2016: a year of great (space) stamps

I am extremely excited for the U.S. Postal Service stamp releases this year. There are some great stamps coming! Space and planets are a major theme, and there are three planetary releases: Views of our Planets, Pluto--Explored!, and The Moon global forever stamp. This article has more info about all three issues. I think the "Views of our Planets" stamps look particularly gorgeous and I can't wait to get my hands on them. Word on the street is that these will be released at the World Stamp Show in NYC somewhere between late May and early June.



Continuing the "space" theme, shown above are the stamps that so many of us are really geeking out about: Star Trek stamps! These stamps commemorate the 50th anniversary of the iconic TV show's premiere, and though I don't know the exact release date, it looks to be somewhere in the second half of the year. I'll have to get my eyes on them in person before I pass judgment, but I admit I have reservations about the design. What's with the grainy look? Oh well. I shouldn't quibble about Star Trek stamps, because it is a very fabulous idea.



I'm also a big fan of all the stamp releases that feature musicians... but I'm over the moon (ha! Space pun!) about the upcoming Sarah Vaughan stamps. Jazz singers are always close to my heart - I sing a lot of jazz myself, and there's so much to learn from any singer's individual style - but "Sassy" is in a class by herself.



Sarah Vaughan is not only one of my favorite jazz singers, but she's the one who made me first fall in love with jazz vocals back when I was in high school (and, at the time, singing only classical music). Her style, technique, and artistry are unparalleled, and I can't wait to buy up a TON of these gorgeous stamps to use on my letters. They'll be released on Mach 29, so we don't have too much longer to wait. Design thoughts: again, I'll wait to hold the inked paper in my hands, but this design idea gets a thumbs up from me. I think the artwork is lovely, and I appreciate the decision to use an illustration (a painting?) instead of a photograph. This really captures the mood of her style and her immersion in the music. I love that her eyes are closed, though I know not everyone will agree on that point.

There are more great stamps than I could even share here, and I highly recommend a look at the 2016 stamp release preview to see them all... but I'll just mention that the Pets and Jack-O-Lanterns also look very promising.

And I haven't forgotten about my promise to do a blog post about my new stamp organization system, which is working quite well so far. I have an unexpected snow day today (blizzard in Boston! the first flakes just started falling here in NH at about 11am) so maybe I'll manage some photos and some work on that. But for now, enjoy the stamp preview!

Gorey galore-y

Here's some blog reader mail art from someone who shares my love of Edward Gorey! You can see the envelope below the card, which had some beautiful flower stamps on it.



And here's her hand-stamped card, featuring a moonlit extravaganza of frolicking Gorey characters - complete with bats! Yay. I love the Gorey bat. I have that stamp, too, but I probably don't use it often enough.



I broke out some Gorey stamps of my own for the envelope I sent back to her.

Midnight Rendezvous

One of my faithful blog readers sent me yet another gorgeous PaperNosh notecard. She sent me the first one last March, which I blogged about at the time, and this time she sent an extra card for me to use as well.



How apropo - it's a bat lady! This design is called Sorcière Femme d'allure Diabolique, "Midnight Rendezvous" (is that a direct translation? I think not).



The silver accents on the black envelope are the sender's own embellishment work, fitting bats around a cloudy moon.



Even the backs of these cards are lovely. The extra she sent was a joy to write on, though the price per card listed on the website puts them a bit too rich for my blood. It was a delightful special treat, though, and I feel so spoiled!

Dylan Thomas: Clown in the Moon

This gorgeous, moving postcard came to me from the man behind my REAL wall. It just blew me away. What poignant imagery combined with an incredible poem.



Here's the text of the poem. I hope you can read it through the postmark.



That's the info - the voting is closed but it's still an interesting project at BBC Poetry Season. And you can read more poems there.

Touchingly, the writer said that the link to Anysoldier.com on this blog inspired him to go there and send a package.

UK Stonehenge stamp postcard

This lovely UK postcard, showing the Stonehenge stamp with the phases of the moon, came to me from Sheila at A Postcard a Day. She didn't know this, but I love both the moon and Stonehenge (though I've never visited either, ha). I like the globe and ship motif, though I admit I'm not entirely sure what it represents.



On the back she included these fine UK stamps, including my favorite, the London Post c.1839.

Bats by the light of the moon

Another batty decorated envelope from a fellow bat aficionado, who is far more artistically capable than I. She has wonderful rubber stamps, especially of bats, and makes these beautiful art pieces of her envelopes and sometimes cards. Yay bats!