Only Talk about You

I guess in the penpalling world people can be as narcissistic as everywhere. However, throughout my correspondance years, my experience is exactly the opposite.

This finely ironic postcard made me laugh!

Golden News

There is  nothing like a little golden card bringing good news...

С Новым Годом / Happy New Year

Sent by Eduard (Russia) and Phillip (the USA).

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Winter Animals

Card sent by Sandrine (France).

Illustration by Ag Jatkowska

Card sent by Phillip (the USA).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
December theme: SNOW

• Week 1 - Snow
• Week 2 - Animals in snow
• Week 3 - Keep warm
• Week 4 - Christmas

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Shrine in the Snow

The Benzaiten Shrine at Lake Inokashira in the Snow, from the series Places Famous for Snow, the Moon and Cherry Blossoms, mid 1830s-mid 1840s. Colour woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige, Japan (in the British Museum).

Card sent by Rosemary (Canada).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
December theme: SNOW

• Week 1 - Snow
• Week 2 - Animals in snow
• Week 3 - Keep warm
• Week 4 - Christmas

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Calendars | Italy (II)

Sent to Bryon (the USA) and Imma (PC).

(More envelopes from this calendar.)

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Sweet Mail Made from Packaging

Postcard made from Japanese sweet packaging, sent to Fabienne (France). And the reply below, also a handmade postcard made of a box of sweets... could not have been more appropriate! 

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
October theme: FOOD/DRINKS

• Week 1 - Fruits, vegetables
• Week 2 - Sweets, desserts
• Week 3 - Wine, beer, tea, coffee 
• Week 4 - Multiples, multiviews
• Week 5 - Markets, cafés

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Every Journey Starts with a Single Step

And beginnings always feel good.

Card sent by Phillip (the USA).

Sunday Stamps | Round Patterns

Now that I have got the $1 stamp, I realise that, actually, "the designs become more complex as the denominations rise" (from the USPS site). What a clever design!

More stamps showing beautiful patterns, from the USA and China:

You will find more at Sunday Stamps!

Sunday Stamps | Paris 2024

Thanks to Fabienne, I can share the perfect stamp for today's Sunday Stamps: Olympics!

Calendars | The Fortune Teller

I have been making some envelopes out of calendars this year. Here you can see the front and back of one of them, sent to Fabienne (France). I was not sure that it would arrive writing the address this way, but eventually it reached its recipient in no time.

Front

Back

Sunday Stamps | Kings

Hugh Capet was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder of and first king from the House of Capet. The dynasty he founded ruled France for nearly nine centuries: from 987 to 1328 in the senior line, and until 1848 via cadet branches (with an interruption from 1792 to 1814 and briefly in 1815).

Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa (حمد بن عيسى بن سلمان آل خليفة) is King of Bahrain since 14 February 2002, after ruling as Emir of Bahrain from 6 March 1999.The country has been ruled by the Al Khalifa dynasty since 1783.

Felipe VI is the current King of Spain. He ascended the throne on 19 June 2014 upon the abdication of his father, Juan Carlos I. This stamp was issued in 2015, but it is not frequently used, because its high face value (5€). It is supposed to be equipped with Augmented Reality, which links to a video of the king.

Below, more from the "basic series", issued in 2016 and in 2020, for you to look at the differences. (The image on the second stamp taken from here, as I do not have the stamp):

Phillippe of Belgium is King of the Belgians since 2013.

Charles III is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms since 8 September 2022.

Go to Sunday Stamps to see more Royalty related stamps .

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Columbus Union Station Arch

Not having any bus or tram or taxi at hand, I thought I could add a railway-related card to this week's Thursday Postcard Hunt. It shows the Columbus Union Station Arch (Arena District, Columbus, Ohio, the USA). 

The stamps on the envelope were issued in 2019 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railway. They have some golden accents difficult to appreciate from a picture. I think some people took the central one for a label without face value, but it is a real stamp. 

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Thursday Postcard Hunt

April theme: TRANSPORTATION

• Week 1 - Boats, ferries
• Week 2 - Buses, trams, taxis
• Week 3 - Bicycles, tuk tuks
• Week 4 - Cable cars, gondolas

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

The Year of the Dragon

Celebration of the Lunar New Year continue in my mailbox. Last week I got this gorgeous red & golden envelope from Phillip (the USA), with the beautiful New Year stamps. As you can see, the postmark is on the back.

Canada Post is not issuing New Year stamps in 2024. However, my friend Rosemary sent me this one on her latest envelope  It was issued in 2012.

Sunday Stamps | Calligraphy

Some stamps featuring beautiful calligraphy for today's Sunday Stamps:

French stamp designed by the (mail) artist Benjamin Vautier, aka Ben, and issued in 2011. It belongs to the series Les timbres de Ben:

The following Thank You stamps were issued in 2020. They were designed by the calligrapher Dana Tanamachi, who drew the original sketches by hand. The script is highlighted in gold foil.

The stamp below features the American writer Carl Sandburg, as well as his signature:

And to see the penmanship of another writer and artist, two stamps depicting Edward Lear's work: Edward Lear as a bird (Self-portrait) and a Cat from an alphabet book. This four-stamps set was issued in 1988.

Happy New Year

Mail sent by Phillip (the USA) and Sandrine (France).

Traditional Thai Sweets
Thailand, 2018

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!