Sunday Stamps - (B) Batik from Indonesia

For the letter B - batik

2011 - Indonesia - Traditional Textiles

Designer: De-er

The red & black (Batik Madura Jawa Timur) stamp was from a mini-sheet issued on 6 July 2011. The brown & white (Batik Parang Garuda DI Yogyakarta) stamp was from a mini sheet issued on 30 March 2011.

Batik is a traditional textile from Indonesia and perhaps the most popular. Each time I see an intricately patterned printed fabric with an ethnic design here in the SE Asian region, right away I would think, "Ah, that's batik!" 

I've been to Indonesia several times now since 2015. I've become more well-informed that batik is but one of the traditional textile design techniques. Here's an article about the different Indonesian traditional fabrics.

for more stamps with the letter "B" - visit See It On A Postcard

Postcards for the weekend 86: Costumes

First, thank you so much Monica from Beyond the Lone Islands for correcting me on the Postcards for the weekend # for last week. I have edited the post and entered the right #.

For this weekend, our theme is costumes.

LV-257306, Sent from Riga, Latvia
Travelled 9,267 in 17 days

On this postcard are folk costumes from Latvia. I noticed plenty of fabric, beautiful headdresses, and belts. I wonder which areas of Latvia each were from ...

This postcard was given to me as a souvenir from Kenya. The Maasai is an ethnic group found in Kenya and Tanzania. A red sheet worn around the body is a preferred item of clothing.

Happy weekend,

~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 

International Day of the Girl Child

Postcrossing Direct Swap, Sender: Jack-Liu
Sent: 4 Aug 2012 from Shaanxi, China
Received: 28 Aug 2012, Traveled ~1,847 km in 24 days

I am following Shiela at A Postcard A Day's theme on International Day of the Girl Child for this post. This international day of observance was declared by the United Nations last year and is celebrated on 11 October.

This girl child wearing a traditional costume was sent to me through a direct swap in Postcrossing.com. Jack-Liu wrote: ... in China, people won't wearing clothes like this although it's very gorgeous [sic]  

I have a very close friend who has a Chinese boyfriend. I wonder if she gets me as a bridesmaid on her wedding, I might be able to wear a gorgeous dress like this. ;-)

The postcard came with a nice stamp from the Overseas Chinese Culture set issued in 10 July 2011. It makes me smile that Jack-Liu picked a matching pink stamp for the pink skirt and ribbon on the dress of the girl child.

For more postcards, check Beth's Postcard Friendship Friday and for more pinks, hop on to Beverly's Pink Saturday.

    

~maria

Colors and Patterns

I'm under the lazy bed weather mood right now. It's been raining since yesterday evening and the whistling strong winds kept me up for most of the night. I woke up an hour ago (it's noon now), with a heavy head. I feel like doing nothing other than enjoy the warmth of bed. But of course, it's Sunday...and I've been excited to share the stamp I scanned last weekend for the theme: ethnic or national costumes.

I am interpreting this widely and including folk and traditional costumes.

To cap off the feature on Dutch costumes on my blog this week, here's a stamp from the Grenzeloos Nederland series 2010. Grenzeloos means 'boundless' and the series' theme is beyond borders - ancient ties of the Netherlands. For the August 2010 issue, the series featured the Netherlands influence on its former colony, Suriname.

This second stamp from the 2010 issue shows parallels between the Afro-Surinamese kotomisse and the Dutch women's costume. Uncle Wiki said that the koto was a functional dress. It's purpose was to protect the slave woman against their master's sexual interest. The stamp designer Ariënne Boelens said that the dress made the Creole women unattractive, similar to the Dutch women's style that is pious and veiled.

With my Friday post including a postcard of Finnish traditional costume along with the Dutch, I'm adding more colors and patterns on this feature. We're moving east from the Netherlands, to Belarus and Ukraine.

Issued on 18 August 2005, this stamp shows the Belarusian national costume for the Lepel region. The designer was Vladimir Savich. Characteristic of this costume is the white and red embroidery.

On these stamps, issued on 10 December 2004, we have Ukranian folk costumes. On the left is from a wedding in The Land of Ivano-Frankivsk, on the right is the exaltation of the cross from the Land of Lviv. 

For more stamps with traditional/folk/ethnic costumes, check out Viridian's blog roll at Sunday Stamps.

~maria

Dutch & Finnish Female Costumes

FI-1506946, Sender: Eero
Sent: 12 Aug 2012 from Jämsä, Finland
Received 7 Sep 2012, Traveled 8,885 km in 26 days

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Mary
Sent: 6 May 2013 from Sassenheim, The Netherlands
Received: 14 May 2013, Traveled 10,429 km in 9 days

All along I thought the folk costume of the women on the first postcard is from Netherlands. Lo and behold! The card is from Finland and those women are wearing the Finnish traditional costume. I confused the women to be Dutch because of the similar striped skirts, the apron, and the lace cap. I'm grateful to Eero, sender of the card, who responded to my inquiry and corrected me on my assumption.

I tried pin-pointing which elements of the costume are characteristic to each. However, I realized I can't just use the second postcard with young girls wearing the traditional Dutch costume as reference or the postcards from my two previous posts, because it seems that the Finnish costume is similar to some of the other Dutch costumes found on this site.

This is a post I'm sharing for Postcard Friendship Friday. If someone who has the knowledge of European folk/traditional costumes can read this post, I will be very grateful if he/she can be friendly enough to enlighten me about the difference/s between the two.

As promised, the theme for this week for my posts are traditional costumes. I have scanned stamps with traditional costumes from more countries. Please wish me luck that I don't confuse myself in identifying the stamps. I have more postcards with traditional costumes but I'll save them for future posts.

~maria

Dutch costumes: Clogs - loving!

NL-1460621, Sender: Ramona
Sent: 29 Sep 2012 from Overjissel, Netherlands
Received 26 Oct 2012, Traveled 10,305 km in 27 days 

Touchnote Postcard, Sender: Wilma
Sent from Leiden, Netherlands, Traveled 10,463.8 km

Whole feet wooden clogs is my favorite among the items consisting the traditional Dutch costume. I recall getting a miniature pair of clogs for a wedding souvenir in my teenage years. Since then, I've always dreamed to try wearing clogs. I believe they're the most durable type of footwear against wear and tear. 

Back in those years, my parents were always annoyed at me because they think I'm careless with my leather shoes. But I don't own the blame! In our province it's always raining for almost 80% of the school year. I had the same pair of shoes for like 2 years to wear every single day, five days a week, 10 months in a year, to school. Plus, my feet seemed to be growing faster laterally than I was growing vertically...sigh. Oh well, so long with my defensive story of my younger years...

Clogs, durable and practical work shoes, are worn in heavy labor environment and for tap dancing. The traditional wooden Dutch clogs, or klompen are hand-crafted. I can't imagine how skillful and precise those klompen makers are! Perhaps my dream now, is not just to try wearing a pair of clogs but also to watch a clog artisan crafting out a pair of shoes in his workshop.

With that pretty heart design on the apron of the Dutch girl, I'm sharing this post with Clytie's Guest Heart Thursday. For more hearts, click on the picture below:

~maria

Dutch costumes: The High Pointed Bonnet & The Striped Apron

NL-1527421, Sender: Negrita
Sent: 4 Nov 2012 from Nijmegen, Netherlands
Received: 15 Nov 2012, Traveled 10,370 km 11 days

This week, I will be posting postcards featuring traditional costumes, mostly from the Netherlands. My first pick is this card sent from Nijmegen, the oldest city of the kingdom in the northwest Europe. 

Perhaps the most striking feature of the Dutch traditional costume is the peaked lace hat with wings and the brightly striped blue and white apron. From my internet research, this is characteristic of the Volendam town in North Holland. Uncle Wiki said that right now, only around 50 elderly women in Volendam wears this costume as part of their daily lives. However, there's a museum in the town about its history and clothing style where "visitors can have their pictures taken in traditional Dutch costumes".

I found an extensive write-up about the Volendam traditional costume on the Folk Costume & Embroidery blog of Roman K. To read more about this costume which is often printed on Dutch postcards and posters, click here.

To chase away Monday blues, check out pretty blue photos at Smiling Sally's Blue Monday meme. 

At the back of the card, Negrita wrote to me: Het leven is mooi! It means "Life is beautiful!" I'm telling this to myself in front of the mirror today for a beautiful start this week ;-)

~maria

Polish se-tenant stamps

Se-tenant : stamps with different designs that are attached to one another.

The word is French, meaning 'holding together'.

Se-tenant is this week's theme at Viridian's Sunday Stamps.

This first example is from a quadripartition on a continuous strip called Fauna and Flora of Fresh Water -- Beaver, castor, water frog, rana, birch tree, reed and other marsh plants; Kingfisher, mud crawfish, yellow swimmer, freshwater snail, water thyme, water lily and pond weed. I only have these 2 stamps out of 4. The strip was issued by the Poczta Polska, 30 March 2004.

This second example, also issued by Poczta Polska. It was issued in 29 October 2003 for the 50th Anniversary of Slask Song & Dance Ensemble. The ensemble was organized in 1 July 1953 and had it first performance in October 1954. To date, they have performed over 6,000 folk shows worldwide. On these 2 stamps, the ensemble is presented here wearing Silesia regional costume. 

The second example is a preparation for next week's theme for Sunday Stamps, traditional costumes. Looking forward for your next visit to my page! :)

~maria

Ethnic groups of Vietnam

The info sheet that came with the stamp set reads:

Vietnam is the home of 54 ethnic groups. They have been living in harmony on the S-shaped land for thousand of years and fostering a rich and diversified culture.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Independence Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Ministry of Posts and Telematics issued a definitive stamp set "Vietnamese Community of Ethnic Groups" consisting of 54 values, the largest number in the history of issuing Vietnam's Revolutionary Postage Stamp up to now.

Images on these are the characteristics of 54 ethnic groups respectively. On the basis of the "standard" value of King Group selected from all competition works, the artist designed stamps 53 other ethnic groups so as to ensure harmony in terms of form and the substance, as well as presentation style in the whole series. The ethnic groups are arranged in alphabetic order with two vignettes carrying the national flag, Dong Son Bronze Drum and the wordings: "60th anniversary of the foundation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam": The country of Vietnam is an entity. Rivers can go dry, mountains can collapse but this truth cannot be denied."

I believe I got this stamp sheet in 2011. It was a gift from my beau, who was doing his internship in Vietnam back then.

This is my first post for Viridian's Sunday Stamps after being gone for a month. I'm glad the theme for this week is "anything you wish" so I grabbed this chance of posting this really special stamp sheet that I've been meaning to share for quite a while. I believe I just got the best opportunity to do so! ;-)

~maria

Blue & Green Satin

CN-637227, Sender: Jack-Lee
Sent: 12 June 2012, Sent from Yäntai, China
Received: 13 July 2012, Traveled 2,538 km in 31 days

Jack said that this is the Qing Dynasty's royal clothing. It is a blue and black lined pale green satin cloth, with hydrangea and butterflies pattern. It was worn around the Guangxu reign, the period of 1875-1908.

Hoping everyone is having a great start for the week! Happy Monday for all of us!

~maria

Look alikes!

It is Look Alike Day theme at Beth's Postcard Friendship Friday.

This got me excited! I have this crazy wish that once I'm ready to have kids,

I would love to have twins. Though I'm really curious how much of a challenge

it would be to raise two kids (who for sure will be as stubborn as me)

at the same time...oh well, that's far from now...

Let's see first what postcards I've got for this theme ;-)

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Indah
Sent: 30 May 2012, Sent from Jakarta,Indonesia
Received: 18 June 2012, Traveled 2,786.16 km in 19 days 

If the caption on the card is too small to read, it says:

Balinese dancers, richly attired after the manner of ancient Hindu princesses.

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Hanna
Sent: 5 October 2012, Sent from Reykjavik, Iceland
Received: 28 October 2012, Traveled 10,728 km in 23 days

This card, according to Hanna, shows the national costume
of women from Greenland. Hanna got the card from Nuuk, the capital.

She taught me some Greenlandic words:

Aluu = Hello

Baj = Bye

Qujanaq = Thank you

Asavakkit = I ♥ you.

I hope you like the postcards I shared today for the 

Postcard Friendship Friday blog hop.

I wish all of you a relaxing Friday evening!

~maria

Breclav, Czech Republic

CZ-154420, Sender: Pavel
Sent from Louny, Czech Republic, Sent on 22 Dec 2011
Received on 19 Jan 2012, Traveled 9.909 km in 28 days

Written in English at the back of the card:

The old Breclav roadside shrine / A glass of wine decorated for a festival / A pair of dancers from Breclav-Postarna / A girl in the traditional costume of Lanzhot / Breclav lace.

Pavel wrote:

Hello Maria, I found for you a postcard with costume from South Moravia. I visited this region with my girlfriend in the autumn, where there took place 4th Czech postcrossing meeting.

Thanks so much Pavel for sending me a card from my wishlist!

I love that Breclav heart design on the bottom right of the card and I'm entering that to Clytie's Guest Heart Thursday. It's a holiday tomorrow so I'm off to a long slumber, folks! :)

~maria

Folk Costume from Lowicz

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Patricia Krasnawska
Sent from Gdansk, Poland, Sent on 16 Oct 2012
Received on 12 Nov 2012, Traveled 9,512.2 km in 20 days

Again, it's been quite a while since my last post here...browsing two of my favorite blogs, that of sisters Beth & Clytie, I've learned that their dad had gone ahead of us to rejoin The Almighty. My prayers for their family that they may be comforted as they mourn and pray for the passing of their dad.

Beth and Clytie, the beautiful embroidered heart of flowers and leaves on black velvet at the back of this folk costume from Lowicz, Poland is for both of you and your families -- lots of love and prayers from Manila, Philippines.

~maria

Sinulog Festival Queens

I just returned to Manila from a 5-day fieldwork in Cebu City, and lookie here on what I've got ;-)

I saw this card in one of the tourist souvenir stalls in Cebu International Airport. I immediately grabbed a few copies since I've never seen a similar card in any of the bookstores (where I normally buy my cards from) here in Manila.

Sinulog is one of the prestigious and colorful festivals in the country. It is one of the most awaited events in the country's cultural calendar, held in Cebu every third Sunday of January. The feast is in honor of the Child King, Sto. Niño -- baby Jesus. 

One of the highlights of the festival is the street dancing. The Sinulog Festival Queen is picked from the most elegant, most vibrant, and most gorgeous among the lead dancers of the competing dance groups. During the dance, she is the character of Queen Juana, carrying the image of Sto Niño. This is to remember the gift by Magellan to Rajah Humabon, king of Cebu in 1951 -- when he and his people accepted Christianity. 

Cebu City is dubbed as the 'Cradle of Christianity' in the Philippines.

I'm sharing this with Beth's Postcard Friendship Friday blog roll. Sorry for the late post. I was dead tired when I arrived home yesterday and fell asleep reading the messages from the back of 28 Touchnote and 17 regular postcards that welcomed me back to my apartment :)

To read more about Sinulog, please click here. Happy weekend everyone! 

~maria 

Don't be jealous!

"What about you? Are you happiest and saddest right now than you've ever been?"

"Of course I am."

"Why?"

"Because nothing makes me happier and nothing makes me sadder than you."

Nicole Krauss, The History of Love

This post is for the Postcard Friendship Friday blog roll at The Best Hearts Are Crunchy. I can't help but smile a sweet smile, the postcard gives me warm and lovely thoughts. And having these nice thoughts as the not-so-easy week is winding down is like getting a reward! 

A Bavarian phrase is written at the back of the card. From my inquiry at the Postcrossing group in Facebook, a nice woman from Stuttgart said it means, "Don't be jealous." The sweet smile is plastered on my face because of the postcard and the prose, not to mention that this card is something on my wishlist: children and traditional costumes. I can't thank the sender enough! :)

~ maria

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Vanessa Rebecca

Sent from München, Germany, Sent on 7 August 2012

Received on ~ 24 August 2012, Traveled ~10,170 km in 18 days

Cards from Yuki of Japan

There's a nice story behind these cards. 

I saw the first card with the dancing girls of Japan from my random browsing of the postcrossing website. I contacted the sender of the card, Yuki. We agreed for a swap and I got the card on 22 Nov 2011.

The Maiko, or dancing girls of Japan preserve the traditional feminine charm of the kimono. In the card above, they are standing in front of a Buddhist pagoda at the Daikakuji Temple, Kyoto.

Two months after, I received an official postcrossing card...and to my nice surprise, the sender is the same Yuki who sent me the Maiko card from Nov 2011.

If you examine the map closely, you will see that the pictorial marker for Kyoto is a woman wearing a kimono. I was curious whether the cards were from the same printer, but no. The Maiko card was printed by NBC Inc. and the map card was by Asahi card. I guess Kyoto is really famous for the Maiko and the Daikakuji Temple, then!

Thank you so much Yuki for sending these cards to me.

Happy weekend everyone!

Pardon me,  Beth. This is a late post also for your Postcard Friendship Friday. 

~maria

Postcard ID: JP-233339

Traveled 2,659 km in 19 days

Russian woman in costume

Pardon me, folks! I'm a day late in greeting every female, HAPPY International Women's Day! I was swamped at work yesterday and I had a problem with my bank account (but happy that it was sorted out -- thanks to the bank's assistant manager, another female!).

In honor of the women's day, I am sharing a Russian countrywoman in her ornate costume postcard for Beth's Postcard Friendship Friday. The postcard came from Russia, many thanks to Uliana of Novosibirsk. 

The woman is wearing a peasant dress, sarafan with the traditional Russian blouse. This clothing style is no longer commonly worn, except for the sarafan, that is now used as a summer dress. The entire ensemble however can still be seen during folk music and dance performances or as souvenirs. I wish I can step into one and try wearing it myself! :D

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday, dear readers and blog hoppers!

~ maria