Cars on Stamps

Te theme chosen for Sunday Stamps this week is Automobiles and Motor Transport. I thought it was impossible to find more cars on stamps after this and this posts. But I have recently got more cars...

This is a postcard sent by John (UK), a bit damaged on way. It was issued by Royal Mail on 13 January 2009. It was reproduced from a stamp designed by HGV and featuring photography by Jason Tozer of a Mini.

The postcard arrived with this matched stamp of a Ford Anglia 105E on its back:

And then for two very different cars received last week from the USA:

Happy Roald Dahl Day!

(More stamps I have got about Roald Dahl's characters)

(More information about Roald Dahl Day)

How Did you Find Me?

Besides of the sites listed under the tab Some sites I love, which are my favourites, I read a lot of mail-related pages and blogs. 

Sometimes I have been impressed by the huge amount of mail that some people are able to cope with. By people who write things like that: "I get mail from approximately 25 different people every week". That would be impossible to me to manage (I mean, if I want to have a real life and not just a mail life). Firstly, because of the money, of course. And mainly because I like to write every letter with love, and make every piece of mail art be unique and special, and choose carefully every postcard according to the recipient's tastes, and write this blog about... And all these things require time.

I prefer to focus in quality rather in quantity. In my introduction (Who?) I wrote that "I prefer not to waste my time writing about what I do not like". It is true, but now I need to add: "If there is one thing I don't like is to receive mail which can be send to anyone". Isn't supposed the snail mail to be more personal? So what is the point of that? 

Last May I received a postcard one of these mail-collectors-blog-writers. I had previously exchanged some words with her due to our blogs. The postcard was unexpected. The picture was nice. The words were strange and disappointing:

Calligraphy

Letter sent (as it is obvious) to Alan (the UK).

Mail Art from Malaysia

Postcard sent by Suzlee (Malaysia). Collaged and painted.

The Colour of Africa

I usually love the mail I receive. But sometimes I just take my hat off some amazing mail makers...

Sent by Alan (the UK). This is one of the more original pieces of art I have ever received.

The colour of Africa. For a few days in early April 2014, the south of England was covered by a cloud of dirty air, full of fine dust blown all the way from the Sahara. This linocut was printed using ink coloured with this dust, harvested from car windows.

It arrived inside a special envelope, along with some goodies (I had the same idea some time ago, but I have not started to stamp envelopes in this way!):

As part of a non-organised (I guess) campaign for real mail:

Library Mail Art

-I can't stop reading!
-I have the same problem!

Sent to Lackman Library (the USA). How could I resist a mail art call about libraries and books?

See the pop-up book. It belongs of course to a library:

It is written in Arabic and contains also music and butterflies...

The envelope was made of an old magazine:

But I am afraid it has never reached its destination... :(

Omani Stamps

The theme for this week at Sunday Stamps is Cultural artifacts, esp jewelry, but could be anything. 

I think it is perfect to show this series of wonderful Omani stamps that I have received almost complete (on different postcards). They were released on March, 3 last year, and dedicated to Omani Crafts Day. Here you can find more information about these stamps, and also better pictures (sorry!).

Draw Me a Human

"S'il vous plaît... dessine-moi un humain," dit le mouton

Altered postcard sent to Ivana (Croatia) for her mail art call Dessine-moi un mouton Draw me a sheep.

I am not sure if this postcard has landed in the right mail box...

A Tolerable Letter

«"[...] A woman is not to marry a man merely because she is asked, or because he is attached to her, and can write a tolerable letter.
"Oh no;—and it is but a short letter too."»

Jane Austen, Emma, I, 8

Alice and Her Friends

My friends have decided make bigger and bigger my Alice in Wonderland collection of mail...

Postcards sent by John (the UK):

(I have previously received the stamp matched to this postcard.)

The back of this postcard is also very Alice! It says (bottom left): "Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Alice and she had a very curious dream."

From the same series, the Cheshire Cat in a famous representation. On the back, another well-known quotation: "I wish you wouldn't keep appearing and vanishing so suddenly: you make one quite giddy!"

And a very different, unexpected, postcard, also sent by John (the UK):

A letter of real Alice is written on the back. well, part of. I found them very interesting!

Recently restored, this charming monument on West Shore stands in front of the Gogarth Abbey hotel. Part of this building, built in 1862, was the Easter and Summer home of Rev Henry Liddell, whose daughter Alice became the heroine of the book, written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, whose pen name was Lewis Carroll. Alice who was a Mrs Hargreaves, was invited to the ceremony of unveiling the memorial in 1933, but wrote in reply, "Increasing age makes physical adventures in Wonderland difficult to achieve. I still have the happiest memories of Penmorfa, as my father's house at Llandudno was then called, and of the rambles over the Great Orme's head and among the Llandudno sand hills. I wish I could come personally in gratitude for those joyous days, and for the days spent with Mr Dodgson."

And Ângela (Portugal) sent to me a letter inspired in Alice's adventures:

Look closer at the masking tape:

Do You Think Rabbits Love Mail?

Two Rabbits with Letters
by Molly Brett (1902-1990)

I wasn't sure about this point, but after receive this postcard I haven't any doubt.
Not convinced? I have more evidences!

Mail sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

Post Office in Morocco

Post office in Larache (العرائش) in northern Morrocco.

New House

Sent to Raphael'L (France).

I have lived in enough places to know that it is not always easy to move. So when I learnt that Raphael'L was coming back from the USA to France, I decided to help her in looking for a new place to stay. I thought she could love this tiny paper house...

Anyway, it is always nice to find a house in your mail box; and not just a mail box in your house...

Frogs, Turtles, Snakes

I'm glad to be back to Sunday Stamps after holidays. First I thought I wasn't able to find suitable stamps for this week's theme: reptiles (and/or amphibians). But finally I found some...

Turtles

From Canada

From India

Frogs

From Czech Republic

From Finland

From the Netherlands

Snakes

From Taiwan