Summer Mail - III | Rowing

Zamboanga Vintas

 The Amstel River with the Magere Brug (='Skinny Bridge')
Illustration by Dick Bruna

Sent by Allen (Philippines) and Heleen (the Netherlands). 

Pets for Pets

After getting this card I have been informed that not only Crazy Cats have dogs as a pets... Also Nijntje (who I believe is a little rabbit) has a dog as pet. 

On the back of the same postcard Bor de Wolf is playing the acordeon...

The snail mail is quite a surprising world.

Sunday Stamps | Cartoons & Characters

Some famous characters from Japan:

Doraemon in the Bamboo Thicket
20 May 2020

Magikarp, a Pokémon species
7 July 2021

I think the Japanese really love comics and cartoon stamps. They issue a lot, even from foreign illustrators and characters: 

Girl Playing Harp, a Dick Bruna design
21 July 2000

Mymble, a Tove Jansson character
1 August 2018

I have received also Moomin stamps from Finland, like this*:

6 May 2009

And now, let's see a couple of funny British cartoons:

4:55 P.M., by Charles Barsotti
The cheque in the post, by Jack Ziegler
26 February 1996

Go to Sunday Stamps to see more cartoons and illustrations on stamps!


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*If interested, you can see my collections here: Tove Jansson / Dick Bruna. 

Children from the Netherlands

Illustration by Dick Bruna

Two Dutch Girls in Costume
By Jos Brower, 1998

Postcards sent by Lena and Judith (the Netherlands).

Las bicicletas son para el verano*

Zeus, a Spanish bike from 1979

Same day last week, I got two postcards featuring bikes, from the USA and the Netherlands. Plus a letter from the UK about a kid learning how to ride a bike.

The Zeus postcard was written on 22 April, postmarked on 23 April, and arrived two months later: on 22 June. Do you think it came by bike?

Nijntie/Miffy, by Dick Bruna

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*This is the title of a famous play by Fernando Fernán Gómez. Las bicicletas son para el verano means 'Bicycles Are for the Summer'

#AtoZChallenge | K is for Kites

By Dick Bruna
Postcard sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

What a Scorcher, by Peter Adderley
Postcard sent by John (the UK)

Every theme you can think of, there are postcards illustrating it!

Flying kites is a recently discovered hobby. When was the last time that you tried something new?

#AtoZChallenge | I is for Illustrators

It had been a long time since I had added a Smurf to the album! This Schtrompfvache or Smurf cow, drawn by the French cartoonist Michel Cambon, was sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

On the envelope, and inside, more Smurfs appeared, along with some Dick Bruna's (recently passed away) stamps.

Smurfs (on comics, not on TV) were my heroes as a child. But I did not met Miffy until adulthood. Have you discovered any children character as an adult? Which one was your favourite in your childhood?

Bruna's Style Cow

Letter sent to Heleen (the Netherlands),with a happy cow on the back, Dick Bruna's style.

Also published in Heleen's Weird Existing Animals blog.

Happy Colours by Dick Bruna: Stamps

Happy Colours by Dick Bruna: Postcards

I am always happy to find Nijntje/Miffy and other characters by Dick Bruna in my mailbox. And they have been appearing a lot, thanks to Heleen (the Netherlands).

I like especially Miffy's teddy bear, and to see her grandparents.

Teddy Bears on Stamps

From Japan

I have received this teddy-bear shaped stamp three weeks ago. It gave me the idea to publish stamps with teddy bears for this week's Sunday Stamps II: Toys or games.

From Canada

This stamp, however, belongs to a set issued on May 11, 2012, dedicated to Franklin the Turtle.

From Germany

Issued on May 6, 2010, as EUROPA stamp. The topic that year was Children's stories.

From the Netherlands

I love Dick Bruna illustrations. This stamp was issued in a 6-stamps set on November 8, 2005, in order to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Nijntje or Miffy. I have received the whole set, on different letters. I find especially funny the little rabbit holding a teddy bear...

From Thailand

This stamp was issued on February 7, 2012, for Valentine's Day. I like the idea of the teddy bear as "symbol of love", as the stamp says. The set of four stamps included another teddy bear with the heart-shaped lock that this key opens.

From the United Kingdom

And finally, three famous British teddy bears: Andy Pandy, Paddington (actually, he is from Peru! - See here the whole set), and Rupert.

Japan Week - 1

Some weeks ago, I had my particular Japan Week thanks to mail...

Do you know the Gotochi cards?

Gotochi cards are designed and released by the Japanese Postal System, and each one of them represents a place in Japan - hence the name 'gotochi', which means 'local'. They showcase Japanese symbols (which might be local dishes, costumes, monuments, landscapes, etc.) on a national and regional level, in a brightly coloured and fun cartoon.

Gotochi cards have a couple of unique features that make them special. First of all, they are not perfect rectangles, but in fact take on the shape of their picture. Also, each card not only has a cartoon picture on it, but also the name of the place that is depicted in the image. Every prefecture has multiple cards, which might be one of the reasons that collecting them has taken off and became such a popular hobby! (Taken from the Postcrossing blog).

I had seen many, many, many of these cards on the net. But I had not received any of them until the twin of this one landed in my mailbox. It arrived from Japan... after a short layover in Heleen's mailbox (the Netherlands). It was beautifully stamped on the back:

Amsterdam multiples

Postcard sent by Laura (the Netherlands). I just love it!

And it matches perfectly with this amazing one sent by Heleen (the Netherlands, of course):

This is a really amazing postcard, don't you thing so? I had seen sometimes in Postcrossing walls, but I had never got it myself.

I like the fact that it fits in so many of my albums (you need to look closely!): Beer, Dick Bruna, Food, Flags, the VQR Postal Project (number 31 is a cow and number 36 is cheese),  Lighthouses (in the medal), Multiples on postcards, Tea & Cofee (see the teaspoon), royalty, Sinterklaas,  Tulips, Windmills (also in the teaspoon)... I am sure I forget something!

Even the stamp, issued past August, shows an UNESCO World Heritage Site:

What a complete postcard!

Pets on Stamps

The theme for Sunday Stamps this week is Pets. I have been looking among my received stamps and I have realised I don't have a lot of stamps featuring pets. Unless I consider tigers, frogs or teddy bears as pets... Having no pets myself, maybe I lack of this kind of imagination. So I will show you the most traditional pets: dogs and cats.

From Taiwan

From the USA

I find these stamps from Taiwan and the USA are quite similar in design. The following ones from the Netherlands are a completely different concept. By the way, three of my favourite stamps by Dutch illustrators Dick Bruna, Fiep Westendorp and Charles Burki.

By the way, have you checked this new website called Petpals? It can be interesting for mail & pets lovers...

And More Christmas Stamps

Last week I wrote that certain stamp was a favourite... And as part of Christmas' magic I have just received it as a postcard! (A bit damaged, but still).

Well, but today is about stamps. The theme for Sunday Stamps in Viridian's blog is again Holiday stamps, I'm going to show the few Christmas stamps I have received this year:

From the UK

Timothy Cratchit (aka Tiny Tim) is a character from the novel A Christmas Carol, by English writer Charles Dickens. This used to be my favourite book as a child. I have probably read this novel more than thirty or even forty times (Sure!).

From the UK

This stamp has been designed by a 10-years-old school girl. She and the girl who designed the stamp below (7 years old) won among more than 240,000 entries to the contest. It is only the third time in Royal Mail's near 500-year history that children have designed the stamps for Christmas. You can read more here.

More received stamps from the UK:

Don't you love a Christmas stamps about Christmas cards?!?


I am not sure it these pre-euro stamps are Christmas stamps, but I think so (Update: Yes!). I just wanted to show them because they are really lovely!

From the Netherlands

From the Netherlands