Winter Collage

Front and back of a collage made by Fabienne (France). Perfect theme for these days!

In case you want to see better the snowy stamps from different countries that she used on the front part:

The snowflakes (all different, of course!);

And the stamps on the back, on the same topic:

Sunday Stamps | B Is for Bikes

It is not the first time that I have used bikes for Sunday Stamps... It seems to be a very common topic on stamps. Did you know that cyclophilatelia is a thing? (See the Bicycle Stamps Club.)

Go to Sunday Stamps to see more B-stamps!

La Lanterna di Genova

The Lanterna di Genova is the main light serving the Port of Genoa. Rebuilt in its current shape in 1543 replacing the former lighthouse, it is the world's fourth oldest lighthouse.

Between 1543 and 1902, it was the tallest lighthouse in the world. It is now the world's fifth tallest lighthouse, the second tallest lighthouse built in traditional masonry after Île Vierge and the tallest lighthouse of the Mediterranean Sea. When measured as a whole with the natural rock on which it stands, as it is commonly perceived and represented, its total height is 112 m, which makes it the second tallest lighthouse in the world, the tallest in Europe, and the tallest in the world when only traditional lighthouses are considered.

This postcard was sent by Stefano (Italy), with a matching stamp on the back.

Last year, I received an illustration of the same lighthouse sent by Ania, whre the rock is better appreciated: (but not the light!):

Five European Lighthouses

Boehler / Westerhever

  

Bout de la jetée à Honfleur, 1886
('Harbour Entrance at Honfleur')
George Seurat (1859-1891)

Nazaré

Farol de Santa Marta, Cascais

Sent by Pedro (Portugal), Kamila & Dawid (Germany) and Heleen & Micu (Netherlands).

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Gamcheon

The Little Prince in Gamcheon Culture Village in Korea, but sent by Micu (Hungary).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
February theme: CITIES

• Week 1 - Asian
• Week 2 - Southern European
• Week 3 - Northern European
• Week 4 - North American

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Iced Letters

Letters sent by Laura (the UK).

Women on Postcards | K Is for Karabanovo

Peasant Girl, by Filipp Malyavin (Фили́пп Андре́евич Маля́вин), 1910

Postcard sent by Eduard (Russia). As he explains on the back: "Karabanovo is a satellite city of Alexandrov. In the 19th century, it was famous for the cottons fabrics of merchants Baranov."

The stamp of the shawl the girl seems to wear was issued in 2012. The whole sheet is stunning (picture taken from here):

[Women on Postcards - 2026]

Warmest Wishes

Really nice to look at this illustration in the middle of the winter...

Card sent by Phillip (the USA).

Sunday Stamps | A Is for Abstract

France, 1981

Alléluia, by French painter Alfred Manessier (1965). 

Austria, 2023

75th birthday of Hans Kupelwieser

The stamp motif shows an untitled relief made in 2020, anodised aluminium, 170 by 180 by 30 centimetres.

Portugal, 2025

Burning in the Forbidden Sea, by Rui Chafes

USA, 2013

Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, by Marcel Duchamp (1912)

A new A-Z starts in Sunday Stamps. Go to see more A related stamps!

The Lonely Monster

On my Postrossing profile, I state that I love gargoyles (I do!). Natalia sent me this postcard through Postcrossing. It depicts an old house (built in 1909) on one of the oldest streets in Kyiv (Ukraine): Velyka Zhytomyrska. According to the sender, it is the only gargoyle in the city!

(Although technically, it is not a gargoyle, because it does not thrown rain water clear of the building.)

250 Years of Delivering

Among the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the U. S. Postal Service last year, on 23th July they issued a sheet of stamps designed by American cartoonist Chris Ware. As described here:

The 20 interconnected stamps (printed in four rows of five) deliver a bird’s-eye view of a busy city, packed with perfectly drawn buildings, geometric trees and dozens of humans bustling about. In inimitable Chris Ware fashion, the progression of stamps also takes the viewer through all four seasons.

When I saw these online, they become instant favourites. And then I received them not once, but twice!

Postmark of the first day of issue:

Read more about this issue. The details are incredible.

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Bright Light

Work art by Patricia Hargrove. Sent by Rosemary (Canada).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
January theme: LIGHT

• Week 1 - Sunshine
• Week 2 - Reflections
• Week 3 - Snowy scenes
• Week 4 - Lights in windows
• Week 5 - Light, or bright, colours

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Women on Postcards | E is for Eva

The Women on Stamps postal project is always ongoing. We are going to to raise the ante... this is the postcard project for 2026: completing an alphabet of women on postcards. Not even trying to do it in the alphabetical order, and it will almost certainly take more than one year: there are always those tricky letters! I hope it will be fun.

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On my Postcrossing profile, I list a series of topics. One of them is Eve & Adam. So far, I have got only two postcards and two stamps related to it... And not through the Postcrossing site!

This postcard was sent by Violet (Canada) and it made my day.

Mail from Underland

Letter sent by Phillip (the USA), with SpongeBob stamps, and Christmas tree pictorial postmark (it arrived just before Christmas).

And another one with the First Day postmark!

Letter sent by Catherine (France).

Orca (Orcinus orca). Illustration by Pieter Folkens. Card sent by Bryon.