Greetings from Bulgaria - Direct Swap with Donka

Slowly but surely the swaps I have arranged for the Greetings From cards are arriving. This one featuring Bulgaria came from a swap I arranged with Donka - thank you!

Greetings from Hungary - Direct Swap with Edit

When the latest new additions to the Greetings From cards were announced I thought Hungary would be a hard country for me to swap with. I was pleasantly surprised that it was a bit easier than I originally thought. Russia and Barbados have proven a bigger challenge - one I thought for sure the other - who knew?!? Edit and I connected on Facebook and I am glad we did. I think I prefer the cards that are set on dark or night views the best - makes it easier to read for one!

Greeting from Thailand - Direct Swap with Jindarat

Another beautiful addition to my "Greetings from" collection. This card features Thailand thanks to a connection I made with Jindarat on the Postcrossing Forum. Love the sunset and reflection in the water. She chose some pretty amazing stamps too!

Greetings from Austria - Direct Swap with Rosmarie

How does the saying go - two steps forward, one step back - that is how I am feeling with my Greetings from collection. No sooner do I get connected with people to swap and then new countries are issued. It seems each issue they are getting harder and harder too! This card from Rosmarie shows Austria. Lots of new info for me, I love learning little bits of trivia like this.

Greetings from Luxembourg - Direct Swap with Anne

Another great addition to my "Greetings from" collection. Anne and I have swapped several times in the past and she was happy when PostalLove issued these cards. My understanding is she was involved with their production, Icould be wrong but thought I read that somewhere. Many new and interesting things I learnt here. The one that stuck out to me was the soup, Bouneschlupp, Anne tells me she doesn't care for it much. I think anything with bacon sounds dreamy! Thanks Anne for a great swap!

Greetings from South Korea - Direct Swap with Irina

Another fabulous "Greetings from" card this time from Irina who I connected with on Facebook. I found two facts on this card really interesting. I mean I find them all interesting but these were especially so. First was the babies age. I had never heard that ever and personally think that is a bit different - at my age I don't want to be any older than I have to be! The other was the fact the Rose of Sharon is the national flower. I had the biggest, loveliest Rose of Sharon bush when I lived in Toronto. People literally stopped when walking or driving by to look at it. Sadly, they don't do as well where I am now. Another great swap and a few more bits of info if I ever make it to Jeopardy.

Greetings from Taiwan - Direct Swap with Sonya

No sooner am I able to sit back and enjoy the completion of my PostalLove collection and it seems they issue new cards just to celebrate with me! This last round saw five new countries introduced. I have connected with a few people to swap and have three other cards travelling to me. Right now the elusive one is Thailand. Wish me luck with that! Sonya and I connected on Facebook as she was offering the card from Taiwan. She shared with me her traditions for the Lunar New Year, they sound fun!

Greetings from China - Direct Swap with YiMan

Drumroll please.......My PostalLove "Greetings from" collection is complete - again! YiMan and I connected through Facebook at the beginning of November and their card arrived just before Christmas. They joke that one of famous Chinese listed, Cai Lun, might be a relative as they share the same family name. You never know!

Thank you to everyone who helped me build my collection of cards!

Greetings from Poland - Direct Swap with Anna

PostalLove is based in Poland. I am hoping that is the only reason she has issued a third edition of the "greetings from" series for this country only. If all of the countries I have collected start to get an update I will have to rethink this collection. It is proving to be a bit of a challenge with some countries as I like it posted from the country depicted on the front. I was lucky that Anna made an order the day it was released and she was happy to swap with me. Another fabulous design and addition to my collection! Now, if I can only find China.....

Greetings from Sweden - Direct swap with Jarmo

I honestly thought trying to find someone to swap the Greetings from Sweden card sent from the country was going to be a needle in a haystack. I was thrilled when it turned out to be one of the easier ones! I connected with someone on Facebook who pointed me in the direction of Jarmo. He was keen to swap as he needed the Canadian card. So nice when it works out like that. The stamp and postmark he selected for me is icing on the cake. The Europa stamps are from 1998 and the theme that year was festivals and national celebrations.

Greetings from Ukraine - Direct Swap with Anna

Another wonderful swap via Facebook. This time I connected with Anna who lives in the city of  Dnipropetrovsk. She wrote it has the longest promenade in Europe - 25 kms! Wow, that would be beautiful to see! And I almost can as it is shown on the stamps she used. Those too are stunning!

Greetings from Taiwan - Direct Swap with Yun Rou

Another successful swap via Facebook. This time YunRou and I both exchanged our respective "Greetings From..." cards. The card was written on October 10th, which is Taiwan's National Day or Double Ten Day. This was something I never knew and found it interesting. He asks if I am familiar with bubble tea as it originated in his hometown of Taichung. Yet another sign I should be trying it. I'll have to find a spot and bring The Little Prince to read too!

Greetings from Japan - Direct Swap with Yuko

Just when I thought I had completed my PostalLove collection, they issued new cards! It is a fun yet challenging circle! Yuko and I connected on the Postcrossing Forum while she was waiting for her order to arrive. This is a great card showing both the city and Mount Fuji. Love the stamps she chose and the cancellation is great too! Thanks Yuko!

Greetings from Poland - Direct Swap with Jolanta

Yeah!!! For now, my collection of PostalLove "Greetings from..." is complete! I do not know why but there are two versions of the Polish card - one has 2013 statistics, the other 2014. I had the older version and was still on the hunt for the newer one. I am seriously hoping they update every country as it was hard to connect for the card once let alone twice! Lucky for me, Jolanta posted in the the Postcrossing Forum one day that she had some to swap. She wrote me about her recent travels to Turkey- nice! Great stamps as well.

Greetings from Spain - Direct Swap with Melita

Another fabulous "Greetings from..." card to add to my collection. This card from Spain was sent by Melita who responded to my post in the Spanish section of the Postcrossing Forum. I think of all the cards in this series this one might be my favourite. Not only is the image really colourful and iconic it is the only card that has a person not just a landscape/cityscape view. Lucky me I was the first person Melita had swapped this card with, probably no shortage of others after me.

Greetings from Lithuania - Direct Swap with Justina

Justina saw I post I made in the Postcrossing Forum seeking out the new "Greetings From..." cards by PostalLove. She liked them so much she was going to order and wanted to swap when her cards arrived. I was happy to wait and she contacted me to finalize a few weeks later. She wrote me about some of the facts on the front and also telling be her country will adopt the Euro soon they are enjoying the last few months of their "beautiful" currency. Thank you for the swap Justina!

Greetings from Portugal - Direct Swap with Edite

Another swap I made through the Postcrossing Facebook page, this time with Edite from Lisbon. I was so happy that she had this card, getting that much closer to completing my collection. She took the time to write out some basic words and phrases in Portuguese for me. Thank you!

Greetings from Poland - Direct Swap with Monika

Monika replied to a post I made on Facebook looking for PostalLove cards. She did not have the current version of the Poland card but had the first edition. I didn't even know there were more than one version so was happy to swap for this retired "collectible". Now to hunt for the 2014 version, which might not be easy as it has been sold out for awhile. It will be hard enough to find people to swap with as the new countries are introduced if they get revised too I might be sunk! Thank you Monika for the swap!

Greetings from Finland - Direct Swap with Heli

Another swap I arranged through Facebook for the PostalLove cards. It is great when you can find that connection and have the card both parties need and want. Heli sent this card showing details of Finland. I don't know if I were Finnish if I would enjoy saunas. I have never been a fan, but it has been years since I've tried one. But, what if I didn't? They have so many, I think I would feel like an outcast! I also don't know if I could handle 51 days of Polar nights, I find our winters dark enough.

Greetings from Czech Republic - Direct Swap with Pavla

Now that it is summer vacation, my kids usually "fight" over who will go out to pick up the mail from our mailbox. On the day this card arrived my daughter brought it into the house and was already disputing one of the facts. "No way" was the Czech Republic hockey team better than Canada's! I might have to agree with her on that one. Another successful Facebook swap - thank you Pavla!