Birthday mail and some no longer misplaced cards

So today is my birthday! 

I was allowed to open my birthday mail

and I got some packages as well. 

This card came with some cute stickers and tea

from the Netherlands.

A simple but cute card from Belgium.

 And now to the "no longer misplaced" part

of my post. These cards arrived in Belgium 

after I left. My mom put them away in a safe place, 

and couldn't find them anymore. 

Luckily she found them in time to send with my 

birthday card, so now I have these beauties to 

enjoy today as well. 

Sent from Germany by a Dutch Postcrosser.

The date shows how long ago, haha. 

Cute Christmas wishes from the Netherlands.

Beautiful greeting card from a friend in Japan.

They really know how to make cards in Japan.

A pretty winter landscape from Finland.

 "Snow Queen"

International Christmas stamp

2017

 These stamps were on one of the packages 

I received today. 

It is a shame you can't see the metallic shine 

of the two ART stamps on the scan. 

Top right and middle:

ART POST 

set of 4, 2015

Top left:

Easter stamp

2016

Bottom:

“The Arctica miniature sheet with artwork by Erik Bruun features migratory birds that nest in the North. Arctica refers to the migration of birds that nest in the Arctic region, a phenomenon that is eagerly watched by bird enthusiasts on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, especially in the spring.

The miniature sheet contains two domestic no-value indicator stamps and two added value stamps worth €0.10 and €0.20

The €0.10 stamp portrays the long-tailed duck, which has been classified as a vulnerable species.”

2017

Postcard party

This card comes from Bosnia and Herzegovina,

it wasn't send to me though, I got it as a souvenir,

isn't the bridge of Mostar pretty? 

This card comes from a Postcrossing meeting, 

never been to Garfunkels before...

This beauty is an official Postcrossing card,

I am so happy! 

And look at the cute stickers! 

It made me smile when I noticed the 

sender wrote the message in English,

while we are both Dutch speaking. I guess

it is a Postcrossing "disease". 

A Chinese official, I was holding it upside down first,

totally confused. When I figured out what was wrong,

I felt so silly.

I love this card from Finland, 

the fairy looks a bit mischievious though.

Forest mushrooms

set of 5, 2016

And more Postcrossing meeting cards!

This one came with special cancellations

from Malaysia

This card is so pretty! I love receiving 

churches from all over the world in my mailbox. 

This beauty comes from the Czech Republic

I couldn't find a decent English website about the

church, but I have found some information on 

the town Sumperk

This cute cat sticker is on the back 

And I got spoiled, the sender included a 

magnet from Praded

Although I don't really like ad cards, 

I liked finding this one in my mailbox.

It comes from a pen-friend in the UK to show

she was thinking of me. 

Great card made for the Postcrossing meeting 

in Deventer, the Netherlands

From a (pen-)friend in the Netherlands. 

The big circle has a 3D effect

The information I found about this card

was all in German, so I'll keep it simple:

This is the Abbey church Maria, St. Petrus & Paulus

in the abbey Ilbenstadt, Germany

Lots of mail to blog about!

Two Christmas surprises from the Netherlands

On the left a little gift from my sweet pen-friend

and on the right stamps to play with from a fellow postcrosser! 

Make that three! 

A cute Sarah Kay postcard from Finland

via Postcrossing

And this card from Puerto Rico! The ID on the card 

reads 8249, so it is a rare country! 

The sender wrote:

"The legend of La Rogativa"

On April 30, 1797, Sir Abercrombie took control

of our city through a naval blockage. The bishop and the women 

held a religious procession, carrying candles and torches

as they prayed for salvation. The British thought the sight 

meant that more reinforcements had arrived, which would outnumber

them, leading the fleet to abandon the city promptly. 

The wonderful Pamela sent me some mail art 

and stamps for me to use! You can find her blog

here: CappuccinoAndArtJournal

Another Postcrossing card to end with,

this time from Russia

 The issue of postage stamps is dedicated to the 55th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Russia and Laos.

(set of 2, 2015)

"Church of the Intersession on the Nerl is built in 1165 by Holy Duke Andrey Bogolyubskiy. It is located close to the village of Bogolyubovo in the Vladimir Region at the place of confluence of rivers Nerl and Klyazma on a flood meadow. It is a modest one-dome and four-pillar church decorated with carving. Thanks to the delicacy of proportions and the general harmony of the church and the natural landscape, it is considered one of the most beautiful Russian churches. In 1992, it was included into the World Heritage List of UNESCO as a part of “the white-stone monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal”. This year, the church celebrated its 850th anniversary."  

I am sorry for the quality of the pictures in this post, but the scanner has some issues with me, so I had to be "creative".

Lots of happy mail!

Just look at this amazing cat card I got from Finland!

The art is by Annika Hiltunen

and look at the back of the card, so pretty

Synchronized skating

(2015)

With a matching priortiry sticker, the Fins are so good at

 This great package arrived from Japan for 

my "your language" swap.

It makes the manga/anime fan in me drool!

I never understood why the Japanese threw away manga 

when they didn't like it, but several of the little booklets

in this package are real manga. So basically it's like throwing

away a magazine you finished. Before I knew this,

I saw piles and piles of soft covers, costing at least 7 euro here,

ending up in the bin.

Last but not least, pen-friend mail! 

A nice letter from the Netherlands

(My mom already drank the tea)

Even more spoiled with mail from Taiwan

And to end, a letter from a new pen-friend from the USA

The stickers made me giggle, pink glittery skulls! 

I've been really lucky this week!

Postcards from Italy and Finland

More postcrossing cards! 

From Finland

Viola tricolor

(set of 10, 1994)

From Italy

Brixen

Stamps, what else?

It has been a very slow mail period for me lately, 

so lets do a stamp update!

Finland

Winter greeting stamp featuring snowmen

by Janne Harju 

(2014)

Israel

Honey badger; first day cover

(2014)

Slow mail week

Only two wonderful days with mail this week

Thanks to Laura I have the Christmas stamps from 

Finland 2013!

I also received this pretty Christmas card 

from Germany, via P&L 

Collecting Christmas stamps

Finland

2000

This year's Christmas stamps were designed by Ms Katriina Viljamaa-Rissanen. The 2.50 mk stamp, specially denominated for Christmas cards, features "Tiernapojat", the players in a traditional Finnish Christmas tableau.

2007

The stamps featuring mice in red caps were drawn by graphic designer Marjo Nygard-Niemisto. The mice are known to the Finnish public from works including the poetry book Kuono kohti tahtea, the illustrator of which, Marjo Nygard-Niemisto, won the 2005 Finlandia Junior prize. (set of 2)

2008

The 60 cent stamp mainly for Christmas cards shows a big and a small bear wadering through a snowy forest: they are getting their Christmas tree. (Set of 2, self-adhesive)

2009

(set of 3)