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!

Space-age hip Shag postcard

I mailed this fine Shag (aka Josh Agle) postcard today to a Postcrosser in the USA. I've kvelled about my love of Shag's artwork many times in this blog. This comes from the Shag Postcard book made by Chronicle Books. I love their happy hip dancing. They make it look like jamming out in spacesuits is a lot of fun.

Blastoff

This is one of my favorite envelopes I've made. Not sure why, I think I just love the old-school space-style illustration. Here we have two of the other recent Zazzle photo stamps I've ordered: Soda guarding a Curb your Dog postcard, and Magic yawning on a porch. Had to throw in a Skylab space stamp to complete the theme.



Mmm... starry.

Space: The Final Frontier

Here's another fine item from the Star Trek Postcard Box by Chronicle Books. I just love these things.

Herein begins my bumpier blogging... I'm on my work laptop, which has no Photoshop, so I'm experimenting with slapdash photo editing techniques. ARRRRRRGH. My apologies now for the clunkier photos for moment (and immediate future?) but I figure they're better than nothing.

Vintage stamp jamboree

Sorry it's grainy, it was low light. But in response to these fine stamps, I wanted to send a letter using only small-denomination stamps that covered the envelope.

I'm particularly fond of the Shakespeare stamp.

Frame of vintage stamps

A letter to my cousin, using a bunch of our grandpa's old stamps.

I guess it runs in the family to appreciate old things - my cousin digs the stamps as much as I do. So I try to use the extra-special ones on letters to him.

I don't know what the two-stamp space 5-cent stamps are really worth (more than face value for a sheet, I'd speculate), but I think they are deeply awesome.