The rest of the incoming December exchange envelopes

One from Florence. I like the simplicity of this one, and the colors which go with the stamp.

One from Lynne - I love this idea for a modern take on a tree. Looks so cool, I need to remember this for next year.

Another clever tree, this time from Rehj.

Beautiful calligraphy from Karen. Karen always does such subtle, interesting things with her work. I love how she left off the 'rd' in 3rd, which would have interfered with the downstroke of the p.

An owl (from a calendar page) from Carroll, which came with a peace bird inside.

Vintage Christmas stamps from Amy S.

And last but not least, this one from Kate R.

It's been really great to receive so much beautiful mail over the holidays - thanks, everyone!

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Rehj has obviously been saving up her Christmas wreath global stamps - thanks for paying extra postage to get such a nice effect on the envelope. Which brings me to a bonus mini-rant today!

I buy most of my postage from usps.com as it is convenient and easier to browse than ask a busy postal clerk to browse through the filing cabinet of stamps for me. As of yesterday, there are currently NO Global Forever stamps available at the website. NO Christmas wreaths, NO multicolored oceans, nothing. I know a new issue is coming soon, but I think it is pretty bizarre to have so many options available for domestic postage, but none for international. 

Update 12 Feb: The new global stamps are finally available for preorder from USPS.com, with a 22 Feb release date.

December envelope exchange part 2

I had a few more envelopes made from brown paper grocery bags to go with Forever Love stamps, so I opted to send 10 out for the December exchange.

These are numbered 636, 637, 638, 639 and 651 to Florence, Carroll, Smash, Rachael and Karen.

Sunday Stamps - say it with flowers

These are the envelopes I sent out for Jean and Jan's June exchange. Don't be shocked, regular followers of this blog, there is hand-lettering ahead, so sit down if you feel faint.

I usually send out my hand-made envelopes for these exchanges, but this time I thought I would mix it up a bit. I prefer to take on an alphabet that is do-able, and one that is forgiving of mistakes and inconsistencies. I'd admired the cream letters that Chuck sent Jean and then Jean created some lovely envelopes, including this one she sent to me, which started out like this.

So I combined the letters from Chuck, the tree branches from Jean, and the Vintage Tulip stamps, which are my selection for today's Sunday Stamps. To see more flower-themed stamps click here. They were first issued in February as 70c stamps, then reissued last month as non-denominated 2 oz stamps (currently valued 71c). Based on drawings from engraved plates originally created by naturalist artist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), they are printed using the intaglio method, i.e. the engraved lines are slightly raised, giving the stamps a vintage feel themselves, as few modern stamps are printed like this in the US. The only other one I can recall is the $2 upside down Jenny.

Five envelopes are for the exchange, and three were bonus ones to Jean, Jean's Mom, and Eric. Perfect that non-machinable international (1.20+22c) = 2 x non-machinable domestic ;) And I thought the design warranted a red hand cancel from the post office, so this marks the third time I've requested this service - two clerks thought they looked great and were happy to oblige.

They are posted more or less in the order I addressed them, and even I can see there is a progression from thinner to thicker, and there is a lot of variation, but I think it still looks OK.

And the group shot. 

London Pub Collective

Mail Art Martha, MomKat (both of whom I already exchange mail art with), stripygoose, and Scott aka Positively Postal met up in a London Pub to create mail art earlier this year, and I was one of the lucky recipients (card arrived May 6).

Lots of stamps, birds, blue and yellow.

I wanted to create a linked set of mail art for them, hopefully by the time this post rolls around I will have created something and sent it out...

..mission accomplished! The imminent postage increase of May 31 was a good motivator. I created a set of four large envelopes from a promo poster for Brother Bear that Karen N sent me ages ago, a collective sending if you will. And the Send a Hello and Send a Smile stamps were perfect for this. I apologize for my photography skills - I could not get the stamps and envelopes in focus at the same time. And these guys were just a little bit too long to fit on the scanner without creasing them even more.

Inside everyone received a piece of hive mind. This is not quite how they ended up looking, as they were printed onto transparencies and glued to colored cardstock, but the final product doesn't scan well. Use your imagination :)

And a commemorative print on gold tissue paper.

Thanks so much for thinking of me, everyone.

Envelope 668 - waves

This envelope caught my eye when I was searching for envelopes for Marti.

The $1 patriotic waves stamp went so well with the sculpture (which should really be viewed horizontally).

Wilt & home decor

Karen N sent me a few sheets to turn into envelopes... this came from one of them.

Poets & Insults

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The English language is full of colorful insults dating back centuries - just look at Shakespeare for some creative comebacks. This set of three 20-year old envelopes (from an article on English usage, if I remember correctly) has a few of them.

Stamped with my three remaining poet stamps - I have no idea if any of them used any of these words, though.

Envelope 118 sent to Karen I.

Envelope 119 sent to Karen N.

Envelope 116 sent to Jean.

Jean's came with an interesting liner effect.

Karen's exchange part 3

The first two genius incoming envelopes from Karen and Smash made me smile.

Karen's:

and Smash's:

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Maggie's feather and bird are stunning.

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Joi's envelope is so elegant. The writing is in gold, so the scans do NOT do it justice.

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Garth sent this beautiful envelope - orange calligraphy matching the Western Tanager's head. 

And inside, more orange on the feet and beaks of Charley Harper's 'Passing Puffins'.

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Although Jonelle's 'send to' address is in the US, her envelope was posted in Sweden. An abstract landscape - right up my alley.

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And one from Julie wishing me a happy New Year. Certainly this has been a great year so far for mail!

Winter exchange part 1

A fun hotrod-related envelope from Jean.

And the second of the four different holiday franks, even though the envelope was handstamped. Hello, Hermey! 

And from a non-exchange card, Santa!

A very blurry Bumble. If I get a better one, I'll blog it as well.

And here's a Rudolph cancel that happened to coincide perfectly with a design on the envelope:

And the vending machine 'sticker' version:

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And fun script in two styles from Florence.

I also like the style she used on the return address for her own name - I'll have to give this a try, although I bet it is harder than it looks.

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This beauty is from Janet F. Perfect stamp and accompanying scene.

And then you flip it over and it is faux postage and stamp city! Love the year of the horse artistamp.

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Fun envelope from Wendy, including some fantastic vintage Christmas stamps. Does she know that diagonals on envelopes are a feature of mine?

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And one from Karen. The details that she took from the stamp and incorporated/extended onto the envelope, like the tree line in the distance, are amazing.

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A traditional beauty from Smash with vintage stamps. The silver and black script against the dark green background is striking.

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Marti sent this one - a great combination of things, including a vintage Christmas stamp and a contemporary one from a few years ago.

The back of this one is also fun.

And I received an envelope with this vending machine 'sticker' - a forever version of the stamp above.