Unwanted

 Here's what you don't want to have arrive in the mail 10 days after you sent it to the UK. 

Given the state of sending mail overseas lately, highly doubtful it will arrive before Christmas - and probably not until 202, particulalry when the main post office was out of customs forms...

On the 'plus' side, I've never seen one of these labels before - a new postal addition to me.

I'll keep you updated on its travels!

Tracking

Hmmmm....

I don't *think* it went from Columbus to Kansas City in 2 hours. With a delivery date of today. 

And 'the item is currently in transit to the destination' is code for 'we have no idea where it is'.

Lithuanian postal additions

Postal additions on a returned letter sent to an incorrect business address in Lithuania.

An unexplained mail adventure

This postcard from Eva arrived yesterday, postmarked 21 January - so a journey that took 42 days - quite a long time from Spain.

The only clue to the adventure is the fact that it had 5 barcodes on it - so presumably it was misdirected a few times before finally showing up.

It will be interesting to see if the Olympic Games and Expo go ahead or not.

Happy 2020!

A is for Azafrán

Azafrán is Spanish for saffron, the subject of this very nice stamp sent on an envelope from Eva.

Here is the stamp on another envelope from Eva sent in 2017 that I really thought I had blogged, but I couldn't find it in the archive.

The interesting thing is that it is described as undeliverable, even though the address is correct and quite clear. You can also see someone must have put the yellow sticky paper on the envelope and then ran it through a machine, as the top part (including the word Nixie) is partly printed on the envelope.

Fortunately it made it back to Eva, who then sent it back to me.

Lucky for me, because I got to see all the fun mail creatures. 

What was your craziest mail misadventure that turned out well in the end?

From Rachael with thanks

A while ago I hosted an MMSA swap where participants were invited to make hand made envelopes.

Lots of lovely envelopes were turned in for the swap. You can click to see part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6 and part 7.

As the host it is a lot of fun to sift through the packages that arrive - often the sender includes something extra for the host (like this envelope I sent to Eva). You can see the stunning envelope Rachael sent in here.

Less fun is when a swapper doesn't receive their expected package. The envelopes were mailed out in early November 2017, and by November 21 Rachael still hadn't received hers.

Fortunately the swappers had very generously sent me extra envelopes, plus of course I have my own stash, so I sent a replacement set off to Rachael which she received December 6th.

And of course after I sent a replacement set of envelopes, the original packet arrived, with 4c postage due on December 26th. I am always very careful to go to the post office and weigh the packets to make sure they have the correct postage, so this surprised me. At least it made it about 6 weeks after it was sent!

So Rachael was extremely nice and sent me a few things inside this great envelope. Not sure why the stamp didn't fare so well.

 

Amongst other things (that may or may not show up on the blog at some point), Rachael included some very nice vintage stamps inside this mini-envelope.

So thank you for the thank you goodies, Rachael!

X is for Xmas in July

I'm not normally a fan of abbreviating Christmas to Xmas, however it allows me to have a bonus post for the current Sunday Stamps A-Z.

I bring you a tale of two Xmas cards that decided to have an adventure.

The first is from Fabienne. The polar bear stamp is wonderful, and the stained glass one is part of a set titled Structure and Light issued in 2016 by La Poste. They make a perfect pair for Xmas postage.

Posted December 18, it didn't arrive until January 29, with no signs as to why it took so long (usually mail from France arrives in 5-10 days). There were Xs inside, too.

The second late arrival had an adventure that is easier to figure out. Eric sent this on December 13. For some reason it ended up gaining a Macon, Georgia postmark December 23. I'm not quite sure why it went there, since it is clearly addressed.

It must have done the rounds in Macon, because it gained another postmark January 20, and it finally arrived here January 23. You can see that the IMB has been blacked out, so I assume at some point this poor envelope gained the incorrect barcode, which sent it around Macon a few times before finally being corrected and successfully being delivered more than a month late.

The stamp is actually a print at home Xmas label featuring a penguin, wishing me a Joyeux Noel.

Included with the card was this wonderful ATC oil similar colors. A very nice piece of work, Eric, I love that it has a nice feel to it - is it collaged? 

Eric and I seem to have had trouble with our holiday mail the last few years :) Maybe 2018 will be better.

This has been a bonus post for the letter X of Sunday Stamps.

International Migratory Bird Day

Stripygoose came up with the idea to send birds back and forth to be in transit or mailed on this day.

She sent me this fun bird.

And I sent her these birds in envelope 889.

And then I received what I assume was supposed to be a bird from Pam V, as she was on the list and there's one on the front. Sadly it was almost entirely eaten by a postal machine monster.

I sent her this bird-themed envelope in return.

Heleen sent me this wonderful cardinal in a bird envelope with a very cool chicken stamp (and matching the red, a December stamp from my favorite Dutch postage).

I sent her this chicken envelope.

Not part of the migration, but on the topic of birds in general and chickens in particular, this great envelope made from a year of the rooster calendar page, accompanied by beautifully matching stamps, arrived from Fabienne.

More chickens sent to her, too :)

Reconnecting via repetition & variation

Remember under M is for MMSA? Here is the missing repetition & variation swap postcard.

Turns out it was a) delivered to the sender, and b) the sender was Jan H, who I used to exchange mail art with, but haven't since 2014. So it arrived quite a bit later than the other three cards.

Jan sent the returned card to me in this awesome painted envelope.

And she included this intriguing piece titled Blur.

Great to 'see you in my mailbox' Jan, even if it was through a postal misadventure.

When was the last time you reconnected with someone through the mail? Did you initiate it, or did they?

A Christmas misadventure

I was surprised when a Christmas card I sent to Eric was returned. It was posted in December, and returned mid-February.

Looks like La Poste was having some issues, because this is the correct address for M. Bruth!

In the end I returned it in this envelope, using the lovely Oscar de la Renta stamps (which look even better in person).

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 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.

(Mostly) black cat

This one's from Eric - we both share a love of cats.

It had a postal misadventure and was delivered back to him. So he very kindly sent it back inside this envelope with a set of fantastic circus stamps. Thank you!

A postal (mis)adventure - hummingbirds for Sunday Stamps

I have classified this as a misadventure, although I am sure Eva would say it was just an adventure, since it all worked out in the end.

If you've been following the blog, you'll know that every now and again I'll come across a pictorial postmark that I like, or I think a recipient will like. 

So I was surprised earlier in the year when this showed up in the mail at the end of March:

Inside were the 3 envelopes I had included for postmarks that I sent at the beginning of February. For some odd reason they were mailed back to me. Quite an odd feeling to have the envelopes back in my hands weeks later!

Here are the postmarks on the Hummingbird 34c domestic postcard rate stamp, and also the 3 oz Flannery O'Connor stamp, which has the author flanked by peacock feathers.

Fortunately a postal clerk let me repost the letters once I explained what had happened, and the last one finally arrived in April. Quite an adventure.

For more links to birds on stamps, go to Sunday Stamps.

Painted airmail chevrons

Earlier in the year I blogged a few chevron envelopes I printed. They were inspired by designs that Alan B made. Fortunately for me he sent me one of them... and turns out he hand painted them using a stencil. Really cool. And Alan included a fantastic printed note.

You may/may not have noticed that there is something odd about the way the stamps are affixed. That's because this envelope had a misadventure.

Venus from Veebee

I posted the making faces MMSA postcards recently. Well, the one from Dorothea had its own adventure - it must have received the wrong barcode as it was delivered to Veebee in Texas!

Veebee very kindly sent it on to me in the wonderful Venus-themed envelope, complete with vintage stamp.

And even more fun on the back - a compass-shaped wax seal that traveled perfectly through the mail - with a nice big hint for the post office. Thank you!