OFFICIAL Card - Finland

It's official - I now have a Moomin card in my collection. Tarja collects Moomin mugs and when she purchased one recently they were giving away this card. Without doing a full Google translate, as there is a lot of text on the back, I believe Arabia is a dishware/home decor company and this card helps to support UNICEF and celebrate Tove Jansson's, the creator of Moomins, 100th. I must admit while I thought they were cute I could not fully understand the excitement of collecting them. Now that I have one in my hand and see how cute it is in person, I do get it a bit more. What about you, are you yeah or nay with Moomins?

Direct Swap - SL from Malaysia

You can tell how behind I am with my posts as they all seem to have the Lunar New Year theme of late. This card shows another great night view, this time of George Town, Penang sent from SL in Malaysia. We have swapped a few times now. We both enjoy the Lunar New Year cards or in my case stamps as Malaysian Post does not issue cards like Canada Post does. Lucky for me though I get a special cancellation something I cannot offer in return. Until next year and the Year of the Sheep.

OFFICIAL Card - China

Ya Ya lives outside of Beijing and sent this card wishing me a "Happy New Year!". The card has a sweet drawing of a Chinese Money Tree. I would plant one of those if it were true! I also love the different rubber stamps she used to adorn the card, I had to include the full back to share.

OFFICIAL Card - Hong Kong

The more night views I receive the more and more I find I am drawn to them. I don't know if it is the lights, the sunsets or what but some view cards just look better at night! This one showing Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong is no exception. Jessica used a Year of the Horse stamp as well, love it!!!

OFFICIAL Card - Belarus

I know I have said this before, however it is worth mentioning again. It really makes me smile when I receive a card that the special effort the sender took shows. That is not to say that all cards are not sent this way it is just some go that little bit above and beyond. This card from Yuliya is just one of those. I love birds and bird stamps. This card marries those two things wonderfully, she even used a bird stamp! This link gives some information on the "Bird of the Year" series.

Sochi Olympics from JJ

This past February my brother in law JJ was over in Russia covering curling for the Sochi Games. He has been involved with the television crew for most of the Olympic Games held in the past 20 years. He sent the kids and I these wonderful postcards. I really like the colourful designs that were used throughout the Games and border these cards. So fun and fresh! My nieces got the coolest backpacks in this material, kind of like a crazy quilt! The cards are super and I love JJ's choice of stamp.

Direct Swap - Barbados from Lindsay

This is the second of the cards I received from my swap with Lindsay. This lovely beach is Harrismith Beach on the island of Barbados. It is still very snowy and cold here (-6C as I write this), so seeing this incredible view sure puts a smile on my face. Can you believe water can be that blue?

 

OFFICIAL Card - Czech Republic

Paula is 17 and studying at hotel school. She lives in the town of Prachatice in the southern part of Czech Republic. The card shows the old Town Hall.

Thank You Card - Ellen from Canada

In January I drew Ellen's name and sent a card to her. I will be the first to admit that sometimes drawing a fellow Canadians address can be a bit daunting. I know I haven't travelled from coast to coast and have lived my life within a 75km radius (I know boring!) but you never know if that holds true for that person. Ellen had books as part of her wish list and I sent her this card which I thought fit that nicely. I must have hit the nail on the head as she sent me this beautiful card as a thank you. I ask people to share their favourite cookie with me and Ellen went one better, sharing the recipe - Chocolate Drops! Funny thing, I did visit Cathedral Grove about 20 odd years ago and somehow lost all my pictures from that trip. It is a beautiful spot, brought back many great memories. Also kind of odd, if Ellen used a stamp it went somewhere else, not even a trace of glue, who knows!

Direct Swap - Nepal from Du

Du and I first crossed paths last year when we swapped. This year, Du was offering cards from Nepal as his cousin was travelling there. The timing was perfect as I had just received souvenir stamp sheets for the Year of the Horse. This card arrived and is simply a beautiful view of Mount Everest. I have to work on getting the text translated. Du mentioned his cousin had locals write blessings on the cards. I'll update you when I get it done. We were both really happy with this swap and already have another one under way!

Mexico from Fiona

I might receive postcards most days, but it certainly isn't everyday that a postcard arrives addressed to "Auntie SuSu". Needless to say, I was super excited when this set of cards arrived for me a few weeks ago. My sister and her family travelled to Mexico in October. Yes, October, as in 5 months ago. Both my sister and I had somewhat given up on these cards. Funny then that they both arrive on the same day after months of travelling. Only one card is cancelled and while smudged to me it looks like the date is 11012014 - January 11, 2014 - even months after they returned home. One of the many mysteries in the postcard world that we will never know the answer to. All I know is that the resort and trip that my niece Fiona shared with me sounds dreamy. I missed you too, so glad you had fun! xox

Direct Swap - St. Lucia from Lindsay

Lindsay lives about two hours from me. She had posted on the forum that she was going on a cruise and was offering to swap cards from the various ports. I honestly didn't know if she would be interested in a swap as we live so close. Lucky for me I had a few cards from her favourites and she was game to swap for two of them. This first card came from Saint Lucia. Having watched the most recent Bachelor series (my one uber bad guilty TV pleasure) I must say this card could have been taken from Juan Pablo's hotel room! Absolutely stunning!!! Thank you Lindsay and I look forward to meeting you this July at the Ingersoll Meet-Up.

Lottery Win - Maria from Russia

To celebrate her 35th birthday, Maria held a lottery in the forum and had a whopping 35 winners! I was one of the lucky group. She sent me two wonderful cards. Since the day I started Postcrossing I wanted to receive a card with Matryoshka dolls so was thrilled when this arrived for me.

OFFICIAL Cards - Germany

No, you are not seeing double! Although I admit I thought I was! This is one of the strangest coincidences I have had since joining Postcrossing. The first card was sent to me by Aaron. The next day, my address went to Herbstzeitlose and she sent me the second card. What are the odds of that! They both show the Lake Constance area in Germany. They arrived a week apart and at first I couldn't figure out how my card ended up back outside. When side by side you can see they are different, they are even printed by different companies.

Birthday Wishes - Ayn from United Arab Emirates

As part of my year long swap with Ayn we agreed to send a little birthday surprise to each other. This was the package that she sent me. It is filled with lots of fun goodies - some blank very cool graphic cards, puffy stickers, Hello Kitty "S" stickers, bookmarks and a "Zelf". I had never heard of them before, kind of remind me of troll dolls. Mine is pink and hard to keep track of as my daughter enjoys taking it off my desk! I simply love Ayn's handwriting and all the washi tape/stickers she uses. Thank you so much Ayn for your generosity.

Random Act of Smiliness - Kenya from Susan

I have been very fortunate to receive cards from Susan on her adventures and this one is no exception. This adorable card arrived last week and simply amazed me. First, I didn't know she was still travelling and secondly, I never would have though a card from Kenya would arrive so quickly, just two weeks door to door! Susan translated the names of several animals from English to Kiswahili. Call me slow but the restaurant names at the zoo now make more sense to me. Love the card and your thoughtfulness - thank you Susan!

Direct Swap - Cuba from Agi

I can't tell you the number of times I have had friends or family vacation to Cuba and send me postcards. I would venture to say at least 6 visits and multiple cards. Now guess how many have arrived? Zero, zippo, zilch, nada! I was starting to think the mail must have been flying over the Bermuda Triangle. So back in November Agi posted in the forum that she was travelling to Cuba and was offering to swap. I thought it was pretty cool that she asked for her card to be received first before I or anyone else sent our cards. I guess she heard of my problems lol! While I did touch base with her after her trip nothing arrived. And then last week (insert heavenly music here) my card arrived! Wow!!! I don't know how she managed where so many have tried but it arrived. To top it off she used a dinosaur stamp - I {love} dinosaurs! I am simply thrilled. Plus with the arrival of this card it is taking some heat off my sister who leaves for Cuba next week. Who knows I may start to get flooded with cards from Cuba now. Hoping my card to Agi arrives soon and makes her smile just as much.

Direct Swap - Aaron from New Zealand

Aaron was interested in swapping for Year of the Horse Stamps and was offering the same. As I do not have too many cards from New Zealand I though it would make a great swap. I asked him to surprise me with a card, preferably a bird and was happy when this card arrived. It shows the Brown Kiwi and the stamp is very nice. Kind of Asian in design and at the same time not at all. Funny enough this bird came up shortly after in some homework conversations. It was kind of neat to pull this card out to show the kids, might be old school, but way more bang for the buck than plain old Google.

OFFICIAL Card - Germany

Once again German Post simply amazes me. Christina requested my address on a Friday and her card arrived on the following Tuesday - four days! My local mail takes longer than that! Her card shows views in and around her hometown of Dortmund. The modern building in the middle of the card is the library, how my daughter would love to go there!

OFFICIAL Card - Netherlands

One of my wish list items is cards showing signs of the zodiac, in particular Scorpio. Karin was able to send me only my second card in this theme a great illustration of a Scorpion. Oddly, it kind of reminds me of The Grinch! The translation on the back reads - "Pronounced self conscious, insults and compliments leave them cold, passionately, likes property and success, strongly interested in all questions of life and death." All I will say is - maybe this sums me up!