And More Summer!

This postcard is a wonderful handmade collage, sent by Sally (the USA). I can easily identify myself with the happy people on the postcard. Summer means water!

By the way: this is another postcard that I received thanks to the A to Z April Challenge.

Summer!

Front

Cheerful postcard sent by Phillip (the USA), made of a box of kleenex.

Back

Matching stamps

At first sight, I thought that it was empty inside (it was really well glued!). But thanks to Heleen's post, I discovered there were an inside too...

Inside

Fifty

This is the thank you note that Eric (France) sent to the 36 artists (from 12 countries) who took part his mail art call Fifty. It raised over 200 contributions! This was mine.

Open When Letters

The Open When letters work as a variation of the Letters to the Future (=letters to be opened on an specific day in the future). There are letters written and given with instructions for opening at a later date or time.

There are many different types of Open When letter topics. They can be general ("when you miss me") or specific ("for your birthday"). On this post of Sharis' Berries blog you will find not less than... 280 topics! Plus some fun ideas and printable templates (like those on the picture, taken from the same post).

The Weather on Stamps

Sunny

Today's theme in Sunday Stamps-II is Weather. I have had a look at the stamps I have got. Among those that feature pictures, I have realised that most of them show sunny scenes. Maybe because the postal authorities tend to convey good news...

But then I have noticed that I have at least one stamp for (almost) all kind of atmospheric conditions...

Cloudy

Misty

Windy

Snowy

Stormy

Humid

British Houses

Linocut sent by Alan (the UK), showing an old pub in Wivenhoe.

Postcard sent by Laura (the UK). Watercolour of Conquest House in Canterbury.  It is one of the oldest buildings in Canterbury. Famous for its 1066 undercroft and its historical association with St Thomas Beckett and the four knights, it also features a 17th century royal mural and carvings. Now it is an art gallery.

I added this pots to Postcards for the Weekend. This week's theme is Historic Site/Building.

Smoking Writers?

This postcard featuring James Joyce was sent by Laura (the UK). It is an oil by Jacques-Emile Blanche (1935).

I like to receive postcards portraying writers. But I have just realised that, even in my little collection, some of them appear smoking. It seems to be a writer-portrait thing...

Annie M. G. Schmidt

Sigmund Freud

(This was my small contribution too the celebrating of Bloomsday!)

A Letter from India!

From Someone's project of writing a letter a day during 2017.

Challenge Survivor

There is an official Survivor badge for people who complete the #AtoZ April Challenge. But the unofficial congratulations, like this alphabet-themed envelope and postcard, sent by Heleen (the Netherlands)... is much more interesting. And it gives ideas for future challenges...

And more ideas arrived on this envelope from Phillip (the USA), made of a cover of a magazine that seems just perfect for mail art, even the colours they used. The stamp is almost hidden... At first sight I didn't spot it!

 

Postcrossing Meeting in Tampere

Last week, I received this completely unexpected postcard from the Postcrossing Tampere International Meeting, thanks to Laura (Finland). I love the illustration by Stephanie Titta Lindström. Especially the seagull stealing food. It is very Finnish!

There were more than 100 postcrossers from 14 countries; the postcard was signed by 40 people. Among them, the founders of Postcrossing, Ana & Paulo. How cool is that? 

I love also the stamps and this special postmark of the European Stamp Exhibition. Definitely, this postcard made my day!

Backs

I love to decorate the back of postcards, especially when sent to children!

Gardens and Parks

Sunday Stamps-II suggested today Gardens or forests as a theme. I was unable to decide between two beautiful series, so I am showing both.

Lancelot Capability Brown

According to the Wikipedia: "Lancelot Brown (1716 -1783), was an English landscape architect. He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure. He was nicknamed Capability because he would tell his clients that their property had "capability" for improvement."

Royal Mail issued a set of 8 stamps to celebrate the 300th anniversary of his birthday. I have received almost all of them. With a great variety of postmarks!

National Parks

Stamps celebrating the more than 400 national parks in the United States, issued in 2016 to coincide with the centennial of the National Park Service. The set includes 16 different stamps, all of them showing views of national parks or plants, animals, artwork, objects, and structures found in or associated with a national park.

They look splendid on covers and postcards!

F Is for...

This week's theme in Postcards for the Weekend is Flags. During the A to Z April Challenge, I uploaded some recently received postcards with flags (see here; the USA flag is worth seeing!). I also published some free postcards, and there was a lot of people commenting that free postcards are scarce nowadays...

Later, I received this flag postcard from FinnBadger (the USA); he obtained it for free at an exhibit about communication and friendship. They even mailed it for free! Well... the cancellation of the stamps wasn't the best, as you can see.

I added this postcard to the album of lighthouses, because the Statue of Liberty was first conceived as a lighthouse. But, alas, it proved useless. This is the very first postcard I have received of it!

And there is another postcards with flags that comes also from an exhibition at the British Library (London, UK), sent by Laura. The text, written in four languages (Russian, Arabic and the local languages Circassian and Nogay), reads: "The Mountain Dweller - Muslim Cavalry Division of Colonel Pupovskii invites volunteer Mountain Dwellers and Muslims. Enlist". I don't know exactly which flags are those, do you?

Two Collages

Collage sent by Micu (Hungary) for Easter; it arrived a bit later...

And another collage postcard, sent by Rosemary (Canada).

I like how many elements they include: robots, stickers, tape, maps, cats, rubber stamps, papers, cuttings, a Queen... even an stamp from Vietnam!