Birthday Giveaway Time !

This week marks the beginning of my 33rd year of being. I feel that is something of an occasion, and just for the heck of it, I am going to try something radical and new...

I am going to do a giveaway!!

Yay!

Happy Birthday to my lovely blog readers.

As a little token of my appreciation for your continued support, I thought I would cook up a little tasty treat. And because it is my birthday, and because I love Royal Kitsch, that is what I have chosen for the theme.

The task is simple - leave a comment to enter (compulsory), and follow along on bloglovin or google friend connect for a bonus entry. And if you are already a follower - then no problemo, leave a comment and you will receive two entries.

The lucky prize winner will receive:

1) Charlie and Lady Di stamp pack (see above).

2) Five hand made envelopes featuring royals taken from vintage books purchased last year (see below).

3) A bundle of QEII stamps - use them as seals on the envelopes, as decorations, turn them into gift tags, make mini royal bunting from them... oh goodness, the options are endless. Just enjoy them!

I am going to draw the winner using random.org, and the competition will be open for 10 days.

Thanks for playing along. All the best from I heart post headquarters,

xx Helen

UPDATE: The winner has now been announced here: and it is Laura L. ... not because she was the first person to comment, but because that is who random.org chose! Thanks to all for participating!

Royal kitsch

Pieta, William and Clancy, Feb 2003

Eleanor Ferret (my youngest sister) gave me the above birthday card a couple of weeks ago and it is the inspiration for this post. She knows me very well, because this is about the best birthday card ever. So cheesy, so kitsch, so wrong - yet so right.

I have been a fan of Wills since I bought a calendar featuring ridiculous (read: very serious) portrait shots of him, circa 2002. It was total hipster irony before hipsters were even hipsters, let alone before they were ironic.

Ted, Wills and Sandy dining
al fresco under the hills hoist in
the backyard of 36B

That year Wills attended a party with me - it was a dress up party and you had to go as what you wanted to be in the future. I went as HRH Helen, with Wills (plucked from my calendar) as my beau.

He was then added to our dinner invite list - and these are a couple of photos of him enjoying a party in the good-old-days of "36B": our student share-house in Carnegie. The thoughtful person who hung William out to dry also put up a sign: "I shall NEVER marry a lady by the name of HELEN". At least my funny friends thought I was a lady. But how about that - they were right about him not marrying one.

In actual fact, my love of royal kitsch reaches beyond my student days - well beyond.

These Will stamps from my Mum and are from the same era as the calendar

I still remember that in my baby album there was a 50c commemorative coin from Charlie and Di's engagement. It always fascinated me when I was younger and flicking through the album. That little piece of royal kitsch was gifted to me as a baby just because the royal couple happened to marry in the year I was born - and it has had a lasting impact.

So, of course, within my stamp collection, which reflects so much about my life, there is a sub-section for royal kitsch.  But it is not just William who captures my imagination - the whole fairy tale turned nightmare of Charles and Diana mesmerises me - just like a train wreck might. What strange lives these royals must lead. And at this point I should probably disclose that I am a republican. So - see - this royal kitsch thing is 50% hipster irony, 50% actual delight.

The British stamp pack for Charlie and Di's Royal Wedding is brilliant. The photos are gorgeous. Diana is beautiful and oh, so young. This is the fairy tale stage. (And I love a fairy tale.)

The back of the stamp pack half opened out. And Diana in a sailor suit! Ah! The 80s!

The Australian stamp pack celebrating the wedding is a tad boring by comparison:

My collection is incomplete (aren't all collections); I still need to get the Wills and Kate stamp from their actual wedding. Although that still might be on my shopping list, very importantly I do have the William and Katherine paper dolls set, so I can cut out costumes and dress up the royal pair anytime I want. Ah - the simple pleasures in life!

Birthday Post

Last week it was my birthday, and not only did I receive post in my mailbox, I also received post as presents. It was a very lovely day. First of all, my gorgeous housemate Mel gave me a gorgeous little stamp album full of treasures that she picked up at the Camberwell Market. Thanks Mel!

We had fun leafing through and picking out our favourites over breakfast. Mel loved the German "Deutsche Bundespost" page of stamps. I agree that they are quite wonderful - the colours are so vibrant!

The pages of Canadian stamps were my pick of the bunch though. I love how higgeldy-piggeldy they are arranged, but together they just look beautiful. The colours are much more muted than the German stamps - but there is a stamp with a map on it - so the Canadian stamps win the race. There is also a stamp with mountain goats on it, and I can't go past that either.

The stamp album was my first tasty treat of the day. Then, when I arrived home from work, I had post in my mailbox! Yay! And my wonderful friend Sandy, who is living half a world away from me at the moment, sent me a parcel of post.

She found a random collection of postcards from c.1987 at an Edinburgh car boot sale for me! I love them. These two are my favourites:

They are all addressed to a Mr. Andrew Anderson, who apparently was known as "Nan" to his nearest and dearest, but as "Andy" to his boss. He lived on on Annandale Street on the "Top Flat Right" (is that a normal way of addressing something in Edinburgh? It is a bit quaint. I like it.) And in 1988 he had a girlfriend named Sarita. I love this little snapshot of a life.

Can anyone work out who signed this card? 

For my birthday I organised a casual get together at my favourite pub: the Post Office Hotel. I hadn't actually thought about the name until my sister noted that this current obsession I have with post is manifesting itself in all sorts of different ways! Everyone is noticing too - even my work friends made me a beautiful birthday card decorated with post.

So, whether it be because I am greedy after enjoying birthday post, or because I am becoming an obsessive, the latest addition to this blog is that I am moving back from the virtual into the real world and I have gained myself a mailing address.   You can contact I heart post at:

PO BOX 4102
GILBERTON VIC 3072
AUSTRALIA

Write to me and tell me about why you love David Bowie, what your superstitions are, your Mum's lasagne recipe or about the book you just read. You could even write to me about the weather. I don't mind. I just heart post, so I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear from you. You would make a girl's day.

And to all the lovely people who made my day by sending me messages and post on my birthday: thanks a bunch. I heart you even more than I heart post.