Napapiiri: the Arctic Circle, Finland

Christmas in Finland. Postmarked at the Santa Claus village post office just outside Rovaniemi, Finland.

Christmas Island, Nova Scotia

I'm trying not to let the ugly black line through the stamp distract me from appreciating the colourful and exceptionally well applied postmarks. The Christmas Island post office goes out of their way to do this every year and I'm happy to see the tradition continue, especially during what I imagine is the busiest mailing season they've ever had. I'm not sure when they started using this particular postmark. They redesign it every few years.

This year's non-secular Christmas stamps from Canada Post feature paintings by the late folk artist Maud Lewis.

Christmas in Liechtenstein

Christmas maximum card from Liechtenstein Post. What looks like tree decorations on the stamp are actually the digits from the denomination of the stamp: 100 CHF.  I received this with some other cards and stamps I purchased recently. 

 

Schwandorf, Germany

 Rubies from the Bavarian town of Schwandorf.

Germany, Alfred Wegener postmark

Postmark commemorating the 90th anniversary of the death of German polar researcher Alfred Wegener. The stamp shows two shades of grey... or does it. It's suppose to be an optical illusion. The grey at the top is the same shade as the grey at the bottom. The white and black areas in the middle are supposed to trick your brain into thinking they are different.