Reading Men

I have been collecting postcards of reading women for a long time. I realised that there are lots of paintings, from different times, depicting reading women. And it is a common favourite theme for some collectors, postcrossers, etc. But... what about men? Why is so difficult to get postcards with reading men?

So I decided to open an album for reading men. This is what I got so far (besides this and this, already published):

Sent by Chang (Taiwan). This is a 24h Bookstore in Taipei (Taiwan). Very interesting concept!

Sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

Sent by Laura (Spain).

Sent by Julia (Russia).

Sent by Tarja (Finland). More exactly a reading boy...

Music on Stamps

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, run by Viridian. The theme this week is Music and musical instruments. 

Some stamps related to music I have got:

From the Netherlands

This one was issued on June 4, 1985. There were also an organ in the same set, but I haven't got it. See here. Don't you thing these are very modern designs.

From Brazil

I know this is a normal one in Brazil, but I love it just because I do not receive a lot of mail from that country.

From the Netherlands

Issued on June 6, 2006. A curious fact about this stamp is that it belongs to a sheet that includes stamps of: Freemasonry, Sesame Street, mother tongues, and Max Havelaar. Why? Because the postal service allowed people to vote for themes they wanted to see on stamps. More information here. 

Also from the Netherlands

There are among my favourite stamps ever. They were issued on July 14, 2009, and they belong the the series Music in Netherlands. Nor musicians neither instruments, but songs. Don't you find them really original? 

From Portugal

Two from the series Rock em Portugal issued in 2010. These show two mythic rock bands: GNR and Xutos e Pontapés, both still alive (I think) . There are four more bands in the series but, as you can see, I never receive the whole sheet.

From the UK

And these tow stamps belong to a commemorative series issued on February 24, 2011. It is dedicated to famous musicals.

Also from the Netherlands

Stamp issued on 2012, showing the singer Andy Tielman. Maybe this one (and not only) would fit better in the theme Singers...

From France

Issued on November 11, 2012. Showing the organ of Saint-Jacques Church in Lunéville. The organ was built between 1749 and 1751. You can see more details of the stamp here.

By the way, do you know that the EUROPA Stamp Competition has chosen the same theme this year? So you can enjoy here stamps from different countries especially issued for 2014 PostEurop competition, and vote which one do you prefer.

VQR Postal Project Contributions

The latest contributions to the VQR Postal Project sent by Heleen (the Netherlands), John (the UK), Richard (France), Eric (France) and Igakusei (Spain). By the way, today we celebrate the first anniversary of the Project!

Boxes and cheese labels

Cowpostcards

Cheese market in Schiphol airport (the Netherlands)

A Taste of Honey

Collage made by Laura (the UK), of a theatre program. It would feel comfortable among my Retro Women...

From India

Postcard sent by Amit (India). The postcard shows Humayun's Tomb, in Delhi. It was built by his widow Haji Begum in 1573, designed by a Persian Architect. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


And more mail from India, sent by Vivin. A postcard of the backwaters of Kerala. Kerala is known as God's country. I believe that when I look at this beauty.The sender added an odd-shaped stamp (yippee!) showing the Aldabra giant tortoise

The second piece of mail from Vivin is a cover:

The stamps are a set of two issued on 20th June 2012, showing traditional Indian painting styles.

Warli folk paintings are from Maharashtra. Warli is the name of the largest tribe found in the northern outskirts of Mumbai (Western India).

The havelis or mansions of Shekhawati are known for their wall paintings. The themes depict gods, kings, flowers, arabesques and scenes from daily life.

Pink!!

Pink collage sent by Dimitra (Greece), in response to my pink mail for the mail art project Colour my world. It arrived inside a no less pink envelope:

Smiling Robots

Sent to Júlia (Hungary) for the Mail a Smile project. The theme last month was Robots. I'm afraid I didn't participated on May, but I am looking forward to participating in the next challenge.

VQR Whole Boxes

Since I started the VQR Postal Project (a year ago! Time flies!) I received not just the round postcards I asked for in the beginning, but a lot of amazing artworks and even... Whole boxes! Naked or in an envelope, you can see some of them here (and all the contributions in the blog).

From France

From Greece

From the Netherlands

From the USA

100 Ways to Bust Writer's Block

50 ways to bust writer's block

And 50 more!

This is not my problem (so far!), but I found them funny and useful. There are neither my ideas, but Sarah's, the author of A nice little life.

Alice in Wonderland

I wrote here that Alice was underrepresented in my albums. I wasn't asking for postcards, but two of my friends are kind enough to look for Alice's postcards and stamps for me (even if they aren't very fond of this book).

John (the UK) sent me two postcards with one of the most know chapters of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: A Mad Tea-Party with The Hatter and The March Hare. It is really nice to have two versions of this illustration!

They arrived with matched stamps depicting Alice and The Hatter (again) and another favourite: the Cheshire Cat.

Heleen (the Netherlands) bought this postcard for me because of the tea cups. Then she realised that here Choo choo looks a lot like Alice:

The funny think is that I thought at first sight that the stamps depict the Queen of Hearts... And then I discovered that they represent the donor-patient relationship, and were issued in honour of 400,000 blood donors in the Netherlands!

All the Alice's pieces of mail in a new album. 

Tea Collage

Handmade collage made of a box of English tea, sent by Laura (the UK).

I like specially the label written in Arabic characters (of course!), and the slogan in golden letters: Make every day a little bit special. I would add: with tea... and with snail mail!

Yellow Letters

Letter sent by Laura (the UK).

By the way, I have realised an odd thing: people don't use a lot yellow for mail. I wonder if there is a reason. For me, yellow is the most postal colour, for mail boxes in my country are yellow, and also in Morocco where I happen to live.

Yellow letter sent by Catherine (France).

Our Solitudes

-You can add me on Facebook,
but only if you want to be my friend in real life
-Well I guess I won't add you then.

I just want to be happy
like all these people on the Internet

Two collages about loneliness that I sent to the Netherlands, to fit in Heleen's mail art project Our Solitudes. Made by press cuttings and washi tape, and about solitude in the Internet era. The envelope shows people... err... not very kind (so maybe lonely too). Also published here.

Feel free to visit the blog of the project.

Collage

Collage sent by Jean Claude (France) - I guess.

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