Blue Cats - Irina Zeniuk

I like the Irina Zeniuk cards of Blue Cat.  So far I have received five...

1402 - Postcrossing from Elena in Belarus

 1415 - From Natallia in Belrus

 1939 - Postcrossing from Vero in Belarus

1893 - From my friend Anastasia in Belarus

2088 - Postcrossing from Natasha in Belarus.

Some recent cards

1299 – Yoko in Japan (JP-488187) sent me this card of a Japanese Maiko.

1300 - The London Library after the Blitz sent to me by Dai Li in China.  A most moving picture.

1304, 1313 – Audrey Hepburn cards from Dai Li.  

Some of a few that she kindly sent me, including a packet of Audrey Hepburn cards.

1287 – Siggi in Germany also sent me a beautiful Audrey Hepburn card.

1305 & 1306 – I don’t know who the artist is of these two pictures from Dai Li but I love their simplicity.  They remind me of the Picasso picture of a reclining woman.

1315 & 1316 – From Lena (RU-2303812) came two cards and a lot of stamps.

1317 – It was snowing when Monica sent me this from Sweden.   An excuse top send me another super Lennart Helje picture.

1318 –A map maxi-card from Susanne in Germany. 

1319 – Another maxi-card from Susanne – this time it’s a postman’s bicycle, probably from the early 1900s.

Isn’t this a lovely envelope?

1172 - 1184 with Christmas wishes

1172 – From Dai Li in China.  I always like envelopes from China – they are so attractive.  And in this one was the Chinese red envelope (紅包, hóngbāo). 

And a beautiful miniature stamp sheet.

1173 – From Annina in snowy Finland (FI-1955477), a snowy painting by Arvo Laihonen.  It is entitled Lentävä lammas which according to Google Translate means ‘Flying sheep’.  Somehow I doubt that’s what it really means but then again Lammas in English is 1^st August so it surely doesn’t mean that either.

1174 – My first card from Macedonia and the 54^th country that I have received cards from. It’s always a real thrill to get a card from a new country.

  

And this postcrossing card (MK-4177) from Iva was made even more perfect by being a map.

And its stamps.

1176 – From Maryna in the Ukraine (UA-865355) came this work of art from Canadian illustrator, Claudia Tremblay.  There are some more of her lovely works on her blog.

And its stamp.

1177 – From Kasia in Poland (PL-812166) a map of the natural history of Malopolska.

Małopolska or Lesser Poland (also Little Poland) is a historical region of Poland; its capital is the city Kraków. It forms the southern part of the country, and should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only a small, southern part of Lesser Poland. Historical Lesser Poland is much bigger than the current voivodeship which bears its name, stretching from Częstochowa in the west to the lands northeast of Lublin in the east. In the late Middle Ages, Lesser Poland gradually became the centre of Polish statehood, with Kraków being the capital of the country from the mid-11th century until 1596.

The card had stamps and a perfect miniature stamp sheet

And this lovely little sticker with the clever addition of arms and legs.  Postcrossers are often so imaginative and take so much trouble.

What more could one ask for from a card?  Daughter-who-takes-photos also thought it was absolutely super.

1178 – A Christmas card from Siggi in Germany which Daughter-who-takes-photos thought was lovely too. 

 

1179 – From Chris (the Flamblogger) came this view of Oceanside, California. 

1180 – From Germany with Susanne’s usual delightful patterns and stickers on the back –

 

1181 - I can't get used to cards which say the children are excited 'for Santa to visit and for summer break.  It goes against all my innate logic to have a Santa who comes arrives in the summer but that's what happens in Jamie's world down under!

1182 – Although this card is labelled Tokyo it came from Nelly, Hugo and Theo in France with Christmas and New Year wishes.

1183 – These Greenfinches came from a German postcrosser, Gisela (DE-2732108).

 

1184 – MaryLou and Greg in the San Diego, California (US-2541193), sent me this postcard of the lovely Audrey Hepburn.

1150-1157 - a miscellany

1150 – A sculpture from the Great Tower at Gangaikonda Cholapuram from Amit in India.

Gangaikonda Cholapuram was erected as the capital of the Cholas by Rajendra Chola I, the son and successor of Rajaraja Chola, the great Chola who conquered a large area in South India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Sumatra, Kadaram (Kedah in Malaysia) at the beginning of the 11th century A.D. It occupies an important place in the history of India. As the capital of the Cholas from about 1025 A.D. for about 250 years, the city controlled the affairs of the entire south of India, from Tungabhadra in the north to Ceylon in the south, and other south east Asian countries. 

The great temple of Siva at this place is next only to the Brihadisvara temple at Thanjavur in its monumental nature and surpasses it in sculptural quality.  It is one of the three Great Living Chola Temples which make up an Indian UNESCO WHS.

1151 – A delightfully cute Christmas card from my friend Susanne in Germany. 

Another good stamp

And a sticker.

1152 – Historic post uniforms from around 1850 on this maxi-card from Lars in Germany (DE-270646)

1153 – Miriam sent this typical Dutch card (NL-220140).    It’s just SO Dutch…

1154 – Ute in Germany sent this card (DE-2702719) – a reminder of Ivy!

1155 – Rita, such a kind friend in Denmark, sent me this picture of a Danish postman.

And on the back was one of the Europa postal vehicle stamps.

1156 – From Monica in Sweden, a rabbit.  You can almost see its nose twitch.

1157 – Also from Monica, another Lennart Helje card.

Lennart Helje, born in 1940 in Lima , is a Swedish artist , best known for his Christmas cards with little gnomes or brownies on them. 

Quite often Helje’s brownie is accompanied by animals such as a fox or a moose.  As Monica wrote, the fact that there is no actual Christmas greeting on the cards means she can send more than one.  Both of the ones she has sent this month will be displayed with our Christmas cards which straddle the living room.