Hello 2013!

Hello lovely readers and hello 2013!
Here we are at the beginning of a new year, and I can smell the fresh start.

And with the fresh start of the new calendar year comes a whole new look and feel to "I heart post." What do you think? I hope you like it! I have spent quite a while working on it to get to this stage, so I am very happy to launch the look with my first post of 2013.

I did a little course in CSS conducted by the clever Katrina at Pugly Pixel to work out how to refresh my look. Roll-over my widgets! Roll-over my widgets! Look how they change colour! I am pretty excited by that! So thank-you Katrina for teaching me such fancy tricks.

With the goal of revamping "I heat post" achieved (for the time being - it is undoubtedly a work-in-progress), and with the start of the new year, it is also time to think about new goals. So I have set a goal for myself. A serious goal.

And the goal is this (and people who know me well may snigger, as I never ever ever ever thought this phrase would come out of my mouth/keyboard):

♥ I want to do a 10km fun run this year!!*

Fun run - an oxymoron, I know!! But I have already signed up to do two 4km races and an 8km race in February/March - so I better get serious about achieving this goal, or it might be embarrassing. And now that I have put this goal out there on the world wide web, there is no escaping.

I also have a standard goal which I have re-hashed at the start of the past few years, and that is:
           ♥ read more books.
I read embarrassingly little last year, so this one shouldn't be hard to achieve.

And rounding out my list of goals, I would also like to:
            ♥ fix up my garden,
            ♥ make a meal from an actual recipe.

Okay, so I just made those last two up. Fixing up the garden has been on my to-do list for two months now, so maybe making it an official new years goal will actually see it happen. And just because I like to round things out, to get to goal number five, I used the 'New Year's Resolution Generator' and the result was:

I quite like that! This year I will aim to be more curious! I have no idea how I will measure that.

So thanks for spending time with "I heart post" once again. Please let me know what you think of the blog re-design** or if you have any tips on how I could be more curious. And please share your own goals for 2013 with me too - it will make me feel like less of a crazy-woman for wanting to do a 10km run!

Until next time, peeps,

Helen.

*And PS, I learnt how to do in-text hearts ♥ ♥ ♥ during my little CSS course, so watch out, they are going to be everywhere on this site, because I am a more than a little excited about them. I ♥ hearts.

**And PPS, I also made a new "About" page - check it out!

Nerds on Film

Hello blogosphere.
Today I am particularly thrilled about the awesomeness of the internet, excited by its connectivity and vastness. This warm and fuzzy love of cyberspace is in part due to the fact I had a film director (a film director!) contact me this week after he had found my corner of the internet. And he is making -- wait for it -- a film about stamp nerds. Yup! Crazy.

This is the preview for his film... you've got to check it out, because it is hilarious. And it goes a long way in proving that I am not the most stamp-nerdy stamp-nerd in the universe. Am not sure about the chick with the cleavage at the beginning of the preview, but I guess you gotta sell a film about collecting postage stamps somehow (I know not everyone loves post as much as I do).



I have to agree with the googly-eyed dude in the beginning who says "stamps define what a culture stands for, and once you start looking at that, it is really cool". Couldn't have said it better myself. Although I do think his googly-eyes add something to the profundity of his statement.

Anyhow, a film about hijinks in the stamp world. Sounds like a good time to me!! The film is due out in Spring 2013 (northern hemisphere, I assume), so I will keep you posted if I hear of more developments. I am a little excited - thanks for getting in touch Mark. Your film looks ace.

In other post news, I received my first Christmas card today from my friend Rach.  And speaking of nerds, the card came with a personalised Christmas stamp featuring Rach's cat, who is lovingly called 'whingey'.

If you think Whingey looks pretty cute, you may wish to look her up on twitter. I believe she has her own account. I am so not a cat person, and from my perspective, Rach saw my nerdy and raised it to a whole new level when she decided to personalise her Christmas stamps with her cat (and lets not even get started on the twitter thing). But I love nerds (even if I don't love cats) so full respect, Rach.

Her Christmas greetings came with a postscript: 'no pressure, but I think the Whingy stamp should feature on your blog.'  Pressure aside Rach, I have never received a personalised postage stamp before, so I think it is definitely worthy of note. And the very lovely fact you sent me Christmas greetings the postal way also makes me very happy. It seems you love post as much as I do... but maybe we should all be a little worried about a future "I heart whingey" blog??

Gorgeous postcard from Fish

Thank-you internet world and real world for being awesome this week. Thank-you to the very intriguingly nicknamed Fish from Taiwan who recently sent me some gorgeous postcards from Laos (I promise I will write back this week) and to João from Brazil who offered to do a stamp swap. It is so nice to hear from everyone from all far-flung corners of the globe who have found my blog.

Peace out, post lovers.
xx H.

Lovely Letters

I have a confession to make. Sometimes I like purchasing things online, just so I get to look forward to a package in the mail. That's a little tragic, isn't it? Well, lately I haven't been such a postal lame-o.

Task #1, received. Cool Aloha stamps!

For the past few weeks I have been participating in a letter exchange organised by Kitty and Buck. The premise is simple: after signing up to the challenge you were matched with a partner and then every fortnight for eight weeks a letter-writing task would be set. Write four letters. Get four letters. Sounded pretty neat to me, so I signed up. I dutifully sent off my first three letters but hadn't received anything. And then this week they all turned up! Mail. What a simple and lovely pleasure.

Task #1, sent. Awesome letter-pressed aerogram by the Hungry Workshop.

Task # 1: Introduce yourself. Include a photo.
Well, my letter-writing partner is ladykayy and she sent me an awesome introductory letter.
It arrived on a rainy day though... so the letter got quite wet and a little warped.

Ladykayy sent me lots of photos of her home and neighbourhood, but also of Malta, a place clearly close to her heart. The photos she sent me turned really psychedelic after getting wet - don't they look wonderful? Like little mixed-media masterpieces!

I am not sure what I am going to do with these little piccies, but I feel like I should make some creative use of them, because they are so beautiful with their unintentional water-colour effect!

Task #2: Ask your partner 10 questions. Task #3: Send your partner a list of your 10 favourite things.

Task #2 and Task #3 both arrived together on Monday. Fun!

I love the Churchill stamp adorning Letter #2. I am surprised the postal staff didn't go postal when they saw a foreign stamp stuck on the envelope. The postal staff at my post office once went crazy when I was just trying to reuse a Swedish envelope.. they'd have a conniption if they saw a random foreign stamp on the envelope too!

The contents of ladykayy's letters were, true to the nature of challenge, quite lovely. One of the letters was written on sheet music! I liked that. The first letter had a packet of stamps in it! There was a postcard and stationary and stickers! (oh my!)

So thank-you Ladykayy for sending me some very lovely letters, and thank-you to Shell at Kitty and Buck for organising the exchange. It has been very fun. And I still have Task #4 to look forward to (so I don't have to resort to ebay just yet, to get my postal fix!).

Year of the Blog

Hello friends and welcome to the 50th edition of I heart post!! Can you believe it? Thank you all so much for your continued support and readership - I have so much fun putting this little blog of mine together.

For this milestone edition of I heart post, I am showcasing some of my all-time, number-one, absolute-favourite stamps. Yes, I know strictly speaking I am not allowed to have multiple all-time, number-one absolute favourite stamps... but you know how it is - how could I possibly restrict myself to just one favourite?

This stunning set of stamps represent the twelve year cycle of the Chinese zodiac, with two stamps issued each year between 1992 and 2003. I purchased from a market stall in Beijing in 2004 and I love them. I have always wanted to somehow frame or display them, but I haven't worked out how yet. And I love looking at them as a whole collection so here they all are, together:

Aren't they beautiful? All reds and greens and blacks, with striking calligraphy and stylised creatures? I love how individually they are all very different, yet together they all work in harmony. Each year one stamp featured the Chinese character for the relevant zodiac sign, and the other stamp featured a graphic depiction of the relevant zodiac animal.  Unfortunately my scanner does not do them justice.

So, it may take me a decade to get these beautiful stamps into a frame and onto my wall... but at least I have now shared them all with you, so that they can be properly appreciated! And after all, that is what I set out to do with this blog in the first place - share my collection.

Thanks so much for tuning into another edition of I heart post. I didn't know how best to celebrate notching up 50 blog-entries, but I hope that these Chinese zodiac stamps have done the trick.

I would love to hear any feedback that casual readers and avid observers (Hi Mum and Dad!) may have about how I could make this blog better. I am planning a redesign soon, but would love to hear any suggestions relating to content that you, my lovely readers, may have (Too much archaeology? Not enough pretty pictures? Too many FDCs? Not enough history?).

I am also posting this blog entry as part of Viridian's Sunday Stamps, which I always enjoy participating in: thanks Viridian!  Happy Sunday everyone!

Lovely Package Exchange

Oh, hello friends!!
Recently, following my new resolution to adhere to the motto of the Letter Writers Alliance, "plura scriptum epistola", I decided to sign up to participate in the Lovely Package Exchange organised by Danni at her Oh, Hello Friend: You Are Loved blog.

The lovely package I sent off. It was slightly more lovely once I added the full postage value with more nice stamps!

And on the flip side :)

My swap partner was collage artist and zine connoisseur Kelly who conveniently also lives in Melbourne. It was a very fun thing to do - to put together a lovely package, and then receive one in return. And funnily enough, we must have very similar tastes, because some of the things I included in my package to her, I received in return - namely, some lovely airmail envelopes and some stamps (ah, yes, Kelly must be a girl after my own heart).

So - this is what I sent Kelly. First off, I have been experimenting with collage myself a little lately. And since Kelly is into collage, I made her a card:

What do you think? I made it using some vintage National Geographics. And I was pretty pleased with the result. I quite like the three odd-bods at the beach.

Inside the package I included a variety of things, which I do hope she likes: some earrings, some stamps, some vintage postcards, some vintage buttons, some lovely material from the 1920s for crafting, and my favourite thing: a 1949 Atlas full of lovely colour maps and some pretty great black-and-white photos.

Then, in return, I had a tasty treat waiting in my mailbox tonight...

...And it was full of lots of goodies!

Gypsy the Cat was pretty interested in my little haul! 

Kelly sent my some very fun mt washi tape, a cute bird stamp, some vintage postcards, a notebook, some pencils in a cute pencil case, and my favourite of the lot, a gorgeous vintage knitting pattern:

It is full of lovely gloves, scarves and hats to knit! How fun!

Thanks so much to Danni for organising, and to Kelly for being a great swap partner. I am a big fan of a lovely package!!! Thanks ladies!

And if people are interested, another blogger I follow, Rin from Papered Thoughts has also blogged about her Lovely Package Exchange experience. Check it out!

Oh, there is so much fun to be had in the blogosphere - and I am even more excited when the blogosphere merges with actual reality in my mailbox!!