Year of the Fire Horse [II]

Sent by Fabienne (France).

A Letter Is a Gift

Decorated envelope sent by Laura (the UK).

Warmest Wishes

Really nice to look at this illustration in the middle of the winter...

Card sent by Phillip (the USA).

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Curlew & Friends

Curlew Christmas. Lino and silkscreen print by Angela Harding. Card sent by Rosemary (Canada).

A sleigh pulled by dogs, cats, rabbits... Postcard sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
January theme: LIGHT

• Week 1 - Sunshine
• Week 2 - Reflections
• Week 3 - Snowy scenes
• Week 4 - Lights in windows
• Week 5 - Light, or bright, colours

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Best Wishes to Everyone

Happy New Year!

Peace on Earth

Happy New Year

Bonne Année

Meilleurs Vœux

Meilleurs Voeux

This is a special card. The illustration was made by Michel Trani for a stamp design contest, held in 1998, with the occasion of the "Year of the Postman". Inside, there is a little book with a lot of designs.

Sent by Phillip (the USA), Catherine (France), Sandrine (France), Fabienne (France) and Paul (Australia).

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Traditional Christmas

The Virgin and the Child
Duccio

Christmas miniature
Missal of Abbot Diethelm Blarer von Wartensee
1555, Codex 357

I guess this one can be also be considered "traditional":

Postcards sent by Laura (the UK), Nina (the USA) and Bryon (idem).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
December theme: CHRISTMAS

• Week 1 - Children (with or without toys)
• Week 2 - Christmas trees
• Week 3 - Tree ornaments
• Week 4 - Christmas

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

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!