Sunday Stamps - (I) Ingmar and Ingrid from Sweden

For the letter I - Ingmar Bergman and Ingrid Bergman

(L) 2018 - Sweden - Ingmar Bergman Centenary

Design: Eva Wilsson

(R) 2015 - USA - Legends of Hollywood

Photographer: Laszlo Willinger (1940)

Searching for stamps to feature for the letter I, I was intrigued when I saw these two Bergmans. They share the same family name but are not related to each other. They shared professional work in the film industry though.

The stamp on the left is one of the two designs issued by PostNord in commemoration of the life of Ingmar Bergman. He is considered to be among the most accomplished and influential filmmakers of all time. The film, Persona, featured on this stamp is considered by Bergman himself as one of his most important works.

Thanks to Monica of Beyond the Lone Islands for sending me a postcard from Boras, Sweden with this stamp.

On the right is Ingrid Bergman, also famously known as Ilsa Lund, her character in the film classic, Casablanca. Ingrid is in the list of 100 Famous Actresses of Hollywood's Golden Era (1930 - 1959).

For more stamps with the letter "I", visit See It On A Postcard

P.S. As I'm still locked out from my linky account and I'm yet to receive a response from the page administrator, I decided to step back and cancel the recommence of the Postcard for the Weekend linky. I deeply apologize for the false excitement over this. 

Postcards for the weekend 88: Anything you wish

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Arizona
Sent 10 Sep 2016, Traveled 14,642 km

Perhaps true places are "sense of belonging"? The same way as a home is not a place but being with people you hold dear?

It is with deep regret that I've decided to discontinue with this blog for the meantime. I'm going through a personal crisis that I deem inappropriate to disclose here.

Thank you very much to all my blogger friends who have participated in the Postcards for the Weekend linky. If you please leave me your e-mail, I would like to keep in touch through postcards.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 75: Anything you wish

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Arkansas, USA
Sent 6 Sep 2017, Traveled 15,627 km

Yesterday, the United Kingdom celebrated the World Book Day 2018. I picked this card as the message from the sender is very appropriate for yesterday's event: I thought of you when I saw this card, knowing how much you love to read. 

The sender is a voracious reader herself. According to the sender, Kirsten is from the 1800's. The label behind the postcard says that this illustration is entitled, Kirsten relaxing with her favorite book by Renee Graef.

Happy weekend, everyone!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 71: Anything you wish

These are postcards that I wanted to share last weekend with the theme, mountains. I didn't have the chance to scan them though. These are from John of John's Island. The postcards are from northwestern-most part of the United States of America.

On the bottom leftmost part of this postcard is the name Dan Coe. He is a professional Artist & Sign Painter working out from his private studio in Anchor Point, Alaska.

The artist Sydney Mortiner Laurence painted this in 1935. The artwork as is printed on this is called, This is Alaska. 

This one is not really a postcard but a folded card. It's too beautiful not to share. The artwork is called Inside Passage, painted by John Fehringer.

And for the finale, a postcard showing a view of Mount Rainier and the Cascade Mountains. It was taken from the Sky View Observatory, the largest public observatory on the West Coast.

I was very glad to take these postcards with me, traveling 12,970 km from Seattle to Singapore. Now it's twice the fun, having to share these here on my blog with all my postcards loving visitors for the Postcards for the Weekend linky :)

Cheers & have a nice weekend everyone!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 64: Museum of Flight

Postcard sent to self, Sent 28 October 2017
Traveled 12,970 km

The Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA was probably one of the most awe-inspiring museums I've seen so far. On this postcard is shown the T.A. Wilson Great Gallery. The aircrafts that are shown here trace the history of the first century of flight. There are 20 full-size aircrafts in this gallery alone. The museum consists of three galleries and has more than 150 aircrafts on display. 

Postcard sent to self, Sent 28 October 2017
Traveled 12,970 km

This aircraft is suspended from the ceiling in the reception area of the museum. This is a Boeing B & W Model 1 seaplane. This is a replica of the first aircraft built by William E. Boeing and Conrad Westervelt in 1916.

Happy weekend everyone,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 59: Anything you wish

I'm delighted to share these two Niagara Falls postcards with you for our theme anything you wish. 

Postcard sent to self, Traveled 15,323 km

The Niagara Falls State Park consists of three falls - Horseshoe/Canadian, Bridal Veil, and American. From this aerial view, we have the Horseshoe or also known as the Canadian Falls. It is the largest among the three. A small portion of this falls belongs to the United States of America.

Postcard sent to self, Traveled 15,323 km

On this second postcard, we have the American Falls. It's the second largest among the three falls. On the foreground, we have a boat belonging to the company, Maid of the Mist. I had the chance for a ride, wearing pink raincoat instead of blue (shown here). The boat took us up close to the basin of the Horseshoe Falls. The experience was totally indescribable! Looking back, I felt like my world stopped while standing below the 18-stories tall thundering waterfall with 600,000 gallons/s of falling water. The billowing mist made me feel like I was only dreaming.

Here's a panoramic photo I took from the Observation Deck (American side), showing the three falls:

If you happen to visit the State of New York, do yourself a favor and visit the falls!

Happy weekend,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 57: Lighthouses

For exactly the same theme last year, I posted three different postcards for the same lighthouse. This time, I'm sharing lighthouses guiding ships sailing the same ocean, the North Atlantic.

US-2483307, Sent from Bangor, Maine
Sent 29 Oct 2013, Traveled 13,347 km in 14 days

According to the lighthouse's website, the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse is located on the most eastern point of the continental United States. It's quite a fun fact for me to find out about this! I'm very close at the moment, relatively speaking to the most western point of the continental United States. I'm currently in Everett, WA and the most western point is Cape Alava, which is 271 km from here. 

Private Swap, sent from New York, New York
Sent 9 April 2013, Traveled 13,665 km

At the back of this postcard was written: The lighthouse overlooks Great South Bay and the Atlantic Ocean ... The Fire Island Lighthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

US-2285754, Sent from Fort Story, Virginia
Sent 23 June 2013, Traveled 14,048 km in 10 days

Going a bit more south is the Second Cape Henry Lighthouse built in 1881 made of cast iron. 

US-2405965, Sent from Seabrook Is., Charleston, SC
Sent 9 Sep 2013, Traveled 14,308 km in 24 days

The Morris Island Lighthouse is the sixth oldest station in the United States. More South Carolina lighthouses on the single postcard below:

Private Swap Postcard, Sent from Ladson, SC

The back of the card has no information about when it was sent except the sticker with the name of the sender and her address. I reckon this was sent in a bunch together with other postcards hence there are no postmarks. From left to right: Hunting Island, Morris Island, Georgetown, Hilton Head, Cape Romain, and Sullivan's Island.

I hope you enjoyed these lighthouse postcards for this weekend.

Thanks & best regards,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 57: Anything you wish

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from North Houston, Texas
Sent 2 Dec 2013, Traveled 13,241 km in 10 days

For our theme this weekend, anything you wish, I'm sharing an anecdote, facts, and trivia about the United States of America and the states that I'm visiting during this 3-week business trip.

CA-669234, Sent from Montreal, Quebec
Sent 11 Oct 2016, Traveled 14, 644 km in 15 days

According to a report published by Instituto Cervantes, the United States of America has more Spanish speakers as compared to Spain. My first conversation after getting out of my 13 hours flight from Tokyo to Washington, DC was with a gentleman, whom I asked for directions. My un poquito Español was put to the test. Good thing some Spanish words are incorporated in my native tongue, Filipino. Evidently, one needs more than English to efficiently get by in the USA.

RU-1711183, Sent from Yekaterinburg, Russia
Sent 29 Apr 2013, Traveled 6,872 km in 37 days

My flight from Tokyo (I flew in first from Singapore to Japan) landed at Washington Dulles International Airport. I wish I budgeted a couple of days for sightseeing. I could have seen the Lincoln Memorial in the capital. 

Direct Swap, Sent from Vienna, VA
Sent 22 Nov 2016, Traveled 15,685 km

From Washington DC, I flew here to Cleveland, Ohio. This is my first main destination for my 3-week business trip here in the USA. When I came to the office yesterday, I was given a goodie bag, containing several items and a paper with a Did You Know? header. As you can imagine, it's the inspiration for my choice of postcards for this post. I learned that Ohio is the Birthplace of Aviation, as the Wright brothers were born in Dayton, Ohio.

TW-1056264, Sent from Taiwan
Sent 25 Oct 2013, Traveled 1,171 km in 13 days

On Sunday, I will fly from Cleveland to Seattle, with a connection via Chicago. The Ferris wheel was invented in Chicago in 1893.

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Seattle, WA
Sent 19 June 2015, Traveled 12,970 km

The state of Washington is my second and last main destination for this trip. Washington state produces more apples than any other states. I'm pretty curious if I'll have the chance to see apple orchards while I'm there. Moreover, I also hope to see one of our blogging friends, John.

Happy weekend everyone,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 56: Children

October 6 is recognized as Children's Day in many places around the world. Hence, our theme for this weekend: children.

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Sherwood, Arkansas
Sent 10 September 2016, Traveled 15,650 km

This book cover postcard is entitled "A Necklace of Raindrops and Other Stories". It was illustrated in 1975. I like the silhouettes in the foreground, with the little girl who seems to be marveling at the sight of something in the sky.

TW-505373, Sent from Kaohsiung
Sent 22 Mar 2012, Traveled 890 km in 8 days 

This photograph is from an exhibition, according to the sender. It seems that the little girl's name is Miyako.

FI-1999405, Sent from Nokia
Sent 29 Jan 2014, Traveled 8,982 km in 17 days

This one was sent for my birthday 3 years ago. I love the jolly faces and the merry-making on this postcard!

Have a great weekend everyone,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 52: Monochrome

I have good and bad news to share this weekend. Let's start with the bad news. My linkytools subscription is still yet to be sorted out despite the fact that PayPal already has my money transferred to linkytools. This is starting to push me to the edge of frustration! But, I'm reminded of another fact. I reckon most of my blogger friends and participants to the Postcards for the Weekend won't really be troubled by this and we'll still find a way to visit each other's contribution to the weekend's theme. Hurray! Well, that's part of the good news ...

The other part is -- I just got promoted!! It was totally unexpected. Especially that it was announced right after I came back from my 2 weeks holidays. I'm very grateful to the leadership team of my company for recognizing all the efforts I've put into my work for the past 2.7 years. 

And so, for the monochrome theme this weekend, here are postcards from the USA state where the head office of my company is located: Washington.

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: John
Sent 13 Jan 2016, Traveled 12,970 km

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: John
Sent 23 Jan 2016, Traveled 12,970 km

John and I have kept in touch and we've planned to meet for a coffee at the original Starbucks in Pike St if and when I can visit Seattle. We've been talking about this for almost 3 years now! I might go to Seattle next month which is excellent timing as I've been worried about the lack of updates at John's Island. I sincerely hope my friend John is well and just taking a hiatus from blogging.

Happy weekend everyone, 

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 49: Retro or Vintage

To be totally honest, I'm no good at discerning whether a piece is retro or vintage (despite reading on the meaning of each word). So here we are, with the retro OR vintage theme for this weekend.

ES-439649, Sent from Spain,
Sent 15 Nov 2016, Traveled 11,265 km in 14 days

Chrysanthemum carinatum is a tri-colored daisy. I was intrigued by the scientific name on the postcard as chrysanthemums for what I know are usually multi-layer and more full bodied blooms as compared with the flowers in this postcard.

I think this postcard is a reproduction as the paper at the back isn't yellowed as it appears in front.

FI-2800936, Sent from Oulu, Finland
Sent 2 Sep 2016, Traveled 9,334 km

I hope I'm correct to categorize this postcard's design as retro, if not vintage.

Direct Swap, sent from Stockbridge, GA
Sent 31 Aug 2015, Traveled 16,034 km

This card is labeled Atlanta, Georgia - Retro Skyline at the back of the postcard. It's nice to see three layers of ascending graphics on this postcard.

Friendship Gift Postcard

I received this ad card from a friend who traveled to Europe. I think there were 4 or 5 of them linked with each other but with easy-to-tear perforation in between. This is my favorite from the set.

I'm posting from Charles de Gaulle Airport at the moment, waiting for my flight back to Singapore. I hope we're all looking forward to a relaxing weekend!

~maria 

Postcards for the weekend 35: Any waterform

Postcard sent out for swaps

Back in Feb 2014, I visited the beautiful island and islets of Coron, Palawan. I didn't make it to Big Lagoon though and has always wanted to go back to this part of the province. It gives me something to look forward into for the next trip.

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: AJ
Sent 21 May 2015, Traveled 14,842 km

AJ, my not so little anymore "boy"friend sent me this card when he traveled with his mom to his dad's hometown. I think he's 5 years old during the trip when he sent me this card and he wrote to me, " I learned to paddle in a canoe. I saw some snow, too!" 

The falls featured on this card is the Upper Falls of the Tahquamenon Falls. I reckon AJ had his canoe adventure near this place.

UA-936361, Sent from Ukraine
Sent 28 Jan 2014, Traveled 8,188 km in 33 days

I'm in Sweden at the moment, a country with 97,500 lakes but what a pity! I haven't had the chance to find a postcard with a lake and I'm leaving very soon. Here's one instead from the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine.

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Ken Carlson
Sent 30 July 2012, Traveled 10,916 km

This is a scene along the coast of California. The wild waves and rugged terrains make this postcard powerful in a way.

For water forms theme this weekend, I hope these cards are enjoyable!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 34: Any landform

Sent by a friend from Brittany, France
Sent 06 January 2014, Traveled 11.102 km

I marveled at beautiful cliffs during our recent holiday in Malta. Such a pity that I didn't get any postcard to take back for that! Here's one instead from France.

US-1229764, Sent from Utah, USA
Sent 26 July 2011, Traveled 12,346 km in 18 days

Here we have twin cliffs! It's very nice to the eyes to see the alternating bands of red and white layers on this postcard.

Private Swap, Sent from New Zealand,
Sent 31 October 2013, Traveled 8,288 km in 7 days

Lisa, the sender wrote: This is our lovely volcanic plateau of NZ ... It feels like a different world here; it's like stepping back in time to when the dinosaurs were here!

Anyone up for trekking? I'm pretty motivated by the sunny weather on these cards. However the forecast says it will be a rainy weekend in Helsinki. Too bad as the sun is coming out now here in Gothenburg and I thought, I could have just stayed here! But my flights are booked and my Finnish penpal whom I've been writing to since 2009 is waiting for me.

Have a lovely weekend everyone,

~maria

Sunday Stamps: Western hemisphere

According to reference.com, the United States of America is always included in the list of western hemisphere countries since such a small portion lies in the eastern hemisphere. As such for my contribution to Sunday Stamps this weekend, I'm sharing USA stamps I received with famous American personalities from the field of literature and performing arts.

Top row, L-R

1973 August 13 8 cents stamp, Robinson Jeffers

A poet and an icon of the environmental movement

2015 September 18 Forever USA, Paul Newman

An actor and philanthropist

2011 April 11 Forever USA, Charlton Heston

An actor and political activist

2015 April 7 Forever USA, Maya Angelou

A poet and civil rights activist

Bottom row, L-R

1998 July 15 32 c. Mahalia Jackson

A gospel singer and civil rights activist

2013 May 15 Forever USA, Lydia Mendoza

A pioneer of American-Mexican music

2013 September 23 Forever USA, Ray Charles

The pioneer of the music genre, soul 

2013 June 05 Forever USA, Johnny Cash

One of the most influential musicians of the 20th century

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 18: Time/Clock

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent form Bellaire, Texas
Sent 15 December 2015, Traveled 15,996 km

As the year 2016 draws to an end, I think of those days when I was impatient; when I wish I could have pulled the arms of the clock so time could have gone faster...

But now, I'm reluctant to throw away my old calendar and switch to a new one. Is it perhaps next year is a momentous year for me to bid goodbye to my 20's? But of course, there's no stopping time! So as they say, carpe diem! For all we wish we could accomplish for 2016, I hope we're all able to tick it all off our lists. If it's something that needs to stretch to 2017, I hope we have identified ways towards accomplishment.

Thanks to all of you who has been reading my posts and to all my blogging friends who have been joining me on the postcards for the weekend linky party. I wish us all a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!

~maria

PS. The linky is again, extended for one more day this weekend ;-)

Postcards for the weekend 16: December holidays

As a Christian, one of the most awaited holiday for me during the year is Christmas. It's when the weather is cooler and the environment is merry almost everywhere.

For these two weekends with the December holidays theme, I will split my postcards between real-life photos postcards and illustrated postcards. For the first set:

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Dr. Arnold
Sent: 5 June 2016 from Greenland, Traveled 11,538 km

This postcard makes me miss hearing children's choir during the mass. The youngest choir I had the pleasure to listen to recently are teenagers. There's just that mesmerizing sweetness and innocence in the voice of children that I long to hear live again.

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Terry
Sent: 9 July 2015, Traveled 16,656 km

This postcard is from a set from Garvan Woodland Gardens at the University of Arkansas. Annually, around 1.7 million sparkling lights are arranged throughout the gardens for the holiday feature. By the look of the postcard, it must be enchanting when the lights shine bright against the dark.

US-4376395, Sender: Nancy
Sent: 1 Dec 2016, Traveled 15,145 km in 14 days

This card is among the most recent Christmas cards that I've received. It came this week. According to the postcard, each year, hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to the Country Club Plaza for the spectacular Christmas lights. The installations last from Thanksgiving night until the end of the holiday season. The fireworks on this postcard makes it look like even more radiant!

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Tuija
Sent: Dec 2013, Traveled 8,726 km

This last card for this weekend is half real life and half illustration postcard. The dog on this postcard is Vilma, pet and companion of my penfriend Tuija, Vilma is a litter reject Mittelspitz but my sweet friend took her and they've been with each other for many years now. I always love reading news about Vilma on each and every letter Tuija sends to me. 

Until next weekend for more Christmas postcards!

~maria