Blue Teas

Handmade postcard sent by Laura (the UK). I answered her with this also handmade envelope. Actually, it was made of the same stationery catalogue as her postcard. 

Do you like them? Do you answer with the same kind of stationery? (I usually don't. This is coincidental.)

A Place Worth Visiting

Do not you feel like visiting a place, when you receive some postcards from there? Laura (the UK) has recently sent these from York:

THE SHAMBLES
Medieval butchers traded in this thoroughfare. 
Meat was kept out of direct sunlight by the tall 
and narrow design. The street is mentioned in 
the Domesday Book of 1806.

YORK MINSTER
Left: The Nave 
Right: St. Williams College and York Minster from the East

The Camel

This altered postcard is my contribution to the mail art call The Camel (Spain). Deadline is October 30, so you can still participate.

Fashion Mail Boxes

Five Spanish pillar boxes were elegantly dressed last week, to celebrate the Alicante Fashion Week. They were redesigned by five participants in the show, and stood up in different streets of Alacant. Once finished, they will be yellow again. 

Do you like the idea and the designs?

More information.

Reading Women

Two postcards sent by Bryon (the USA) that make a great addition to the ReadingWomen album. 

Above: Two on the Aisle, a work by American painter Edward Hopper, whose work I really admire. About this painting, you can read in the Wikipedia: "His Two on the Aisle (1927) sold for a personal record $1,500, enabling Hopper to purchase an automobile, which he used to make field trips to remote areas of New England."

Below: Lesende Frau (II.), by Quint Buchholz. 

And a third reading woman postcard sent by John (the UK): Repose, by French painter Jacques Cancaret.

Multiple Priests

Postcard sent by Micu (Hungary). I love multiples on postcards, you know. You can find all kind of elements repeated on a postcard. But, honestly, I did not expect to find exactly these. Priests is a work by Danish artist Martin Bigum.

By the way: the stamp on the back was a rubber stamp.

Japan Week - 3

And to finish up that Japan Week, I have received these stamps from FinnBadger (the USA), issued jointly by the US Postal Service and Japan Post on April 10, 2015. The stamps feature images of flowering dogwood and honour the connection between both countries on the centennial of the gift of dogwood trees from the USA to Japan in 1915. More information about this issue.

In 2012, the USPS celebrated the centennial of Japan's original gift of cherry blossom trees from Tokyo to Washington DC with the Cherry Blossom Centennial Forever stamps. I also received them:

This is also a post for Sunday Stamps II. The theme today is Flowers.

Japan Week - 2

Letter sent from Japan to Morocco. However, the sender comes from Germany, the receiver from Spain. And they communicate in French. That is called international mail.

I think the stamp is just perfect. It belongs to the series of four issued in October 9, 2013, to commemorate the International Letter Writing Week. Its an annual issue (since 1958), with the aim of contributing to the world peace by encouraging cultural exchange amongst people of the world through letter writing.

The images are taken from The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō, a series of woodcut prints by the Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 1858), inspired by his own journey along the Tokaido road. It features Odawara, 9th posting station.

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:

Surprise ATC

Envelope made and sent by Eric (France), made of a colouring page (coloured with Copic markers). It included an ATC and a postcard.

Tea and/or Coffee?

Postcard sent by Mélissa (Canada).

Handmade collage postcard sent by PostMuse (the USA).

Mini postcard sent by Gina (the UK).

Landscape with Stamps

I was not sure about what to share for this week's Sunday Stamps -II, the topic being very general: Scenery...

This is a big postcard sent by Heleen (the Netherlands), drawn and collaged on the backside of a calendar. I like the drawing, and specially I look how she was able to create a scenery using the stamps. Yes, also the post office contributed with the ink... Very difficult to postmark, wasn't it?

Also, the windmills are a favourite of mine. One of them belongs to the set of Dutch Icons issued on January 2, 2014:

Le Moulin de la Galette and La Butte de Montmartre are Van Gogh paintings from 1886. As stamps, they belongs to one of the many Dutch series dedicated to this artist: City and Village.

World's Largest Ball of Stamps

I have just discovered that in Boys Town (Nebraska, the USA) there is the reputed World's Largest Ball of Stamps*. It measures 80 cm in diameter, weighs about 270 kg, and is estimated to have over four million of cancelled stamps.

The origins of the ball date back to 1953. The Boys Town Stamp Collecting started to stick the less valuable stamps on a golf ball, layer upon layer. It must have been and exceptionally cold and boring winter. The ball reached its current size by July 1955.

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*Someone claims he saw a bigger one in Topeka (Kansas, the USA). Maybe he refers to the World's Largest Ball of Twine (It seems there is some big balls obsession around the world...).

Britain’s Clever Bees Stamps

After some letters seeing this postmark on my letters from the UK... I have finally received some bees. I felt really curious about!

Letter sent by Laura (the UK)

People Who Care

Parcel received by John (the UK). This piece of mail is one of the best surprises I have received by post lately. Not only because of the content (I loved it!), but also because of the thoughtfulness of the sender.

Some months ago, I posted four stamps belonging to this set. I wrote: "I would not mind to receive the rest, but I am not sure if they are still available."  And then John stuck on this letter exactly the eight stamps I had not previously received.

Mail can warm your heart.