Raven Story

 Today's Sunday Stamps theme is stories and fairytales. One of my favorite stamps with this theme is the Raven Story, issued by USPS in 2021.

The National Postal Museum website has a nice description of the meaning of the Raven in northwest American native cultures. The stamp features a Raven that is transitioning from human form to avian form - you can see the hand shape at the bottom of the stamp. The stars and orbs are highlighted in gold foil, representing the Raven as lightbringer.

I used these stamp in a Pushing the Envelopes envelope exchange earlier in the year, making envelopes from calendar pages showcasing inuit art.

For links to more stamps with today's theme, head over to See it on a Postcard

Post 2000

 What better way to celebrate post 2000 of the blog than with an envelope from Jean - who's blog I found back in 2013!

I like how Jean made this stamp look like not a stamp. The addition of decorative leaves and suns to go with the motifs on this Thinking of You stamp (issued in 2023) is a lovely creative touch.

Thanks for all the visits and comments along the way!

Two for TGIF

 Blog buddy CJ posts the Friday Five every week - five positive things that happened.

I've got a couple today - two for thank goodness it's Friday1

1. The ice storm earlier in the week was not as bad as expected - I didn't wake up to an ice cube car the morning after :)

2. This fab Pushing the Envelopes exchange envelope from Julliana Q was the most snow I saw this week

Uniform

 Today's Sunday Stamps theme is uniform, and recently I received the stamp commemorating 100 the centenary. of the end of World War I that was issued in 2018.

It arrived on this lovely exchange envelope.

For links to more uniforms on stamps, visit See it on a Postcard

Envelope 1000 - for real this time

Once upon a time I made about 120 envelopes by hand, took a long hiatus, then started making more.

Recently I made envelope 1000 which went to Jean in an envelope exchange.

Today is the blog's 7th anniversary! I'm amazed you're all still here - thank you for your interest and support. 

I know this year of the rat isn't turning out like we imagined it would - hang in there, we are all stronger than we think. 

We will be able to look back on the blog's 8th anniversary and see how we made it through some tough times with determination, and some good mail.

(Link to first post titled Envelope 1000 if you're interested)

Flowers on Leap Day mail

Today's theme for Sunday Stamps is flowers.

A cactus flower arrived on this nice exchange envelope from Carolyn, complete with a once every four years 29 February postmark. The stamp is from a set of 10 issued last year.

Some other flowers I've received recently include this one from the German definitive series. The 20c marigold stamp also has a very nice postmark from Bremen. Below that the 15c shows a meadowfoam flower (I think - I confess I've never heard of this flower), while the 10c shows a winterling, a type of buttercup.

To take your mind off what I consider to be the second worst day of the year, explore more links to flowers over at Sunday Stamps.

Playing, with hearts

This is a fun exchange envelope from Carole.

Nice bird on the back.

And thank you for the included bookmark!

Even more hearts

Great colors outlined in gold on this exchange envelope from Sam.

Love the giant postmark!

Hearts and birds

Fun birds from Patty arrived in time for Valentine's Day. Clever to match the colors to the stamp, and a neat border, too.

A classy envelope from Lynne just in time for V day. Wonderful calligraphy!

Flowers and Kelly

A warm and bright exchange envelope from Kathleen H.

Love the Ellsworth Kelly stamp.

I love the simplicity of this exchange envelope from Jean, along with the vintage stamps.

Stunning Sugar Skull

Hello, Halloween lovers, it's the witching month!

I am not sure how I managed to not blog this amazing envelope when Cathy sent it in 2017, but it is worth the wait. Inside a protective plastic cover...

..and unwrapped.

And it came with a nice autumnal card inside.

Summer!

This exchange envelope from Jean is the perfect one for the first day of summer.

Fred Bear

Really nice drawing of a teddy bear on this exchange envelope from Trish. Reminds me a bit of my own childhood bear (who is not in such great condition, I have to say).

Two together

These fun envelopes arrived on the same day.

From Jean, who lives in Iowa, the 150th anniversary of statehood of which is celebrated on these amazingly uncancelled stamps. I love how the 'leg' of the R crosses the C.

and from Lynne. You can't appreciate the metallic colors from the scan. They look great with the tamales stamp from the Delicioso set.

Green!

This fantastic envelope from Grace arrived just in time for St Patrick's Day with a whole lot of green and gold.

Space

An exchange envelope for Suzanne made from a calendar.

An exchange envelope from Janet

This fun envelope from Janet sadly encountered the sharpie, and fortunately the year of the dog stamp escaped harm. The stamp colors are so great for this envelope.

We care

USPS says they care...

But not enough to stop using this way of canceling these lovely vintage stamps on a fun exchange envelope from Faye.