HitM | The Canadian White House

I love the humorous contribution to the Houses in the Mail project sent by Phillip (the USA)!

A Strange World

Letter sent to Alan (the UK).

Do you agree? Do you fell, sometimes, that this is a strange world?

Bridges on Postcards

West Gate Gardens
Canterbury, the UK
Sent by Laura

Pulteney Bridge
Bath, the UK
Sent by Laura

Pulteney Bridge built in 1770, is one of the three in the world lined by shops on both sides. Sir Willima Pulteney, late Earl of Bath, commisioned Rober Adam to design it.

La Conciergerie
París, France
Sent by Fabienne

Medieval bridge of Besalú
Sent by Imma

King Mindaugas' Bridge
Vilnius, Lithuania
Sent by Edita

Old Bridge
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sent by Danijel

Zhivopisny Bridge, Moscow
Sent by Kate

HitM | Emily Carr

House Front, Gold Harbour (1912-13) is an oil painting by Emily Carr (1871-1945), British Columbia most iconic painter. She took a lot of inspiration from the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, as in this work.

Postcard sent by Bryon (the USA).

Sunday Stamps | W for Women in Winter

The name of this Canadian issue is Canadian Women in Winter Stamps (double W!). They were issued on 24 January 2018, and feature the following sportswomen:

• Sharon and Shirley Firth
• Sonja Gaudet
• Danielle Goyette
• Nancy Greene
• Clara Hughes

The envelope was sent by Bryon, long time ago.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, letter W. We are almost there!

HitM | Kampong Fragrance

Illustrator: Lee Kow Fong

In Singapore, a kampong is a traditional village. In the past, there were many of these in Singapore, but development and urbanization have replaced them. Nowadays, there are few kampong villages remaining, mostly on islands surrounding Singapore. The sender said that this postcard makes her think of her home town.

I think that it matches with the stamps (received on the back of this and a previous postcard). I just love the series showing the day life in Singapore. I imagine that life in the city is very different from the life in the kampong...

By the way... can you see two different postmarks on the back of the postcard? 4 and 13 September. Actually, the postcard arrived on 31 October (?!). It never takes so long from Singapore!

Postcard sent by Maria (Singapore), for the Houses in the Mail project.

Gare au gorille!

Did you know the song Gare au gorille de George Brassens? Philippe (France) made a superbe mail art interpretation!

This is a postcard that reproduces an envelope previously sent. Clever idea.

HitM | Spionnetje

Another postcard sent by Heleen (the Netherlands) for the Houses in the Mail project. I have posted postcards featuring houses in Amsterdam (here, here...). But any of them showed the detail you can see on the left, in the middle of the window frame: the spionnetje ('little spy'). It is a mirror outside the window, used since ages ago to see who is ringing the doorbell. Nowadays people use electronic devices... which are far less romantic!

The stamp, showing also the typical houses, isn't new to me. But I love this Postcrossing series!

Door Tags

I am growing a nice collection of door tags thanks to Bryon (the USA). See here, and here...

Have you ever sent one as a postcard?

HitM | In Rochester

Two more interesting houses for the Houses in the Mail project, sent by Laura (the UK).

Eastgate House is an Elizabethan townhouse in Rochester, Kent, England. It is notable for its association with author Charles Dickens, featuring as Westgate in The Pickwick Papers and as the Nun's House in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Now a Dickens Museum (not really... See Lata's comment!), the grounds of Eastgate House contain the Swiss chalet in which Dickens penned several of his novels.

It seems that a tunnel was built between the main house and the writing chalet... so the author avoided to get his shoes dirty when he passed from one place to another (?!).

Temples on Postcards

Canterbury Cathedral floodlit from the King's School
Painting by John Doyle

The Canterbury War-Horse, 2018

Canterbury Cathedral
England, the UK

Burgos Cathedral
Spain

Bath Abbey
England, the UK
(a former cathedral, actually)

The Round Church, Cambridge

Postcards sent by Laura (Spain & the UK)

Ruranwelisay Stupa, Sri Lanka

The Ruwanwelisaya is a stupa, a hemispherical structure containing relics, considered sacred to many Buddhists all over the world.[1] It was built by King Dutugemunu c. 140 B.C.

Postcard sent by Ravindra (Sri Lanka).

The Sainte-Chapelle ('Holy Chapel') in Paris (France). Stained-glass windows from the 13th century. On the second postcard, Saint Louis holds the maquette of the Chapel.

Postcards sent by Fabienne (France).

St. Peter's Dome (Roma, Italy)
(This postcard arrived from Belarus, though.)

Sunday Stamps | V for Viktor & Rolf

Viktor & Rolf is a fashion house which specialises in creating conceptual and avant-garde designs. It was founded in 1993 by Dutch designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren.

These stamps were issued on 11 September 2017. The sheetlet features all kinds of sketches and doodles used by the fashion designers. (More information)

This is my contribution to this week's Sunday Stamps, letter V.

Reading Women on Postcards

Ellen Dhub photograph, 1976
Sent by John (the UK)

I like the book she is reading...

Sent by John (the UK)

Mr Duffee Seated on a Striped Sofa, Reading 
Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844-1926)
Sent by Bryon (the USA)

Sent by Phillip (France)

Can you spot her?

Sent by Heleen (The Netherlands)

Girl in Red (1926), by Alice Ruggles Sohier (1880-1969)
Sent by Bryon (the USA)

Have you noticed the Christmas postmark?

Jip en Janneke characters, by Fiep Westendorp
Sent by Heleen (the Netherlands)

Although she is not exactly reading letters...

Welsh vintage ladies
Sent by John (the UK)

One reading, one doing the laundry (?!)

Fantaisies

«The Postal Service has always carried mostly fantaisies, anyway.»

David Brin, The Postman

Just for Dreaming...

Hawai'i vibrant sunset sent by Bryon (the USA).

Chief Lemee

Postcard featuring Chief Lemee (Chris Brown, 1903-1956), a Yosemite Miwok Indian with an extensive knowledge about Miwok culture. Yosemite National Park, California, sent by Bryon (the USA).

I love when postcards appear after a "conversation" through the comments of the blog, or previous letters/postcards. I also love postcards that teach me things. Actually... any postcard does, doesn't it?

Some Sent Envelopes

Made of pages of magazines and brochures. Sent to Laura (the UK) and Imma (PC). I tried to match the theme of the stamp and the illustrations on the envelopes...

Front. The stamps are cinema-related...
except the king!

Back

Front

Back

Boldly Go...

The stamps I showed yesterday are not the only ones I have received related to the space. Lilli (Canada) sent me this letter in November. It is a pity that the picture cannot show how wonderful the envelope is, and also the stamps. Especially, the lenticular one (Star Trek again!).

The same month, David (the USA) sent me his Inspired by Stars letter. What a wonderful gift! You can see here most of the contents (and the rest of the Posted Letter projects, of course!).

I like a lot the slogan on the back: Boldly go where no one has gone before. That is what I say to all my departing letters...