Crema Catalana

Sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

Postcard made of food packaging bought long long time ago. But it stills smells to crema catalana! I usually don't publish the back of the postcards, but this is very nice:

I especially love the fact that the post officers thought the stamp was a real one and postmarked it!

By the way, today is Queen's Day, so I'm happy to have some orange incoming mail from the Netherlands to post!

Outbox

Outbox is a service based on Austin (Texas, the United States) that  turns your snail mail into electronic mail. It means that they pick up your snail mail from your mail box three times a week. Then they open, scan and store your mail. So you can access your mail from anywhere. You can request the pieces of mail you are interested in keep and they deliver you twice a week (the rest of the mail is recycled). It costs $4,99 per month.

The most disturbing fact about this service is that you must send a picture of your mail box key (back and front) and they make a copy of the key!

I suppose there is not any snail mail lover who has tried...

NB This post does not support this enterprise and it is not sponsored in any form. I do not know if it works or if clients are satisfied. I only wanted to write about an idea I found in this page because it sounded very original to me.

Dictionaries for Postcrossers

Taken from here

Sometimes I would know how to say "Thank you for your postcard" in different languages. So there is an useful resource: Dictionnaries for Postcrossers, made by a German postcrosser. It contains some useful basic phrases and words in 40 languages.

It says it's open to corrections and new languages. In fact I sent a translation into my language looooong time ago, and it was never published. Maybe should I try again?

Bloglovin

Not exactly a mail adventure but a blog adventure: I started to use Bloglovin and I think it can be useful to know for those of you who also use it. 

Little Red Riding Hood

Sent by Tereza (Czech Republic).

I wanted to tell you that the letter I wrote to Little Red Riding Hood (to participate in April LEP challenge) was published yesterday in LEP's blog, yippee! And then I remembered I had received this cheeky Little Red Riding Hood some time ago.

I asked you for the postal address of Little Red Riding Hood. I did not realize that she could read the letter on the blog... and answer! So please, don't miss the reply she wrote (in the comments). By the way, I do not  understand what Scriptor has to do with the matter... ;-)

Moroccan Orange

Sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

This is one of the most awesome envelopes I have never received. It was hand-painted by Heleen, who was inspired by some Moroccan tasty orange. Notice that the stamps are also orange (and that was the content!).

Save Your Slow Way of Life

Sent to Jane Davies (the USA), as my contribution to her Postcard Project.

Collage made of stickers, washi tape and rubber stamps. I hope she could keep her cute post office! You can contribute any time, as the goal is to increase the amount of mail.

Happy St. George's Day!

Card sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

Leesvoer (='Readings', I think), by Willy Belinfante. This painting fits in my album of Reading Women! And besides this, thanks to the postcard I discovered she has a lot of works showing readers (for instance).

As I wrote last Sunday, Saint George's Day in Catalonia is something like Valentine's Day. Better than Valentine's Day, because not only lovers swap books and roses. Also the friends, the relatives, even the co-workers do. Today is the right day to wander around the stalls of books in the street. Almost impossible not to buy at least one book. This beautiful tradition is based on a legend: there was a village terrorized by a fierce dragon, a pretty princess in danger... Well, you can imagine the final, can't you?

The envelope I received yesterday is also decorated in a literary way. Even the bear on the stamps is reading a letter!

Boxes for Stamps

Where do you keep your new stamps? These are my little boxes for them:

April Celebrations

This stamp was drawn for children of Tuvalu. It makes part of the project "Send Tuvalu to the World" (2010). In fact, I received this stamp long time ago, and I have already published it here (see also the postmark Earth Day related).

The theme of Sunday Stamps in Viridian's Postcard Blog is Earth Day and other April Celebrations. The Earth Day is not widely celebrated in my country, nor in Morocco. Except for some activities in schools is completely unnoticed.

So I want to post about Saint George, the saint patron of Catalonia and Aragon (among other many places). In Catalonia Saint George's Day (Diada de Sant Jordi) is also known as The Day of the Rose or The day of the Book. The main event is the exchange of gifts between beloved relatives, friends and colleagues. Historically, men gave women roses, and women gave men a book. In modern times, the mutual exchange of books is also customary. Believe me: 23rd of April Barcelona and other cities of Catalonia are worth visiting! (and Valencian Country, to a certain extent). Thousands of stands of roses and bookstalls are set up for the occasion. Most women carry a rose in hand, and people seems really happy.

There is any issue of Saint George's Day's stamps. So I'm showing you these:

This one features the flag and the map of Catalonia. Issued by Spanish postal Service (Correos) in January 2011. The A on the stamp means that it is a forever stamp (for domestic letters or postcards up to 20 g). There are forever stamps for Europe with a B.

And two roses for you. Happy Sant Jordi's Day!

From Spain

From Finland

Letter to Little Red Riding Hood

April LEP's challenge was "to write a letter to or as your favourite book character". So I decided to write an important letter long time postponed. I can't say Little Red Riding Hood is sort of "my favourite book character". But anyway... I had some questions to her. 

So here is:

Dear Little Red Riding Hood,
We are about the same age. I remember you were about seven when I started reading your amazing story. For that reason I dare to write to you, because I feel we know each other since long time ago.
I must say your story always has fascinated me, and it’s for that I still read it to my nieces from time to time.  But thirty years later, they remain still some unanswered questions that sometimes keep me awake in the middle of the night. Now we're both grown-ups so maybe you can help me to avoid those uncomfortable sleep disorders.
a)  When I was seven I started to need glasses, and I of course I hated them. But your case helped to convince me. The possibility of not noticing my dear nan turned into a hairy beast scared me a lot, you know, so I finally decided to put on my glasses. (By the way: my Mum sends a big thank you).  Now I’d like to know the truth: Do you have any serious eyesight problems?  I mean… it isn’t so difficult to distinguish a wolf from a granny in normal circumstances, is it?
b) Why did you wear always this odd red riding hood? Didn’t you mind the children laughing at you at the school? And more important: Are you still wearing it? What does your employer think about that?
And c) Do you have a real name? Do you use it, or do you use Little, etc.? Or maybe do you sign as Big Red Riding Hood?
I hope you aren't offended by my questions and you have the time to answer me back.
Yours sincerely,
E.

By the way... anyone who knows her address?!?

Hate Mail

This is a strange project: the illustrator Mr Bingo sends postcards with offensive messages. So... why would someone to pay 5 pounds to be said "I hate you"? Well, it seems that more than 400 people found it funny so far. This his the explanation:

The ProjectI love post and I'm worried that people don't get enough 'fun' post these days. Especially postcards. So I had an idea. It's very simple. You send me thirty quid (plus postage) and I'll send you a vintage postcard with a drawing and an offensive message on it (that's why it's called 'Hate mail'). So you get an original signed drawing, the postman get's a laugh and the world get's a little bit happier

I love specially the FAQ section:

What should I do if I don't want any Hate Mail? Don't click on the button that says 'BUY NOW'.

The project is closed for now, but it opens sporadically for short periods of time. You can see more postcards and read more about how it started here (in Spanish).

Postcard from Arabia

Sent by Kate (Saudi Arabia).

This is the only mail I have got so far from Saudi Arabia, via Postcrossing. When I started as a postcrosser I though it would be easier to get postcards from Arabic countries. But I have received only two Arabic postcards (written in English), and only thank you card one written in Arabic.

Anyway, this coffee pot is one of my favourites. I think it suits not only with my tastes, but also with the Postcrossing aim. It says: "دلَّة القهوة رمزًا للكرم"; more or less: 'The coffee pot is a symbol of generosity".

I Like People Who Smile When It Is Raining II

Letter sent to Anke (the Netherlands), in response to this.

I fact, the envelope is a variation of this one I drew some time ago. But I tried to write an unique and funny letter. I hope she like it!

Update after some months: I'm afraid this letter never reached its destination :(

My Handwriting

Lately I have been told several times that I have I nice handwriting. This has surprised me, because I think it is just a normal one. But I guess the handwriting of a lot of people is getting worse because they write less and less by hand...

Wood(land) Snail

Sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

Postcard drawn and painted by Heleen. When both Heleen and I heard about the challenge #1 of Mail a Smile, we misunderstood the theme. The real theme was Woodland animals, but Heleen understood they referred to 'animals living in the wood' and I understand 'animals made of wood'. Do you see the point? I show off I speak a lot of languages, but I'm only pretending...

Anyway, we laughed about that and Heleen later sent me this amazing snail made of wood (and it maybe lives in the woods...). And the stamp is just delicious!

Fred

It have been a great fun lately to take part in the mail art challenges of the Mail a Smile blog. As you know I was the lucky winner of challenge #1 and I received this amazing envelope as a prize:

And inside I found some stickers and... the nice Fred, whose name means 'peace' in Swedish. You can see that now he is peacefully sitting watching for my letters and postcards:

I had previously got another Fred, in the form of a beautiful green handmade card sent by Micu, as a thank you for my contribution to challenge #2:

  

You can see in the gallery all the handmade versions of Fred.

Oh... Happy Day!

Sent to Micu's mum (Hungary) as my second contribution to the Challenge #2 of Mail a Smile. The theme of the challenge was A cup of tea or coffee.

Collage made of press cuttings, tea labels, washi tape, stickers and a real bag of tasty rooibos tea. The postcard is published in the Challenge Gallery.

Colours of Mail Boxes

We usually take for granted some daily things like the colour of mail boxes or the year we are living in, and forget that things are not the same in the whole world.

I found in the Wikipedia this map with the colours of the mail boxes in the world. There is also a list that you can consult to discover there are white mail boxes in San Marino, orange mail boxes in Indonesia and grey mail boxes in Philippines (if there is not any mistake in the content).

By the way, I do not know how to add that mail boxes in Morocco are also yellow (like this and this).

Lighthouses

Some lighthouses I have recently got:

Sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

This is the maximum card no. 60, issued by Posten Åland (Finland) in 2008, 6th June. This is a very special lighthouse because it is named after the engineer Gustaf Dalén, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physic for his invention of automatic regulators for use in conjunction with gas accumulators for illuminating lighthouses and buoys. Too technical stuff just to say that he is considered, along with Fresnel, one of the fathers of modern lighthouses. Briefly... great card for a lighthouse-and-mail lover!

Sent by Marlene (the USA).

The postcard shows St. Agustine Lighthouse in Florida (the USA). This is the information on the back of the postcard:

Built in 1874 of brick and iron at a cost of $100.000. The lighthouse on Anastasia Island is 165 feet high with 8 flights of spiral staircase. Its bold black and white stripes serve as daylight landmark. Tower is open for tours and Lightkeepeer's House is a Maritime Museum.

Sent by John (the UK), and also the stamps below.

The postcard features "The beautiful Hebridean Island of Lewis in Scotland. a) Stacks at Garry Beach North Tolsta, b) Tiumpan Head Lighthouse, c) Butt of Lewis Lighthouse, d) Arch on the north coast near Ness."

Eddystone Lighthouse (in Devon, England) and The Smalls (Sorry, but I can't help telling you that it was the first lighthouse in the UK to have an installed flushing toilet).

Sent by Denis (Brazil).
The postcard shows the lighthouse in the Arvoredo Island, 11 km far from Florianópolis. He sent me this postacard as a swap, in exchange of this one.

Super Smurf

Sent to Heleen (the Netherlands).

I told you about the League of Extraordinary Penpals. Of course I could not resist to get involved in this project. Superheros usually keep their identity secret. But, you know, sometimes there are distractions, accidents, leaks... And It is how I discovered that Heleen is also a Superhero Penpal.

The occasion warranted a superhero envelope* with a superhero postcard inside!

*The superhero penpal in the envelope was drawn by Heleen. I only put the colours and the stickers.

Naked Mail

Mail sent by Mary England (taken from here).

I did not know that sending items without any wrapping has a name: naked mail. Even if I have sent and received some naked items. This bottle gives me some ideas. But indeed, I do not dare to sent naked objects from Morocco.

By the way, trying to finding out about this kind of mail, I also learn that it is referred by postal office workers as TTPO which stands for 'Torture the post office'.

Old Mail Box

Mail box in Talambout, a little village near my city. When I saw it, I didn't have any letter with me, so I could not check if it works. It looks so old...!

Sending Music & Smiles

Are you ready for the challenge #3 of Mail a Smile? The theme of the challenge this month is Music-playing an instrument (which can be freely interpreted as usual; see here how to participate).

You have until April 30th to make and send your mail art. to So get inspired and play on! 

I Like These Stamps

Sent by Kate (the United States).

Beautiful stamps!

Postcards for Me

Letter from Chi (Taiwan).

Chi usually sends pictures she takes and retakes as postcards. I like her pictures a lot, she is a very good photographer. Last time she sent me some postcards...

... specially made for me!

(I cannot publish the postcards because I still have to send some of them... ).

Extranjero

Mail box in the main post office in Sevilla (Spain) to collect mail for foreign countries. Extranjero means 'abroad'.

The three postcards I put into this mail box of stone have arrived yet.

How Do You Storage Your Postcards?

How do you storage your postcards? I am still searching a nice way to display my postcards on my new walls. And I found some interesting ideas in this article written by A Postcard a Day.