week (May 27-28), but if you get in after that, you can start with June.
Card club is a wonderful thing. You can look forward to that happy moment of finding a friendly piece of mail addressed to you, orrrr when you take your own little pile of mail to send out.
Come join; I will probably send you some stickers.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 10:56 PM on April 21, 2022 [6 favorites]
Come join; I will probably send you some stickers.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 10:56 PM on April 21, 2022 [6 favorites]
Thank you, Sparky Buttons, for Card Club!
I fell off the wagon for a little while (I know there are more than several of you who have received a months-late card from me) but I am back ON IT and doing my BAD ART and putting things in the MAILBOX in a REASONABLE TIME FRAME. In fact I just made a new stamp purchase last week because I'm down to my last global forever.
Four more years! Four more years!
posted by phunniemee at 4:45 AM on April 22, 2022 [9 favorites]
I fell off the wagon for a little while (I know there are more than several of you who have received a months-late card from me) but I am back ON IT and doing my BAD ART and putting things in the MAILBOX in a REASONABLE TIME FRAME. In fact I just made a new stamp purchase last week because I'm down to my last global forever.
Four more years! Four more years!
posted by phunniemee at 4:45 AM on April 22, 2022 [9 favorites]
Yes, thanks so much to Sparky Buttons for organizing this for four whole years! I so appreciate the excuse to buy fun stamps and notecards beyond what my personal circle of card sending to family and friends can accommodate.
And thanks as well to everyone else who participates! I have gotten some great cards, and I always have a few recent ones on my refrigerator to cheer me up when I get home from work hangry and head straight to the kitchen. :)
Finally thanks for the reminder I have not yet sent out my April cards (eep!) and I will do that this weekend. For those who might be inclined to sign up but doubt their own accountability, please note that next's month sign up reminder email arrives so reliably from the fabulous Sparky Buttons that I don't even need my own calendar reminder for those months when I'm a bit slow. And late cards are such a fun surprise, there is nothing better than getting a card some month you are not expecting one. It is quite impossible to do Card Club wrong, give it a try.
posted by the primroses were over at 5:04 AM on April 22, 2022 [7 favorites]
And thanks as well to everyone else who participates! I have gotten some great cards, and I always have a few recent ones on my refrigerator to cheer me up when I get home from work hangry and head straight to the kitchen. :)
Finally thanks for the reminder I have not yet sent out my April cards (eep!) and I will do that this weekend. For those who might be inclined to sign up but doubt their own accountability, please note that next's month sign up reminder email arrives so reliably from the fabulous Sparky Buttons that I don't even need my own calendar reminder for those months when I'm a bit slow. And late cards are such a fun surprise, there is nothing better than getting a card some month you are not expecting one. It is quite impossible to do Card Club wrong, give it a try.
posted by the primroses were over at 5:04 AM on April 22, 2022 [7 favorites]
I was a member for awhile and it was so great! (Left because of “Life Reasons”—nothing at all to do with Card Club!)
Sparky Buttons makes it soooo easy to participate and the whole thing is so well organized. It was a lot of fun to get my list each month and see the reasons people were requesting cards— A pet’s birthday! A new job! Getting ready for exams and need encouragement! Etc etc etc.
Plus, there are no “rules” on what to send! Purchased greeting cards, homemade, include stickers or a bookmark, include a note or simply sign your name, decorate the envelope or not—it’s all up to you and there is no way to do it wrong!
Thanks, Sparky Buttons!
posted by bookmammal at 6:09 AM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
Sparky Buttons makes it soooo easy to participate and the whole thing is so well organized. It was a lot of fun to get my list each month and see the reasons people were requesting cards— A pet’s birthday! A new job! Getting ready for exams and need encouragement! Etc etc etc.
Plus, there are no “rules” on what to send! Purchased greeting cards, homemade, include stickers or a bookmark, include a note or simply sign your name, decorate the envelope or not—it’s all up to you and there is no way to do it wrong!
Thanks, Sparky Buttons!
posted by bookmammal at 6:09 AM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
Also rest assured that if you have ever sent one of my dogs a card I have made them sit down with me while I read it to them. Truman even gave a recent birthday card from SunPower a little taste!
posted by phunniemee at 6:23 AM on April 22, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 6:23 AM on April 22, 2022 [8 favorites]
Card club is great, and the people who participate in card club are great. I had an address mix-up, and I had two people send me not only new cards when they pulled my name again, but they had saved the old cards that were returned-to-sender, and sent those also! Two completely separate human individuals did this! They came at an especially difficult time and it just absolutely bowled me over.
posted by curious nu at 6:53 AM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by curious nu at 6:53 AM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
Four years! We should all send ourselves an anniversary card. Card Club is my excuse for buying stamps and card blanks and stickers and fun stamps. While I should apologize for sending out the weird collages, sticker arrangements reminiscent of a four year old on a sugar bender, and cards that look like examples in a "graphic design is my passion" meme, I refuse! I love it! Sitting at my dining table fussing with stationary is great! And opening the mail to find fun cards instead of bills is also great!
posted by PussKillian at 6:54 AM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by PussKillian at 6:54 AM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
I really, really loved Card Club the first year and then I became a slacker and stopped signing up because I was paintstakingly hand-making the cards and they were taking me hours and hours to create. Card Club still sends me cards on my birthday and I love that about Card Club, even though I feel slightly guilty.
I even bought like $100 worth of stamps at the beginning of the pandemic so I could get back into Card Club once I had hours and hours to create cards but instead I decided to get massively depressed and binge watch Netflix and not shower.
I still get the sign-up emails every month and one day I am going to actually do it! Because Card Club is kinda amazing.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:46 AM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
I even bought like $100 worth of stamps at the beginning of the pandemic so I could get back into Card Club once I had hours and hours to create cards but instead I decided to get massively depressed and binge watch Netflix and not shower.
I still get the sign-up emails every month and one day I am going to actually do it! Because Card Club is kinda amazing.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:46 AM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
Saw this on my phone as I was waking up, and my dumb sleepy ass thought someone had made MetaFilter trading cards.
posted by solotoro at 8:10 AM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by solotoro at 8:10 AM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
Another cheer for Sparky Buttons! I send one card most months, and receive them a couple of times a year in seasons that could use a little brightening and it’s a great thing. My only problem is that the cards (and frequently the envelopes) are so great that I want to keep them all forever and that only adds to my hoarding!
Likewise, thanks to card swap I am also now the owner of two stickers with a picture of coldchef and the words “I will bury you” on, which I cannot possibly dispose of, but am slightly unsure how I could reasonably deploy them.
posted by penguin pie at 8:24 AM on April 22, 2022 [9 favorites]
Likewise, thanks to card swap I am also now the owner of two stickers with a picture of coldchef and the words “I will bury you” on, which I cannot possibly dispose of, but am slightly unsure how I could reasonably deploy them.
posted by penguin pie at 8:24 AM on April 22, 2022 [9 favorites]
Big thanks to Sparky for continuing to organize this. Of course it means that I'm adding to my collection of paper and stickers and stamps and stuff, instead of using up what I already have. And I'm making ridiculous rules for myself as to how and when I can copy existing art from books and cannot simply scan it and reconfigure. It's fun, I say!
BTW, USPS rates are going up in about, 80 days? If you sign up for card club and need 2cent stamps, let me know. I bought a whoooolllleee lot of them as a gift for myself because they have meyer lemons on them.
posted by winesong at 9:05 AM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
BTW, USPS rates are going up in about, 80 days? If you sign up for card club and need 2cent stamps, let me know. I bought a whoooolllleee lot of them as a gift for myself because they have meyer lemons on them.
posted by winesong at 9:05 AM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
Yay card club! Yay Sparky Buttons for keeping this fun thing going for 4 years!
I appreciate the flexibility of the club. As Sparky and others have mentioned, it's very low pressure and getting cards out on time is not a big issue if you are considering joining but don't know if you will follow through. I have been late, and I have received late cards. It's all good!
I love seeing what people are interested in celebrating and I have learned about so many obscure holidays and personal celebrations. It warms my heart!
Thanks so much to anyone who ever sent me a card! You made my day!
Yay #meficardclub !!!
posted by danabanana at 10:04 AM on April 22, 2022 [7 favorites]
I appreciate the flexibility of the club. As Sparky and others have mentioned, it's very low pressure and getting cards out on time is not a big issue if you are considering joining but don't know if you will follow through. I have been late, and I have received late cards. It's all good!
I love seeing what people are interested in celebrating and I have learned about so many obscure holidays and personal celebrations. It warms my heart!
Thanks so much to anyone who ever sent me a card! You made my day!
Yay #meficardclub !!!
posted by danabanana at 10:04 AM on April 22, 2022 [7 favorites]
I go through phases with this depending on my executive function at the time but when I participate it is thoroughly awesome. My correspondents are so thoughtful and generous in their efforts that I feel ashamed of my own slapdash approach. Many people send my dog fun things to shred so he loves card club too. And Sparky Buttons is the very bestest for keeping it going all this time. I just bought a sheet of Title IX stamps in anticipation of another burst of communicative activity so keep an eye out!
posted by HotToddy at 4:36 PM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by HotToddy at 4:36 PM on April 22, 2022 [6 favorites]
Thank you SparkyButtons for organizing and pulling this for four years.You’re amazing!!
I joined the mefi card club last August (wish I had joined earlier but better late than never)and can’t tell you how much it has helped me with my mental health.There is excitement in checking the mailbox looking for some cards hiding in between the bills to see what my new friends(yah!) have to say!It’s so wonderful to get beautiful cards with art,quotes,stickers,seeds,nature photos or just a friendly note.
Thank you to everyone who sent me cards.You all made my day and also helped me get out of therapy now.
Let’s keep this going……
posted by SunPower at 6:27 PM on April 22, 2022 [7 favorites]
I joined the mefi card club last August (wish I had joined earlier but better late than never)and can’t tell you how much it has helped me with my mental health.There is excitement in checking the mailbox looking for some cards hiding in between the bills to see what my new friends(yah!) have to say!It’s so wonderful to get beautiful cards with art,quotes,stickers,seeds,nature photos or just a friendly note.
Thank you to everyone who sent me cards.You all made my day and also helped me get out of therapy now.
Let’s keep this going……
posted by SunPower at 6:27 PM on April 22, 2022 [7 favorites]
I appreciate the flexibility of the club.
Same. I really enjoyed in in early COVID times when just getting something in the mail was a nice contact with the outside world. There was one month I just could not send my cards for various *waves hands * reasons and... it's okay if that occasionally happens. And so I felt good about getting back on it and being able to participate more fully, and also knowing there would be no little black mark next to my name. I like hearing from MeFites on my birthday. I like telling people little jokes or talking about the weather. I like wishing people well and occasionally going all out on weird stamps and other times not.
Sparky Buttons, I appreciate that you do this and other Card Clubbers, I appreciate you too.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:13 PM on April 22, 2022 [8 favorites]
Same. I really enjoyed in in early COVID times when just getting something in the mail was a nice contact with the outside world. There was one month I just could not send my cards for various *waves hands * reasons and... it's okay if that occasionally happens. And so I felt good about getting back on it and being able to participate more fully, and also knowing there would be no little black mark next to my name. I like hearing from MeFites on my birthday. I like telling people little jokes or talking about the weather. I like wishing people well and occasionally going all out on weird stamps and other times not.
Sparky Buttons, I appreciate that you do this and other Card Clubbers, I appreciate you too.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:13 PM on April 22, 2022 [8 favorites]
If I can hijack this briefly, one of my boxes of postcards is greetings from Effin Birds (link to an Audubon story with the creator, has a few examples of the illustrations). They make me giggle but I mostly don't use them for card club because not everyone is down with profane bird nonsense.
If anyone would enjoy an effin birds postcard though, let me know or favorite this, and I will note that for future card sending occasions. Also, if anyone is reading this comment and would like such a postcard without signing up for card club, feel free to memail me.
posted by the primroses were over at 9:02 AM on April 23, 2022 [11 favorites]
If anyone would enjoy an effin birds postcard though, let me know or favorite this, and I will note that for future card sending occasions. Also, if anyone is reading this comment and would like such a postcard without signing up for card club, feel free to memail me.
posted by the primroses were over at 9:02 AM on April 23, 2022 [11 favorites]
Aw, you are all the best! The senders are the ones doing all of the work here. My job is just some admin, emails, and a lot of copy/pasting for a few hours per month. I really enjoy seeing people making friendly connections, and in some cases, making their own separate penpal arrangements.
I hope to keep this going for at least four more years. Especially in times of transition, I think doing things to build and maintain community is important work.
Again, y'all are the best. Thank you for all of the appreciation, it is very gratefully received.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 10:21 AM on April 23, 2022 [11 favorites]
I hope to keep this going for at least four more years. Especially in times of transition, I think doing things to build and maintain community is important work.
Again, y'all are the best. Thank you for all of the appreciation, it is very gratefully received.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 10:21 AM on April 23, 2022 [11 favorites]
I tried to be super active in the first year, but my workspace got rearranged by my landlord (it’s his basement, shit happens), so I bought cards instead of making them for a while, then lockdown happened and my motivation plummeted.
Now that my whole living situation is changed, I may get back on the card makin’ train again. The emails from Sparky (and the birthday and Halloween cards from everyone) still cheer me up and make me feel like I belong to something cool, even as I lament my lack of participation.
Sparky Buttons is a goddamn champ for keeping this project on an even keel through the highs and lows of the past four years.
VOTE #1 SPARKY BUTTONS!
posted by Mister Moofoo at 10:25 AM on April 24, 2022 [7 favorites]
Now that my whole living situation is changed, I may get back on the card makin’ train again. The emails from Sparky (and the birthday and Halloween cards from everyone) still cheer me up and make me feel like I belong to something cool, even as I lament my lack of participation.
Sparky Buttons is a goddamn champ for keeping this project on an even keel through the highs and lows of the past four years.
VOTE #1 SPARKY BUTTONS!
posted by Mister Moofoo at 10:25 AM on April 24, 2022 [7 favorites]
(don't tell quidnunc kid)
posted by Sparky Buttons at 12:01 PM on April 24, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by Sparky Buttons at 12:01 PM on April 24, 2022 [6 favorites]
Are postcards okay?
posted by joycehealy at 2:52 PM on April 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by joycehealy at 2:52 PM on April 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
Postcards are 100% ok!
posted by Sparky Buttons at 2:56 PM on April 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Sparky Buttons at 2:56 PM on April 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
Card club absolutely rules and I encourage anyone even mildly interested to sign up. It's low pressure but high reward.
As soon as I figure out how to easily send mail from holland I'm going to start sending out tons of cards again so BE READY and YES they will most likely continue to contain random Dragonlance collectible cards from the AD&D 1993 TSR boxed set.
posted by lazaruslong at 12:43 AM on April 25, 2022 [4 favorites]
As soon as I figure out how to easily send mail from holland I'm going to start sending out tons of cards again so BE READY and YES they will most likely continue to contain random Dragonlance collectible cards from the AD&D 1993 TSR boxed set.
posted by lazaruslong at 12:43 AM on April 25, 2022 [4 favorites]
I LOVE Card Club and it's just the easiest thing to dip into and out of depending on what your month or mindset looks like. It is such a treat. Thank you, Sparky Buttons and everyone who participates!
posted by kimberussell at 6:23 AM on April 25, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by kimberussell at 6:23 AM on April 25, 2022 [5 favorites]
I feel like things like this need to be boosted to the front page in the future - so many people are never going to see MetaTalk and that's a shame when there's cool things happening among users.
posted by tiny frying pan at 11:13 AM on April 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 11:13 AM on April 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's currently on the sidebar.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:11 PM on April 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 1:11 PM on April 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
Thanks Sparky Buttons for making the monthly opt-in super easy! I look forward to receiving my monthly Card Club assignments; it’s fun to see who's on my list and where my cards are headed. At the receiving end, I’ve gotten postcards, store-bought & homemade cards, letters, and an occasional poem – they're all lovely.
posted by kbar1 at 11:47 PM on April 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by kbar1 at 11:47 PM on April 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
I'm running late on assigning because of reasons*, but I promise I'll get them out tomorrow. If you've been in Card Club a while, you know that this isn't a super rare thing. If you are new to Card Club, the relaxed attitude extends to the administrator as well, which I very much appreciate :)
*Nothing juicy, just adjusting to the schedule of the new job, along with not getting nearly enough sleep this week means my brain is mush tonight, which is when I planned to sit down and do it.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 6:16 PM on April 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
*Nothing juicy, just adjusting to the schedule of the new job, along with not getting nearly enough sleep this week means my brain is mush tonight, which is when I planned to sit down and do it.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 6:16 PM on April 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Yay card club! Yay Sparky Buttons!
posted by Tesseractive at 12:02 PM on April 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Tesseractive at 12:02 PM on April 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
But...on mobile, I see no sidebar. I would assume lots of people only use MeFi on mobile. No harm in amplifying cool stuff like this more, no?
posted by tiny frying pan at 3:25 PM on May 1, 2022
posted by tiny frying pan at 3:25 PM on May 1, 2022
There are many things that don't work well on this website and one of them is notifications for people on mobile. I both agree with you and am powerless to change this. I might send a note to the contact form.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:48 PM on May 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:48 PM on May 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
I can see the sidebar on mobile. It's at the bottom but the down arrow hop takes you right there.
posted by phunniemee at 3:57 PM on May 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by phunniemee at 3:57 PM on May 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
Cool...didn't know that. New and notable at the very bottom of the page isn't very eye catching!
posted by tiny frying pan at 7:35 PM on May 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by tiny frying pan at 7:35 PM on May 1, 2022 [1 favorite]
So, a couple of weeks ago I got a lovely "Thanks for running Card Club!" card in the mail. And then another one the next day. And then three more. I know what an organized card-sending effort looks like.
However, I am a very poor detective. So, I was grateful when a couple of senders mentioned in their notes who was behind this.
Thank you so much, phunniemee ❤❤❤ .
I think I'm up to date on sending individual thank you memails to the people whose cards I've gotten so far. My mailbox has been so full of love, and it's deeply appreciated. Thank you. 🥰
posted by Sparky Buttons at 11:13 AM on May 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
However, I am a very poor detective. So, I was grateful when a couple of senders mentioned in their notes who was behind this.
Thank you so much, phunniemee ❤❤❤ .
I think I'm up to date on sending individual thank you memails to the people whose cards I've gotten so far. My mailbox has been so full of love, and it's deeply appreciated. Thank you. 🥰
posted by Sparky Buttons at 11:13 AM on May 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
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I am so glad you posted this celebration so more folks can join the fun.
posted by janell at 10:20 PM on April 21, 2022 [6 favorites]