Lots of Puffy Fish Stickers: Sent to Canada, China, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, & the U.S.

This post is full of postcards–jam-packed with them, along with their accompanying stamps, stickers, and washi tape. What it lacks is full detail–but who cares, am I right?

We start off here with a couple of regular Postcrossing sends, and a couple of Postcrossing Forum sends: this set goes out to Zhengzhou, Henen, China; Shenzhen, Guangdong, China; Potsdam, Germany; and Saint Petersburg, Russia.

I visited the Charles M. Schulz Museum this month & reloaded on my Peanuts postcard stock. Mostly more copies of old stuff, but they did have one great new postcard to go with their new temporary exhibit celebrating the character Franklin. Three of these have gone out in the mail recently: two to Japan, & one to Hawaii.

These Postcrossing Forum sends are going to Ampang, Selangor, Malaysia; and Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.

One good elk leads to another…

A food package and a movie postcard follow. I’ve had a lot of this drink; never seen the movie.

Flying squirrels & durian–this card went to Ningbo, Zhejiang, China, in a Postcrossing Forum “Last Movie I’ve Seen” tag. That movie: Black Panther. The best of the Marvel heroes movies!

Heavens help me, I’m dipping into swap-bot again. For this trade, I had to send a Disney postcard to 5 different people (4 in the U.S.; 1 in Ireland). A couple of these cards came from the Art of Disney: The Renaissance and Beyond box set, and the rest came from the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, which I visited for the first time recently-ish.

Stamps, stickers, and washi tape time. Do you have any favorites? I do!

Of Local Connections, Banana Stickers, & “Lifestyle Bloggers:” Received from China, Japan, Russia, Serbia, Spain, & the U.S.

This beautiful flower postcard was sent to me from Japan, and it wasn’t originally meant as a postcard! The sender explains:

This card is famous souvenir cookie’s box from Hokkaido–the northernmost prefecture in Japan.

The onions are an actual postcard, rather than from a box of souvenir onions or something. The card was sent to me from Kaluga, Russia, by a sender who writes that her town is not far from Moscow, and:

We are proud of Cosmonautics State Museum. I love art, puzzles, psychology.

The child-on-cattle card came from China, and the sender explains:

This kind of painting is called shuimo, an old traditional kind. There’s a kid riding on the back of a cattle, farm cattle. Guess you know the importance of cattles to ancient Chinese people. Also, there’s a poem written in ancient Chinese characters. The poem dated from 2500 years ago.

The Indian Court card came to me from Wisconsin via Postcard United–Postcard United does that thing, pairing a person with someone from their own country. It also does stuff like this:

That is correct: as of the moment I am writing this, I have received 36 more postcards than I have mailed out. This embarrassment of riches points out the fact that other people out there are getting screwed over.

One more thing of note about that card: the man who sent it decorated it with a couple of banana stickers. Scroll down, you’ll see.

This sketchy little village is also from the U.S., but via a swap-bot trade. The sender, who lives somewhere near San Diego, is just the first person in this post who spent some time living not far from me:

Hello! I grew up in Hayward, lived there until I was 20. Not too far from you. 🙂

The Japan card came from somewhere in–guess what country–via Postcard United. The sender tells me she, too, lived quite close to me for a time:

I spent a year in Oakland, CA as an exchange students & almost every weekend I visited S.F by myself. It was about 30 years ago (!!) But still I ❤ Bay Area and I’m so happy to write to you. My host mother used to work your place as a teacher.

Speaking of true callings, and professions of high purpose & service to humanity, this next card came to me from a self-professed “full-time lifestyle blogger.”

She lives in Belgrade, Serbia, and took time out from her busy schedule to tell me about the card:

You can see “the face” of the Statue of Victory, one of the most known sights in Belgrade. It’s the symbol of our city. You can Google it and see what it looks like in nature. Hope this will help you find out more about our country.

The card next to the last one looks like death, and it was sent to me from Spain, in a Postcrossing Forum “last movie I’ve seen” thread. She tells me about “My Life as a Zucchini:”

…a French animation film for adults that is just one hour long but the impression it makes lasts for a lifetime. I was deeply moved by it and cried buckets. So if you have not seen it yet, I highly recommend it.

I want to see “Coco,” but I’m not sure if they’ve removed the 21 offensive opening minutes I keep hearing so much about. I would have to adjust my arrival time.

This headphone-wearing letter C is from a Postcrosser in Xinyu, Jiangxi, China. He had a standard message translated into English and printed on a rubber stamp, as you’ll see toward the bottom of this post.

I end with the “NORMAL” postcard, which I may or may not have shared many moons ago–but it’s not marked as having been logged, so there we have it. This was received from Bonnie Jeanne

This was from Bonnie Jeanne of Postally Yours, who had an “orphaned postcard project” in which she logged the postcards in her personal collection, and people like me would “claim” a card to which they had a personal connection (a place they were from, a favorite place to visit, etc.). She would send us the card in an envelope, and we would write on it, about the card/place, and send it back to her. Her website would share those stories. I participated twice, and really had fun with it. It seems she has moved on to other things. I wish her all the best.

Stamps & stamps & stickers follow. I especially loved this one stamp from Japan, so I made sure to show an enlargement (for my own enjoyment, if for no one else’s).

The Comic Section! Received from Belarus, Japan, Malaysia, Switzerland, & the U.S.

One of the upsides of being so horribly behind in cataloging my received postcards is that I am at least able to go through the accumulated cards (well, the ones that I can currently find) and do some grouping by theme. This time, it’s some toon-tastic cards, received through all of my current avenues: Postcrossing, Postcrossing Forum, Postcard United, swap-bot, and postcard pals!

First up: B. Kliban! I’m always thrilled to find Kliban Cats in my mail. They surrounded me when I grew up: they were marketed on t-shirts, bed sheets, soap dispensers, calendars, and on & on. The world today could use more Kliban cats. This came to me from a Postcrosser in Cedar Hill, Texas, who saw cards like this one in my favorites.

 

Every time I look at this image, I notice a new detail.

This Snoopy postcard looks like a piece of original art! The Postcrosser who sent it to me tells me she bought it during a visit to the Snoopy Museum in Tokyo, Japan.

I love, love, love, the style of very-early-era Peanuts art. I was thrilled to get this Lucy (my spirit animal) card from my post pal Cindi in Hawaii. Be sure to scroll down for the stickers, washi tape–and a great Disney Queen of Hearts stamp! And while you’re down there, do be sure to spend time with all of the other stamps, stickers, & washi tape. This is a good post for both sides of the cards I’ve received!

Time to move from Peanuts to Totoro. This wonderful scene came to me from a Postcrosser in Astoria, Oregon, who writes:

I am also a huge fan of Asian cuisine. We lived in Singapore for two years–yum! Ate in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Australia So much good food–love the crosss-cultural stuff. And lucky now to live on the West Coast–foodie heaven. Food carts are boss. Last weekend ate at a place called DJ’s Vinyl Vegan–it was fabulous. It was part of our weekend eat-fest in Astoria. Also had Scandinavian food at the Midsummer Festival. This weekend too hot to go out. Hope you are getting some good eats!

The other Totoro card came to me from Malaysia via Postcard United, from a sender who tells me that ol’ Totes is their favorite cartoon character.

Next up: a pair of Finding Nemo cards. Let me interrupt myself to say that I was at Disney California Adventure last week, and after many visits having ignored the attraction, I finally went to “Turtle Talk with Crush,” and let me tell you–I am never going to skip over it again! Hilarious! Reminded me of a Paula Poundstone performance (and I’ve been to many).

Okay, the cards. The first of them came to me via regular Postcrossing, from Minsk, Belarus, with the following message:

I am a senior student at Linguistic University where I study the English and French languages and American and British Country Studies. I like traveling, reading books, and birds. I have a monk parakeet (Rudy). He can talk.

The other Nemo card came to me from St. Paul, Minnesota, via a swap-bot “Currently Reading” trade. The sender had a few books going at once, and she listed them for me:

The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, by Theodora Goss

Enigma: the Battle for the Code, by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore

Blind Ambition: The White House Years, by John Dean

Okay, the last 3 are Sanrio: Hello Kitty Country! I sometimes enter Postcrossing Forum tags where every other person is to receive a Hello Kitty card. Since I do not have any to send, I enter on the receiving rounds…and then promptly say that I’d really love to receive Badtz-Maru (or any one of several other ancillary characters). This first card, sent from somewhere in Japan, stars Badtz!

The big Hello Kitty card came from Lausanne, Switzerland, and the smaller one made its way from Nakatsu, Ōita, Japan.

Hey, we made it through! now enjoy the stamps, stickers, washi tape, and a few of the messages. Let me know what you liked! I feel really accomplished right now, to have logged 10 more of my back postcards.

Recycling Day! Received from Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Indonesia, & Malaysia

This time it’s all about postcards hand-hewn from food & other packaging, and received through trades on Postcrossing Forum and swap-bot. I love them! Sometimes at the supermarket, I’ll see a box of cereal or cookies, and all I can think about is: that’ll make a great postcard. And sometimes, that is the product’s absolute best function!

This wide-eyed panda came from Great Britain, and the sender tells me it is from a “Buttons ice cream box.”

The chocolatey bar came from Dresden, Germany:

I decided to send a card made out of a package of muesli bars to you. I sometimes eat muesli bars as a snack during long days at university. This sort is just granola with chocolate & honey. I prefer them them with additional cocoa flakes though.

Next up, from Malaysia, a very appealing former package. I love mango, but not the dried kind, which, despite the very fresh-looking photos on the box, is exactly what this product is:

It was bought by my mum when she visited Penang (a tourist attraction in Malaysia).

The Tikka Masala box is from the same region–Indonesia this time–and the sender writes:

I’m sending you this instant Tikka Masala spice mix, whereby all you have to do is dump in this mix, some chicken & potatoes, and voila, dinner is served!

The “Carneval” is from Finland, and the sender tells me it is a cookie:

‘Keksejä’ is cookies in Finnish, ‘Kex’ is in Swedish. They are popular with children. I like them because they are quite cheap and there’s lot of them in the package. 🙂

I can’t get so excited about the final postcard: a cigarette box. Well, at least something good came out of that whole enterprise. This is from Greece, and the sender writes:

We sell cigarettes in our shop. These superslims came out a few years ago. People can buy a carton or 1 pack. In England they have 10 or 20 in a pack. We have only 20’s. Wish you health, happiness & faith…

‘K.

Onward & upward: it’s stamp & sticker time! These Indonesian stamps got canceled to within an inch of their lives.

Malaysian stamps make my day.

Mail Boxes, Accordioned: Sent to Germany, Finland, Japan, Malaysia, & the U.S.

This is a very cool postcard that somehow ended up in my hands. If it looks as if it might be printed on a grocery bag, well, that’s not far off: in fact, the stock is so lightweight, the card got accordioned more than just a bit, just standing along with other postcards. It’s good, then, that some brilliant swap-botter thought of creating a “mishap” trade, in which we could all mail each other banged-up, stained, and mutilated cards. This one, in fact, goes to the trade’s creator, who is in Denver, Colorado.

Isn’t the card otherwise very cool, though? It’s a giveaway from a stationary store in Canada that hosts a monthly letter-writing club.

The rest of the cards this time are heading off in Postcrossing Forum tags. Snoopy & his typewriter are on their way to Diamond Bar, California.

Elephant & Piggie are going to Helsinki, Finland.

California Natural Wonders heads off to Marl, Germany.

Mesa Verde National Park (Colorado) goes to a national park lover in Osaka, Japan, and “California: A Photographer’s Paradise” is destined for a map card lover in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

Time for stamps, stamps, stickers, & washi tape! I hope you’ll agree that there’s some good stuff down here.

 

Animal Edition: Received from Canada, Germany, Japan, Philippines, Russia, & the U.S.

Still lots of catching up to do around here! I have enough previously-unlogged cards with animals on them to make that the theme of this post. Here we go.

I’ve got a life-long love of maneki-neko! I actually have a small collection of them, though not all in my collection are small.  This came to me from Japan in a Postcrossing Forum tag, and you can read the message on the back (about maneki-neko) in the scan at the bottom of the post.

This wonderful humpback whale card is from the Philippines, another Postcrossing Forum tag, and its scanned message is also shared down below.

This next card was NOT received via Postcrossing, Postcard United, swap-bot, or any of that; it’s a thank-you card for donating to Muttville senior dog rescue in San Francisco. Senior dogs are very special, and I donate to more than one organization that specializes in helping them. In fact, right now I am expecting a 2018 calendar I ordered from Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary in Tennessee.

This beautiful seal came to me via Postcard United, from Kaluga, Russia. The sender tells me that it’s not far from Moscow, and:

We proud of Cosmonautics State Museum. I love art, music, puzzle, psychology, and to make photos.

The Elasmosaurus, like the humpback whale we saw earlier,  came my way thanks to a Postcrossing Forum marine life & sea creature tag, this time from a sender in Texas, and she tells me:

Living in delightfully dry North Texas means I don’t get to see the ocean a lot. But I love reading about life millions and millions of years ago, when Texas was nothing but swamps and seas. Did you know they found plesiosaur bones when they started tearing up land to make DFW airport? Awesome!

Then we have this meerkat! As I type this, I think of the meerkats at the Santa Barbara Zoo, which I am POSITIVE get handouts from scofflaw zoo-goers. Every time I visit this beautiful zoo, and come around the corner toward the meerkat enclosure, these little guys become very attentive, especially if I have a bag from the gift shop. People who like to feed wild animals & zoo animals don’t give a damn about health concerns & dietary needs.

Anyhoo, this very tall card is from Biberach, Germany, via Postcard United.

He seems to be keeping his eye on that hawk, and for good reason. The card is from Canada, received in a swap-bot “currently reading” trade, and the sender tells me:

I am reading H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald. Please remember to rate me.

I would have rather heard about the book than had that prompt. I kinda hate swap-bot.

Time for stamps, etc.! I really like that pair of raptors from Canada, so well-paired with the card to which they are attached!

I think I like this rooster from the Philippines even more! I’m also a big fan of the whale & fish stickers. And what a great shore bird sticker from Japan!

Postal Mishaps & Mystery Liquids: Received from Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Taiwan, & the U.S.

Foghorn Leghorn here is at Magic Mountain in Southern California, but the sender is from Queen Creek, Arizona. She sent the card to me in a swap-bot “cartoon animal postcard” trade, and she writes:

I have never been to Magic Mountain, but this ride looks like a lot of fun!

I have never been there, either. I’ve driven past many times, but when you are in that neighborhood, well, for me the correct amusement park destination is always Disneyland.

More toons: the caption on the back of this card tells me it is Mr. Muddle:

Poor Mr. Muddle just couldn’t get anything right. Everything he did, everything he tried, everything he said was muddled.

I know the feeling, I do. This is another swap-bot trade–“children’s book illustration postcard,” this time–and it’s from a swapper in Glencoe, Oklahoma. He writes:

My mom is a retired kindergarten teacher. I grew up on Mr. Men & Little Miss books. I enjoyed your movie review blog. I’m glad someone else enjoyed Ra.One!

Someone from Slavkov, Czech Republic was assigned to me by Postcrossing, and she sent me the Pooh card. Unfortunately, some postal mishap claimed a large section of the message portion–peeled it right off. It’s a shame, because from what I could tell, she was actually writing a very substantive, friendly message. The mostly-blank cards always make it intact.

Another regular Postcrossing draw, this one from a sender in Taipei City, Taiwan who says he likes traveling and photography. Isn’t the idea of a “wind-power park” interesting? I was intrigued–and I really like that piece of crab art–so I looked it up. It’s right by the sea, it’s got recreation & performance spaces, and those 7 windmills generate enough electricity to power the park for four hours after dark. Better still, there are more sea creature mosaic statues! Isn’t it cool to learn new things through Postcrossing?

That dolphin image is…interesting. I certainly prefer it to a photo of a dolphin in a swimming pool. I received it from Hong Kong, via a Postcrossing Forum trade of sea creatures cards. As we transition into the stamps, stickers, & washi tape portion of this post, let me express my appreciation for the BACK of the last card, which has a lot going on. I was about to express how much I am enjoying that Green Spot soda sticker, but when I initially looked it up, it turned out Green Spot is a booze. That didn’t seem right, so I tried again, & found the soda. So much learning!

I also really like the avocado stamp from Taiwan. Do you have any favorites this time?

She Collects Sugar Packets: Received from Czech Republic, Germany, South Africa, & the U.S.

Robots! I chose this card from a Postcrossing Forum offer tag, and it was sent to me from Germany, where the sender tells me the card reminds her of the movie “Wall-E.”

More machines, also from Germany, but this time via a swap-bot “chunk of cardboard” trade. The sender tells me the card is “made from the cover of a government’s brochure about work.”

The beautiful views come to me from the Czech Republic via a Postcrossing tag of national parks. The sender tells me:

Here at the border with Poland, there is our oldest national park Krkonoše (giant mountains). They raised already in Palezoic so they are much older than the other high European mountains (Alps and Carpathians). The slopes are no more very steep and on the tops, there is a central plateau with peat moss lakes. The countryside remind of the north of Scandinavian and sometimes is called as an island of tundra in the middle of Europe. The highest peak is Sněžka  (snowy mountain) 1,602 m. At the same time, it’s the place with biggest altitude of whole country.

That reflective scene came to me through regular Postcrossing, from  Gelenau, Erzgebirge, Germany, and the sender tells me:

Gelenau is 7km with one of the longest villages in Germany. An Alpine Coasterbahn, wild reserve, heated outdoor swimming pool and many sports clubs are in the village.

More rusk from Brakpan, Gauteng, South Africa. I remember the first time I got a recycled bit of rusk box from this user in a swap-bot “upcycled cardboard swap, I had to look up what rusk is. Now that I kind of know, I kind of wonder WHY it is!

The sand dollar card is another one I received via swap-bot, this one from Florida in a “mishap” trade, in which we were to send cards that had somehow become messed up.  There was a bit of a coffee stain on the back of the card, but I think the most messed-up thing is actually that bit of fiction printed on the front.

Last postcard, this one from Russia via Postcard United. The sender writes:

In my childhood I used to collect Kinder toys (my favorite were series with lions and moles). Now I have a daughter, but when I bought her Kinder toys she was not interested at all. So we stopped it. =(

When I went to register the postcard, I leaned one more thing about this sender: she collects sugar packets! Very interesting. I wonder if she empties them, how she displays them…  Once upon a time I had a roommate who spent way too much time at Taco Bell.  The extra sauce packets they toss through the drive-through window ended up in a fishbowl–a great big fishbowl. They were used for at least one craft project before finally being sensibly tossed.

Stamp time! I love these cuddly little creatures, and the flower next to them.

Unwanted, Recycled–and Otherwise: Received from Austria, Belarus, Canada, China, Finland, France, Greece, Hong Kong, & the U.S.

I am SO behind on posting postcards I’ve received.  I grabbed a big handful to scan, and the main theme for most of them seems to be “unwanted cards.”  We’ll soon get to what that’s all about, but I want to be sure to start with two cards I really do like!  Both of them found their way to me in Postcrossing Forum tags.

I just love this sketch of a Hong Kong storefront & apartments; it really takes me there!  The sender asks, “have you tried egg tart before?  It has to be my favorite Hong Kong snacks.  California has always been somewhere I desperately want to visit, and hopefully I can visit there soon!”

That breathtaking mountain view came to me from Shaanxi, China, and the sender tells me it is called Hua Mountain, and “it’s a little dangerous to climb, but because of the wonderful scenery, lots of people still trying and enjoy it.”

Next up, the kitty classroom, comes to me from Belarus, thanks to a Postcrossing Forum “favorites” tag.  I’m so forgetful, I didn’t even remember having marked it as a favorite.  Good thing to check those once in a while!

Another cat, this one riding a tortoise, and it comes to me from France as a regular Postcrossing card.  The sender’s writing is quite difficult to decipher, which is a lesson to me, even though I THINK my printing is neat, that I could stand to try harder.  I thought she wrote that she is in the “Louie Valley,” but a consult with Ask Jeeves (or whomever it is running the internet these days) let me know she probably meant Loire Valley.  Also, if I’m reading this correctly, she hopes to open a bed & breakfast next summer.  Or it could be that she just got back from a waterslide with Santa–I just don’t know.  Well, I do know I prefer the latter.

These next 3 cards all came my way via swap-bot.  The big building is the Fine Arts Gallery in San Diego, California–but the card was sent to me from a swapper in the state of Georgia.

I think the Santorini, Greece, card actually came to me from that locale.  The sender wrote:

“You can walk to the top.  To get to the volcano you can get a small local boat to take you straight there.  Otherwise you can take a tour that includes Thirasía.  When you get to the top, the view of Santorini is incredible!  This is must place to visit if you here.  You can jump into the warm springs if you want.”

The last card of that trio is the boat on the river.  The card was sent by a swapper in Illinois.  She sent it in a “recycled postcard” trade, but if she did indeed but a new backing on a card she previously received, I sure couldn’t tell–and I picked away at 3 of the 4 corners!  When I do these, I always like to leave the original stamps exposed (but on the bottom left of the new backing), as a bonus for the new recipient.  Anyhow, this card’s sender says the scene pictured is the Mississippi River, a sight she’s never seen in person, but that she imagines herself taking “an old time paddle wheel river boat ride down this river, if they still exist.” They do.  No, I’ve not been on the Mississippi, but more than once, I HAVE ridden a riverboat on the Rivers of America.

There’s a tag on Postcrossing Forum called “The Card You Want to Get Rid of,” and if I’d had this next card, I’d have sent it off in this trade, too!  I might just send it out in the next “recycled postcard” trade in which I participate.  The sender is in Tampere, Finland, and she told me, “I find this tag superb; it’s hard to find a suitable recipient to every postcard, but every postcard deserves to travel.”

Another postcard I’d be happy to get rid of is the “Been there, done that, got the t-shirt” card–that comes from Sheffield, England, in a swap-bot trade.   The sender wrote the card on July 11, telling me: “right now it is nearly 10 a.m. and it’s raining, and probably won’t stop for the rest of the day.  Typical UK!”

Still more cards getting no love: the trio below were sent to me together from Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada, in a swap-bot “I Don’t Want These Postcards” exchange.  I’ll have to post them in my page of cars available for trades!  That one that looks like a b&w “magic eye” game will probably have to go out in another round of these “I don’t want it” tags!

This next card came my way from Graz, Austria, in the “recycled postcard” tag I’ve been mentioning, and I may just have scanned & posted the other side here before, but I didn’t mark it as such, so either way–here we go.  In this tag, a person is supposed to slap a new backing on a postcard they received from someone else, & then send it to their assigned partner.  Let this serve as a warning that all glue sticks are not created equal; there was no postcard attached to this backing.  When you flip it over, all you see is shiny streaks.  In any case, I thought you might enjoy reading the hand-written recipe.

Well, it’s just about stamp time, so let me ask you now:  what are your favorite cards this time?  Which ones would you first choose to send off in a trade of recycled or “I don’t want this” cards?  Remember, one good use of a postcard you don’t think anyone else will love, is as a vehicle to send a message to your elected representatives!

Dogs in & on Water, & a Deer Behind the Wheel: Sent to China, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russia, & the U.S.

After being away for some travel time, I got back to the postcards, with a bunch off through Postcrossing Forum trades & swap-bot — and even 2 new sends for Postcard United!  In the interest of finally posting here again–and not wasting too much time–there won’t be a lot of detail this time, but let’s enjoy all of the cool cards, stamps, stickers, & washi tape!

That beat-up postcard with the beat-up trophy on the beat-up car went off in a swap-bot trade for beat-up postcards.  I was so happy to have the opportunity to send it!

I’m putting eclipse stamps on most of my mail.  Black circles give way to moons, after a bit of heat is applied (whether by a well-placed thumb, or just hot weather).  In most of these scans, the moon is peeking through some.  By the way, if you live somewhere in or adjoining the eclipse zone, please remember: DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY UP AT THE SUN.  There are many sites full of information on safe viewing; please look those up.