Christmas cactus

 Sent via a Postcrosser in Arizona - I love it!

What's your tree like?

How ready are you?

 Mariah Carey has fully defrosted, my tree is up, and the first Christmas mail has arrived.

On a scale of scream to 10, how ready are you for Christmas?

Hlukhiv

 Today's postcard hunt theme is buildingss. 

In 2020, I received this card via postcrossing showing landmarks in Hlukhiv, a city in northeast Ukraine, close to the Russian border, showing famous city landmarks.

Left: the Church of the Savior's Transfiguration (1765)

Middle: Hlukhiv water tower, constructed 1927-1929

Right: I've seen several names for this one, including the Orthodox Church of Three Saint Anastasias, and Holy Three Anastasias Cathedral.

For links to more postcards featuring pictorial landmarks, head over to See it on a Postcard

Happy Halloween!

 

Thanks to CJ for this fab Halloween card and envelope, with excellent Halloween reflective foil stamp.

And thanks to Eva for this skeleton postcard, as well as the brainskull sticker on the back of an envelope.

Enjoy spooky season!

F is for Fish

The theme for today's Sunday Stamps is the letter F

Eva sent me this wonderful (and large!) stamp, showcasing fish, and fishing, as a major component of Spanish gastronomy. 

Despite the importance of fishing in Spain, consumption of fish has decreased recently, and Correos has issued this stamp has the slogan: 'Fill your table with the sea'.

The stamp also has a very. nice foil effect, which is a bit hard to capture in a still image. Eva also mentioned that she has an additional reason to like the stamp - it shows the correct postage to send to the USA :)

For links to more stamps with this theme, visit See it on a Postcard.

Blue

 Blue is the theme of today's Sunday Stamps, and I have this first class stamp from Finland issued in 2014.

For more blue stamps, explore the links at See it on a Postcard. 

Raven Story

 Today's Sunday Stamps theme is stories and fairytales. One of my favorite stamps with this theme is the Raven Story, issued by USPS in 2021.

The National Postal Museum website has a nice description of the meaning of the Raven in northwest American native cultures. The stamp features a Raven that is transitioning from human form to avian form - you can see the hand shape at the bottom of the stamp. The stars and orbs are highlighted in gold foil, representing the Raven as lightbringer.

I used these stamp in a Pushing the Envelopes envelope exchange earlier in the year, making envelopes from calendar pages showcasing inuit art.

For links to more stamps with today's theme, head over to See it on a Postcard