Eclipse pictorial postmarks

I sent eclipse mail for the August envelope exchange, as well as to many of my mail art friends.

Here's my envelope to Jean before posting.

And I made use of the many special postmarks available for what was, in my opinion, the best 2 minutes of 2017, and chose 3 of my favorites. They seem to have arrived at their destinations by now.

Eva blogged hers...

So did Eric...

As well as Heleen, who showed this over at IUOMA.

Thanks for the nice blog posts and comments everyone, I had fun putting this set together.

The final Eric Monday - part 42 - to the moon and back! Now with added frogs!!

The final 50 that I sent to Eric was a special postmark celebrating 50 years since the Apollo mission. I wanted to send Eric the rest of the planets of the solar system.

From his blog:

And Eric sent a very nice thank you, with a personal postage stamp featuring 50 frogs.

Eric Mondays part 41 - USS Guardfish

This is the third submarine to turn 50 in the same year that Eric turns 50.

Image from his blog:

Eric Mondays part 40 - the second sub

Another pictorial postmark celebrating a 50th anniversary for Eric. This image is from his blog.

Eric Mondays part 39 - Happy Halloween

Another 50 pictorial postmark for Eric. The image is from his blog.

Only 267 days until Halloween... you've been warned.

Eric Mondays part 38 (on Sunday) - (Outer) Space, the Final Frontier

Yes, Eric and Star Trek turned 50 together.

Here's the pictorial postmark from Eric's blog. I really like how this one turned out.

The Star Trek stamps have come in for some criticism as being too abstract, however I love them. Apparently they may owe some of their look to this set of posters by Juan Ortiz.

For more Outer Space on Sunday Stamps check the links here.

Eric Mondays part 37 - a misadventure

And a missed postmark.

Either I mixed the dates up, or they were incorrect on the web. Either way, this is what happened:

Sent back to me, with a nice note. This is what the cancellation would have looked like.

I sent them back to Eric in this envelope made from a folder he had sent me.

__________________________________________

Postal update: Forever stamps went up to 49c yesterday. Fortunately postcards and international rates stay the same.

Letters up to 2 oz cost 70c, and those up to 3 oz are 91c. 

Eric Mondays part 36 - The Ladies Auxilary

I decided to continue keeping a look out for any relevant pictorial postmarks for Eric's fifty call.

From Eric's blog, the result:

I am still not sure on the spelling of 'auxilary' on the postmark? A typo, or just a variant spelling?

Eric Mondays part 35 - the 50th state

When I sent Eric 50 states on postcards, I mailed them with the 50 state flag stamps. Or so I thought. I left off the Wyoming state flag by mistake.

A pictorial postmark from Yellowstone National Park allowed me to correct my error.

Here's the final product shown on Eric's website.

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.

Eric Mondays part 31 - a walk along the pier

Another 50 post mark for Eric.

A pictorial postmark misadventure

I've had some great successes with pictorial postmarks, however this latest one didn't work out as I intended. I addressed the envelopes correctly, expecting this postmark to be applied:

Instead, as seen on Heleen's and Eva's blogs, this is what happened:

So I hope the other people who received those aren't scratching their heads too much! The stamps I used were intended to match up with the postmark. At least I'm guessing the recipients don't get envelopes from Puerto Rico very often.

Eric Mondays - part (3.)14 - Pi Day

With the US system of writing the month before the date, there is a Pi day every year on March 14th.

I took the opportunity to obtain a special Pi day cancellation for this envelope.

Here's the version that reached Eric.

I also sent one to Eva (without the 50).

Eric Mondays - part 4

Another pictorial postmark this week. Eric and the US Department of Transport turn 50 together this year. 

Eric Mondays - part 3

I was looking for various ways to contribute to Eric's 50 theme, and noticed that some organizations celebrate their 50th anniversary with special pictorial postmarks.

The first one was the Highland County Historical Society, located in Hillsboro, Ohio. At the time I didn't notice the date was 2015, but it certainly made for a nice giant sized 50 on the envelope.