Mail Adventures

24 December 2018

Christmas Envelopes & Collages

Front and back of the envelope and postcard sent by Micu (Hungary), made with a paper bag and reused materials. It arrived... almost a year ago!

Collage Christmas postcards sent by Bruno (PC).

Christmas mail sent by Fabienne (France), in 2017 and 2018. Her collages look much more beautiful in person. This year's seem intended for the Houses in the Mail project...

Envelope sent by Imma (PC).

Envelope made by John (the UK), with the Victorian Christmas as theme.

Very Christmassy envelope sent by Phillip (the USA). I love the vintage (from 1963) illustrations on the envelope. But, somehow, it surprised me to see the Coca-cola bottle in such a prominent place!

I received more stamps from this set, with a beautiful pictorial postmark:

23 December 2018

Christmas Stamps

Today's theme in Sunday Stamps is Christmas. So here you have some of the Christmas and December stamps I have received this year (so far?) from different countries, and I had not uploaded yet:

Australia

Canada

France

Lithuania

Germany

The Netherlands

Spain

The United Kingdom

(some of them awfully ruined by the postal employees, alas!)

The USA

22 December 2018

The Mail Monsters Project | 26

Inside one of Bryon's letters, I found some piece of coffee news, maybe related to another kind of mail monsters.

I am not sure that you can read the picture, so here is the text:

Undelivered mail: Most people don't like their mail to be delivered late. But getting a letter a few days or weeks after it was mailed is nothing compared to a postal problem uncovered in Vicenza, in northern Italy. More than 40 containers were found in a postal worker's garage. In the boxes were 1,100 pounds of mail, including bills, letters, and bank correspondance. Many of the items were years old. After the discovery, the postal service lost no time suspending the culprit, and lawyers were called to fint out what charges could be made. Authorities intend to try to deliver all pieces of mail to the addresses on the envelopes.

What do you think about?

21 December 2018

Winter Begins

Königssee, Bavaria

Postcards sent by Sven and Gunter (Germany), through the Postcrossing site.

Amsterdam

Postcard sent from the Netherlands, also through the Postcrossing site. I Had received this very postcard from a friend 4 years ago, and it was on my desk for a long time. I love this picture!

But... maybe still we have time for an autumnal tea?

Postcards sent by Laura (Spain & the UK).

20 December 2018

The Mail Monsters Project | 25

But, even if some envelopes get lost in way...

If people stop sending letters...
what will the Mail Monsters eat?

So, please... Never stop sending mail!

19 December 2018

HitM | Houses in London

A curious visit in London is Strawberry Hill House, a Gothic Revival villa built by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) from 1749 onward. Everything seems fantastic here... including the garden benches you see in the next postcard! (It is a replica).

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And following the Thames path, you will find the Orleans House Gallery (at right).


Eduard Pingret (1788-1875)

It was a Palladian villa built by the architect John James in 1710. The postcard above features a coloured lithograph of King Louis Phillipe visiting the house in 1844.

The Octagon Room, a baroque octagonal room designed by architect James Gibbs must be one of the most interesting parts...

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Apsley House, home of the Duke of Wellington and his descendants has for over 200 years known colloquially as 'Number One London', because it was the first house encountered after passing the tollgates at the top of Knightsbridge. Commissioned by George IV and designed by Decimus Burton in 1825, Wellington Arch is a grand ceremonial entrance to Buckingham Palace. The statue upon the Arch depicts the Angel of Peace descending on the Chariot of War.

Inside, you can find artworks like The Waterseller of Seville, painted in Seville by Diego Velázquez.

All these postcards were sent by Laura (the UK), not really intended for the Houses in the Mail project.

18 December 2018

The Mail Monsters Project | 24

And you can learn a bit more about the Mail Monsters with those envelopes that went astray...

Sometimes, the Mail Monsters
lick a stamp for desert. Delicious!

In the middle of the ocean,
there are a tiny island,
a lone pilar box,
and an almost desperate Mail Monster
waiting for letters.

You can find Monsters of all shapes and colours
in the mail world...

17 December 2018

HitM | Houseboats

Another king of houses for the Houses in the Mail project: ~~boat houses (or~~ houseboats?). There are many in the gracht (='canals') of Amsterdam, but also in other cities of the Netherlands, as Heleen wrote.