Postcards and Letters

woensdag 16 oktober 2013

Collecting Christmas stamps

Canada

The 1970 Christmas stamps, issued on October 7, 1970, featured twelve drawings submitted by children to a Canada Post Office national stamp design project.

The 1976 Christmas set of three stamps was issued on November 3, 1976

1982 (set of 3)

If you know more about these stamps please let me know.

dinsdag 15 oktober 2013

Collecting Christmas stamps

The Netherlands

December stamps 2002

(series of 20)

December stamps 2003

Apparently this is a stamp which reacts to warmth, the blue bar shows a fitting sentence when heated to 22°C. (I didn’t notice anything, but then again this is a ten year old stamp, series of 20)

December stamps 2009

You can look at the stamps in two different ways, the gifts also serve as windows through which you look into a house from outside. You, the viewer, can choose between gift or window.

(series of ten)

maandag 14 oktober 2013

Salty stamp from Slovenia

Zicht op Bled eiland

View on Bled island

A new issue in the Fauna series by Posta Slovenije shows four characteristic denizens of the Slovenian sea: Damselfish (Chromis chromis), Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), Common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) and Golden grey mullet (Liza aurata) stamp in miniature sheet.

The stamps were printed using a very special thermography technique, and Posta Slovenije is proud to be the first national postal service to issue stamps on which part of the design is covered with real salt from the Piranske Soline saltworks.

For my own collection

I went to a Postcrossing meeting in Ghent, and of course I couldn't resist to buy something small for my own collection.

Silly cat card

Op deze postzegel van België uit 1975 zien we ‘Madonna met Kind’. Dit prachtige werk van Michelangelo was bedoeld voor het Piccolomini altaar van de Dom van Siena. Maar het werd gekocht door de Brugse koopman Jan van Moeskroen en in 1514 aan de Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk in Bruggegeschonken. Franse en Duitse bezetters haalden het werk diverse malen weg, maar het werd steeds naar Brugge teruggehaald.

On this Belgian stamp from 1975 you see "Madonna with Child". This beautiful work by Michelangelo was meant for the Piccolomini altar of the Siena Cathedral. But it was bought by the Bruges merchant Jan van Moeskroen and donated in 1514 to the Church of Our Lady (Bruges). French and German occupiers took the artwork away several times, but it was always brought back to Bruges.

zondag 13 oktober 2013

Collecting Christmas stamps

I can fill several posts with stamps from Canada (and the USA) alone,

I'll make small posts, but with at least 8 stamps per post, to keep this

nice and interesting.

Canada

Left stamp: 2008 - Right stamp 2009

These stamps celebrating the Nativity feature phenomenal sculptures by renowned Italian-Canadian sculptor Antonio Caruso.

The international stamp features the Shepherd; the domestic stamp features the Madonna and Child; and the U.S. stamp features the Magi. The figures are arranged on the souvenir sheet as they appear in the crèche.

Toronto graphic designer Joe Gault explains, “When positioned side by side, they work together as a set and tell a story.” However, he notes, “The three stamps also vary considerably, each working as a unique artwork when applied to envelopes individually.” Last year’s Nativity stamp also appears on the souvenir sheet and first day cover, enhancing collectibility by bringing all four together as a set. (2009)