Numerous Cards and Stamps

I know that I haven't been around much lately. I guess my excuses include, I'm busy, not a lot of cards, too many hockey games to watch and limited access to my computer. That should all change starting next week with 100 percent computer access. Anyway, on to the cards that I have for this update. First is a card from Australia. Actually it is a Maximum card and was sent by Eric Bruth of the blog My Philately. Eric is on vacation in Australia. The card shows Walpa Gorge, Northern Territory. The stamp also shows Walpa Gorge with a First Day of Issue date of 3 March 2008. The reverse of the card shows that it is a prepaid postage card for delivery worldwide. The stamp was issue 03March2008 with a first day postmark from Halls Gap. Halls Gap is a town in Victoria, Australia, about 3 hours drive from Melbourne with a population of 281 in 2006. Thanks to Eric for this card. It's good to know I'm still on his list.
The next car is from Pori, Finland. Pori is a city of 76000 on the west coast of Finland. This one was sent by a Postcrosser who used one of those , what I call, live action stamps from 2008. This one looks to be for some form of extreme skiing.
Next up is a card from Taiwan, ROC. It is from a long time reader of this blog, Wu Wei Yi. The card shows the first National Flag of the Chinese Republic. It also shows Yuan Shih K'ai, the First President of the Chinese Republic. The flower stamp on the left was issued in 2007 , 1 of a set of 4 and the others are from 2008, issued for the Inauguration of the 12th president.Thanks Wei Yi.
Now for a card from Singapore. Singapore is an island micro state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It is one of four remaining city-states in the world. Singapore is the smallest nation in Southeast Asia. The card shows the Central Business District from the 1980s. Karen sent the card and shew says that Singapore is a great place to live- clean, green and safe. She used 2 stamps , the one on the left is from 2001 , 1 of a set of 9 definitives, featuring fish. The stamp on the right is from 2007, 1 of a set of 7 featuring birds and animals. My stamp shows the Stork-billed Kingfisher.
That's it for cards today , but I want to show just one stamp from another card. It is from Finland and was issued 08 Nov 2008. It is a Christmas stamp and is classified as a transparent stamp. Finland Post reports that it was printed on a special film and is believed to be the world's first transparent stamp. They also say that the card or envelope the stamp is affixed to will tint the stamp with its own colors. Quite interesting . I would like to see them used on a number of different colored envelopes.
That is my update for today. I promise to be a more frequent blogger next week.