I collect postcards. I am an artist. This blog showcases both hobbies.

Monday, December 19, 2011


I have actually seen this sight in person and did not get a postcard so it was nice to recieve one.

Netherlands



It seems postcard collecting is popular in Germany, Netherlands, Finland, Russia.
Here are my newer cards fron Netherlands.

Monday, December 12, 2011


For those interested, I make my own collage style post cards. I just have to find time to make them, so if you want one, let me know but be patient. Here is an image of one.
Also when I find my camera, I have newly received cards to upload here.

Monday, December 5, 2011

cards to swap












Cards I will swap...
I have a few more which are the old kind that are "technicolor" or more painted images of places, too.
Sorry for the photo quality and some sideways photos.
The cards are,
Crestline California snow scene, San Bernardino valley view, Crestline lake view, Japan currency, Guatemala painting of man, Samoa bird, Toledo Spain view, Glacier Bay Alaska, Taiwan China painting, Tuscon Arizona palm, California beach palm, Tuscon Arizona city view, San FRancisco windy street.

Monday, November 28, 2011

WWI postcards








So, I am really "into" the hobby of genealogy, and I have a cigar box full of mementos and the like that belonged to my great grandma Anna, that my grandpa Eric (Anna's child) gave to my mom in his will, and as the family genealogist, I have it.
Inside, among many neat things, is a a postcard book. Now, I obviously love postcards. Add genealogy and wow! These cards are from Anna's husband (also named Eric) from when he, with the "rainbow brigade" fought in WWI in France, before he was gassed (and hospitalized, and lived). These are from about 1918. Almost 100 years old. So not only are they "cool" because they're old, vintage, collectable, but they are a family heirloom, my great grandpa must have brought them home with him or mailed them to his parents, so they have sentimental value.
My pictures of some of them are terrible because I did not want to bend the book of cards or touch them for very long so I took super quick, ugly shots but I think even then, they are beautiful.



Thanks vibha for the 11/11/11 swap.
I got a card from the far west of Alaska, a remote native village, from a teacher there.
And then two postcrossings from St. Petersburg Russia and New Jersey.
Now I no longer need a NJ card.
oops the NJ card WAS the right direction, so I can't fix it since it was correct but loaded wrong. Oh well.

Monday, November 14, 2011

catching up



I have been lackluster in uploading cards here and haven't done it at all on postcrossing. Sorry! Now I forget who sent me what card but THANK YOU all! I've been behind...gone through 4 computers in just about a month. I'm not quite death to computers but they were all old, refurbished, and the like so their time was up.
Anyways....
I got a card from India which I haven't taken a pic of but it was pretty! Thanks Vihba!
I got one from New York, Cornell University (my 2nd cousin studied economics there decades ago) and I forget the sender's name and did not take a pic yet.
And these 3 cards (sorry for side ways ones...) are from Nicaragua, BC Canada, and Potsdam Germany. Wait! The one from BC is from Suhkjit (I think I mispelled her name so sorry!), the Nicaragua one from Christian (oh my 8 yr old neice said, what is a Nigaga? I mean Necrgawa...whatever?" She was not privy to my geography lesson and just walked off confused) and Potsdam from gosh....I forget, but she was from Moscow and on a vacation to Potsdam.
Surely I have forgotten more, so sorry!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

updated usa map



updated subject to change
I still need cards from
Washington
Washington DC
Idaho
Montana
N. Dakota
Iowa
Nebraska
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Missouri
Arkansas
Louisiana
Indiana
Kentucky
Tennessee
Virginia
W Virginia
Maryland
Vermont
Massachusetts
Connecticut
Rhode Island

Thursday, November 10, 2011


a little off topic but not really... as where I live is important to me and I try and send postcards that show off where I live.
I have lived in the mountains most of my life, about an hour from Los Angeles (and a quite endless urban sprawl), the ocean, and the desert and yet up here you feel a world away. The people here are unique; without much industry, most everyone who is not on social services has to commute "down the hill". Therefore, most people that live here, live here because they want to, so it creates a common culture. Add in weather and other things and you get a fiercely independent, proud, tough but nice kind of people.
We have a handful of communities with a combined population of 40,000- 100,000, no one seems to have a solid figure. My town has about 10,000. We live in the most populated forest in the nation but there are many secluded areas, more than numbers seem to make you think. Each community is different and proud of itself and teases other communities quite often, but it is not real animosity. When any kind of disaster hits, this community of communities casts their town boundaries and pride aside and helps each other out.
I like knowing people, meaning everyone at the hardware store, cafe, or grocery store knows my family, what we buy, what we like, etc. They ask how we're doing with genuine concern. If you're a few pennies short, it is ok, or if the baker has some leftovers of your favorite cake, you just might get a slice for free.
Our biggest tragedies are fire. We had "The Old Fire" Panorama Fire, Slide Fire and countless others have scarred the mountain, destroyed hundreds of homes, taken lives. I have been evacuated numerous times and have many frightened memories.
We get rough winters. The winter season generally lasts from November to April, but it is not freezing and snowy the entire time; we get warm days even into the 60s (f.) but when it gets wintry, oh my! We get Santa Ana winds that are fierce- when I was a child, my parents lost their roof in a storm; the wind simply lifted it away. This year a wind was clocked at 115 mph. We get wet heavy snows, one was 6 feet of snow in just one storm, and before my time we had even bigger deeper snows. We get mudslides that shut down roads for months and years, slides that bury people alive, rock slides with rocks as big as a bus. We get lots of rain considering our location, aboit 35 inches a year but we've had years with much much more. Electricity goes out often in winter, sometimes for mere seconds and other times, days. We get fog so thick you literally cannot see even a car's light, a rock, the road AT ALL from 10 feet away. You can not see your home from your own driveway.
Then why live here with such danger? It all depends on your idea of danger, rather, your preferences in part. You can live down the hill in the city with gangs, graffitti, traffic, smog, oppressive heat, drought, crime, or here. Here at least we get breathtaking sunsets, you can see the stars at night, we get all four seasons and wildlife too.
We have one of the most diverse areas in the nation as far as plants go. Just in trees we have;
Jefferey pine, lodgepole pine, pinon pine, juniper, incense cedar, redwoods, ponderosa pine, sugar pine, white fir, coulter pine, douglas fir, canyon live oak, dogwood, black oak, maple. Probably more! The forest covers about 670,000 acres, a little smaller than Rhode Island, and we have over 440 animal species too.
We have bobcat, mountain lion, black bear, coyote, mule deer, bighorn sheep, bald eagles, red tail hawks, ravens, rubber boa, king snake, rattlesnake, raccoons, skunk, ground, gray, and flying squirrel.... and more.
Our area was, in the 1800s, well known for gold mining. I have even tried (unsuccessfully) to find gold. We also had grizzly bear huntign until they were hunted to extinction, and logging, lots of logging and logging mills. The history is quite fascinating so I suggest you search the internet for more info if interested. We even had bootleg moonshine and mob activity in the 1930s, and then a boom of movies filmed here such as,Paint your Wagon , Heidi, (both version of...)Parent Trap, Hot tub time machine, Gone with the Wind, The Insider, Bonanza, Dr. Doolittle, Next (when the water tower falls in the movie, it was close enough to my home that I heard it fall!), The American President, Cerature from the black lagooon, Old Yeller, the Love Bug.
When winter's nasty weather gets you down, as long as the roads are open you can, unlike most snowy winter places, drive 45 minutes and see dirt, sunshine, bask in a 70 degree hot day.
I hated living here as a teen. nothing to do. Not a single stop light for an hour, and my town had no fast food and no brand name anything- just a small 7-11 sized grocer, hardware, gas station, gift shop, liquor store, bank, post office and 4 restaurants. I yearned for teenager action like a mall, clothing store, movie theater, music store, etc.
But as a small child I can think of no better place to grow up. I climbed trees, went sledding, attempted snowboarding, hiked, boated, swam, water skiied (well, tried...), played with bows and arrows and target shooting, went camping, went to "mountain man rendesvous" where everyone re-enacted the 1800s, built forts, grew gardens, made snow tunnels, took photos, wrote nature inspired poetry, climbed rock formations, found native American artifacts and petroglyphs, mined for gold and quartz, watched meteor showers.....
I cannot imagine childhood without the experiences I enjoyed daily.
away in winter

Some vintage cards of mine


sorry they're all sideways and stuff. I have gone through 4 computers in a month and so I haven't posted much, and now this computer lacks a photo editing program.
Here's my area of California. (left, color) and Big Trees in Central CA (Above)







Some pool that no longer exists, San Francisco http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleishhacker_Pool

Route 66 vintage card, NM
1912 Whitewater Kansas card. Yep, that old! In the photo somewhere is Bertice Dilzer. No clue who she is but I have over a dozen photos of her and her family. I cannot find the genealogy link with my family. Quite a mystery..
Boulder Dam, card circa 1936-1947
Before Vegas was the Vegas of today... probably from 1940-1950s
Italy, I'm thinking this is from 1930-1950s
Italy, no clue how old it is!
Montreal, 1920s or earlier?
Its much more built up now!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

North Korea


I am just speechless. A collectible rare item. Propaganda behind genocide. North Korea.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Do ignore my sideways photos. I am tired and have a headache so I'm being lazy :) But here goes.... Card one on the left is from Lapland. I have many from Finland but it is neat to have one from a more unusual locale, I always like cards from small towns and far away places. The second is from the USA on someone's travels.








Here are some shots of my album- I like to "match" cards that go together, so, pink sunsets...
Blue sky/water and old beige buildings....

Red, brown, green.