International Moon Day

International Moon Day (IMD) is a United Nations-proclamed annual celebration held on July 20 to mark the anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon by Apollo 11 in 1969. IMD serves as a platform to educate, inspire, and promote awareness about the past, present, and future of sustainable lunar exploration and utilization.

Bryon sent a postcard to celebrate it!

Another related stamp I got form Phillip (the USA):

Summer Mail - VI | Sunny

Good morning

Postcard sent by Bryon (USA).

Sunday Stamps | U Is for Universe

My U-entry for this A-Z Sunday Stamps is dedicated to Universe. In fact I could add literally any stamp to this post...

Sunday Stamps | P Is for Piaf

I used these stamps of Edith Piaf on a previous round of Sunday Stamps A-Z, long ago. They were issued in 2012.

But I have recently got a third one, from France. I was wondering why they have used the same picture... until I realised it was a joint issue with the USA!

This is my P post for Sunday Stamps A-Z.

A Postcard Is Intention

I Have Chosen My Path
Artwork by David Shrigleyt
(Sent by Laura from the UK)

«Es curioso, porque hoy una postal ya no sirve para avisar de que estás bien. Para eso está el WhatsApp. Tampoco sirven para enseñar el paisaje más espectacular; para eso están las fotos o los filtros de Instagram. De hecho, encontrar una postal bonita hoy es casi una misión de rescate en tiendas llenas de polvo.

Pero yo sigo enviándolas igualmente.

Las envío porque me gusta que me obliguen a mirar la ciudad de otra manera. Tienes que buscar el estanco, preguntar por el sello, localizar el buzón (que siempre parece esconderse a propósito). Es un juego de lentitud en un mundo que corre demasiado.

Una postal ya no es información. Es intención.»

Marta Lalibretaroja, Postal #77 - Postales en tiempos difíciles

Windows to the World

This postcard shows a traditional Russian window casing (1, Muzeyny proezd, Alexandrov, Russia). It is an artwork by Vasily Osipovich Zhabin. But the picture was taken by the sender, Eduard, and it won a photo contest for the most beautiful casing in the Vladimir region in 2015 (If I understand well the back of the postcard!). 

For more that ten years, Eduard has been running the mail art project Windows to the World. Maybe you can consider to send a window, too:

Artistic works dedicated to the theme “Windows” are accepted. You can use any painting or other technique. The deadline isn’t established. 

Please, send your “Windows” here: 

Eduard Egorov

Zaozernaya, 45

Alexandrov

Vladimirskaya region

Russia 

601653

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Café Neon

Sometimes, the humblest sign is a piece of art.

Sent by Bryon (the USA).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
August theme: ART

• Week 1 - Statues, monuments
• Week 2 - Paintings, watercolours
• Week 3 - Public art, murals
• Week 4 - Sculptures
• Week 5 - Crafts, fabric art, textiles

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

The May 2nd Penny Black

This postcard illustrates the Penny Black on piece with letters 'A' 'A' which was posted on the 2nd May 1840 and cancelled on arrival in London with a red 'tombstone' cancellation. Thus by the time the now famous Penny Black was officially issued on the 6th May, 1840, Postal History had already been made - in Bath.

Postcard from the Bath Postal Museum, sent by Laura (the UK).

Lights Out

Lately, eclipse-related mail has become a thing. Before 8 April, I got a letter on this map from Bryon (the USA). 

On 18 April (only ten days after the total eclipse!), a couple of pieces of mail arrived, postmarked on the very eclipse day:

This postcard from Phillip shows the successive phases of an eclipse on the Sun (taken from Larousse Encyclopedia of Astronomy by Lucien Rudaux and G. de Vaucouleurs, 1962). But the clever thing here is how the stamps are lined up on the envelope: the Moon pass in front of the Sun, eclipsing it. An unbeatable way of sending a real eclipse by snail mail!

The eclipse stamp was issued on 2017,  and it uses thermochromic ink. I took a picture to show how it works. You can see it on this post.

The eclipse path of 2017 was quite different from the 2024 path!

Bryon, Canada, sent this postcard that arrived also on 18 April:

On the back, the stamps include superb images of northern lights and the Milky Way. And also the stamp issued by Canada Post on March 2024, which celebrates the total eclipse:

Printed with a special spot-gloss varnish that glows when exposed to black light, it shows the eclipse set against a darkened sky. A thin silver line depicts its path across Canada, and a collage along the bottom of the stamp highlights some of the landscapes over which it passes – including Ontario’s Niagara Falls and Spillars Cove in Newfoundland and Labrador.

I love that the postcard was postmarked in Bonavista, meaning, literally 'Good view'.

Alphabet 2023 | Y is for Yellville

This is postcard Y of Bryon's project Alphabet 2023. This one travelled from Yellville (Arkansas). With the best array of y-stamps you could find!

Can you believe there is only one letter left?!? (Spoiler: Already arrived!)

Yellow Trumpet

Yellow Lady's Nipper / Yellow Skunk Cabbage 

Yugoslavia

Yellow-sided skimmer

Saluting Young America - Youth Month

Yorktown

Alphabet 2023 | T Is for Tullahoma

It is time for T, sent from Tullahoma, Tennessee! As usual, with matching stamps, two of them issued 50 years apart! 

150th anniversary of Tennessee Statehood

Tennessee Statehood Bicentennial
Grotto Falls, Tennessee

Thank you

Actually, thank you, Bryon, for this fab project!

Italian Culture

Torino

S. Nazaro Sesia
Abbazia dei Santi Nazzario e Celso

Novara
Cupola di San Gaudenzio
Luna Rossa 4 Aprile 2015

Pizza!

Postcards sent by Bruno (PC), Bryon (Canada) and Davide (Italy).

Black Birds

You could not find a better envelope for these stamps. It was made out of a calendar page, by Phillip (the USA).

Sunday Stamps | Black Widow & Wolf Man

The most scary stamps I found for today's Sunday Stamps!

I guess the stamps got also pretty scarred by the terrible postal machines that destroy them...

Sunday Stamps | Black

I may have a lot of black stamps, but these two came immediately to my mind when I read the theme of today's Sunday Stamps: The black colour.

United Arab Emirates, 2018

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (1918-2004) was an Emirati politician, statesman, and philanthropist who served as the first president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 1971 until his death in 2004. He is credited as the founding father and the principal driving force behind the formation of the UAE, uniting seven emirates. 

2018 was declared the Year of Zayed to mark 100 years since his birth.

Finland, 2015

Among the works of art that participated in the design competition organized in the spring 2014, six were selected to be featured in the stamps issued on January to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Artists' Association of Finland. 

This stamp features one of the selected works: Piste ('Dot') by Mika Natri.

Beer Appreciation Day

On the first Friday of August, the Beer Appreciation Day is celebrated around the world. Last year, I made envelopes using beer labels & packaging with lovely designs. Here you can be some of them, sent to the USA and the UK:

"Everyone must believe in something.
I believe I'll have another drink, excuse me..."

Selfless

I got this postcard from Belarus through the Postcrossing site, but I have not idea what it means. There is no clue on the back. бескорыстный means 'selfless'. 

Yellow & Black & Red Postcards Apparently Unconnected

Jump Jump
Jennifer Bachelder Design

Donald's Lucky Day

Joan Fuster in front of his house:
10, Sant Josep Street, Sueca
december 1963

By Samin Nosrat & Wendy MacNoughton

Sent by Phillip (the USA), Bryon (the USA) and Bruno (PC).