Seven days of friendship

A little over a week ago I received this big envelope in the mail

 My friend Suzanne put a 

"7 days of friendship" package together for me!  

 Next to these cute cat pictures 

and sticker sheet plus pen...

 She included seven handmade envelopes

Every envelope included a bag of tea (and one coffee),

those are obviously gone...

Day one

letter

Day two

paper to use for card making and a charm

Day three

letter and a cute hedgehog

 Day four

clear stamp

 Day five

letter

Day six

little giftbag, facial mask, stickers

 Day seven

letter and notebook

I don't think my photos do the effort she put in this

package justice. I did use my canon camera to take

pictures, but the camera is only as good as the one holding it...

Thank you Suzanne for this wonderful week of mail!

I will definitely put everything to good use. 

Received a new country in my mailbox

I always feel lucky when people think of me

when they are on vacation and 

send me a card. All cards in this post were kindly

send to me from holiday destinations.

This time I was extra lucky because I got a card from...

Armenia

It was the first time I got a card from this country

Austria

Vienna City Hall

Spain, Canary Islands

El Hierro

Going here and there by snail mail

I am really behind on posting all the wonderful

postcards I received, so here is a selection.

 Belgium

A view on the Vismarkt and

the St. Rumbold's Cathedral

Sri Lanka

Gal Vihara, shown on the card are 

the standing and reclining images of Buddha.

And last but not least, 

some beautiful illustrations from Seattle, USA

Cityscape

The Space Needle

Travelling into the history of Italy

I would like to show you some nice cards from Italy

in this post

Pineto

The Tower of Cerrano (Torre di Cerrano) is 2 kilometres from the town centre, at the town's southern border with Silvi Marina. It was built in the 16th century by the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V as a watch tower to guard against attacks from the Turks and others based in what is now Croatia, 100 km (62 miles) across the Adriatic. Today, the tower houses a modern sea-biology laboratory. 

Abruzzo

We get a multi view on the castles of the Abruzzo region

From left to right, top to bottom:

Ortucchio, Torre di Beffi, Castello aragonese, Castello di Salle,

Castello Caldora, Rocca Calascio, Castello di Roccascalegna,

Castello Caldoresco, Castello Piccolomini (Celano), Castello ducale di Crecchio, Castello Piccolomini (Capestrano)

 Rome

The St. Peter's Basilica, Pantheon and Colosseum

don't really need any introduction, I believe

Recycled Christmas cards and using up scraps

This year I am going to try to recycle 

old Christmas cards. 

You might recognise the card you sent me,

please do not think I didn't appreciate it,

because I did and I do! 

This card had a big rectangular shape, I turned it into 

a square, repositioned the sentiment and

covered up/replaced the original wording

The next two cards were made from the same 

store bought Christmas card. 

This card refused to get its picture taken properly...

The previous card fits in with two of my goals, 

recycling cards and using up my scraps. 

The cards you will see next are made with scraps, 

I think they turned out pretty well.  

What do you think? 

Making simple greeting cards

I had these flower and butterfly embellishments 

in my cardmaking stash since forever. 

Thanks to inspiration found on youtube and facebook, 

I can now say I finally used them! 

What do you think? 

Already making Christmas cards?!

I love making Christmas cards, 

I love Christmas, period. 

I bought a magazine which came with

the cutest cardmaking kit. 

So I couldn't resist and started crafting already!

What do you think? 

Collecting Christmas stamps

Another Christmas season over, 

time to show (some of) the additions to my collection

First, Germany

2019

Spain

Top left: 2018, set of two

The classic or religious Christmas stamp issue this year depicts the Three Kings, in the Ateneo de Sevilla’s Epiphany Parade, alongside famous Seville landmarks such as the Torre del Oro,

 marking its centenary in 2018.

A century has passed since the Parade first made its way through the streets of Seville on 5 January 1918. A group of Ateneo members first had the idea to spread good cheer among the children and adults of Seville. Over the years, the Parade became more elaborate and more significant to the city than they could ever have imagined.

Top right: 2013, set of two

Happy New Year! is the message featuring in the Christmas stamp which is illustrated with the clock from the Puerta del Sol in Madrid and the traditional twelve grapes.

A custom in Madrid in the late 19th century imposed the intake of twelve grapes at the chimes of the clock in the Puerta del Sol. The practice soon spread throughout Spain and seems to have its origins in a surplus of grapes in the area of Alicante and Murcia. A grape is eaten at each chime with the wish for a prosperous and happy new year. This Spanish tradition became popular in Latin American countries where in some places fresh grapes are replaced by raisins like in Argentina. 

Bottom: 

2016 (bell), 2017 (star)

The 2016 stamp features a typical Christmas decorative bell.

The bell forms part of a set of three stamps that will be issued between 2016 and 2018, and that will be able to be stuck on a Collectable Christmas Card. The card is shaped like a Christmas tree for decorating with images featured in the three stamps:

-  Bell: 2016

-  Star: 2017

-  Present: 2018

This issue is especially dedicated to children, as their innocence and eagerness for Christmas to arrive mean they are the focal point of this holiday.

The 2017 stamp represents a typical Christmas star, which can also be added to the Christmas tree-shaped Christmas Collectible Card campaign. 

The “star” represented on the stamp is a golden star that includes the Correos logo alongside the words “Christmas” and “Spain”, as well as Tariff A, which is the stamp’s postal value.

The stamps have an internal die-cut form that allows the silhouette of the decorative figure to be removed in order to decorate the Christmas tree on the card or, they can be left intact for use as a standard stamp.

2019, set of two

You can read "Merry Christmas" in 

all the different official languages in Spain

The Netherlands

2019, set of ten

Designed by Lieke van der Vorst

U.K.

2019, set of eight

"shepherd and Christmas star"

Ireland

2019, set of six