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!

Feline inspiration

Wise words from a recent Postcrossing postcard: Be the person your cat thinks you are.

My 10-year Postcrossing Anniversary, and an etsy bargain

I write about Postcrossing a lot on this blog. (I recently received the lovely colorful cat illustration postcard shown above, DE-4784491, from Germany.) It's one of my favorite mail pastimes, and I've been Postcrossing far longer than I've had this blog. For a look through the years, you can check out all my posts tagged with Postcrossing. There are a ton of them.

I am really excited for an upcoming milestone: next month (March 2016) I will celebrate 10 years with Postcrossing. Wow! I wasn't active all the time -- there were definitely a few dormant years in there, and sometimes I send more than others -- but it is really fun to think about how long it's been in my life, and how many thousands of postcards I've exchanged. (As of this post, I've received 1599*, sent 1605, and have 16 traveling -- but those numbers are constantly changing!) I have lived in, and sent postcards from, 4 different states throughout my 10 years of Postcrossing participation.

To celebrate my 10-year anniversary, I'd like to offer a little unofficial discount in my etsy shop, where I sell, among other things, original designs of mail-themed postcards. If you order postcards in my shop, mention "Postcrossing" in the notes to seller section when you place your order, and I'll throw in an extra postcard . That's 6 postcards instead of 5, and I will do that for every postcard pack ordered (up to 5 postcard packs / extra postcards total). This offer is good from now through March 31, 2016.

Happy mailing, and happy Postcrossing!

*Update: a few hours after I originally wrote this post, I received Postcrossing postcard #1600. Woo-hoo!

Happy 10th birthday, Postcrossing!

Happy birthday, Postcrossing! I've been an enthusiastic Postcrossing participant for more than 9 years now -- almost the entire time Postcrossing has existed, and certainly longer than I've had this blog -- and it's enriched my life in more ways than I can say. Postcrossing is now 10 years old and I invite you to explore their birthday celebration, and if you've never checked out Postcrossing before but you're curious, I highly encourage you to take this opportunity to do so.

The photo above shows a postcard from Germany I recently received via Postcrossing. I often show the postcard image or the postage stamp in a blog post, and in this case both of them were fairly pedestrian, but wow - what a NEAT postmark! It shows the Bremen Town Musicians, a fairy tale that has made the German town of Bremen famous. It's certainly what I think of when I think of Bremen, and as soon as I saw this postmark I recognized the icon and the story. This is just another fine example of all the wonderful surprises that Postcrossing brings.

Krtek the Mole postcard

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.

Great stamps from China, with cat stamp

I received a wonderful thank-you letter from China recently, in response to US-3101799 that I sent on Postcrossing. The sender told me a truly beautiful pet story (in my Postcrossing profile, I ask for a beloved pet story if people are wondering what to write), which was heartwarming and sincere. He also sent me some great stickers from China, including some cute cat stickers like the one on the envlope -- and the postage stamps were a gift in and of themselves! Sometimes I get fairly boring stamps from China, but not this batch! Can you guess my favorite?



The cat!

Russian wild cat stamp: Pallas's Cat

This is clearly the season for me to receive amazing cat stamps from Postcrossing! This stamp came this week from Russia, riding on RU-3503703. I was so, so excited to receive this: I love any feline stamp, any time, but there is something really wild and compelling about this illustration. Also, alas - a lot of stamps from Russia are fairly boring, so this one really stood out.

I couldn't find out much about this stamp issue (anyone? anyone?), but I did find some basic information indicating it is from a Fauna of Russia: Wild Cats series, and this is Pallas's Cat, which is a fairly rare subspecies native to Central Asia. The photos make it look very similar to this stamp illustration: a very unusual-looking and very fluffy feline.



It is fitting, of course, that the postcard image itself was a fun cat illustration, too. Thank you, Katia from Russia!

Hey U.S. Postal Service: how about a wild cats of the USA stamp issue?

Spacecat: The Case of the Empty Envelope

I recently received this phenomenal handmade envelope from Allison Anne, a mail enthusiast with whom I connected via Twitter. We'd exchanged a couple of postcards, and she sent me a letter... but alas, I only received the envelope! It appears the letter fell out en route somehow.

The envelope is so spectacular that I had to share it with you. She tells the full story on her blog, and we both blame the tape used to seal the edges. It wasn't too sticky, and on one edge the tape had come unstuck, giving the letter an escape route as it was squeezed through the mail sorting machines... or so we surmise. (I had to secure it with transparent tape for this photo.)



I'm sure it was a spectacular letter - how could it not be, transported by such a space cat? - and I'm so sorry to miss it, but nevertheless, I am delighted by this excellent envelope.

Mike says I don't write often enough

Yesterday I received another great Postcrossing postcard, and laughed out loud at what Mike wrote. Turns out he was already a regular reader of my blog when he was assigned to send me a Postcrossing postcard, and he tells me I don't write blog posts often enough. I think he's right.

I'm trying! I have a goal of at least 5 posts per month. I failed in January, but I'll manage (and maybe exceed?) that for February.

On my Postcrossing profile, I invite senders to share a beloved pet story. I really enjoyed Mike's story about how their cat Tiger came into their lives.

Cat with cherry blossoms postcard

Here is another delgihtful Postcrossing surprise: a fantastic cat among cherry blossoms postcard from Japan. It is hard to appreciate the loveliness of this card in a photo, because the postcard has textures; some of the cherry blossoms are raised in a textured, hard-tissue-paper-like fashion, as is the chop seal near the bottom by the kitty, and some of the blossoms are gold foil. That doesn't show up so well in this photo, but you can get a better sense of it on the JP-640891 Postcrossing postcard page, where the sender uploaded the photo of the postcard before she sent it.



I don't usually post the backs of postcards, but this one was so adorable I had to share.

Behold:

• a Hello Kitty airmail stamp
• a drawing of her fluffy dog Moko
• cat, bird, and mushroom stickers
• cat washi tape

Yay Postcrossing surprises!

Missive Maven round-up: 2014 in review

Happy 2015, readers and letter writers! A lot of momentous stuff happened in Missive-Maven-land in 2014. I just had fun perusing through some old blog posts, and thought I'd share some of the year's highlights here. (The photo above shows some of the mail I wrote for the Letter Writers Alliance virtual social on December 13, which was an absolute blast!)



One of the most exciting events of 2014 was personal in our family, but I blogged about it a fair bit: the January 2014 publication of "Revolutionary," my best beloved Alex Myers' first novel. It is "a fascinating retelling of the story of America’s first female soldier, Deborah Samson Gannett, who ran away from home in 1782, successfully disguised herself as a man, and fought valiantly in the Revolutionary War." The novel does have a significant epistolary element, so it does fit into the letter-writing theme of my blog! After the release of the novel, Alex did quite a bit of speaking and book touring, and in a later blog post, I gave an update on some excellent press and thanked you all for your support. On another note, "Revolutionary" will be released in paperback later this month, on January 20, 2015.



There was much heartbreak in the summer of 2014, when we lost our deeply beloved 17-year-old cats, Soda and Magic, within roughly two weeks of each other.

In Memory of Soda: April 1997 - July 7, 2014

In Memory of Magic: March 1997 - July 25, 2014

The move from Rhode Island to DC was a very difficult one for them, but they lived good lives of joy and mostly good health, and I'm so thankful for all the years we shared.



We could not live without cats, and later that summer we adopted two kittens who we named Oberon and Stella. They brought us much joy in our grief, and it has been sweet beyond words to watch them grow up. The photo above was taken on New Year's Eve 2014, where Stella and Oberon and I spent a lot of time hanging out on the couch together. (Truthfully, Stella and Oberon spend a lot of time hanging out on the couch together in general, with or without me.) They are now 9 months old, but still very much acting like kittens!



And now back to more blog-appropriate news. I completed a project I'd been meaning to do for a long time: adding a page to my blog called Stationery Sources. I'm often asked where I buy my stationery, and this page lists links to all my favorite vendors, and each link has a little blurb about why I like their wares.



Another wonderful mail milestone in 2014: I finally went to a mail social! I wrote a huge blog post about The October Mail Social Club at the National Postal Museum, which took place on World Post Day! These Mail Social Club events are coordinated by Melissa of Craftgasm (pictured above, showing us how to make handmade envelopes), and she does a really fine job with these events. I hope to attend at least one more in 2015! If you are able to attend one of them, held monthly at the National Postal Museum, I highly recommend it.



Also in the department of "blog posts I meant to write for ages," I shared a post called Habits: How I keep my letter log, about my system for recording incoming and outgoing mail. That's one of my more popular posts, and I'm glad letter-writers have enjoyed reading it.



And finally, a round-up of some of my favorite posts of 2014:

Fabulous mail to kick off 2014

Legal tender sender

Postcard signed by Inge Löök

3D Dinosaur Stamp from South Africa

Essay by Alex Myers on Salon.com this week

Postcrossing stamp from Belarus

Meeting a pen pal + mobile Letterpress

Mozart stamp from the Czech Republic

October 11 is National Coming Out Day

Who's excited for Halloween?!?

Russian Rainbow Circus Stamp

Best Hanukkah Card EVER

Happy New Year, in a Russian winter postcard

One of my resolutions for 2015: more blog posts! My blogging was a bit more sparse than I'd like in 2014, and I hope to be more regular in 2015. Thanks to all my readers for your continued readership and comments, and Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, in a Russian winter postcard

What better way to say "Happy New Year" than with a postcard?

This lovely Russian postcard, Postcard RU-3269709, (the text reads "Happy New Year" in Russian) came to me via Postcrossing. It's a vintage reprint complete with a lovely ornate design on the back, and something about the snow-covered cottage by a lake really speaks to me. I feel the cozy, inward-turning of wintertime, but the yellow sunrise in the sky lights the promise of a new year. Hmm... am I feeling a little extra poetic-romantic today? Perhaps, but I wish all my blog readers a very Happy New Year as we move into 2015. An added bonus was the very sweet message on this card: it was the sender's first Postcrossing card, and she was quite excited about it. I am honored to be the recipient of her first card! She is sure to be an enthusiastic Postcrosser, and of course enthusiasm brings the most fun.



I've had some great Postcrossing adventures lately, with some wonderful cards received; above is one of my favorites, DE-3782357 from Germany, with a vintage illustration from 1890 of cats on a train. I don't know why this one delights me so much, but it does. Maybe because I like cats and trains both, and the cats on this train look so very civilized and serious, while also looking utterly ridiculous. (The cat illustrations from the late 1800s often share these traits.)

I also get a kick out of the fact that both these postcards I'm featuring today are vintage reproductions. Those seem to be very popular these days - and I certainly enjoy them myself!

Postcrossing stamp from Belarus

I am so delighted by all the countries worldwide that have started producing postage stamps themed to Postcrossing -- and even more delighted when I receive them!

The latest offering, shown above, is from Belarus, and I am a big fan. I like the cheery letters and bright graphics, and especially the "Happy Postcrossing" wish that so many Postcrossers share with each other on our postcards.

So far I've received other Postcrossing stamps from the Netherlands (which somehow I've never blogged about before!) and Finland... so far, the one from Belarus is my favorite!

Hmm... what do we have to do to get a Postcrossing stamp here in the USA? Something tells me that's not too likely, but perhaps I'm just a pessimist.

Bats and cats... and hands

I received this odd little gem via Postcrossing recently. The sender noted I liked both bats and cats - and oh, I do! I do! - and that I might be especially fond of them in combination. Indeed! This was RU-2324265 from Russia. Granted, they're not real cats or real bats, but I like the fanciful intersection of photography, craft, and illustration. And what's with the hands? I don't know, but I think they're kind of creepy cool.

This is why I keep on Postcrossing year after year (I've been Postcrossing for more than 7 years now) - all these fantastic little surprises in my mailbox.

Legal Tender Sender

I recently went to a party hosted by a new friend, who mentioned he's into letter writing and mail art. So of course I sent him a pretty fancy thank-you for the evening's fun (and I'm kicking myself that I didn't photograph it, because it was my first fine piece of my own mail art in 2014, but oh well), and he wrote back immediately with this creative offering. It's a letter on a two-dollar bill! I got one heck of a kick out of that fun idea. I've received a lot of letters on lots of different items, but this is my first time getting a letter written on currency. Cool.



He decorated the envelope quite nicely as well, with random little cut-out quotes. This was a literary sort of party, you see...



... and he included this lovely postcard. It looks to be original artwork, hand-drawn and painted, and I wonder if he did it himself. I'll have to ask him, in my response.

Fabulous mail to kick off 2014

Already 2014 is a fine mail year. I've spent a good chunk of my free time writing, and have received some spectacular mail in return.

Above, a handmade gocco postcard from the fabulous Carroll, whose mail art and artwork always just astounds me. This postcard is going up on my bulletin board right above my writing desk! Have a look at her own photo of this artwork, which she sketched from her ink storage shelf.



Next up, brilliant bat mail from Donovan of the Letter Writers Alliance. Wow, does she ever know me, and is she generous, or what? It's a light wooden bat ornament, which is probably also going to somehow fly from my writing desk bulletin board. It came beautifully and soundly packaged, and I was able to preserve that loveliness with some fancy fingerwork with my special craft knife, which I had to use to open it. I love mail challenges!



Finally, I have acquired a new pen pal. Normally my pen pal roster is closed, but the 3-year-old 4-and-a-half-year-old son of my dear first cousin wrote to me. He actually wrote me FIRST, out of the blue, and I haven't even seen this fine young fellow in more than a year. So of course I wrote back, and he's now written me a couple of times, most speedily - and he always mentions cats (which just wins me over even further). Here is one of his annotated illustrations from his latest missive.

And now... off to write some letters!

Finnish Postcrossing stamp

Here's another fine postage stamp I've received via Postcrossing: the new Finnish Postcrossing stamp! As far as I know, two three countries have an official Postcrossing stamp: the Netherlands, Finland, and (in a week) Belarus. I've gotten quite a few fine Dutch Postcrossing stamps (have I never blogged about these before??) but this is my first Finnish Postcrossing stamp. You can read more about them on the Postcrossing blog. Not sure what I think of the one with the mouth...

I think it would be wonderful if the USA would issue a Postcrossing stamp, but I somehow doubt that is very likely to happen.

Bats cheer me up

This week I got a lovely letter from S., a pen pal in Germany, and she drew this fantastic bat on the back of the envelope! I love how the bat is holding her return address label (which also has a bat on it). What a treat! This really cheered me up. S., I still need to write you back...

Thank you all for the good wishes on my broken thumb. I wish I could bring good news, but in fact it is healing very badly, so I am having surgery on it tomorrow in hopes that I can regain mobility in the joint. I had hoped the healing process would be well underway, but now with the upcoming surgery, I am looking at another two months in some kind of cast or splint, and a lot more fresh pain tomorrow. So please forgive me if I continue to lay low here, and on Twitter... I've got my hands full just trying to deal with this injury. Thank you all for your good wishes.

Meanwhile, everyone enjoy autumn (at least those of us in the northern hemisphere), and may you all get wonderful mail in general, and especially Halloween mail.

Postal Service is Public Service

So sorry to have been absent, dear blog readers... as before, I've been writing letters and living life (and exploring my great new city of Washington, DC!). I've been meaning to blog, and today's Postcrossing haul convinced me I simply had to blog right away!

Above, I received IN-65026, showing a "postman bike" from India. The caption reads "Prototype of a postman bike bearing the new logo of India Post and its slogan in Hindi: 'Dak Seva, Jan Seva' meaning Postal Service is Public Service." Hooray!



I also received the fabulous GB-456219, showing a wonderful Postman book cover. The sender was so enthusiastic that she sent me TWO postcards, and she's been a customer in the past in my etsy shop. Small world, eh? Certainly a small world of mail aficionados!



Finally, on a postcard from the Czech Republic, I received this wonderful postage stamp showing the work of Alphonse Mucha.

Happy mailing, everyone!

Japanese postcards tend to be awesome

I've gotten some truly delightful Postcrossing postcards from Japan lately! The postcard above is JP-383733, and the sender had noticed that I'd marked this design as a favorite but hadn't yet received it. I love the clean lines showing the evolution of Japanese mailboxes through the years, and the deep red color is rich and elegant.



Perhaps just as charming, though, is the fabulous collection of postage stamps! Some look vintage and some look more modern, but they're all different and all gorgeous. I wish I could read Japanese - that green one in the middle with the little icon that looks sort of like Mr. Zip must be mail-related, yes?



Here's another fine mail-related postcard, JP-382166, which is an illustration of various scenes of letter-writing. It has a vintage look and feel, but I think it's new.



However, the stamps the sender used look mighty vintage to me! I honestly don't know much about Japanese philately, and I can't tell by "look" whether or not a stamp is vintage, but I've seen more current Japanese stamps and they don't look like this. I love the variety and old scenes! Are there any Japanese stamp enthusiasts out there that can share some knowledge?

I know I spend a lot of characters praising Postcrossing on this blog, but it is joyous surprises like this that sustain my mail delight. It's so exciting to know that such lovely things may await me in my mailbox, who knows when!