Juguetes

Juguetes is Spanish for toys. Europa had the theme classic toys in 2015 and Correos issued this pine-scented stamp featuring a wooden train. It makes me think of Christmas a little bit. Eva gave me instructions to make sure I didn't miss the fragrance :)

For more stamps with a 'made from wood' theme, head over to Sunday Stamps and explore the links.

Bonus wood-related postcard received via Postcrossing from Canada

A postal almost-misadventure

I started sending and receiving postcards via Postcrossing this year. I've received some great postcards so far, and had fun choosing cards to send out. 

Today I received a great postcard sent from Belgium featuring a drawing of Amsterdam's famous red light district by artist Guus van Eck. You can see more of his work at his website.

Even better than the postcard is the story told on the other side by the sender.

"I bought this card in Amsterdam. My sister lives there (followed her love). We wanted to send a card to our nieces who were at camp with the youth movement. We found one in the style of Van Gogh. And then we searched for another one in the same style. We found this one (we were in a hurry). At home we realized by looking at it more closely it was an adult card :| and we never sent it."

This put a big smile on my face, thinking about her realizing the nature of the card, and also imagining this card showing up at a kids' camp :) Definitely my favorite Postcrossing postcard received so far.

Have you had any funny almost-misadventures with a letter or postcard?

Clearer, yet more blurry

The postmark celebrating the 50th anniversary of earth day seems to have been short-lived, however I did receive another one:

Compare to one I blogged a few weeks ago:

Food for Peace

The theme for this week's Sunday Stamps is food, and the stamps on this envelope that Jean sent almost two years ago fit the bill.

The 5c food for peace stamp promoting freedom from hunger was issued June 4, 1963 on the first day of the World Food Congress held in Washington DC.

For more links to food on stamps, click here to go to Sunday Stamps.

Orange is the warmest color

Incoming mail art from Pat L.

Sent in this envelope - with quite the stamp selection.

Gifts of Friendship

I sent a letter using these stamps from 2015. They were issued on the centenary of the gift of flowering dogwoods to Japan from the US in response to a gift of cherry trees.

On the left, cherry trees blossoming in front of the Lincoln Monument, and on the right, dogwood flowers with the US Capitol Building in the background.

This was a joint issue with Japan.

US sheet:

Japanese sheet:

For more flowers on stamps, explore the links at Sunday Stamps.

Front Door Gallery Zinenvelope

Mail Art Martha sent this great year of the rat-related zine. 

She often uses a clever fold to create the envelope from a sheet of paper.

It's called the front door gallery because she 'hangs' mail art so that it can be seen through the glass panels of her front door, for all passersby to see.