Alfons Mucha, "Lefèvre-Utile" (1896)

And after several weeks without a post in my blog, I am back!

This Alfons Mucha postcard was sent to me from Germany, by Antonia, a lovely lady that mentioned that she loves to learn different languages and to travel (she even wrote the postcard in SPanish!)

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This Mucha postcard represents the "Lefèvre-Utile" a manufacturer brand of French biscuits, emblematic of the city of Nantes.

Lefèvre-Utile was founded in Nantes, France, in 1846 by Jean-Romain Lefèvre. Originally he sold biscuits from the English factory Huntley & Palmers and then he began his own production.

The name LU comes from Lefèvre and his business partner and wife, Pauline-Isabelle Utile.

Their initials were first utilized by Alfons Mucha for an 1897 calendar ad for the Lefèvre-Utile Biscuit Co.

My 1st Inge Löök.

Today I received my very first Inge Löök posctcard!!
This postcards are highly collectible in the postcrossing world! Inge Löök (real name Ingeborg Lievonen) is a Finnish artist who was born in Helsinki (Finland) in 1951.

The interesting fact is that she actually was a professional gardener! and nowadays she is most famous for her Granny postcards.

When Inge was a child, she used to live in building in Helsinki, and in that building she had two older women as her neighbors, Alli and Fifi, who later became her inspiration for the characters in her postcards.

The postcards designed by Inge are super fun and optimistic!! The motto of this images is: “Time is not money and spending it isn’t a sin”.

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This postcard is really special because I won it in a lottery in the FB group of postcrossing! It was sent to me by the lovely and really kind Helena , who said that she loves Spain and the sea, and also shared a saying “sea calms women”.

Scotland - red deer.

This postcard is from Scotland and it was sent by Alan, who said that they call the lakes “lochs” from the Gaelic word for lake.

The picture shows a red deer, and it was taken by the photographer Duncan Shaw. Via Postcrossing.

Australian flag.

This Australian flag postcard was sent to me by the lovely Jan, a 72 years old lady who lives in Bunbury and who likes to knit and to travel. ———————————————————————————————

Australia’s national flag incorporates the Union Jack, Southern Cross and federation Star.

This design was chosen from a national flag competition held in 1901. From 32,000 entries, five people submitted near-identical designs and were declared joint winners. They shared the £ 200 prize money. The winning design had no legal status until the “Flags act 1953” was passed.

Ukraine traditional clothes.

This wonderful postcard comes from Ukraine, and it shows the “Forset-steppe” Dnieper’s middle reaches. A woman in a daily dress and a girl in a festive dress.

It was sent by Nastye, from Kiev, via Postcrossing.

The coronation.

Gosia is a Polish woman who lives in the UK, she send me this postcard that portrays the Coronation (2.June.1953), the royal carriage.

This postcard is a reproduction from a stamp which was designed by Kate Stephens. Via Postcrossing.

Canadian first nations.

This Canadian postcard was sent to by Jana, a lady who lives in Edmonton (Alberta).

She said that she likes to travel, and that she lives in a cattle farm. In the postcard you can see a picture of a native from the Canadian “First Nations” paople, the true founders of the country.

Our lady of Miracles.

On this postcard you can see a detail from one of the churches in Rennes (France).

The postcard portrays the Saint-Sauveur church: Our lady of Miracles, who is said to have saved the town when it was under siege from the English during the 100 years war.

It was sent to me by Nico, who likes to eat pancakes with ham and eggs :) Via Postcrossing.

Singapore multiview.

This multiview postcard was sent to me from Singapore by Sity, a lovely lady who is a secretary and loves to read books and magazines. Via Postcrossing.

Mögen sich all deine träume und wünsche erfüllen.

This postcard was sent to commemorate my birthday last year!!

It traveled from Germany, and it says “Mögen sich all deine träume und wünsche erfüllen” (“May all your dreams and wishes come true”. The framed image is 3D, and it was designed by Archie.

This postcard was sent by Veronika, a lovely 58 years old lady who likes to knit and travel :) Via Postcrossing.

Trumping angel of Chernobyl

Here is another postcard from Ukraine.

This postcard is special because it comes from Chernobyl, and in the image you can see the “Trumping angel of Chernobyl” over the alley commemorating the victims of Chernobyl catastrophy in 1986.

It was sent to me by Valentyna via Postcrossing.

Once upon a time in Korea

This postcard is from the set “Once upon a time in Korea” by Seodang.

It was send to me by Sairah, who is an English teacher from Canada, who was living in Korea at the time. Via Postcrossing

Ladies in Paris II

This is a special postcard because it is a square shape. it was sent to me by Alexandra, who said that they finally had a new president in France (it was sent in 2012 via Postcrossing!) The drawing is called “Ladies in Paris II” and it was made by Avery Tillmon.

Polish national emblem.

This is the first postcard I got from Poland, it is a multiview, and it shows their national emblem in the middle. It was sent to me by Dorota via Postcrossing, who said that people in Poland are really hospitable.

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog.

This postcard shows one of my favorite paintings. It is “Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer” (Wanderer above the Sea of Fog) by Caspar David Friedrich (1818). It was sent to me from Düsseldorf (Germany), by Inge via Postcrossing. Inge said that he loves to travel :)

Why so many Russian postcards?

This postcard is so colorful!! :)

It was sent from Russia, by Tanya via Postcrossing.

Sadly all the back description of the postcard is in Russian, so I can’t share with you the name of the image, or the author.

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Reading my blog you will realize later on that there will be a lot of postcards from Russia, and that is because the population of Russian postcrossers is really large!

There are over 51,000 Russian postcrossers!! They have sent over 2,00,000 postcards, and currently they are the 4th country which sends more postcards!!


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If you want to know more about which countries are participating in Postcrossing, just click here!!

You can feel them!

This is a wonderful Moomin postcard from Finland, it was sent via Postcrossing by Tuula. The special feature on this postcard is the texture, if you touch the Moomins, you can feel their smoth and soft fur :D

What is a Maxicard?

It is time to learn a new term about postcards!!

This postcard is what we call “Maxicard” (or Maximum card), a Maxicard is a postcard (of any size), that has in addition a stamp of a very similar or related image on the picture side of the card, also the postmark should be the same, or related.

The postcard has to include all of this elements in order to be a Maxicard.
So, how do you recognize a maxicard?

You have to check:

✓ Image on the postcard.
✓ Similar/Related stamp.
✓ Similar/Related postmark.

The collection of Maxicards is called “Maximaphily”, and it is a recognized branch of philately.

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I received this Maxicard via Postcrossing, it was sent to me by Heather, a lady who lives in Perth (Australia). The Maxicard features the bird Striated Pardalote (Pardalotus striatus), the photographer is Ákos Lumnitzer.

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If you want to read more about Maxicards, click here!!

Hummingbird.

This is a beautiful and colorful postcard of a hummingbird, it was sent by Jan Mulder, from the Netherlands, via Postcrossing.

Blue caterpillar.

This is another “Alice in Wonderland” related postcard!!

This postcard portrays an illustration called “Blue caterpillar” that was made by Ekaterina Shmyrina, and it was sent to me from Belarus by Nastya via Postcrossing.

Nastya said that her favorite song was “Scribble” by Underworld

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If you want to listen her favorite song, just click here! ♬

Wisconsin.

This is what we call a “state postcard” because it is not about a country, but about an specific state, which in this case is Wisconsin in United States. It was sent to me by Michael, via Postcrossing, who said that this is the first postcard he sent to Norway, and that he likes to have long conversations around the fire pit :)

Essen means "to eat"

This kind of postcard is what we call “multiview” because it shows several scenarios/images. It was sent by Heike from Germany, who said that Essen means “to eat”. Via Postcrossing.

New Zealand

It is time for a vintage and historical postcard!! This postcard is from New Zealand, it was sent by Russell, who wrote that the vessel of the picture used to sail between the North and the South islands if New Zealand. The card is around 45 years old!! —— The ferry on the picture is called “Cook Strait rail-road Ferry, G. M. V. Aramoana”, it is 4,160 tons gross, and the lounge area showed in the postcard can accommodate 136 passangers. Via Postcrossing.

My 1st postcard.

This is a really special postcard, it was the very first one I got via Postcrossing. It traveled all the way from Taiwan, thanks to Kuo.. The photography is called “Autumn of the mountain Ho-Huan” and the author is Chao Pang Hsu.

Grotto of the Annunciation.

This is so far the only postcard I have from Israel, it shows the Grotto of the Annunciation in Nazareth. It was sent by Yuval, who said that she always wanted to live in other countries, and that she works in art projects. Via Postcrossing.

Favole.

This postcard was sent from Barcelona by Luiseme, it has artwork made by the amazing Victoria Francés, from the Favole collection.

* Random Fact: Luiseme has sent over 7,000 postcards via Postcrossing so far! Via Postcrossing.

* If you want to read more about Victoria’s work, you can click here!

Alice in Wonderland

Remember how I told you that I love to collect all kinds of postcards, but there are some specific themes that I enjoy more than the others? Well, another of my favorites is “Alice in Wonderland” and everything related with the book and subject (I even collect diverse editions of the book too). This postcard is a reproduction of the artwork “Alice and the Caterpillar” (watercolor on paper), made by Oksana Vostrikova. It was sent to me from Russia, by Mariya via Postcrossing.

Mickey Mouse.

This time, there is a special mention. This postcard is self explanatory, it came from Minnesota (United States), it was sent by Elizabeth via Postcrossing and it included amazing stamps that you can see on the right side of the image, they belong to vintage movies, one of them is with Boris Karloff as “The Mummy” and the other one with Lon Chaney as “The Phantom of the Opera”.

Tove Jannson.

I received this postcard from Kumpula, Helsinki (Finland). It was sent by Hanna, and it portrays a picture of Tove Jannson from 1991. Via Postcrossing.

Emu family.

This postcard traveled all the way from Australia, it is a reproduction of the artwork called “Emu family”, and it does not include the name of the author. It was sent by Jamie, who said “Whatever you give you get back three times, so treat everyone with love and respect”, and I couldn’t agree more. Got it via Postcrossing.

Ukranian village.

This postcard was sent from Ukraine, and it portrays their old traditional houses that they used to have in their villages. It was sent by Kate, via Postcrossing.

Naivismin nimeen

Everybody that claims to know me well, knows that I love rabbits, bunnies and hares, and well… this postcard contains some of that :D It was sent from Finland by the adorable Emilia, when she was 12 years old! The artwork is called “Naivismin nimeen” and it was made by Petra Heikkilä in 2005. I got this postcard via Postcrossing.

Salzburg, Estonia.

This is what appears to be my only postcard sent from Estonia, and it is not even from that country! So, if you are from Estonia, and you want to contribute, do not hesitate and contact me!! :D This postcard portrays the Austrian city of Salzburg, the old town and the Fortress of Hohensalzburg. Was received via Postcrossing.

Ehrenburg castle.

This postcard shows the castle Ehrenburg, and it was sent from Coburg (Germany) by Tanja, who said that Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha used to live in the castle in former times. This postcard was acquired via Postcrossing.

The Little Prince

I love to collect all kinds of postcards, but there are some specific themes that I enjoy more than the others, one of them is “The Little Prince”, I am slowly acquiring a small collection of postcards related with this book. Here is one of them, the art work is wonderful and it was made by Julie Poddubnova. In the back, they included one of the quotes from the book: “Tu deviens responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as apprivoisé.” (You become responsible for what you have tamed.) I received this postcard from Belarus, and it was sent to me by Inna.

Polynesian tattoo.

This is by far one of the most special postcards of my collection, I got it via Postcorssing, and it was the second postcard I got! The postcard features a complete back piece, Polynesian tattoo. This postcard came from the French Polynesia!! Taking into consideration that there are only 10 users in that place, it is almost impossible to get a postcard from there!! To my surprise the sender speaks Spanish too, and she said that the word “tattoo” comes from the thai “tatu”, and I thought that was really interesting. Also, one of the stamps is one of those that have smell, so you just have to scratch it, and smell it… so awesome!!

Scotland sheep.

This postcard was received via the official Postcrossing website. This is a really fun postcard! It was sent to me by Brianna, a lady from Scotland that said that she wishes that the sheeps on their fields really looked like the one in the postcard because that would make the scenery so much cheery, and to be honest I agree, it could be a lot of fun! This postcard was issued by Whiteholme LTD.

Swans by M. C. Escher

This postcard was received via the official Postcrossing website. The postcard shows one of the works of the fabulous M. C. Escher, and it is called “Swans”, this art work was made in 1956, and it is a wood-engraving that measures 20x32 cm This postcard was sent to me by Stephanie, a lovely girl from Maryland, USA. who told me that she enjoys the art of Mucha.

Mirror, mirror, tell me...

This postcard was received via the official Postcrossing website. It comes from Russia, and it is called: Свет мой зеркальце скажи-Русская барыня (“Mirror, mirror, tell me…” [Russian Barinya]) The photo is by Vyacheslav Andreev. It was sent to me from Siberia.

Kaohsiung Museum in Taiwan.

Hello again! This postcard was received using the Postcrossing system. It comes from Taiwan, and it shows the Kaohsiung Museum of History, it was sent by a lovely person who is a social worker.

Moomins & first day cover

I decided to start with this set because it is really especial for me. It was sent by my good Finnish friend Heidi, from the meeting of Postcrossing that they had in Jyväskylä, Finland. In the picture you can see the envelope were the things came in and then, the interesting stuff: The blue envelope is the First Day Cover, it was issued with the postcards and the stamps in May 2013. You can see that the stamp/cancellation is special too. Illustration was made by the awesome Tove Jansson (as we know, the creator of the Moomins), and the design of the FDC and the postcard was made by Satu Lusa.

Postcrossing & how it all started.

Hello everybody! And welcome to my blog.

I started to blog in another platform called Tumblr, I really liked it, I think it is a really easy and friendly, but the main problem is that most of my friends have blogspot and I was not able to follow them, so I decided to create a blog here, in order to be conected.

This blog is basically about my postcard collection and the experiences I have had in the process of collecting them; my main goal is to share with you my love for postcards and to be able to ignite the creativity and curiosity in new collectors.

* Let's start explaining how I became a postcard collector:

Since I was a child I have been collecting scraps from magazines, pictures and postcards, I always thought that it was a wonderful way of travel around the world, and learn more about the diverse cultures and history, most of the time it was not that easy to find postcards from all over the world, but with the years I realized that there was a better form to do it, and that was using the Internet!!

That is how I started making research about postals collections and buying them on-line, on garage sales, and diverse places I was visiting until I met a really good friend when I started my Master degree, and we found out that we had the collection of postcards as a common ground, then she talked to me about a website called Postcrossing and that basically changed the way I see the process of collecting postcards.

* What is Postcrossing?

Their motto is: “Send a postcard and receive a postcard back from a random person in the world!”
And it is self-explanatory, with an account in Postcrossing you can build up a collection of postcards, but also a collection of stories, and writings from wonderful people from around the world.

I have been member of Postcrossing since August 2011, and I have been also collecting postcards outside the website.
I have received over 160 postcards from the official site so far, and my distance of sent postcards is 604,066 km.

Through the official Postcrossing forum I have participated in the 1st Meeting in Ålesund, Norway in 2013, and also I have been part of Traveling Notebooks, which allow me to have a lot of fun and share so many experiences and creativity!

And well, this is just a brief introduction, I hope you enjoy my blog!!


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If you want to know more about Postcrossing, do not hesitate to vist their website!