Happy Maslenitsa

Maslenitsa/Мaсленица also known as Butter Lady, Butter Week, Crepe week or Cheesefare Week is an Eastern Slavic religious and folk holiday which has retained a number of elements of Slavic mythology in its ritual. It is celebrated during the last week before Great Lent; that is, the eighth week before Eastern Orthodox Pascha (Easter).

Postcard sent by Eduard (Russia).

Loving Chicago Is...

I got this postcard from a friend visiting Chicago. Now I need someone from Chicago to explain me whether it is true, and how they know.

Leap Year's Day

I like to post every piece of mail in the due day... But I cannot wait four years to show you the Leap Day postcards sent by Heleen (the Netherlands). With leaping frogs also on the back!

She sent two postcards, hoping that at least one would get a "29 February 2024" postmark. The post office made a great job here, and both of them are beautifully postmarked in the due day.

By the way, this girl is very fond of weird days...

Sunday Stamps | Opera Singers

Lilly Pons / Richard Tucker

Lawrence Tibbett / Rosa Ponselle

I do not think opera singers had appeared before on this blog! These stamps date from 1997 and belong to the big American Music Series.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps. Today's theme is Music.

Snail Mail My Email

Snail Mail My Email is a community art project where volunteers transform strangers’ emails into handwritten letters, free of charge.

2,000 volunteers have artistically interpreted and collectively sent 29,249 letters to 80 countries since the project began in 2011.

Want to have your email turned into a beautiful handwritten letter?

Well, you’re in luck. ICYMI, our team is running it back with SNAIL MAIL MY EMAIL and for a very limited time, our network of amazing volunteers will transcribe your email into snail mail and send it to your intended recipient, anywhere in the world, free of charge.

To participate, simply email snailmailmyemail@cashstudios.co with the following info:

1. Recipient’s Full Name and Address 📬

2. Your letter, no longer than 800 characters ✏️

3. Pick ONE custom option to include in the letter:

🌸Flower Petal

👃Spray of Perfume

🎨Doodle

💋Lipstick Kiss

#snailmailmyemail

Empowered Woman

"The first thing about empowerment is to understand that you
have the right to be involved. The second one is that you have
something important to contribute. And the third piece is that
you have to take the risk to contribute it."

Mae Jemison is an American engineer, physician and former NASA astronaut. She became the first African-American woman to travel into space in 1992.

The OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) is a NASA asteroid-study and sample-return mission, launched in September 2016 and returned in September 2023. The stamp shows a capsule containing a sample of the asteroid Bennu parachuting down to Earth.  

Sent by Phillip (the USA).

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Romanian Kids

This is a Postcrossing postcard from Romania. There was not any explanation on the back, but I like it and I think it fits the topic.

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Thursday Postcard Hunt

March theme: FASHION

• Week 1 - Traditional Folk Costumes
• Week 2 - Streetwear
• Week 3 - Formal of Fancy Dress
• Week 4 - Headgear

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Made of Packaging

Envelope sent to Fabienne (France) made out of the wrapping of a coffee packet.

Finestres  - Llibreria per llegir
'Windows - Bookshop to reading'

Postcard (sort of) made out of packaging from a bookshop. Sent to Bryon (the USA).

Old and New Lighthouses

Ameland (Netherlands)

Sopot (Poland)

Heceta Head (Oregon, USA)

Postcards sent by Heleen (the Netherlands), Ania (Poland) and Lisa (the USA).

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 | Wild Orchids

These Wild Orchards stamps were issued by USPS on 21 February 2021. For Today's Sunday Stamps dedicated to Flowers.

Flowers look always beautiful on envelopes and postcards. I am glad to have got some orchids more than once, in different combinations!

Postbox Saturday | Via Laietana

Pictures of a post box in Via Laietana, Barcelona, in front of the former main post office building. Notice some mail slots behind the pillar box.

Marianne de l'avenir

Marianne de l'avenir

Marianne is one of the most prominents symbols of France. In 175 years, there have been 30 versions of the Marianne stamps.

It is a tradition that the President of the Republic chooses the face which adorns the stamps in circulation during his mandate. After the 2018 design (see below), the face chosen in 2023 is a work by Olivier Balez, called Marianne de l'avenir ('Marianne of the future').

She appears on 400 million stamps.

Marianne l'engagée

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Russian Monasteries

Valaam Monastery (Valaam, Lake Ladoga)

Ipatiev Monastery (Kostroma)

Postcards sent by Mary and Daria (Russia).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt

February theme: BUILDINGS

• Week 1 - Lighthouses
• Week 2 - Windmills
• Week 3 - Public buildings
• Week 4 - Houses
• Week 5 - Temples, churches

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

МАРКИ - ЦЕ КРУТО

It had been long time since the last piece of mail from Ukraine. This postcard was sent by Nata through the Postcrossing site, and took not less than 54 days to reach my place.

It features some 2022 stamps: Good evening, we are from Ukraine! (yellow stamp), Ukranian Dream - Children's Art and that famous war stamp. 

According to an online translator, the postcard reads: 'Stamps are cool'.