New Year's Eve

I wanted to thank all the people who have sent me mail, and who have commented on and stopped by the blog.

If all has gone according to plan, this will be the first year when I have posted every day - we'll see if that continues in 2017.

And as it is the last day in December, here's a flashback to an animated version of one of my favorites in 2015 that I recently found.

Winter exchange to Amy and Maggie

Envelopes 762 and 764

And another animated December stamp that I didn't see last year.

Trifold

A wonderful piece folded on three for mailing.

And an animated December stamp I missed last year.

Envelopes 756 and 759

To Patricia and Richard

Plus a bonus animated December stamp I didn't find until late this year.

White

Great envelope from Eric, with a beautiful stamp.

And I just found some more of the animated 2015 December stamps... here's the first of them.

Happy Boxing Day

For those of you in the UK and those parts of the Commonwealth who celebrate it. 

Envelope 729 to Bridget - throw another shrimp on the barbie!

(Lack of) blog Christmas advent

Last year I ran an advent on the blog during the lead up to Christmas, showcasing some favorite mail sent and received.

This year I have had no time, however last year on Christmas Day I featured one of the most outstanding pieces from the previous 12 months, so I thought I would share my favorite from this year's mail.

And coincidentally, it is the same mail I showed last Christmas - Heleen's marvelous puffin, accompanied by two of the December stamps I love.  Thanks again.

And Merry Christmas, everyone.

Christmas Day Sunday Stamps

Today's theme is religious Christmas stamps, and Bridget sent me this lovely first day of issue postcard from Australia. I love the clean, stylized design of this stamp.

For more links to religious Christmas stamps, head over to Sunday Stamps.

Hope you get something you like tomorrow...

Last year the front cover of the Christmas Eve USPS Postal Bulletin had an amusing cover.

Merry Christmas Eve! And if you don't celebrate, have a peaceful day today and tomorrow.

Winter exchange envelope to Jean

I love the Sarah Vaughn stamp with this Rothko calendar page envelope (number 827).

Thanks for running all the exchanges this year, Jean. And for your great blog.

Blue and silver Christmas

From Katerina.

Winter exchange from Eric

Plus a bonus collage - thank you!

Christmassy envelopes to Eva

Paper bag envelope 751, with my favorite seasonal stamps this year, Songbirds in Snow.

And catalog envelope 614, with ornament stamps from a few years ago.

Eric Mondays part 33 - the missing 50

Eric may be the only one keeping count, but one of the fifty fifties never arrived.

It was one of the pictorial postmarks, and this is what was supposed to be stamped on the envelope, which had some of the circus poster stamps on it.

It never arrived at Eric's, and it has not been returned. I suppose 49/50 isn't a bad average.

Secular Christmas Sunday Stamp from Stripygoose

This Royal Mail stamp on an envelope from stripygoose is one of the set that celebrates traditional holiday activities.

The yellow one scans well, but looks a bit insipid in person. My favorite from the set is the snowman on the 2nd class stamp.

And here are the other two birds stripygoose sent ;)

Lisa joins the spontaneous mail club

A spontaneous great envelope, made from a book page, from Lisa.

Holiday Ornaments

Great holiday envelope from Hester.

What is it?

It's a giant banana.

Banana mail from Carina

The bananas continue to arrive.

Winter exchange from Maggie

Beautiful calligraphy from Maggie, with a lovely flourished string of lights in the shape of a tree.

Eric Mondays part 32 - Fifty!

This was the fiftieth fifty I sent to Eric.

Fast Food

A carryout bag from Piada was big enough for two sturdy envelopes (numbers 828 and 829) for Eric and Eva.

Winter exchange from Amy (updated for Sunday Stamps).

This is a really cool idea for an envelope.

Updated for Sunday Stamps, where the theme is mountains (thanks for the hint, VioletSky!).

This stamp features a long exposure photo of the night sky over Mount Rainier, in the eponymous National Park which is in the US state of Washington.

For more links to mountainous postage, go to Sunday Stamps.

Carroll mail!

Carroll sent me this nice envelope...

...with great rubber stamping on the back...

...and a steal-worthy way to write a note, which was attached to the back of this card.

And to my surprise, she added to a sheet I sent her a while back - I had forgotten all about it. She turned this...

...into this. 

I guess it is my turn again.

Winter exchange from Jean

I love this one - Jean played around with the Potbelly bag and a different way to spell and position FinnBadger. 

I am not personally a fan of their sandwiches, so I didn't know they had such cool bags.

Brazilian Banana from Ana

Ana's giant envelope arrived - it was a little bit too big for the scanner!

And inside, a limited edition banana print made with a printer running low on ink.

Sugar skull to Brooke.

Eric Mondays part 31 - a walk along the pier

Another 50 post mark for Eric.

Wild Animals on Sunday Stamps

I received these vintage wildlife conservation stamps (issued in 1972) on mail art sent by JAD.

For more wild postage animals, head to Sunday Stamps.

Two days of Brooke - the collage

A wonderful collage from Brooke.

Two days of Brooke - the envelope

A beautiful painted envelope from Brooke, with vintage stamps. The paint gives it a wonderful, cool, texture. A pity the sorting machine attacked one, and a postal worker's grease pencil nailed them all.

December stamps

Helen sent this in September, but since it features two more of my favorite December stamps, I saved it for today.

And a reminder of that fantastic set, this stamp is titled 'First Snow'.