Sunday, February 14, 2016

When Collecting and Connecting Creates Love

People can meet each other at any place and situation, never to know what relationship can develop from that one chance meeting. Though love is famously blind, and can spark between people of different interests, the love that grows between two collectors can be made especially strong by this common passion. The couple we'd like to introduce you to is just such a couple. Please welcome Mariola [eowyna] and Mirek [bacenty] :)

Mariola and Mirek, please introduce yourselves to the community!
My name is Mariola Chutkowska nee Pyka and my husband's name is Mirek Chutkowski. We are collectors from Poland. I am a court jury and a cosmetic consultant. Mirek works as a security officer.
We got married in 2002, but I decided to change my name on Colnect only a couple of months ago.


Kisses-St_Valentines_day-Lattelecom-Latvia
"Kisses", from the Colnect catalog

How and when did you meet? 
We met at the local collectibles fair in our town, Jastrzębie-Zdrój in the summer of 1998.

What do you collect and for how long?
I collect Polish phonecards, tea & coffee mugs, books and beer glasses. Also shoes and handbags.
Mirek collects worldwide phonecards, chipcards of all provenance, books, beer glasses (and some other beerophilia), as well as various collectibles related to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster.


http://colnect.com/postcards/postcard/47252-Bananas_Love-Humor-Russia 
"Bananas. Love", from the Colnect catalog 

Was there anything or anyone that inspired you to start your collection?
I was inspired by my late father who had collected stamps for years, also beer glasses. The albums are still at my mother's apartment in memory of him.

Do you have some favourite items in your collection?
Yes, there is the 1-liter volume beer mug of our collective favourite beer "TYSKIE" that was given to me by my father years ago.


http://colnect.com/stamps/stamp/590897-Valentines_Day-Together-Finland 
"Valentine's Day", from the Colnect catalog 

Do you have some favourite items in each other’s collections?
I like some phonecards from Mirek's collection. Especially the ones with flowers and landscapes.
Mirek likes my beer glass collection - our collections complement one another.

Do you have any other hobbies?
I like to embroider, love good books and music. I like movies too, but books are better.
Mirek likes to play billiards and is an amateur archer. He also reads lots of books and likes music.


"Symbol of Love", from the Colnect catalog
 
How do you store your collections?
We both use some kind of albums (like for business cards) A4 or something similar. Beer glasses are stored in a multi-shelved cupboard.

Do you exchange collectibles between two of you?
Not really, but sometimes we make each other some presents.


"I love you", from the Colnect catalog 

How did you get to be on Colnect?
Mirek found Colnect surfing the net and he liked it so much he registered the same day. Later he convinced me to join Colnect too.

What is your advice for collectors only starting the hobby?
We wish them to enrich their collections, to meet nice and helpful people, to swap a lot with other colnectors. And (of course) may the force be with them ;)



It is always great to find your soulmate that shares interests with you, whether it is art or politics, languages or video games, sports or puzzles. From Mariola and Mirek's example, we can see that not only can you collect collectibles, but also collect memories and experiences with each other.
Happy St. Valentine's Day! 
We hope each of you have an amazing significant other :)
May your home be full of love, laughter and happiness!

http://colnect.com/stamps/stamp/47870-Valentine-_Peace-Valentine-_Peace-Finland
"Valentine - Peace", from the Colnect catalog

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Marking 56,789+ Coins on Colnect!

Good news, Colnectors! Our Coins Catalog has increased significantly, and now you can see over 56,789 coins there.
To highlight the recently reached milestone, we can take a look at the new features of the catalog.
http://colnect.com/coins/coin/40059-5_Kwacha_Conservation_-_Kafue_Lechwe-1990~Today_-_African_Wildlife-Zambiahttp://colnect.com/coins/coin/40059-5_Kwacha_Conservation_-_Kafue_Lechwe-1990~Today_-_African_Wildlife-Zambia
"5 Kwacha (Conservation - Kafue Lechwe)", from the Colnect catalog

Some useful changes were implemented on Colnect since last year, when we reached 50,005 coins. These changes make the Coins Catalog easier to browse and edit. 
Most awaited feature for many coin collectors was Coin Year Variants.

http://colnect.com/coins/coin/9420-20_Cents-NZ05_-_20_Cents-New_Zealand 
"20 Cents", from the Colnect catalog

The possibility of Sorting By Face Value, Quick Year Change List and Improvements to the Collectors Comment System were also added.
Moreover, a couple of months back we saw Multi-value Fields 'joining the catalog', letting editors' work be more pleasant and less time-consuming. 
You can share your opinion of those features on the relevant forum threads.

In addition, some small changes, like Longer Item Names Approved, were brought to life. 
To follow any other small milestones of the Colnect Coin Catalog, make sure to subscribe to the Coin Collection and Numismatics forum
But for now, we would like to thank our category coordinators - Hernan Bofill, [hbofill12] and Angelo Parlo, [angelo13] for making the category so popular and diverse. Another big thank-you to all the contributors that made an impact on the catalog.

http://colnect.com/coins/coin/13247-20_Rubles_Kalyady-Festivals_and_rituals_of_Belarusians-Belarushttp://colnect.com/coins/coin/13247-20_Rubles_Kalyady-Festivals_and_rituals_of_Belarusians-Belarus 
"20 Rubles (Kalyady)", from the Colnect catalog 

Want to become a coin catalog contributor? Read How Can I Contribute to Colnect? page and the Catalog Contributor's Guide for Coins and start helping Colnect now!
 
Do you have a favourite coin in your collection?
Share with us in comments here!

Friday, January 15, 2016

99,999 Gift Cards on Colnect!

We have reached a new milestone  - 99.999 gift cards in the catalog! You cannot believe how diverse the category is. 

"Fruits", Lithuania, from the Colnect catalog

73 countries, 270 themes and 58 currencies - that's the Gift Cards Catalog! 1,300+ registered collectors have developed the catalog, making it one of the biggest categories on Colnect.

"Hannukah candlestick", Canada, from the Colnect catalog

We are incredibly grateful to the Category coordinator - Claude Martin [Claude]. Our catalog would not be as unique and as interesting, without your help.

"Pilipinas Eagle", Philippines, from the Colnect catalog

Additionally, many thanks to our dear category contributors for adding so much amazing content.

"Clef", France, from the Colnect catalog

And surely, we are thankful to editors for keeping everything in order - editors Dieter Siedel [jrds26], Eyüp Güçmen [kolleksiyon], Hans Meeuwisse [steamtrain], Irina Alferova [alfcard], Karl Heinz Degener [neizi] and others.

"Calendar", Japan, from the Colnect catalog

Our catalog constantly requires help from you, our dear collectors. Please take a look on The Contribution Guidelines and develop our community!

"KaDeWe Berlin", Germany, from the Colnect catalog

You are welcome to participate in our gift card collectors poll -  How often do you use gift cards?:)
"B&G Store", Turkey, from the Colnect catalog 

Happy Colnecting! :)

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