A Heavier Aerogram

This post brought me some snail mail that I published in this post that brought me the aerogram you see above, sent by FinnBadger (the USA).

This aerogram was issued by USPS in 1995, and the illustrations are really beautiful in person. After a disastrous attempt, the sender decided to insert a thick piece of paper to give the letter some thickness. Ironically, the aerograms were designed to be lighter than the normal letters.

The Snoopy Exhibition

I sent this envelope to the exhibition With love from Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts Gang some time ago, and the Museum was kind enough to answer with this big cheerful postcard. And beautiful colour-matching stamps on the back!

Lake Louise

I received this stunning landscape from Bryon (Canada). I wish I could be there this weekend!

This information about the picture was written on the back:

Lake Louise is named after the Princess Louise Caroline Alberta(1848-1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, and the wife of Marquess of Lorne, who was the Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883. The unique emerald colour of the water comes from rock flour carried into the lake by melt-water rom the glaciers that overlook the water (Lefroy glacier).

Delivered by Flying Monkey

Sent by FinnBadger (the USA) for the Oz Postcard Project, printed over an old map and delivered by flying monkey.

We Will Always Have Casablanca

Casablanca-themed letter sent to Heleen (the Netherlands). 

I wrote the message on the back of the real postcard and the two hand-made postcards, cut from packaging of tea and beer. 

Don't you love the shape of the bride dress stamp?

Blue Mammals

Plastic cover of a cheese box sent by Heleen (the Netherlands) as a postcard, with two of those beautiful December stamps designed by Tord Boontje.

Those Poor Letters

Sometimes a friend sends a quick picture just to let me know that a letter arrived. Then I see the wretched condition of the letters I have sent from Morocco. And I cannot help but wonder if the postal system has tortured them or something.

Rainbow of Chairs

I had received some Hungarian chairs on stamps. I still think it is an unusual theme for stamps. But I was delighted to receive this sort of rainbow of chairs on an envelope!

Sent by Micu (Hungary).

A Collection of Butterflies

This is post for Sunday Stamps-II. The theme today is Butterflies or moths. 

When I see a framed collection of dead butterflies, it seems to me a bit creepy. However, that could do with postal butterflies. I wonder how the USPS decides the value of each species...

(Bonus: Did you know that there is a postman butterfly?)

5 Years | How Do You Arrive Here?

During the last five years, a lot of people have visited this blog. I feel grateful to everyone: those who have disappeared, those who still come regularly (or from time to time), and the few who have become my correspondents. I would like to have a list, but of course, that is impossible.

However, sometimes I wonder: how people end up here? I guess the answer has changed throughout all this time. For instance, I was an active postcrosser when I started the blog, and there has been long time since the last time I sent a Postcrossing postcard (mostly because they get lost too often from Morocco!).

I do not use any tracking tool for this site other that blogger itself, so I cannot analyse the data in detail. There are people who arrive from other blogs, or, lately, from Twitter. I know there is also people who arrive here looking for something like air mail stickers or snail mail ideas, or even more exotic things like chinese mailbox.

Some strange searches that have lead someone to the Mail Adventures blog, too. Even if they are not related to mail, in principle, I can understand that you arrive here looking for a day without coffee, diy giraffe projects or drawing of matsu the sea goddess.

But I have collected some really odd words. Here is the top ten:

1. camels Australia 20 march 2013 
2. claudia sofio la vache a violé 
3. experimental jetset
4. make a fuss pics
5. naked portuguese women in the azores
6. rene burri verona
7. serki toponi 
8. show your junk
9. women in the 50's in the kitchen
10. you do not read any French

(Honestly, people ending up here while looking for number 2, 5 or 8 worries me a little...)

5 Years | How to Be British

Postcard sent by Laura (the UK).

How to Be British is a very famous collection of postcards by Martyn Ford and Peter Legon. I have received more postcards like this one, and they always make me laugh (maybe you laugh less if you are British yourself... Or more!).

I published some of them in this post. It has been the most visited post during the five years of life of this blog. I wonder why.

5 Years | Alpino

Postcard sent to Heleen (the Netherlands), made of a box of two-tips felt pens. She published it here, so I could see the cancellation (I was very curious about!):

Five years ago, I uploaded a similar postcard to the blog, also sent to Heleen. It was the third post of Mail Adventures.

I have learnt a lot about mail and mail art since then. At least, I have been upgraded from colour pencils to felt-pens!

5 Years | Congratulations Cards

Folded stitched postcard made by Eva (Germany). I usually do not publish the messages inside, but I think you should see her beautiful calligraphy...

Paper doll folded postcard sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

Alice in Wonderland celebrating a birthday (or un-birthday) party sent by Laura (the UK).

(I received the postcards above, among other presents, for my birthday. Still people are not crazy enough to write directly to the blog itself!)

5 Years Blogging Here

Five years ago, this quotation was the very first post of Mail Adventures blog:

«Les gens se tuent parce qu'ils ne reçoivent plus que des publicités par la poste.» (='People kill themselves because they only receive advertisements by mail.')
Frédéric Beigbeder, 99 francs

It is not that sentence (a bit harsh, isn't it?) what induced the creation of Mail Adventures. Neither it induced me to write letters: I had been writing letters since long time ago. The blog is just a part of that, and sometimes really funny. Thanks for keep on reading!

Krokus

Today's theme for Sunday Stamps-II is Flowers. You have probably seen this one, because Heleen uploaded it (among other beauties) for the Easter topic of Sunday Stamps-II.

I couldn't help but show you how beautiful it looks on this envelope that she sent, after a short conversation about crocuses:

David de Kabouter

Sent to Heleen (the Netherlands). I drew the gnome on the envelope; the postcard was bought.

David el Gnomo is a Spanish animated TV series, very famous in the eighties. David and his family were among my favourite characters on books, too. (Gnomes, Smurfs... I was very fond of little beings!)

I was shocked when I discovered that David was actually Dutch! The books were written by the Dutch author Wil Huygen and illustrator Rien Poortvliet (though they claimed that they were written by a Gnome called David).

(By the way, the little letter carrier that I drew is not David, but his chubby cousin!)

Letters Were a Party

«The other letters were from Hilde and mum. I didn't open them until I got home, letters were a party, everything had to be perfect when I read them.»

Karl Ove Knausgård, Dancing in the dark: My Struggle Book 4

50th Birthday

Envelope made of tracing paper and tape, sent to Eric (France), for his 50th birthday. It contained a knitted 50:

It arrived one or two days after the due date. But Eric is still 50, isn't he? And his mail art call about this subject (Fifty) will remain open until the end of 2016. See the details in his blog, and all the creations he has received so far.

Great Green Letter from Adanaland

Letter sent by Alan (UK).

It suffered a minor postal adventure: it arrived already open. But, happily, it seems that the whole content was inside. Among other things, these artistamps. If you could see them in person, you would agree they are better than most of the official postal services issues.

B&W Old Pictures

Letter sent to Chi (Taiwan).

Florida on Recent Spanish Stamps

I have recently received two stamps related to Florida (in the USA), but issued by the Spanish postal service (Correos).

This was issued on 19 September, 2015. It commemorates the 450th anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine, the first successful settlement in La Florida and the most significant city in the region for nearly three centuries. It is the oldest continuously-inhabited, European-established settlement in the continental USA. 

On the stamp you can see an engraving of the founder, the Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, along with a photography of the monument erected in his honour in the American city. I wonder why they have represented him twice.

Some months ago, on 3 January, 2014 they issued an stamp dedicated to the 5th Centenary of Juan Ponce de León's arrival at the Florida coast. The stamp does not show any map of the land, but a navigation chart.

By the way, I have received this self-adhesive stamp twice, with and without the frame:.

Today's theme for Sunday Stamps - II is Maps. I had previously posted some maps on stamps. The maps happen to be among my favourite topics.

Aerograms!

I love when a blog post leads to more mail in my PO Box! Bryon (the USA) answered my question by snail mail. USPS produced aerograms  -the sender wrote- from 1947 to 1999. This one dates from 1974.

You can see it unfolded. It was written the other side.

And another aerogram or air mail letter sent by Laura (the UK). This was not issued by any postal service.

Pink Letter for Eduardo

Hand painted envelope sent to the mysterious Eduardo Munez (the UK).

Naïve Cities

I love these naïve representations of London (the UK) and Stockholm (Sweden) send by Laura. There are plenty of details to look at!

Where Do the Lost Stamps Go?

Letter sent to Alan (the UK).

The mail adventure was, this time, that I posted two letters to Alan: the same moment, the same mailbox. The other envelope arrived without stamp... two days earlier than this!

The Flaws Are Worthier

«Lo que más me gusta de los sellos -dijo- es que los que tienen algún defecto son los más valiosos.»

Lars Saabye Christensen, El hermanastro

The Moon

It is difficult to show the clever work that FinnBadger (the USA) dis with this envelope,without showing my whole address... (Other example, sent to Eduardo Munez).

Sorry because the picture is a bit dark. But, well, look at the stamp: it is night!