W is for White...

...and Black?

Eva sent me this great pawn-shaped stamp. I am impressed with her careful removal of the stamp from its sheet. In reality the blue writing on the stamp does not show up in person, I think the camera revealed it. The first time I saw it I thought it was a sticker :) Fortunately Eva told me the stamp's secret.

The amazing part, and the link for today's letter, is that when heat is applied, the thermal ink changes the pawn's color to white, the color that traditionally starts the chess match.

Sent on the back of this postcard made from a beer carton, which spent a long time getting here (almost a month) with no evidence as to why.

For more W themes on stamps, wander through the links at Sunday Stamps.

Update:

Here is the full sheet of stamps, which I think is presented in a really nice way. And now I can see why there is still a little bit of black on the left edge of the stamp sent to me.

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Don't forget that postage rates change today in the US.

First class machinable letters:

1 ounce - goes up 5c to 55c
2 ounce - goes down 1c to 70c
3 ounce - goes down 7c to 85c
3.5 ounce - goes down 13c to $1.00

First class non-machinable letters (square or odd-shaped)

1 ounce - goes down 1c to 70c
2 ounce - goes down 7c to 85c
3 ounce - goes down 13c to $1.00
3.5 ounce - goes down 19c to $1.15

First class domestic postcard - remains at 35c

International letters and postcards - remains at $1.15