The official stamp of the ice hockey world championship 2012 tournament to be organized in Helsinki portrayed the widely noted mascot HockeyBird. The stamp is designed by Lead Artist Toni Kysenius of Rovio Entertainment. Finland and Sweden shared the hosting of the ice hockey world championship tournament in 2012 and 2013.

U.S. parcel post · 50 cents

Stamp-themed postcards! Aren't they pretty? This was a 50 cents old stamp from the USA featuring a dairy farm. It came from Wisconsin and was sent by a Postcrosser who is on 10 top senders from this country (which, in my opinion, given the large number of users, is quite impressive).

Legends of Baseball 2000 (top) & birds (bottom)

On the flip side, these amazing sets of stamps: Legends of Baseball issued in 2000 on the top (Eddie Collins and Jackie Robinson), facial value 33 cts, and birds from the Wildlife from Canadian-United States Border sheet on the bottom (mallard, Canada goose and blue jay), 13 cts each, issued in 1978 for the Canadian International Philatelic Exhibition. Wow! I feel lucky today
As a 1978 girl, I am touched. ♥

I am about to die of cuteness. Before joining Postcrossing, I have never heard of Jetoy cats before. Once there, I noticed these postcards were very popular and no wonder they are. These illustrations are superb. Jetoy is a Korean company and this character is called 츄츄캣 (literally, Choo Choo Cat). On this card, white and black kitties are enjoying a trip in the hot air red balloon. ♥

My first Choo Choo card! ♪

The stamps, however, aren't related to the postcard (how cool would be to have Choo Choo stamps?!). I recall one of Limner's Dutch readers once complaining about these stamps. The funny thing is the came uncancelled. There isn't a single scratch on this card. Did the postofficers respect Choo Choo cats and protect them devotely? Who knows.

The adult male Mandarin duck is a striking and unmistakable bird. It has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and "whiskers". The adult female, on the background, is similar to female Wood duck.

In traditional Chinese culture, Mandarin Ducks represent a life-time couple and are regarded as a symbol of conjugal affection and fidelity. The species was once widespread in eastern Asia, but nowadays the population has reduced in Eastern Russia and in China to below 1,000 pairs in each country.

Military stamps commemorating the 65th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, " Victory weapon" (Оружие победы): the BT-7M tank (left) issued in 2010 and the GAZ-67B 4x4 (right) from 2012.

The Hare stamp from Russian Fairy Tales series on the far right.

From time to time, there comes a card that puzzles you. This one, although beautiful and serene, came with my address printed, not written, four big stamps covering the remaining space and a rubber stamp drawing of a mascot saying "Take it Easy!" in the only free spot available. No handwriting at all, no text, no sign, no clue on their Postcrossing profile. Only a return address without a name -- and printed, of course.

Stein-am-Rhein is a small town located near the German border in the Northern shore of the Rhein, just a few km away from Lake Constance. On the card, the Old Town as seen from the river with the former Benedictine monastery church of St. Georgen's bell tower in the centre.

One animal stamp issued in 2012, the Beaver; one Wheat and two Barley. The three grain stamps are from the "Agriculture & Food" series issued in 2008. The other two stamps in the set that are missing show Rye (0.20 CHF) & Oats (0.50 CHF).

Three bullfinches in a bird shelter in the cold, cold Siberian winter. I usually show my postcards from Russia to my Russian classmate and she offers her help to identify locations or stamps, or sometimes a quick translation. She told me this is called the winter Russian bird, which appears in the cold season when other species migrate. Of course, it is my first time hearing from it. Another beautiful trip to the even more beautiful Mother Russia. ♪

On the back side, nine stamps cover half of the card! From left to right:

♪ Novgorod Kremlin from the Sixth Definitives series - RussianKremlins issue, 2009

♪ The Hare

♪ The Fox (six of them)

♪ Pyotr A. Stolypin 150th birth anniversary

This is a commemorative stamp for the 150th birth anniversary of the Prime Minister and agrarian reformer Pyotr Stolypin (1862-1911), later assasinated in the opera. On the background, the Russian flag and the Palace Square in St-Petersburg. For only one year, this stamp could have been also commemorative of his 100th death anniversary.

Postcard from: Tomsk, Siberian region, Russia.

Received: May 2012.

Language: English.

Envelope: no.

Stamps: nine!

Thank you very much, Andrey!

{RU-944045}

This week's theme is anything you wish

First card from Canada! Yay! Now the USA and Mexico are no longer alone in the tab. ♪

The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were held in Munich, (then) West Germany, from August 26 to September 5 in 1972. Sadly these games were largely overshadowed by what later has been called the Munich massacre: eleven Israeli athletes and coaches, a West German police officer and five terrorists were killed. This is the official poster for the event and was designed by Otl Aicher as long other sports posters and pictograms. Such a nice and cool work of graphic design! He used a technique called "posterization", separating the tonal qualities from the images and using the official munich colours for these games. This had to be produced manually as photoshop did not exist at that time!

This is another travelling card: originally from Germany but sent from Canada. The sender is currently the 1st on most postcards sent from Canada on Postcrossing. He likes watching the Olympic games as I do although he missed this one because he was a little child at that time -- I wasn't even born!

The stamp, unlike last time, has a Canada theme too: one of the baby wildlife series stamp from 2012 where a couple of moose affectionately nuzzle each other. Lovely. Needless to say, we don't have moose in Spain. I like getting this kind of pictures of flora & fauna from all over the world.

I am making a good collection of cards from St-Petersburg, both from official and private swaps. Suddenly it seems I have been there, as every view makes me feel at home. This time, I got to travel to the Palace Square and see the impressive Column of Alexander in front of the -not less impressive- Hermitage or Winter Palace. Not only I do like the building itself but thinking of how many pieces of art are inside makes my head go dizzy! Stendhal syndrome from a postcard, could that happen?

On the back of the card, a handful stamps representing Russian animals that I have received before: the fox (0.50), the bear (10 R) and the lynx (2.00) -- the lynx is a new addition I love because the Iberian lynx is an endangered species in Spain, and featuring them in stamps is a way as good as any to raise awareness. And they are cute wild cats.

The right stamp, however, depicts a painting of Zinaida Serebriakova, a Russian artist from the early 20th century, called The Shoots of Autumn Crops (1908). It belongs to a series issued to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the birth of the painter.

The European Wolf from the Belarussian series of Fauna of Belarus (I love it!).

Two stamps from the Wild Life series issued in 2008: the hare and the marten. Great drawings!

This postcard's theme: Fauna of Belarus.

A beautiful spring view of the Kara Dag Mountain, part of the Kara Dag Nature Reserve, dropping to the Black Sea in Crimea (Ukraine). Although it is called mountain, Kara Dag is actually an extint volcano that emerged during Jurassic times. "Kara Dag" means "black mountain" in the Crimean Tatar language.

The native flowers in the foreground remind me strongly of our Mediterranean coast. Somehow the light and the feeling is the same, although the climate must be very different.

Two beautiful stamps this time. On the left side, the New Year stamp (З Новим роком!) and on the right, the Askania Nova nature reserve (Асканія-Нова) stamp from the Seven Nature Wonders of Ukraine series.

Nebraska became the 37th state to be admitted to the Union on March 1, 1867. Today, Nebraska is one of the country's leading producers of feed crops and livestock.

This is the downtonwn area of Omaha: business disctrict to the right and commercial shopping district to the left.

Lincoln is the capitol city of Nebraska, about 45 min drive from Omaha. It is a small college town -- University of Nebraska. They have the country's only unicameral legislature.

Nebraska, where the West begins, has lots of cattle ranches and exports beef. You still can see some buffalos in the countryside -- along with loads of cows!

All five postcards came together in an envelope safe and sound. These stamps made my day and put a big smile on my face. I am a huge fan of everything green, including the colour itself! I try to go green everyday and am glad to say that I follow both advices on the stamps: days are mostly sunny where I live so I can let nature do the work. Also, I just walk or take the bus everyday and share rides when I need to go somewhere farther. ♪

On the top right, a stamp of the Wisdom mural of the Rockefeller Center in New York City with a facial value of $1, and below the gorgeous coffeepot painted by Lou Nolan from the American series (American Toleware).

Guess what my favourite animal is? ♥

Hint: is furry and brown. Note: sometimes it can be white or black-patched. Answer: you can see it above.

Bear cubs are really cute! I love bears above all animals, they have appealled to me since I was a little child. My best friend was a (teddy) white bear cub that I still have. In Spain, brown bears are endangered species and nowadays can be only found in National Parks in the Cantabrian Mountains. This little one however lives freely and happily in the Estonian forests.

Now the stamps. Plenty of them and variegated!

♪ On the left there is Estonian writer and playwright Oskar Luts (1887-1953), a 0.45€ stamp issued in 2012, Luts' 125th birth anniversary. At just 25 years old Oskar Luts, who had earlier penned only a few lines of poetry, authored Spring, a book that made him famous all over the country overnight.

* More info about this stamp can be found on the Eesti Post website.

♪ The little green one is a silhouette of a post horn, which seems to be the symbol of the postal service worldwide -- I like that!

♪ And last, another fauna beauty: a watercolour of a roe deer (capreolus capreolus).

This week theme is poets and poetry.