21 by Adele

***This card is from a direct swap for an ad card trade. Of course, I love Adele, she is one of the best artist living now in my opinion. So, I was more than happy to do this swap with Pattama in Thailand!!! The stamps are nothing short of amazing as well. It is also my first card from Thailand, bonus!!! "Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (born 5 May 1988), better known mononymously as Adele, is an English singer-songwriter. Adele was offered a recording contract from XL Recordings after a friend posted her demos on Myspace in 2006. The next year she received the Brit Awards "Critics' Choice" and won the BBC Sound of 2008. Her debut album, 19 was released in 2008 to much commercial and critical success in the UK. 19 was certified four times platinum in the UK." <---copied from wikipedia;0)-

***Asiatic Golden Cat, The Festival of Illuminated Boat Procession (Nakhon Phanom is the province where this takes place), and looks like a Leader/General of Thailand, could not find online.
***Food for thought: Do you like Adele? I know I do, I listen to the Adele station on Pandora often. What is your favorite type of music? I go thru phases and it depends on my mood I like jazz to hiphop. Have you now seen ad cards that you wish you would have gotten to mail to a friend? I know I wish I had got 2 instead of 1 in hindsight.***

Red cont'd......Why not, we have a theme......Let's roll with it!!!

***This card I received earlier in the month as well. Chinese New Year---Year of the Dragon begins on January 23, 2012 and ends on February 9, 2013. The dragon symbol is said to bring success and happiness, also it stands for good luck and power!!! What a great card to receive from China!!! It also has dragon stamps from the postal service on the back, win!

***I just love the next card. It is from postcrossing via Fayeyu (from Taiwan)!!! It contains her own photography since it included red and it is truly one of the best cards that I have received in my opinion, I had to share it here. She has many wonderful cards of her photos and this one was just meant for me!!! It's silky, satin finish let it go thru the mail nicely as well. I'm truly in love with this card. It ties in with my love of photography, culture, and randomness!!!  This card contains a neat animal stamp......


***Food for thought:  Do you have a New Year's tradition? I usually do not care what I am doing, but since I work nights, I refuse to be at my place of employment when the new year arrives. I cannot tell you why, but I haven't worked a New Year's EVE in years. I do like have black eyed peas and cornbread on New Year's Day. What creative items sing to your heart? Photography sings to mine!!! What's your Chinese symbol? I'm a tiger, rawr!!!  On a side note, I received four other cards with red, but I will leave my red posts for now!!!***

Red! Red! and more......RED!!!

***I received this card late in January, the last card from a Facebook Christmas group swap. It is from Romania and it was a nice late holiday card, which in turn started the "red" theme for this month. Also, it is my first card from Romania. On the front of this card is the words "Boldog Boldog karâcsonyt! unnepeket!" which actually is Hungarian that translates to "Happy Happy Christmas! Holidays!" Hungarian along with Romanian, German, and Ukrainian are the four major languages spoken in this country, neat! The stamps below depict ceramic vases and are from 2005, the 30 & 50 value ones say "bani" which means "money".
***I collect Buddha cards, so I loved when this one arrived....
with the beautiful sailboat stamps and looks like a temple in the clouds on the other stamp...

***The next two are the black & white with those touches of color. I have traded with Hanna in Germany before and she always finds the best cards for trading as you can see. I do love gnomes (they can be creepy weird, but fascinating all at the same time). I also enjoy funky art (that classic microphone is awesome---makes me wanna cut a rug!!!). The stamps are cool as well, from the "200 Jahre museum für Naturkunde Berlin" translated to "200th Anniversary of the Museum of Natural History" on the gnome card to the St. Michael’s Church and St. Mary’s Cathedral at Hildesheim UNESCO stamp, I've learned about different places. Check this link for more info on the site http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/187. I only have one Unesco card, so this stamp was great to receive.

***Food for thought:  Do you have a favorite color or colors that arrive in themes or cards that arrive in themes? I'm more partial to blue, love to wear black, but in other things like art and such I like pops of red! My coffee table with it's microfiber is RED. I never knew about Unesco sites until I started collecting postcards, it really is a great way to learn about the world!!! Have you learned new things about life through a hobby of yours? Have you ever thought about how life relates to stamps?***

Winter view and memories too!

***Winning http://deltiolog.wordpress.com/ blog's Boxing Day Giveaway (a wonderful postcard blog to checkout), I received this awesome card!!!  It has the following on the back describing the scene which is a painting by Robert Rapp titled "Sun Dogs"......
"The western South Dakota bobsled was used for most everything on the ranch when there was lots of snow, such as feeding cattle, going to town for supplies, and taking kids to school.  My parents and I moved into western South Dakota and settled near Wall in 1906.  This gave me a chance to witness the closings days of the Old West, the old ranches, to see the coming of the railroad, and the coming and passing of the homesteaders.  I left the area in 1917, but came back in the twenties, working ranches near White Owl.  Memories from these times furnish the material for most of my paintings."
***What a neat piece of history to learn about from a first-hand witness of those days that turned his memories into a wonderful painting to be enjoyed and shared thru the mail.  It's a wonderful world of knowledge that is shared via this snail mail love.
***Below is a 32 cent Georgia O'Keeffe stamp "Red Poppy".  She lived from 11/15/1887 to 3/6/1986 and remains one of the beloved American artist of our time.  Check out her work and see for yourself.
***Food for thought:  What memories will you have of growing up and the historical changes you have witnessed?  Is there a local artist that you enjoy?  Do you have a favorite artist?  This card was a combination of history and art!!!  (For me, the end of The Berlin Wall, especially 911 because that is also my birthday, and the election of the first African American President of the United States...just to name a few memorable historical events in my lifetime.)  One of my favorite artists is Salvador Dali.  Living in Florida, I have had the opportunity to visit his museum twice (the old building and the new remodeled one).  I just think he's a mad genius.  There are great local artists as well!!! I buy local art & art in general when I can or I pick up an awesome postcard!***

How it all started......

***This is my very first postcard that I received from the Postcrossing website.  It is from Sila, Italy (where the sender was spending his summer vacation because he is originally from Italy).  But, the card was actually sent from Belarus and contains the Belarus postage.
***A winter view from the Italian National Forest Park is depicted here. The park is located in southern Italy known as the Calabria region.  Sila is more commonly known as La Sila and with its vast mountains and woodlands make it a great outdoor escape.
***Thus, with this card my journey as a collector and postcard enthusiast as well as what I feel at this time is a lifelong hobby began.  By receiving this card, I learned how to correctly pronouce Belarus and it's location in the world......Belarus is a country in Eastern Europe, that is surrounded by Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, and Lativa.
***Below is the wonderful snow covered field stamp, I would love to be breathing that crisp fresh air right now!!!
***Food for thought:  What was your spark?  Have you heard of Belarus?  Lastly, do you find that twinge of happiness at the sight of personal mail?  (I know I still do, but the first one does hold a special place and that's why I share it with you here.)***