Monday, May 25, 2015

Krtek the Mole postcard

Krtek the mole #Postcard - artwork by Zdenek Miler via #postcrossing

I recently received this great Krtek the Mole postcard from the Czech Republic, CZ-597292 via Postcrossing. I have received a few of these throughout the years, and love the children's illustration by Zdeněk Miler. I don't know much about it, other than it was a much-beloved Czech animated show for many decades -- I just think the artwork is very cute and makes a lovely postcard.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

U.S. Postcard stamp rate increase to 35 cents on May 31

Well, this came out of nowhere (I do pay attention to these things!):

The postcard stamp rate for domestic postcards in the USA will increase from 34 cents to 35 cents on May 31, 2015.

Thank you, Letter Writers Alliance, for alerting me to this surprise change! Read all about it on the LWA blog. Essentially only metered mail (and eww, ick, who uses that for fun mail?) and postcard stamps will increase in price. I searched for new 35-cent postcard stamps but haven't found any yet, so I sense this change went through pretty quickly. Well, add on some 1-cent stamps to those USA postcards, and cross your fingers that the new postcard stamp design will be as awesome as the current hummingbirds.

UPDATE: thanks so much to FinnBadger for alerting me to some more information about the new stamps: New US stamps planned for new rates. Very interesting concept: postcard stamps will now be "Forever" at the postcard rate, as will additional ounce stamps. I am still undecided as to how I feel about this. Thoughts, anyone?

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

A good mail weekend

Outgoing mail, 11 May 2015

I've had a lot of other stuff going on in my life lately, and I haven't been spending as much time on mail as I'd like... but this weekend, especially Sunday, I got back into it and wrote a bunch of letters and postcards. It felt wonderful to immerse myself in mail all day long again!

There are changes afoot, and I will share the news in due time... but for now, I will say I am thankful for the wonderful world of mail as a longtime hobby and passion that has sustained me through many circumstances and changes.

Happy mailing, everyone!