Teddy Bears on Stamps

From Japan

I have received this teddy-bear shaped stamp three weeks ago. It gave me the idea to publish stamps with teddy bears for this week's Sunday Stamps II: Toys or games.

From Canada

This stamp, however, belongs to a set issued on May 11, 2012, dedicated to Franklin the Turtle.

From Germany

Issued on May 6, 2010, as EUROPA stamp. The topic that year was Children's stories.

From the Netherlands

I love Dick Bruna illustrations. This stamp was issued in a 6-stamps set on November 8, 2005, in order to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Nijntje or Miffy. I have received the whole set, on different letters. I find especially funny the little rabbit holding a teddy bear...

From Thailand

This stamp was issued on February 7, 2012, for Valentine's Day. I like the idea of the teddy bear as "symbol of love", as the stamp says. The set of four stamps included another teddy bear with the heart-shaped lock that this key opens.

From the United Kingdom

And finally, three famous British teddy bears: Andy Pandy, Paddington (actually, he is from Peru! - See here the whole set), and Rupert.

An Open New House Full of Friends

Postcard for Micu (Hungary).

Letter to Mr Eduardo Munez

The first letter to Mr Eduardo Munez is out!

Would you like your letter to be featured in a film about snail mail? Check the Eduardo Munez Letter Project. 

Pink Scarf Winter Letter

Letter sent to Eva (Germany).

I am not sure, but maybe this girl is the cousin of that one...

Nijmegen Bridge

After so many bridges sent, Heleen (the Netherlands) was flabbergasted to discover that she had never sent her favourite bridge to me: the Waalbrug, an arch bridge over the river Waal, in Nijmegen.

It was worth waiting, because I received not only one postcard, but two, and added perfectly matched stamps:

On the left, an illustration by Sieb Posthuma. The night picture (also on the postcard) is by Quinta Buma.

The third stamp, received on another postcard, keeps me intrigued: is there a stamp inside a stamp?

Would You Like to See Your Letter in a Film?

Have you ever received mail for someone you don't know?We are making a short dark comedy film inspired by the wrong mail.

Eduardo Munez tells the story of a man on the edge.... And a LOT of letters!

The original crowdfunding campaign was funded by 104% on December 6, 2015 (But you can still contribute!). 

Along with the funds we need to collect lots of amazing letters from around the world for use in the film as props. What we don't want is for all the mail in our film to be boring junk mail! We are looking for mail artists and snail mail lovers to get involved in our project by sending us letters which we can feature in our film! We need a LOT of them!

We are looking for letters, particularly drawn envelopes, mail art and plain envelopes - not postcards. Most importantly the letters must be addressed to Mr Eduardo Munez.

We will have to change the real addresses on the front to the 'fake' address of the character in the film so please leave the address section fairly clear of decoration.

In our film the letters to Mr Eduardo Munez do not get opened - so inside you can write whatever you like. You can use your imagination - who do you think Eduardo Munez is? What kind of mail would he receive?

Once shooting on the film is completed we will video the team opening all the letters we have received and having a look at their mysterious contents...! We'll provide everyone who contributes with a password protected video link to watch them all being opened. All letter writers will also receive special thanks in the credits too...

With each letter writer's permission - we will also publish them on our Facebook page and the blog of the project.

The address to send your mysterious mail to is:

Mr Eduardo Munez

272 Waterloo Street,

Newcastle upon Tyne,

NE1 4DJ

UNITED KINGDOM

Deadline: 1 March, 2016 30 April, 2016
Please, be sure to write your sender details on the back of the envelope as the letters will not be opened until after the film is completed!

If you'd like to ask any questions about the project please email: ruthtapp@hotmail.co.uk

Feel free to spread the word!

Letters and Numbers on Stamps

Today's theme for Sunday Stamps - II is Words and/or Numbers (no pictures). I was waiting it for show this stamp!:

It was issued by Correos on January 3, 2014, on the occasion of the 3rd Centenary of the Real Academia Española (='Royal Spanish Academy'), the official institution responsible for overseeing the Spanish language. I know the rule was no pictures, and you can see three dictionaries on the stamp. But, if you look carefully at the stamp, you can see they are used to mean the "III". And there is a dictionary definition on the background (lengua = 'language').

Not that I am very fond of this institution. But, in an ideal world, they should be more stamps dedicated to dictionaries...

And what about numbers? There are not so many stamps depicting just numbers, apart from basic series like these (from the Netherlands):

Some Envelopes Made of Posters

Sent to Catherine (France), Laura (the UK) and Heleen (the Netherlands). The last one, also published here.

The Sower

This postcard sent by Heleen (the Netherlands) makes me think of Autumn. It is De Zaaier (='The Sower', 1888), by Vincent Van Gogh, belonging to the Wheat Fields series.

The sender chose this postcard for me because, among the 60 Van Gogh stamps that PostNL has issued this year, it was the only one that matched her booklet of postcards. Yes: Van Gogh painted a lot! Anyway, it was the perfect choice, because I really love the colours on this postcard/stamp.

Update 24 Sep 2016: I added this post to Maria's link party Postcards for the weekend. The theme this week is Autumn colours.

Garden Gnomes

I received this (garden?) gnome from Laura (the UK) some time ago. I remember this one because, two weeks ago, another gnome landed in my mailbox...

The spring one was sent by Bryon (the USA).The postcard is from The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

Don't you think I need two more gnomes postcards, autumn and summer?

Two Alices

"But who is to give the prizes?",
quite a chorus of voices asked.

Two more postcards of Alice for my growing collection! 

The first, sent by Laura (the UK). The second, sent by Bryon (the USA), shows one of my favourite chapters in the Disney version, from the film of 1951.

I Like This Cover

Sent by Connie Jean (the USA).

You Got Any Mail for Me?

«Old ladies standing in halls, up and down the streets, asking the same question as if they were one person with one voice:
'Mailman, you got any mail for me?
And you felt like screaming, 'Lady, how the hell do I know who you are or I am or anybody is?»

Charles Bukowski, Post Office

Squirrelart

From the Autumn series...

Postcard sent to Connie Jean's Squirrel Museum (the USA).

Boy Posting Mail

An absolutely lovely Japanese stamp: Boy posting mail, by Nakamura Senseki. Issued on April 20, 2001,on the occasion of the 2001 Philatelic Week and the 100th Anniversary of Red Cylindrical Letter Boxes.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps - II. Today's themes: Children's Stories.