I thought i'd show my first steps in making my post card this week. First I decided on another costume card and found some online to use as motivation. 
I drew the girl with a #2 pencil and took a picture of it with Photo Booth because I was unable to use the scanner at the time. I sent this as email and saved it to my desktop. I uploaded the picture of the drawing to two basic graphic programs because neither do all that I'd like to be able to do. I have to switch back and forth, changing from .png to .jpg and vice versa as I work on the drawing.

LOL! Sorry, could not help it when I saw this staring out at me. It is the drawing uploaded to the graphic programs and it shows the first 'painting' steps using both programs, going back and forth between them. (Despite what I called it, it is NOT scanned.)

This is the postcard after I finished painting the costumed girl and added and manipulated the other three images (from three different sources.)

  Finally, I filled in the background with various cuts and pastes of painted swatches I did pixel by pixel by pixel.  I can only imagine in horror having to fill the whole background in pixel by pixel. Texture or variations in color are  not 'fillable'  in one easy step, to my limited knowledge of both these programs.

The Bookseller finds himself in France and remembers to send his wife a post card with a costume.
The postcard address side was found online, and manipulated to add appropriate postage and cancellation. Hubby then wrote the card. Translation below. Card was then scanned and uploaded.

Wife, (did he really leave out the salutation Dear?)

Paris is like a wonderful dream, very beautiful and interesting. Charming places to buy books.  Picked up First French illustrated edition of the Count of Monte Cristo, 1846, exquisite gold tooled full leather binding. May not make much money on it, but I fell in love with it. Could not resist.

"wish you were here"

Hank

(hmmpff, forgot Love, ?)

OOPS!  my mistake, it is there-Love, Hank