The postman delivers mail to the Red Army

This fine postcard was another very pleasant surprise from Postcrossing, in the form of RU-1125795. According to the sender, it shows a photo entitled "The postman hands a letter to the Red Army," from a set of "victory mail" released by the Russian Post "for the day of victory in the great patriotic war." You know I love any imagery of mail and mail delivery, especially involving mail carriers, and views of postpeople from other countries and eras always fascinate me. Plus, he's got a great bike!



The sender, Yury, even included this awesome stamp showing Vologda lace.

5 (fabulous) new postcard designs

Zesty French postman postcard

I am ever so excited to announce that I've finally finished FIVE new postcard designs in my etsy shop. I am really happy with these new designs, and and eager to share them with you all now.

First, we have the Zesty French postman postcard. This charming vintage-style French postman will bring zest to any mailbox he visits! Meta mail, anyone? He's got a bag full of letters - and he's offering a wax-sealed letter to you! Vintage-style French postage and a French mailbox grace the top of the design above the quote. The quote reads: "As long as there are postmen, life will have zest. - William James"

Unanswered correspondence: Do it Now! postcard

A lovely vintage graphic of a woman writing letters with a dip pen graces this stylish postcard. Her mail sorter is labeled "UNANSWERED CORRESPONDENCE" and the text at the top encourages "DO IT NOW!" I get inspired to write just by looking at this. Doesn't it just make you want to pick up a pen and send some mail? Hopefully it will inspire anyone to whom you send it to do the same.

Swallow's Garden Air Mail postcard

The colors on this one are even brighter in real life, if you can believe it... I think of this as almost Victorian day-glo. This design features a vintage graphics collage with a graceful flying swallow. The lovely bird bears an air mail banner, flying high above its day-glo lakeside garden, with an envelope gracing the corner - what's a mail enthusiast not to love about this postcard set?

WRITE: a letter is better postcard

This postcard can serve as encouragement, or a gentle reminder - put pen to paper (or postcard) and WRITE! An altered vintage postcard graphic featuring artwork with a letter writer dipping a feather quill pen into a bottle of ink, plus a dripping dip pen, the quote reads:
"WRITE
No news is good news,
but a letter is better."

Letterbird postcard set

Last but not least, a matching Letterbird postcard to coordinate with my existing Letterbird sticker seals.

Via airmail, via letterbird - par avian, anyone? This vintage-style swallow brings a new twist to airmail as it carries an envelope in its beak - and the envelope in its beak is sealed with red sealing wax and a sprig of flowers. The swallow is swishing through a blue sky with clouds, as I sometimes fancifully imagine my letters flying on their journeys... the bird presenting the envelope in its beak captures the excitement of the letter it seals.

I hope you all love these images as much as I do... and if you really love them, consider visiting my etsy shop and picking up some for yourself.

Zesty French postman postcard

Unanswered correspondence: Do it Now! postcard

WRITE: No news is good news, but a letter is better postcard

Letterbird postcard set

Swallow's Garden Air Mail postcard

If you want a variety, I also sell Combo packs of 5 postcards, and you can choose any combination of designs you like.

Have a great mail weekend, everyone!

Pony Express postcard by Rifle Paper Co.

I just received this adorable postcard today, from Carla of 365 letters blog. Squee! Love the cute pony express postman riding through a forest. Probably not terribly historically accurate to what the pony express was really like, but hey, it's so CUTE! The postcard is made by the Rifle Paper Co. but I've just been all over their website and can't spot it anywhere on the site. Can you?

Edit: Thanks to blog reader and letter blogger Anne of Letter Love for spotting these postcards on the Paper Source website.

Good mail day - thanks, Carla!

Postman sticker: we have a winner!

We have a winner!



Thanks so much to everyone who rang in on my request for feedback on two different Postman sticker designs. I heard from folks in blog comments, on Twitter, on Flickr, and in personal emails, and I appreciate everyone's opinions.



Formerly known as "Design 2," the guy without the obvious text was the very big winner, and he's now for sale in my etsy shop:

Postman stickers, set of 8


For those two of you who preferred the version with text, and the few kind souls who liked both, I may sell them separately soon, and I will definitely put together a combo pack because I have a couple of other random sizes floating around, too. You were all so helpful in making this decision, especially the suggestion of the combo pack, which honestly would never have occurred to me.

So now my sticker selection includes two options:

Postman stickers, set of 8
To Get a Letter, Write a Letter stickers, set of 8

I would never have even started selling stickers without feedback from readers and etsy customers (many of whom got "preview" versions of the stickers as freebie extras with orders, before I was ready to sell them), so thank you, thank you again!
Now, it's time to go write a letter...

Postman sticker design: which do you prefer?

Dear blog readers, I need your help! I have two different designs of new postman stickers I will soon be selling in my etsy shop, and I really need feedback on which design folks prefer.



Above is design 1. It is a longer shot of the postman, and shows only his torso and includes the ornate "Postman" script in red on the top.



And here we have design 2. It is a closer crop on our friendly postman, but no words.



Incidentally, both are exactly the same size, though one of them has the stickers set a little closer together. Don't let that sway your decision - I'm only lookin for which sticker design people like better. Would you comment or convo me on etsy and let me know which design you prefer? Thanks in advance for your feedback, I really appreciate it!

Slow owl post from the Philippines

I exchange postcards occasionally with The Archer in the Philippines, but it ends up being very occasionally, as her postcards arrive incredibly slowly. I don't know which end has the sluggishness, but it's often rather amazing. I had one sent in August arrive in October, and this lovely Philippine owl sent in December arrived in March!



Check out these incredible stamps, though - I am in love with the cartoon mailman!

Telegraphic message

Another gem from the trusty LWA headmistress in Chicago.



I think the envelope was made of a topographic map. The green sparkly star stickers contrast nicely with the postman in the corner.



Incidentally, I am SO taken with this postman. He made me squee. It is a cutout, but did it come from a rubber stamp? I would love to know.



More vintage squee-able goodness: the first page was typed on an official "telegraphic message" form. CONFIDENTIAL!



I got a chuckle out of the "return letter overdue" classification. Official business, US Government, March 15, 1957. Love it!

Vintage postal atoms for peace

One good red deserves another. In response to the letter I featured in yesterday's Raise the red lantern blog post, I wrote on vintage Hallmark Muppet stationery, which includes these bright red envelopes.

And I used some of my favorite vintage meta postal stamps:



I love the Universal Postal Congress old mail truck image, and I adore the 70s-feel U.S. Postal Service stamps with their pictures of mail on its journey, but how can you beat the atoms for peace stamp?