Fine Finnish stamps: Miau mail!

Gorgeous stamps from #Finland on a recent #postcrossing #postcard #Suomi #swan #reindeer #cat #received #showandmail #snailmail #gold #metallicgold #foreignpostage #postagestamp @postcrossinghq

A post shared by Missive Maven (ilona) (@missivemaven) on Jul 7, 2017 at 6:44am PDT

I received a Postcrossing postcard recently with these fine stamps - I had to take a video of the swan stamp to show off the metallic gold. It also included the adorable "miau mail" priority sticker, and a marvelous reindeer stamp, too.



Here's the front of the postcard, a lovely image of a Siberian cat. Thank you, Tiina, for this wonderful Postcrossing treat!

Moose braille stamp from Finland

I got a Postcrossing postcard yesterday from Finland, with this wonderful stamp. The moose in the forest is pretty awesome, but it also has raised dots on it that I assume are braille. It's hard to see them in this scan, but can you see the circle dot on the moose's snout and head, and the one at the edge of the tan circle to the left of its nose? Those are the dots. Very, very cool.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Finland has the coolest stamps.

Siamese Batcat!

This has to be one of the best Postcrossing postcards I've ever received. It's a Siamese Batcat! Wow. I was pretty amazed by this one, which came from Finland. The artist is Linda Peltola, and though I've perused her site and her Zazzle shop, I can't find this particular wonderful design.



It's so cool when someone reads your profile and sends you something really fantastic. I mean, we all know the Siamese Batcat would not be for everyone, but it certainly made my day!

Finnish funny vegetable stamps

I have fallen in love with Finland because of its mail enthusiasm. So many Finnish postcrossers, great love of and dedication to mail there... am I generalizing? Probably, but one cannot deny that Finland releases some incredibly cool stamps! This one came from the Funny vegetable series, a set of blank vegetable stamps that comes with little face stickers to be attached separately, so you can make faces on your stamps. What a sense of humor! I was delighted to see this one in my mailbox, on an envelope from a postcrosser. (Please forgive the little red wine stain there. I am dangerous around my own mail.)

Fairy stamp letter from Finland

This amazing letter came to me from the amazing and artistic Sirpa. She posted about the Finnish Fairy stamps when they first came out, and I and another blog reader kvelled over them so effusively that she made us both mail art envelopes incorporating these lovely stamps. I love how she has continued the artwork beyond the stamps. This photo doesn't do them justice - the stamps each contain a little bit of glitter in them!



On the back of the envelope she used an image of the stamps from a post booklet.

What a magical treat!

Postcrossing faith renewed: Rascal Grannies

Just when I start to lose faith in Postcrossing (get crappy, sloppy postcards where people don't write a message at all), I get something fantastic.

This is artwork by Inge Look, who has the most marvelous happy old ladies (I fancy that I shall be an old lady like this myself, and am probably well on the way now) having great fun.

This postcrosser wrote in a crystallized kind of English, of the sort I find so articulate from non-native English speakers (Lord, don't get me started on us Americans, who are so darn spoiled assuming the rest of the world just speaks our language):
"Snow and thereby real winter came to southern Finland before Christmas. Now weather prophet from village I was born has forecasted that brisk, freezing winter will not end before April. Apparently rascal grannies are jolly victims of winter. Herbs hanging above and kettle of hot water for breathing tincture that opens airways. Happy postcrossing and keep yourself warm!"

*Sigh* Mail bliss. I shall keep Postcrossing wholeheartedly...

Watercolor letter

Here's proof that a Postcrossing card can turn into a pen pal! I got this artist's address for a Postcrossing postcard back in August, and she wrote me back the most beautiful letter, which she watercolored! Here on the envelope, she painted the same flower that she used on the stamp. What a lovely theme!



Wow. So gorgeous. Watercolor stationery. I am verklempt.



I like the little dots on the back of the envelope.

She blogged about this letter on her own blog, and in fact she was inspired by this here blog to start her own mail blog! Her fine mail art blog is at sfimail.blogspot.com.

Finnish frolic and footwear

This giddy postcard came from a Postcrosser in Finland. I just love the dancing old ladies' mood. This has to be one of my favorite Postcrossing cards received.

Edit: The artwork on this postcard is by Inga Löök -- thanks for letting me know, PostMuse!



AND, it came with this really cool stamp! I don't wear high heels myself, but I love the ideal that shoes can make such groovy postage.