OFFICIAL Card - USA

Another truly vintage card came my way recently. This card looks like it was printed in the 1950's or 60's. Elizabeth is in Minnesota and chose this card showing sheep at Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Mass. It reminds me of our Black Creek Pioneer Village, a spot the kids and I were at a few weeks ago. Another lucky day for me as Elizabeth also used some amazing bird stamps!

OFFICIAL Card - Lithuania

Lithuania is still a country I don't come across too often. This card shows a vintage view of the city of Klaipeda. Nice choice Elena - thank you!

OFFICIAL Card - China

Minty is a new Postcrosser and this is one of the first cards she sent. Lucky me! The image shows a vintage view of Xitang, a historic town in China. Look familiar? Many of the final scenes of Mission Impossible III were filmed there. Coincidentally, I just watched the end of that movie a few weeks ago.

Random Act of Smiliness - Ireland from Alida

Another wonderful vintage card sent to me from my dear friend Alida. This time it shows sheep in Ireland. She writes about her garden and the mosquitoes. An irritating nuisance of summer. I thought for sure after our brutal winter they wouldn't have reappeared but in fact they are worse than usual! Thank you Alida!

OFFICIAL Card - Russia

Svetlana from Tomsk is a lawyer. She shared her hobbies with me and also her dream - one day she would like to open an exhibition of her photographs of her hometown. You know what they say, "If you build it, they will come"! The card is a vintage photo of a church and the text on the back reads "All Saints of the Russian Land". When I Google this the image looks so different I honestly can't tell if it is the same place or not. Take a look here and tell me what you think.

OFFICIAL Card - USA

Melody lives in Los Angeles, California. She recently won an auction consisting of a box of cards in mint condition from the 1950's and 1960's. She sent this card to me blank and in an envelope as to quote "Because this card is in such good condition, I didn't dare to write on it." This made me chuckle as I would be even more tempted to write on it for the same reason! She wrote the most beautiful note, sharing with my her "wishes"  Her comments really resonated with me for their beauty and simplicity. The view shows the Burleigh County Courthouse in Bismark, ND. Sadly looks like it lost some of those beautiful maple trees over the years.

OFFICIAL Card - Italy

Kris sent this showing a cute little bird I had not heard of before, a Gruccione or European Bee-eater. The card is printed by the WWF and from the colour of the back looks like it is an old one She must live close to Germany as the stamp and cancellations are from there. She shared as site she is part of Comecookandeat.org - sounds interesting and so something my husband would absolutely hate to be part of! How about you, does something like that project interest you?

OFFICIAL Card - Russia

Olga gave me such a laugh when she sent this card to me. On it she wrote, "My mom bought this postcard in 1981..." Yikes, I hope she knows she sent it!!! Truly a vintage card. The text translates to say "Happy New Year". She used some fun puffy stickers on the back and wrote she hopes they will arrive safely. I always use stickers on my cards and sometimes wonder too if anything that is slightly raised makes it or not. Do you decorate your cards at all? Stickers? Washi tape? Stamps? Doodles?

OFFICIAL Card - Netherlands

I think some cards just find their person. This is a great example. Amber and Marleen are a mother and daughter Postcrossing team who sent this card to me in September. Marleen writes "What a coincidence I bought this card yesterday at a second hand shop". That is an understatement! What are the odds of finding a card in pristine condition (even the cut outs are perfect - no bends!) that is 15 years old and the next day selecting a name and that person has Olympics on their wish-list. I would but a lottery ticket! The card shows Tonny de Jong, an Olympic hopeful for The Netherlands in the 1998 Nagano Games. Once again, great stamps too!

Have you ever had some hard to believe coincidences like this?

OFFICIAL Card - Canada

So this goes into the "what a small world category"! The first week of July I received this card from Sanna, who lives a short 60kms away. She wrote she hoped the card would get to me before we meet....she too was attending the meet-up in Ingersoll mid-July. Amazing coincidence! And what a great vintage card she chose for me - the Toronto skyline and the now closed Ontario Place from 1975.

OFFICIAL Card - USA

Sometimes you receive a card that just makes you wonder. This is one of them. Sarah sent this card to me in the middle of May. Totally chuckled at what she wrote "I think this multi-view is delightfully tacky :) It's so 70's looking!" I totally agree with her! Weirder yet the card was printed in Italy!?!? So. when I went to register the card and read her profile it was identical to a card I had received a few weeks earlier as seen here - same profile blurb, distance sent, etc. I messaged her to say what a coincidence that she would pull my name from two different accounts but never heard back. Small world and fun card!

OFFICIAL Card - Singapore

KukuNiao lives in Singapore and sent this card from an amusement park called Haw Par Villa. He wrote that he found these old cards in a bookstore. Quite an interesting read about the history of the park. He also used "Year of the Dragon" (2012) stamps.

OFFICIAL Card - Netherlands

Maud lives close to the town of Groningen in The Netherlands. She sent me this view of Parklaan, a street in the town taken in the last century. I love tree lined streets like this. Wonder how many are still standing today?

OFFICIAL Card - USA

Zulu lives in New York and studies anthropology. They sent me this vintage map card of Mississippi after a long day of both work and school. The facts on the back of the card states the population to be 2,178,141 which makes this card roughly 50 years old. It is in mint condition!

OFFICIAL Card - Germany

Another sweet little bird made its way to me. This vintage card was sent from Anke in Germany and is a Rock Thrush. I love the look on his face - so serious!

OFFICIAL Card - Netherlands

Maureen lives in Rotterdam and she sent this vintage multi-view of her hometown. I wonder how much has changed over the years. Sometimes I look at the cards of Toronto pre-condo boom and can't believe how different the downtown and lake shore look. Always fun to see the before and after. She shared a quote with me that interestingly my 8 year old has been using lately - "Today is a gift, that's why it's called the present" So true!

OFFICIAL Card - Russia

I {heart} Google Translate, and I {double heart} virtual keyboard. Last week I received this card from Yulia who lives in Nizhiny Tagil, Russia. On her postcrossing profile she states her only language as Russian and all she wrote on the back was "Hi". That is fine, my Russian is as good as her English but I still wanted to know what the card was about. After a few minutes of hunt and peck on virtual keyboard, I was able to translate the phrase along the bottom to be "Nizhny Tagil Ice Sports Palace named VC Sotnikova". By the looks of the arena now I might even say this is a vintage card too.

OFFICIAL Card - Russia

This is the first card I received from Russia. Elena from Tver sent me this card last April in an envelope. She wanted to show both sides of the card which is really kind of neat. The colour side is a view on her hometown and on the reverse a black and white picture of the same spot. Neat to see the differences over the years!

OFFICIAL Card - USA

Brook an accountant from New York City sent this vintage card to me last November. It shows Washington's Headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. This card was made between 1930-1945 - this one is way older than me! While he used a postage meter not a stamp, look how it says "Place one cent stamp here" I only wish that were true today!

OFFICIAL Card - Lithuania

Olga a law student in Vilnius, Lithuania sent me this pretty vintage card showing a bouquet of daisies in February. The card was made in 1975 - almost as old as me - ha ha!