Thursday 9 May 2013

Map stamps post!


Hello blog-world! It has been a little while and I have missed you! I have wanted to share this wonderful package that I received from  João in Brazil for ages - but it has taken me a little while to get my act into gear. First of all - let's appreciate the gorgeous envelope.


How cool is it that there is a special postmark that matches the stamps? Crazy cool!! It is sometimes hard to judge scale on these scanned images of stamps, but the animal stamps are lovely big square stamps. My favourite though, are the stamps the ones that refer to bookplates: the ex libris stamps.

Aren't these stamps wonderful?  They feature bookplates AND a world map. Two of my favourite things! Anyhow, if you think the outside of the envelope was cool... wait til you see what is inside!

I think I love little envelopes of stamps more than I love albums of stamps. I love the colours through the glassine paper of the envelopes, I love that the envelopes are mini, and I love that a little envelope of stamps makes you thumb through the stamps so that you can appreciate them in a more tactile way than if you have them stuck in the austere pages of an album.

Of course, traditional philatelists would be horrified at the thought of grubby oily hands on precious stamps, but I just can't resist the temptation of getting a little collection like this, from a little pocket, and spreading it over the table and admiring each individual stamp, picking them up one by one and examining them.

To do that in a blog sense, to spread the stamps from the above little pocket all over the desk and appreciate them one by one, I have scanned a sample for you to enjoy:



Fantastic collection of map stamps, right? And this is only a sample! Thankyou  João! I am still collecting a few little things to send to you in return.

This weekend in Melbourne it is probably the biggest weekend in philately circles for the year/decade... it is the World Stamp Expo 2013! So you know what I am going to be busy doing this weekend!! I will be sure to let you know how it goes.