The mail

I received another your language swap,

from Singapore!

In English and Chinese, with some tea and a snack. 

I won this card in a lottery on facebook. 

Isn't it pretty? 

the back

Collecting Christmas stamps

Italy

right:

Madonna and Child with pomgranate

left:

typical Christmas landscape

(2011)

If anyone can give me more information about these stamps I would be really happy

Lots of Chinese and a bit of English

I participated in a free/ad postcard swap on Swap-bot

and I got this card from the USA

I think it looks a bit creepy, but I am going to look for 

another swap like this. 

Two Chinese envelopes also fell in my mailbox today, 

as part of my language swap. Why accept Chinese twice then? 

Because the first comes from Hong Kong

and the second from Taiwan

So I believe there are enough differences between the two places

to accept Chinese twice (and if I am not mistaken, more Chinese mail is on the way, haha)

Mail of the week

This paper arrived from Lithuania as part of my "your language" swap,

I love it! 

Two notecards from the "Geeks and Freaks notecard Penpals"

swap on Swap-bot arrived this week, one more to go! 

The first came from the UK

 The second from the USA

I also swapped on facebook, these postcards arrived,

finally, after going mia, 

in a dirty envelope and all four are creased...

thank you postal system?

From the USA

And today I got this letter from Canada, 

from one of my sweet pen-friends

Little bit of this and that

I found these postcards 

(not greeting card like the cover says)

at HEMA.

The images are really simple, because they are for kids,

but I couldn't resist and took them home.

Below you do see a greeting card, 

I made it today. What do you think? 

Well, to send is to receive... 

I am expecting a full mailbox next week! 

Stamps from Greece

I got only one piece of mail today,

an envelope filled with stamps and a postcard 

from Greece!

Got good mail

From France

A wonderful view on Saumur

With on the bottom right the Château de Saumur

I got my first Europa stamp from this year! 

The theme for 2015 is "Old Toys".

EUROPA stamps are special stamps issued by European postal administrations/enterprises and bears the official EUROPA logo, a PostEurop registered trademark under the aegis of PostEurop in which Europe is the central theme.

EUROPA stamps underlines cooperation in the posts domain, taking into account promotion of philately. They also build awareness of the common roots, culture and history of Europe and its common goals.

As such, EUROPA stamp issues are among the most collected and most popular stamps in the world.

Since the first issue in 1956, EUROPA stamps have been a tangible symbol of Europe’s desire for closer integration and cooperation. In 1993, PostEurop became responsible for issuing EUROPA stamps.

 I got a Spirited Away postcard from Taiwan!

with this nice selection of stamps 

And last but not least this swap from Germany!

I asked on the Postcrossing forum for languages,

I want to see as many languages as possible pass through my mailbox.

I ask for some clippings from magazines and/or newspapers or flyers or,...

This is the first envelope I received from my call. 

And yes, I am going to read it! 

A closer look at the postcard

Stiftsruine Bad Hersfeld

Gorgeous surprise mail

Look at this great pink surprise letter I received from the U.K.!

Amy included some stickers she made herself. 

 (you can find her blog here)

And did you notice the Alice in Wonderland stamp? 

Postcards from Italy and Finland

More postcrossing cards! 

From Finland

Viola tricolor

(set of 10, 1994)

From Italy

Brixen

It's a Postcrossing mail day

Postcrossing reached 30 million registered postcards!

And I had a small part in that achievement.

But because all postcrossers were so enthousiastic,

I have, again, more cards received than sent. *sigh*

On the bright side, I got these nice cards today!

from the Netherlands

right:

Stamp to commemorate the North Sea flood of 1953

(set of 10, 2003)

middle:

Johnny Bravo

(2001)

left:

"Landscapes"

work by Aelbert Cuyp

(2002)

from Germany

from the Czech Republic

Mutěnice is a village in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, with about 3,650 inhabitants.

(2015)

The stamp features two churches including the large Jesuit church of St. Ignatius by Carlo Lurago and the smaller, original older church, presently used as the building of the city gallery “Špejchar” (Czech for granary).

Chomutov is a city with a glorious history of nearly eight hundred years and a rich social, cultural and sporting life. This important city in northwestern Bohemia is home to a number of highly active companies with foreign investments. In 1992, the Chomutov historical centre was declared as an urban conservation area. It has maintained its medieval ground plan typical of historical market towns.

Its main landmark is the former Jesuit seminary, built in the late 16th century by Catholic aristocrat Jiří Popel of Lobkowicz on the southern side of the square.

The simple building of the granary served as the first church to the seminary. Today, it hosts the municipal gallery with a large exhibition space. The taller building of St. Ignatius Church is similar to St. Ignatius Church on Karlovo Square in Prague.

Last Chunk o Cardboard from May! Now waiting for June

This chunk came all the way from Malaysia

It sparkles!

    

And these are going out soon for the next round

As you can see, I really like this brand for cookies

and other sweet stuff, and their boxes are perfect for

this kind of swap! (At least I think so)

Mail art mood

Been messing around with some paint, 

stickers, deco tape and magazines.

What do you think? 

I would love to hear more from my followers, visitors, fans,..!!!

It's a fairy day

(This is a different envelope)

I love using one pic for the back of my envelopes,

with a bit of deco tape it looks so pretty. 

For those who are curious: the front, 

maybe I'll add something little as finishing touch,

it will also depend on when and to who I am going to send the envelope to. 

Stamps, what else?

Germany

top right:

"Representative images of the German Empire"
Reichspostamt in Berlin

(ca 1902)

top left:

Germania (stamp)

Germania  (personification)

They represent the longest running series in German philately 

(used 1900-1922)

bottom right:

Little shocking fact:

The Weimar Republic stamps, issued between late 1922 and May of 1923, are the same designs as the Pfennig denominations of the December 1921 definitive series, but are now denominated in Marks!

Between January and December of 1922, the price of a postage stamp for domestic mail went up 800%, and the price of a postage stamp for foreign mail went up 2,000%.

(1922)

bottom left:

allegorical painting by Anton von Werner, 

sometimes referred to as 

"The Union of North and South", featuring Germania above, raising the imperial crown.

(1920)