On October 9, 2011 (World Post Day!), the Etsy Greetings Team—a group of more than 100 artists devoted to the art and promotion of handmade cards—issued a challenge to their followers: Mail at least one letter, postcard, or note to a friend or loved one every week for a year. People around the world took on the 52 Weeks of Mail challenge, including one blog devoted (almost) entirely to the project. (Do a Google search for “52 Weeks of Mail” and you’ll find many more bloggers and penpal organizations doing the same thing.)

The first 52 Weeks of Mail challenge ends two weeks from this Sunday. If like us, however, you follow the official (there’s also a Flickr group devoted to the challenge), you’ll know that a whole new 52 Weeks of Mail begins again the second week of October.

For those of you thinking about joining in for the second year, here are some participation ideas from Handmadeology:

Send your card to Grandma (or whomever), enclosing a second card with a stamped envelope, so that she can send a card to someone else! Be sure to explain in your card what you are doing, so she will know why you sent her a brand new card.

Get your kids involved! Tell them stories of how snail mail was all there was when you were a kid. Let them write letters or send cards to grandparents, friends, etc. This will help keep the “art” of letter writing and sending alive.

Encourage friends, relatives and co-workers to join in on the fun, and challenge each other to see who can stick with this challenge.

USPS Stamps will officially be taking part this time around! How about you?