Happy Easter!

I sent a couple of Easter-themed letters, with envelopes made of pages of magazines. The following day, I found one of them in my mailbox. There were no postmarks, but some marks that showed that the letter has passed through the postal machines (?!). I resent it... I hope it arrives!

Postcard sent by Fabienne (France). Last year!

A bunny that appears and disappears, on a letter sent by Phillip (the USA): Each of the three identical stamps on the sheet features an effect that mimics a classical illusion. By rotating each stamp, you can see a white rabbit popping out of a black top hat. It is quite difficult to take a proper picture! (And these complete my collection of magic stamps...).

And two more random bunnies, from Belarus and Japan:

Green Alphabet

Envelope made by Phillip (the USA), with some cardboard packaging. It was not easy, at first, to open and read the letter inside!

HitM | Different Colours

Two very different houses (at least, in their colours) sent by Fabienne (France) for the Houses in the Mail project.

House with drying laundry, 1917
By Egon Schiele (1890-1918)

Postcards from Canterbury

Some postcards that I received from the city of Canterbury (the UK)...

Café  St. Pierre
41 St. Peter's Street

Stained-glass windows of the cathedral.
Postcard made of a brochure.

Christ Church Gate

HitM | Shells

Heleen (the Netherlands) sent two new postcards for the Houses in the Mail project. 

The postcards arrived inside this nice envelope, featuring another (if temporary) house: the egg shell.

Let me show also a postcard received when the project did not exist yet...

The Seashore and Seashore Life, a Ladybird book from 1964. Sent by Laura (the UK)

Unofficial Greetings from Russia

Since I know nobody almost nobody in Russia, and that country is not a common destination among my friends, these Russian postcards have been sent through the Postcrossing site.

This one belongs to a series that some postcrossers collect: Greetings from... by Postallove.  I have got some of them, too. However, on the back, something caught my attention. It reads: Greetings from Russia (unofficial). Photo by Franco [illegible]. And the web of a company: www.poststation.ru

I checked and... Yes: there are some differences with what must be the official postcard. Apart from the most obvious (the picture, the design of the bear and the matryoshka doll, the number of postcrossers...) there are more subtile differences (the map, the extension of the country, the Famous Russians section...).

All the matter seems curious to me.

This postcard illustrated a Russian proverb: Где любовь да совет, там и горя нет. As translated (?) on the back: 'Where is the are love and advice, there is no sorrow'.

Yekaterininsky Canal near the St Nicholas Cathedral in St. Petersburg, 1900s.

H for Haasse

Hella Haasse (1918 – 2011)[1] was a Dutch writer, often referred to as the Grand Old Lady of Dutch literature, and whose novel Oeroeg (1948) was a staple for generations of Dutch schoolchildren. Her internationally acclaimed magnum opus is Heren van de Thee, translated to 'The Tea Lords'. Haasse lived in the Dutch East Indies for most of the 20 first years of her life. So, and important segment of her literary work consist of Dutch Indies Literature.

The stamp was issued in 2012, belonging to the Grenzeloos sheet, dedicated to Indonesia.

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For the current round of Sunday Stamps A-Z I am showing stamps dedicated to women. You can see here all the Women on Stamps featured on this blog.

Go to Sunday Stamps to enjoy more H-stamps.

Railways on Postcards

De Koploper, Intercitymaterieel (ICM)
Sent by Heleen (the Netherlands)

Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Sent by Heleen

Toronto, Canada
Sent by Phillip (the USA)

The Union Station Ticket Lobby shortly after the station opened in 1927. Long considered one of the most magnificent public rooms in Canada, by the 1970s this space became known as the Great Hall. Although the room was altered little over the years, the magnificent marble pylon in the centre with the clock was removed in 1967.

You Are Not in Wonderland

-You are not in Wonderland!
-Aren't I?

Hand-painted envelope sent to Phillip (the USA).

It arrived!

Can You Do That?

«Anna put her letters on the table. 'The children ask question after question. Is it my obligation to answer? What rights do I have?'

'Not to answer,' Katri said.

'I can't do that.'»

Tove Jansson, The True Deceiver

HitM | Russian Country House

"Country House", from Motives of Russian Architecture, 1877. For the Houses in the Mail project.

As it usually happens with the postcards sent by Eduard, the back is as much interesting as the front.

Artistamps

Letter sent to Alan (the UK), with some artistamps on the envelope (not made by me, but by different artists).

Take Me to the Opera

The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet
Oslo, Norway

Sent by Ana & Danijel
(And yes: one of the stamps is trying to escape...)

Theatre of Opera and Ballet
Odessa, Ukraine

Sent by Olga

Wetherspoons Opera House Pub
Tunbridge Wells, UK

Sent by Laura

G for Gender Equality

The Magna Carta was granted by King John of England on 15 June 2015, establishing that the king was subject to the law rather than being above it. To commemorate its 800th anniversary, Royal Mail issued in 2015 a set of six stamps. They feature texts from Magna Carta, and other charters, bills and declarations that have developed the rule of law around the world.

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For the current round of Sunday Stamps A-Z I am showing stamps dedicated to women. You can see here all the Women on Stamps featured on this blog.

Go to Sunday Stamps to enjoy more G-stamps.

National Parks Stamps

I have received two more letters from Phillip (the USA), with those stamps released in 2016 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the USA National Parks. They look superbe on stamps, and it is too wonderful to have now the whole set!