Morning tea

Postcard ID: RU-3753751
Country: Russia

Actualy I think that this is coffee, not the tea. However as I don't drink coffee let's imagine that this is black-black tea :)
The cup is so cute that I would like to have a couple of this in my home :)

Also here new 2 stamps. The first one is from series "Kremlins - Self-Adhesive Stamps" (9th from 15 in my collection)

The second one is from series "Russian Contemporary Art" issued in 2013 (I have 1 stamp from 3):

The postcard has a beautiful sticker with butterfly :)

A woman by Dave Thompson

Postcard ID: GB-628409
Country: United Kingdom

This is an orogonal illustartion painted by Dave Thompson. On the background everyone can see one of the most famous UK's symbols - Big Ben!

A woman also looks like a real Lady :)

Hope, I correctly identified the stamp. This is Queen Elizabeth II, stamp is issued in 2014:

 

Also here are some stickers with my lovely butterflies:

David and Goliath, Turkey

Postcard ID: TR-206361
Country: Turkey

Turkey is a country that has many attractions for tourists. Image on this postcard is one of them :)

Goliath or Goliath of Gath (one of five city states of the Philistines) is a giant Philistine warrior defeated by the young David, the future king of Israel, in the Bible's Books of Samuel (1 Samuel 17).

The original purpose of the story was to show David's identity as the true king of Israel. Post-Classical Jewish traditions stressed Goliath's status as the representative of paganism, in contrast to David, the champion of the God of Israel. Christian tradition gave him a distinctively Christian perspective, seeing in David's battle with Goliath the victory of God's king over the enemies of God's helpless people as a prefiguring of Jesus' victory over sin on the cross and the Church's victory over Satan.

Here are the stamps and a sticker from this postcard:

A flower

Postcard ID: DE-3722262
Country: Germany

Maybe it's not obvious from my scan, but this is a shaped postcard :)

I really like postcards of this type as all of them are unique :) anyway, all (or almost all) girls like flowers! :)

This postcard also has stamps with flowers:

...and nice owl!

Cactuses in Arizona, USA

Postcard ID: US-3033340
Country: USA

Here is a wonderful postcard from USA. A backside says:

A tall cactus with upward-curving arms, white funnel shaped flowers, and edible red fruit, the Saguaro is found in many areas of Arizona. Anywhere from 15 to 50 feet tall, some Saguaros are estimated to be 200 years old.

Also the sender wrote me the following:

She is a Registered Nurse in the Emergency Room. People would fall into cactus and it would take hours to get hundreds of those needles off them!

Also this postcard has amazing stamps and stickers:

Horsewoman by Igor Filippov

Postcard ID: UA-1068198
Country: Russia, Ukraine

It was really surprise to find this card in an envelope with beautiful stickers.

I am not a fan of contemporary art. For me this card would be better without horsewoman, but with Eiffel tower :)

Igor Filippov is Russian artist, who was born in 1961 in Sevastopol. He graduated from Sevastopol children's art school and later studied at St. Petersburg on the art-graphic faculty of Pedagogical University.

He has lived and worked abroad, primarily in Scandinavia. In 2008 he showed interesting exhibition by Scandinavian, Russian legends and myths of the Soviet era at the Ukrainian/Russian gallery "Green Pyramid".

Each of  paintings "Trip to Paris" is a small story about Paris, the city of love and dreams, a city familiar and unexpected. Each person has his own Paris. This card shows Paris of Igor Filippov.

Illustration by Shiho Enta

Postcard ID: JP-539243
Country: Japan

This is so romantic and beautiful card came to me from Sawako. I like Japanese culture, however my husband is a real fan :)

So, we both really appreciate it.

Shiho Enta was born in Akita Prefecture in 1979. She graduated from the Faculty of Education and Culture of Akita University. After graduation, Shiho Enta worked as a teacher for three years, and in 2005, she got married and moved to Saitama Prefecture. After that, the artist started taking on illustration jobs little by little.

Her job until has mostly consisted of book covers for the bigger part, manga, illustrations, and others. Shiho Enta also covers a lot of genres, from common literature to children’s books and light novels.

Here is a postcard stamp and amazing scotch tape with butterflies:

Mountain Fuji, Japan

Postcard ID: JP-537638
Country: Japan

It's so wonderful, wonderful life postcard! Every time when I receive postcard from my favourits I feel so happy!

Yoriko wrote that this is the Green Tea plantation in front of Mt. Fiji. By the way, green tea is my favourite ;)

I agree with the sender that the combination of blue sky, Mt. Fiji with white snow and vivid green tea plantation is great view!

Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776.24 m. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone, which is snow-capped several months a year, is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and photographs, as well as visited by sightseers and climbers. It is one of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains" along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku; it is a Special Place of Scenic Beauty, a Historic Site, and was added to the World Heritage List as a Cultural Site on June 22nd, 2013.

The mountain has been selected as a “cultural” rather than a “natural” heritage site. As per UNESCO, Mount Fuji has “inspired artists and poets and been the object of pilgrimage for centuries”. 

Look on all these stamps! And sticker :)

1000 and one secrets of Kazan

Postcard ID: RU-2609196
Country: Russia

Today I'd like to write about wonderful envelope that I received due to postcrossing. Actually I receive 6 postcards from Russia every months, although from other countries I receive 1-2 cards. However, I'm not complaining as I receive really wonderful card sometimes :)

Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,535, it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia.

The Kazan Kremlin is a World Heritage Site. In 2005, the Medal "In Commemoration of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan" was established by Russia to denote this landmark event. The multi-ethnic city is honored by UNESCO and famous for Muslims and Christians living side-by-side in peace.

In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the right to brand itself as the "Third Capital" of Russia. In 2009 it was chosen as the "Sports capital of Russia" and it still is referred to as such. The city hosted the 2013 Summer Universiade and will host the 2014 World Fencing Championships, 2015 World Aquatics Championships, and 2018 FIFA World Cup.

As you can see from text above Kazan is a wonderful city with great citizens.

As addition I received this sticker:

I promised in my postcrossing profile that I make a photo of magnets on my refrigirator if someone sends it to me. Finally, I received my first magnet from Postcrossing and sticked it near to Boston and Saint Luis. Maybe I'll relocate it to Saint Peterburg and Russia :)

Also there were nice stamps:

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 :)

Niagara Falls

Postcard ID: CA-403122
Country: Canada

This card is one from my favourites coming to me this January. I think that this view as absolutely amazing and incredible. Sometimes I revert this card head over heels and imagine that this is polar lights :)

As wrote on the backside "the Falls and landscape are awash in light every night of the year".

Niagara Falls is the collective name for three waterfalls that straddle the international border between Canada and the United States; more specifically, between the province of Ontario and the state of New York. 

Niagara Falls were formed when glaciers receded at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation (the last ice age), and water from the newly formed Great Lakes carved a path through the Niagara Escarpment en route to the Atlantic Ocean. While not exceptionally high, the Niagara Falls are very wide.

I would like to see this beauty with my own eyes :)

Also this card has nice stickers...:

...and nice Christmas stamp:

The Imperial Palace

Postcard ID: CN-1126996
Country: China

From the back side of the card:

This is a view of the Forbidden City in Beijing. It was the Chinese Imperial Palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost 500 years, it served as the home of emperors and their households. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage site in 1987 and it is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world!

I really like this card as it;s beautiful, with really interesting history and has great decor:

Also there are nice stamps on the card and on envelope:

Mykolaiv - city of brides

Postcard ID: UA-735434
Country: Ukraine

Here is one more postcard on wedding themes. 4 October was our wedding day, but this card was received in September :)

Mikolaiv is known like a city of brides. This monument was set in 2010
Look on the cool stickers from the back side of this card:

Flower Cupcake

Postcard ID: DE-2422498

Country: Germany

Hurray! Here is my absolutely sweet love! I love flowers and still more I love candies, cupcakes, chocolate... Yammy!

And look at these stamp and sticker! Absolutely amazing :)