Whatever it is, NO.

Envelope 458 originated from a calendar, with the caption: "Whatever it is, NO!"

I sent this earlier in the year and saved the post for now because I sent Monsenhor enVide this postcard inside as a response to his mail in 2015:

The postcard was one of Missive Maven's bonus cards I mentioned in this post. Thanks so much!

Ides of Postcards

One of the bonus postcards Missive Maven kindly sent me was this one I mailed to John E.

A postcard sent to me by Doris, host of the MMSA stencil swap. This is a painting by Hugh Barnden called Yellow Light.

Minimalist card from Keith C.

John sent me the Cathedral at Wells.

Eva sent a postcard showing the beautiful castle at Peníscola.

And it came with a special bonus - a stamp which also shows the same place! Along with a few more bonus stamps. 

Brown paper envelopes to Missive Maven and Edelweiss Post

A written thank you to Patrick from Edelweiss Post in envelope 727. 

I also ordered an item from Missive Maven's Etsy store recently, and she sent me a few bonus items. I'll be sending them out over the course of the year, so I won't show them yet. 

In the meantime, MM and her photogenic cats Oberon and Stella were recipients of a mice envelope.

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Completely off topic, yet still related, I made a dodecahedron calendar out of leftover mice paper after reading one of Candy's blog posts.

Here's how mine turned out:

Envelopes 228 & 229 - lights

To Missive Maven & Karen I

Bonus postcards & bonus link

I received this one from MissiveMaven... I couldn't wait until October to post this one, so how about a little Halloween received in January and blogged in February!

And some fun washi tape and sticker action on the back. Great stamp, too, celebrating the bicentennial of the Library of Congress (a stunning building, well worth a visit).

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One from Karen. the outer layer is a transparency of some kind - very cool in person.

And some great vintage stamps.

From Honi C.

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A happy new year from Liberty.

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Nancylee sent this pretty winterscape. Hey, that could be the post office's next 'scape' set, to go with cloudscapes and earthscapes. 

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A bright collage from Jazzie.

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The scan isn't going to do this one justice at all.

Julie created this postcard using five different fabrics, then used a sewing machine to make neat edges. I wouldn't even know how to turn a sewing machine on!

She used the Nevada statehood stamp to complete the theme. 

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Another one from Honi C

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'Stolen page 176'. The flower Hester added to this page makes me think of a strelitzia

Hester used a great Alexander Calder stamp to send this one - even more fitting as the year of the Horse draws to a close.

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Bright orange and fuschia bicycles from Rose.

More color to cheer up a dreary February from Terrie.

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Bonus link to two articles from the designer of the upcoming Summer Harvest stamps, Michael Doret. I think the design of these is great. I wish it had included a couple of the originals - the lemon and pineapple ones in particular.

The first design series, ultimately rejected in 2002.

The redesigned series, currently scheduled for release in June. 

Halloween sneak preview

Along with Jean, Missive Maven is one of the earliest blogs that had me hooked back on sending out more interesting mail.

And MM loves Halloween, so i thought these zombies were perfect.

The Batman stamp has great colors here (and what would Halloween be without a few superheroes?)

Here's the back.

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Jean's wrought iron lettering works really well for Halloween envelopes. 

With Batman stamp.

And with Johnny Cash.

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And speaking of superheroes, here's a postage label I hadn't seen before:

Check back tomorrow for a extra Halloween tricks & treats throughout the day.

BBC and MissiveMaven articles on the allure of sending mail

The BBC recently had an article about mailing letters.

MissiveMaven also blogged about the same article.

And if you look at an earlier post on MM's blog, she has reblogged a neat graphic showing some of the new postal rates for USPS.