Happy PFF: Chinese stamps

Thank you to our hostess Beth at The Best Hearts are Crunchy for hosting Postcard Friendship Friday. Click on the link to see who else is playing!

Today I am sharing some stamps from China.  These came as part of a sheet and my Postcrossing friend included some of the artwork not actually worth money.  Isn't that neat?  The artwork is amazingly detailed!
A question for someone who knows: Are these peahens? Chinese pheasants?  Just wondering!

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!
Viridian

Russian stamps, and a possible meme??

These stamps were on a Postcrossing postcard from Russia.  I wish I could read the language and know more about these paintings.
I am attracted to miniature anything, and what is more perfect than stamps? A mini work of art, or a picture of another land.

I am thinking of starting a meme, say, "Sunday Stamps", where bloggers could share interesting, pretty, or rare stamps.  Would anyone out there be interested?  [voice echoing in the emptiness]

viridian (secret stamp accumulator)

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday - Stamps

Good day everyone, and welcome to Postcard Friendship Friday!


I am joining with Beth at The Best Hearts are Crunchy for PFF. Click on the links and see who else is joining the party.

As I have mentioned before, I am an avid member of Postcrossing.  The past two weeks I have gotten a variety of lovely postcards from all around the world.  Today I'd like to share with you some of the beautiful stamps from other countries.

Starting from the upper left, the stamps are from Russia, Bermuda Estonia, and Finland.  I really like the two Estonian stamps.

Such a little world of art in stamps!

Viridian

Cherry Blossom Time

This postcard arrived in my mailbox recently, from a Postcrosser from Osaka, Japan. She wrote that she was looking forward to cherry blossom time, which sounds very beautiful. How wonderful is it that she sent me a a delicate image, and added two stamps featuring cherry blossoms on the reverse?

Modifying my stamp rant a bit, could I do something like this with international air mail stamps? No. With domestic postage stamps? Maybe, if I buy Post Office products described in a previous post. Kelp Forest postcards, with added Kelp Forest or lighthouse stamps, for example.

Viridian

Postcard Friendship Friday

It's Postcard Friendship Friday. Beth is our new hostess at The Best Hearts are Crunchy. Marie is retiring as hostess. Thank you Marie, and God bless you.

Two weeks ago I ranted that the US postal system has boring stamps. Part of this my problem was that my local PO was often out of the 44 cent commemorative stamps. Well I'm ready to retract most (not all) of my rant. Yesterday the nice PO clerk alerted to me to the fact that I can order stamps through a catalog of sorts, or on line. I checked out the US Postal Service on line store, and I can order older commemorative stamps - including ones I've never seen! And who knew the USPS offered stamped postcards with art related to the stamp issue?

So, you can send a postcard with the beautiful Kelp forest art, and the stamp is preprinted on it. This is a lot nicer than the blank postcards with a printed stamp!

Philatelists may have been aware of this, but I sure wasn't.

What's the cost? All stamps are sold at face value. A booklet of 10 Kelp Forest postcards is $8.95, or 45 cents for the postcard, 44 cents for the postage. A Scenic landscapes booklet of 20 cards is $14.95, or about 46 cents for the postcard, 28 cents for the postage.

Not bad! OK then, what's the shipping and handling charge - $10.95 or something? No, S&H is ONE dollar for any size order, $3 for special orders (whatever that entails).

Edited to add: It's $1 shipping for stamps and pre-stamped postcards. The PO store sells other things like stamp collecting supplies, framed prints, etc. and there will be the typical shipping charge for these items.

Well, I'm off to order some more Chinese New Year stamps, some postcard booklets and the sheet of Abstract Expressionists stamps that was just released.... Look out Postcrossers!

But, there is still only one design for the international airmail 98 cent stamp.

viridian

PFF: greetings from China

I received a lovely postcard from the city of Shenyang the other day, as part of Postcrossing. It is from Xiuzeng, who wishes me Happy Spring.

It is a geological card, sure to make me happy! A spectacular landscape caused by extreme erosion. Towers of sedimentary material standing tall as the weaker rock has been eroded away. It reminds me a bit of Bryce Canyon, but with somewhat stronger rocks, and more vegetation.

Also note the lovely stamps. A regal lion, a landscape much like the one shown in the postcard, and a wonderful blossoming branch - perhaps almond or cherry blossoms.

I really think the USA has boring stamps - with some exceptions. There are varieties of stamps for first class domestic postage (now 44 cents as I write), but do you want a stamp for overseas airmail? There is only ONE issued stamp for 98 cents. No wonder many European postcrossers ask the Americans to look for different stamps.

I try: 2 44 cent stamps and and a 10 cent stamp. I've gone through the Simpsons, Gary Cooper, the Kelp Forest, classic TV shows, Chinese New Year, famous sailors. Now my post office has very little. I am using the Celebrate! and wedding rings stamps. Better than the forever stamp I suppose.

I hope Marie starts her meme this Friday!

viridian