Cuckoo

Today I bought wonderful maxicards with cuckoo and would like to make a post about it.

A cuckoo is a bird of 2014 year in Belarus.

Design of postage stamp "Cuckoo" and envelope "First day" belongs to the artist Alexander Mityanin. He has painted almost all the editions of the series "Bird of the year."

Here is a maxicard:

Hope, postcrosser of different countries will like it ;)

Cream cake

Hurray! My collection of sweets has new item now :)

My apologies if you see this message in evening or night. It looks so delicious.

This card also sent to me by Joao. He said that these are the best cupcakes in the whole world. And I believe him.

The original recipe is a secret well kept!

Joao share with me that these cakes are delicious with a touch of cinnamon and a hot cup of coffee. Mmm, yammy! 

This card also contains wonderful stamps:

Roses

These beautiful roses was sent to me by my friends on this site Joao. Thanks a lot for your cards and friendship!

Description from the backside of the card:

Rosa 'Lawrence Johnston' and Rosa 'Cupid', a Hybrid tea, by Graham Stuart Thomas. First published ain Climbing roses  old and new (1965)

Graham Stuart Thomas was an English horticulturalist and garden designer, best known for his work with garden roses, his restoration and stewardship of over 100 National Trust gardens and for writing 19 books on gardening, many of which remain classics today.

In his obituary in the LA Times, Clair Martin, rose curator of Huntington Botanical Gardens said: "Thomas set about preserving the heritage of old roses when many of them were on the verge of extinction".

I like flowers, I like these roses, I like this card! :)

Of course, this card has absolutely amazing stamp!

Beijing Opera

Postcard ID: CN-1227173
Country: China

This card shows us one of the character in the Beijing Opera.

Beijing opera is a form of traditional Chinese theater which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance, and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China. Major performance troupes are based in Beijing and Tianjin in the north, and Shanghai in the south.

Beijing opera features four main types of performers. Performing troupes often have several of each variety, as well as numerous secondary and tertiary performers. With their elaborate and colorful costumes, performers are the only focal points on Beijing opera's characteristically sparse stage. They utilize the skills of speech, song, dance, and combat in movements that are symbolic and suggestive, rather than realistic. Above all else, the skill of performers is evaluated according to the beauty of their movements. Performers also adhere to a variety of stylistic conventions that help audiences navigate the plot of the production. The layers of meaning within each movement must be expressed in time with music. Melodies include arias, fixed-tune melodies, and percussion patterns.

As usual, Chinese stamps are incredible!

White swiss shepherd

Postcard ID: FI-2049344
Country: Finland

On this card is sender's white swiss shepherd, when he was 9 weeks old. He has really cute ears when they are growing up :)

Sender likes to do long walkings with him couple of times every day :)

Also now I have beautiful stamp with Finnish flag:

Traditional Czech Fairytail

Postcard ID: CZ-420682
Country: Czech Republic

I don't know the name of this fairytale but a sender of this card said me that this is a typical Czech fairytail. If someone can tell me a little more - you are welcome :)

I think that here a father teach his son not to take and eat amanitas.

A stamp from Czech Republic is:

So happy that you are here!

Postcard ID: DE-2985430
Country: Germany

I don't drink coffee but I like its smell. And really like different patterns on the cappuccino or something like that.

Coffee on this card is in yellow cups on yellow saucer and with happy smile. So kind suns :)

Also sender add some stickers on the backside, many butterflies and flowers. This is one of them:

I really appreciate if postcrossers add some stickers or drawing on the backside. And I also try to add some butterflies :) on this week I even tried to draw a cat on the backside!

Also I really like beautiful stamps. before participating in postcrossing I did not understand its beauty, but now I know :)

Traditional road sign of Hong Kong

Postcard ID: HK-222925
Country: Hong Kong

So simple and non-standard card I received yesterday from Honk Kong. As sender said, Lan Kwai Fong is a local premiere dining and entertainment destination. There are over 100 restaurants, clubs and bars in this world renowned district!

Lan Kwai Fong is a small square of streets in Central, Hong Kong. The area was dedicated to hawkers before the Second World War, but underwent a renaissance in the mid-1980s. It is now a popular expatriate haunt in Hong Kong for drinking, clubbing and dining. The street Lan Kwai Fong is L-shaped with two ends joining with D'Aguilar Street.

The Lan Kwai Fong Association is a non-profit making business chamber which groups together over 100 restaurants, bars, clubs, retailers and service providers in Lan Kwai Fong to promote the unique Lan Kwai Fong culture and charms to locals and the world.

But more thank card (Amis, sorry) I like a stamp! This one is from new series of stamps 2014 with dinosaurs!

Happy Postcrossing!

Postcard ID: RU-2523080
Country: Russia

Hurraaaaay! Finally I have received this card!

When I only started my postcrossing adventure I saw this card in one article on Belarusian portal. Since that time I would like to have this postcard in my collection. And now it's done. 

By the way, 9 March I celebrated 2 years participating in this wonderful project :)

But back to the card - look carefully at the words on card. Dasha from Russia populated her own information on this card!

The card is painted by Belarusian artist Ksenia Belyaeva. 

Many-many thanks to this wonderful girl. You made my day, Dasha! 

I'm happy :)

The Administration of Tyumen region, Russia

Postcard ID: RU-2522405
Country: Russia

This absolutely amazing card came to me from girl with beautiful name Venera.

This postcard is painted by Russian artist Maria Volkova. No I would like to have more her works :)

I can speak very long about this card as this is one from my favourite techniques of art. Size of this card is really big and I want to stick it to wall in my room and look, look, look at..)

Also I want to show a nice stamp from the backside:

Insects

Postcard ID: BE-269942
Country: Belgium

I think that sender does not have cards with butterflies, so selected gor me card with insects and other animals :)

It seems that letter W means something, but I do not know what indeed. Maybe it's Wild animals :)

In addition to animals we have a nice stamp with flowers:

Butterflies

Postcard ID: AU-339168
Country: Australia

Here is one more card in addition to my previous post. As I like butterflies I received even 2 cards with these insects!

Also I have beautiful stamp with Royal family now:

Butterflies on a lily

Postcard ID: UA-991326
Country: Ukraine

This is my 6th post about butterflies in this blog. Actually I have more cards with butterflies, but they all are still pending to be described by me :)

I haven't remember when I started to like all things connected with butterflies. However in my personal blog (it's in Russian and has been started almost 9 year ago) I have a nickname where butterfly was its part :)

A stamp does not contain butterflies :)

International Women's Day

Postcard ID: RU-2492461
Country: Russia

International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political, and social achievements. Started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries, primarily in Europe, including Russia. In some regions, the day lost its political flavor, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. In other regions, however, the political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner. 

Belarus and Russia as well belong to the first regions. It's a national holiday, when men gift tulips, roses and different gifts to their mothers, wifes, girlfriends and colleagues :)

A fire helicopter on the stamp

Postcard ID: NL-2369085
Country: Netherland

This card is really in postcrossing theme as it looks like a big stamp! For me it looks like Japanese stamp, but postcard was sent to me from Netherlands.
Actually, I've not flown by a fire helicopter or ordinary helicopter or just a plan :)

Stamps on the card are not connected with helicopters of Japan :)

Keep Calm and Carry On

Postcard ID: GB-519495
Country: United Kingdom

Finally, I also received a card from popular series Keep Calm. A traditional card!

Here, in Belarus we had a competition in vk.com postcrossing group to make our own Keep Calm cards. Then all the best cards were printed. My favourite is with grumpy cat and inscription "Keep Calm and say No" :)

The Belgian chocolate

Postcard ID: NL-2363734
Country: Netherlands

This is one more chocolate card to my collection :)

I think it's absolutely amazing, sweet and tasty :)

Usually I have a chocolate at my desk in the office, but recently I noticed that my chocolates are getting melt. I'm sure that the Belgian Chocolate is better :)

Wish all the sweetest to all who reads this message!

Neuschwanstein Castle

Postcard ID: RU-2500127
Country: Russia

It's a little unusual, but cards showing German castle came to me from Russia :)

Neuschwanstein Castle is a nineteenth-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as a homage to Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing, rather than Bavarian public funds.

The palace was intended as a personal refuge for the reclusive king, but it was opened to the paying public immediately after his death in 1886. Since then more than 61 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle.More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with as many as 6,000 per day in the summer. The palace has appeared prominently in several movies and was the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle and later, similar structures.

Also this card contains nice stamp from Olympic Games in Sochi:

And image of butterfly for me :)

Bailarico by Mario Eloy

Postcard ID: PT-352261
Country: Portugal

This card helps me to know more about Portuguese painters. Here is a description from the backside of the card:

"The figures are executed schematically and the houses reveal cubist influences and suggest an anthropomorphic dimension. The space is thereby transformed into a projection of the unconscious world of the subject"

Mário Eloy was a Portuguese expressionist painter.

Eloy was born in Lisbon. His style shows the influence of painters like van Gogh, Picasso and, mostly, from the German expressionist painting, that he admired during his staying in Germany, from 1927 to 1932, especially Carl Hofer.

After returning to Portugal, he become the best representative from expressionism in the Portuguese painting. Some of his latter works, like "Enterro" (c. 1940), in his references, seems to anticipate the surrealism painting in Portugal.

He had to leave painting due to a serious mental disease, in 1944, and he spent the rest of his life in a mental institution at Rio de Mouro, where he died.

Here is a Portuguese stamp:

Breakfast

Postcard ID: FR-368654
Country: France

I think that these pancakes with blueberries are ideal summer breakfast. I want summer, go to my grandpa, then go to forest and bring some blueberries :)

In my childhood we liked to eat blueberries with milk and sugar. But pancakes or even pie is much better!

Some French stamps are:

Water, Light and Clouds

Postcard ID: DE-2944430
Country: Germany

This is so romantic card... Actually, I haven't met a sunrise or sunset at water. I think I should correct it this year!

Cards like this one don't require a description. Just see it and enjoy :)

Here are some beautiful flower stamps:

Toy Story

Postcard ID: SG-132786
Country: Singapore

As usual I like this non-standard card. It came to me from postcrosser which is animator. My first familiar animator, huh :)

I don't what else I can write about this card, but I think that this toys are similar to Angry Birds ;)

Traditionally, here is a new stamp:

Amusement Park

Postcard ID: TW-1176653
Country: Taiwan

I like postcards with many details as I can see on it over and over again and find something new each time. This card shows us a painted amusement park. I defined it as I noticed a ferris wheel :) from the second sight you can see a carousel. Also I see some enigmatic buildings, so I can imagine all what  I want about them :)

It's really kind postcard which returns me to my childhood. Although, now I also like to visit Amusement parks :)

Here are new stamps for me: