Vintage Postmen

John (the UK) sent me recently all these vintage postmen, as postcards and stamps. I just love all these illustrations!

Birds on Stamps

The theme for Sunday Stamps this week is Birds. I have selected some stamps in my received letters and postcards. I realised that this is a very common topic around the world.

From Austria

From China

From France

From Germany

From Jersey

From Montenegro

From Portugal

From the Netherlands

From Hong Kong

From Japan

From Russia

From Singapore

From Switzerland

From Taiwan

From the USA

Barcode Art

Barcode Marilyn Monroe

Postcard sent by Scott (the USA).

He makes art with barcodes. He created this portrait of Marilyn Monroe using 1944 barcodes from movie DVDs in which the actress appeared. The portrait of the Elvis Presley below was made with barcodes from music CDs the rock and roll performer created, and the same for Madonna portrait. I wonder which barcodes he used for the portrait of Jesus... The original mosaics measure 1,5 x 1,5 m.

Barcode Elvis

UPC A/Madonna/Music CDs

Barcode Jesus

He confesses he is crazy about barcodes (I believe that). He collect barcodes, so I sent him some barcodes I found. Does it sounds crazy? Well, there is people who collect laughing cows...

Real Spices

Sent by Heleen (the Netherlands). They are not postcards with pictures of spices, but REAL spices. I am still wondering how they arrived safe and sound... I can imagine all the mail in the post office smelling of curry or cumin!

Vera's Ashes

A 78-year-old woman, whose health problems meant she travelled little while alive, has become a jet setter in death. Vera Anderson has fulfilled her dying wish to tour the world after her son Ross arranged to send her ashes to more than 250 cities worldwide. Total strangers have taken her wishes to heart, organising burial ceremonies and simple send-offs in far-off corners of the world.Vera's ashes have entered the stream in front of the Royal Castle in Stockholm, Sweden. They have toured Thailand, been to Malta, and dusted the snows of both the Earth's poles. (...)

He packaged them in sealed plastic bags, added a note asking its reader to find a nice place for the ashes, and sent them to the head postmaster in the main post offices of the capitals of all 50 states as well as capitals of every country. (...)

Soon people began sending back pictures and letters detailing what they had done with the ashes. The Aymara Indians held a burial ceremony for them at Lake Titicaca in the Andes. And a nun at a South American orphanage now considers Vera Anderson her guardian angel. The ashes were sprinkled along the Choo Praya River in Thailand, on the Alabama state capitol grounds in Montgomery and within sight of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. (...)

Taken from this article.

NB This is an old story (2001), but I think it is still interesting.

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Update: This is also a post for the link-up about Travel hosted by Mary.

Messages in Bottles

I sent these two messages in bottles to Heleen (the Netherlands) from Spain:

Postcard made with a reused programme of concerts.

This is a illustration made by Kukuxumusu.

When I arrived in home after the summer holidays, I found Heleen had also sent a message in a bottle to me!

Shaped postcard featuring Ouddorp lighthouse in the Netherlands.

Blue Postcards

For more details visit the blog of the project.

Frida

It is nice when you receive a postcard and, for some (strange) reason, it happens to have the perfect postcard to answer back!

Postcard sent by Laura (the UK). It features the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, painted by Nickolas Muray.

This one was sent by Catherine (France), unwritten. This is a self-portrait. It was difficult to part with this postcard, but I finally re-sent it to Laura (the UK).

Autumn

Sent by Postmuse (the USA).

Thank you card for my forth contribution to the Orphaned Postcard Project. Stitched collage with beautiful vintage stamp. Indeed she sent me this postcard some months ago, but I thought it could be appropriate to publish it in the beginning of autumn. I love the autumn colours in the postcard (better in real than in the picture, sorry). She wrote that she had enjoyed a lot stitching postcards instead of gluing them. I believe it, and the result is truly nice.

Two more autumn postcards received from the USA:

Sent by Donna (the USA).

Sent by Misha (the USA).

Planes and Airports

You know that I love postcards about planes and airports. But, for some reasons, they are not easy to find. When I had to wait in an airport (which happens often), nothing could be better than write postcards to my friends with a picture of the place. But unluckily the airports authorities do not take this important wish in account. What a pity!

Anyway, last month I was lucky enough to find two of these postcards and receive another:

Sent to Heleen (the Netherlands) from the airport of Ponta Delgada (Azores Islands, Portugal). Also published in Heleen's blog.

Also sent to Heleen (the Netherlands), from Barcelona-El Prat Airport. Also published here, along with the matched stamp and another postcard of a very special plane.

And I received this from my friend Laura (Spain). It features the Bilbao Airport. I do not know if she wrote the postcard in the airport or once she arrived in home.

Cuore per te

Collage sent to Dimitra (Greece), for the mail art call Parla Italiano? The requirement was to include Italian words on the postcard (it does not matter if you do not speak Italian. Everybody knows pizza, don't they?).

And this the handmade postcard that Dimitra sent as a thank you:

Blue Postcards

Blue postcards. They made me dream of more summer...!

Two postcards from a swap with Agi (Croatia).

Sent by Lluïsa (PC). Formentor, in Majorca Island is one of my favourite places in the world (considering I have seen a very little part of the world...). I can say I discovered there the blue colour.

Little Accident in Way

Sent by Laura (the UK).

An orange letter that suffered a little accident in way (it seems).

Snails and Snails

Some snails I have got recently:

Envelope illustrated by Annick (France). I am sorry because in the picture you cannot see how beautiful is it. By the way, Annick is a big snail lover!

Postcard sent by Dorothee (Germany), through Postcrossing.

Snail mail (literally) drawn and painted by Heleen (the Netherlands). I love this one! And he arrived with some colleagues: