My Fun World of Miniature Arts

我的第一次代办邮品-{联合国}6月3日日本和平钟50周年纪念

2011-05-17T21:07:00.001-04:00

MsYanWu Jan, 28 2006

在专题网上看别的邮友代办邮品看多了, 开始心痒痒的, 也想着自己代办一些邮品. 以前单纯的收藏邮票时, 基本上跟其他世界各地的邮友是没有什么交集的, 顶多也是在邮票店里碰到, 寒喧一下. 怪不得有人说过, 集邮是"a lonesome man's hobby". 这句话听起来有点道理, 虽然不一定赞同.
代办日记：6/03 纪念封, 白封已全部寄出!!! 代办过程还算顺利, 就是累了点, 呵呵, 因为卖邮票的柜台离盖戳的有点距离, 为了办得漂亮, 来来回回跑了很多次. 办的4个钟头里, 碰到无数个中国同胞寄明信片回大陆.......到联合国一游. 呵呵... 大家看到我一大堆封都很好奇的行注目礼哦!!

我问过了, 纪念邮戳跟日戳不能同时盖. 所以要求日戳的朋友, 我都是直接把信封放进邮筒里, 收到信封的朋友请传上来看看, 我自己也没看过噢. 纪念戳盖得非常的满意, 油墨很足, 邮局里的人盖得很仔细, 相信你们会喜欢的. 另外好消息....大家的地址都是手写... .......

2011 UN stamps program

2010-09-01T12:47:00.000-04:00

FDC of the day - Sweden: Rococo

2010-08-12T00:34:00.000-04:00

1979 Sweden - Rococo Movment

At the beginning of the 18th century, Sweden entered an age of social freedom that is most beautifully reflected in the arts. The stamps in this issue were designed to honor this flowering of a new Swedish culture. And what better way to begin than with an elegant pot-pourri pot which one held fragrant petals and herbs? Next the portrait by Johan Henrick Scheffel presents the serenity of an ageless woman in a style so life like, you almost expect her to move or speak. A swirled coffee pot reflects the fast moving times which introduced a brand new drink called coffee. And finally, the bust of Carl Johan Cronstedt, designer of the first Swedish tiled stove, show not a traditional hot but a beret like cap similar to those once worn during sauna baths.

FDC of the day - Australia: Regional Wildlife

2010-08-10T22:14:00.001-04:00

1983 Australia - Regional Wildlife

The comical Light-mantled Sooty Albatross, the stately Macquarie Island Shag, the elegant Royal Penguin, the graceful Antarctic Prion, and the massive Elephant Seal, are all natural wildlife that can be found on the remote Macquarie Island - a lonely stepping stone in the Southern Ocean, about half way between Australia and Antarctica. Macquarie island, which is actually part of Tasmania, is considered by many naturalists to be one of the world's most remarkable wildlife sanctuaries. In fact, since 1971, it has been a national park under the control of the Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service.

FDC of the day - Botswana: Traditional Artifacts

2010-08-09T23:47:00.000-04:00

１９８３　Botswana - Traditional Artifacts
Botswana is a landlocked African nation wedged between Rhodesia and the Republic of South Africa. The Kalahari sands drift across the country's great plateau and are cut only by tow large rivers, the Okavango and Kuando which branch to form a mighty inland delta. This FDC features four stamps from Botswana honoring the traditional artifacts of the tribal peoples.

The 7t stamp depicts beautifully decorated spoons whose designs are burnt into the wood.

Small segments of dried reeds are drilled and then strung on fibers to make the perosnal ornaments pictured on the 15t stamp.

The 35t stamp depicts an ox-hide milk bag known as a lekuka. This article is still made and used today by the tribal cultures.

Decorated knives are shown on the 50t stamp. The tribal men hung these ornate knives from a cord around their necks or from their waist.

Cover to Swap - UN One Planet

2010-07-27T12:43:00.008-04:00

On 6 May 2010, the United Nations Postal Administration issued six se-tenant mini-sheets of four stamps each (for a total of 24 commemorative stamps) on the theme "One Planet, One Ocean", on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the International Oceanographic Commission (IOC).

Just thought this is a pretty colorful or un colorful :P undersea s/s to trade for some of your covers. Contact me if interested. Hehe..

Sunday Funnies V

2010-07-17T13:24:00.000-04:00

Dennis the Menace

LOL - Dennis can be described as "that" trouble kid every parent would have to go through because the creator of Dennis the Menance draws the same inspirations from his family and of course, his son Dennis.

This wraps up our tour of the Sunday funnies stamp tour.

Sunday Funnies IV

2010-07-15T17:32:00.000-04:00

Garfield -------------------->>

Who doesn't know Garfield? That smart but fat and lazy orange cat who walks, eats and talks like human? Seriously, I think that Garfield's creator Jim Davis hates dogs.

Sunday Funnies III

2010-07-14T15:54:00.002-04:00

Archie ------------->>

All the girls love Archie. LOL. It's still running in newspapers and comic books I think. Archie is forever 17 years old and lives in Riverdale. He's a nice kid but just has had too many crashes over attractive girls.

Sunday Funnies II

2010-07-13T17:07:00.005-04:00

Calvin & Hobbes ------------->>

Calvin & Hobbes started its run in the newspapers in 1985. The strips are about a 6 year-old boy named Calvin, and his imaginative friend - a toy stuffed tiger which Calvin named Hobbes.

Some very interesting observations of world politics, right?

Sunday Funnies I

2010-07-12T15:09:00.008-04:00

Oh my god, this is cute. I can't wait for it to be released.

Although I never read some of the strips when they were still running on newspapers, but the drawings are just too adorable.

Beetle Bailey ---------------------------->>

Let's have some laughs with the first stamp featuring Beetle Bailey - which is a comic strip first published in the 1950s. The story revolves around a lazy and inept private name Beetle Bailey and his superior Sergeant Snorkel.

As you can see, Beetle has to answer for everyone since he has not done a roll call for so many days!!

Tomorrow, we will have some laughs from Calvin & Hobbes.

A flowery cover from Russia

2010-06-29T01:08:00.004-04:00

【作者: msyanwu】【2007年04月16日星期一 10:31】

俄國花朵實寄封欣賞

集邮其中一个最大的乐趣就是能通过四通八达的邮政系统和世界各国的集邮爱好者交流。最近新认识的一位俄国朋友寄来了这样一个实寄封。对俄国的历史，人民风俗实在不太了解。只是在历史学堂里稍微认识了一下皮特一世，凯莎琳大帝，列宁，斯大林，以及电影上的战争与和平，施瓦够医生。实在是贫乏。觉得，俄国人的信封总是色彩缤纷的，邮戳蛮好的，字很奇怪。前苏联跟中国是盟友，虽然后来闹了矛盾，不过在中国还是有遗留下来的影响力，好多官员都要学学俄语，不知道现在的中国，俄语是否还是有市场？

Year of the Monkey - a heartache

2010-06-29T00:36:00.005-04:00

I have written about stamps for quite a while and some of my older articles were written in Chinese. I would like to post them here from now on so they are all in one place.

【作者: msyanwu】【2007年06月22日星期五 02:19】

心疼

一直想拥有的８０猴子邮票又又升值了。现在要３百多美金。几年前或是更早以前我都可以用大大低于这个数目的价钱买到，可惜我什么时候都觉得这个邮票被高估了，所以一直没买。有些人说，只要你喜欢，就应该买下来，不要等将来升值了你又来后悔。也对，可惜有些人就是没那么的萧洒，像我。

最潇洒的一次吧，就是用６００多大洋买下了牡丹小全。还有一次，还在读书的时候，发邮疯，用一千多大洋买下一集邮本，里面包括了梅兰芳套票，黄山套票。这个投资不错。不过在当时来讲其实是很冒险的，因为我都还没有收入嘞。集邮是很花银子的爱好，而且引诱很多，因为同样的邮票可以做出很多不同方式的邮品。所以一定要管住自己。有个朋友每次到邮展都给自己一个数目，高了就要停买。我觉得可以借鉴。

梅花－我最喜欢的邮票。买了十几张。赫赫，又病了。

Prague 2008

2008-10-05T03:55:00.011-04:00

Sorry about my prolonged absence and thus neglecting the blog. For now, I would like to share some pictures and words from the Prague 2008 International Stamp Exhibition which I've recently attended.

This is my first visit to the Czech Republic. As a collector I've always been impressed by the stamps of this country. They have exquisite designs and are beautifully engraved. I especially like the stamps that Czech Post issued in the 60s-80s.

The night before I leave I was very excited because this was my first stamp show in a foreign country. My plan was to attend the show for the first day and 1/2 a day the second day and then go on with my other plans in Prague.

9/11 Looking out the window while flying from France to Prague, I gotta say Air France was pretty good in terms of service and food.

9/11 Looking at the land of the thousand spires. Almost there!!

9/12 First day of the show. Long lines at the entry gate! Unlike stamp shows in the US, stamp shows in Europe most likely are not free. But, first time I felt lucky to be a woman because women and children could attend the show for free :) Great wasn't it. This worked for me because I didn't know I would be in and out of the exhibit later on.

9/12 This is a picture of the Industrial Palace in Prague. We were late for 2 hours the first day because we had no idea how to get there. Haha, but we made it following the tracks of the tram that goes to the palace.

9/12 The venue itself was quite big! But of course, it was a lot smaller than Washington2006. I walked into the exhibition hall and felt a little overwhelmed because it was really really crowded and we were like the only Asians there and (young) No offense here .. hehe..

This is the catalogue I bought, I forgot how much maybe 500 kr.

9/12 The exhibition ground was divided into 3 parts. The right side of the palace housed all the competitive exhibits, the middle section had all the postal offices from the world and including Czech Post. Finally, the right side of the palace were the dealers.

Will continue soon.

Here comes Micky - er, not quite

2008-06-05T23:25:00.006-04:00

In the past I've written a lot about my personal experiences with stamp collecting. However, I haven't really shown any covers that other collectors have sent me. So, in order not to waste the beauties of these covers and to express my heartfelt thanks to these collectors, I'll put online the images of the covers I've received randomly.

This I've received from Mr. L who's a collector of music, dance and ballet. Thank you. What is special about this cover? It's the 2 Frama labels on the left side from Hong Kong! Mr. L must have bought them 12 years ago? :o No? Because the Frama label depicted a mouse with a green background that says "The year of Rat."

First UN Braille Stamp

2008-05-23T23:50:00.006-04:00

Wow, the UN is issueing its first Braille stamp this June. Although this is not the first and certainly not the least Braille stamp issued around the world, I am pretty surprsied to see it coming. Only one stamp out of the 6 stamps set will be embossed with raised Braille characters. The stamp will be issued by the NY office. The Braille characters spell the word "UN" and I am going to touch the words and pretend I know Braille. :-P

Orchids

2008-05-18T21:25:00.009-04:00

Hum..I guess I ran out of ideas and I've been lazy so I just pulled some old covers I made "years" ago to show you. Hehe...

Orchids have a big family. There are white orchids, green orchids, purple ones, big, small and they also come in different shapes. Love their variety but they are usually not fragrant. Or at least not the ones I've seen.

The one Orchid that I always run over to see them are the ones that shape like a slipper. They look really cute and I can put a finger of mine in the little pouch. Not that it's right to do so, but I just couldn't resist..sigh..

Couldn't believe I made this 3 years ago. It was actually my first UN FDC that I made for myself at the stamp show. I got the artist and also Robert Grey, who was the UNPA cheif to sign it.

Yousuf Karsh & Winston Churchill

2008-05-15T17:45:00.014-04:00

Yousuf Karsh was the most famous Canadian portrait photographer in the 20th century. He had taken pictures of celebrities, politicians, scientists, novelist and people from all sorts of backgrounds. One of his most famous works was a portrait of Winston Churchill taken right after his speech in the Canadian Parliament in 1941. This photo brought him frame and success later on as a professional photographer.

This month, to celebrate Yousuf’s achievement, Canada post will issue a set of stamps showing 2 of Yousuf's most beautiful works and a self portrait of the artist himself.

I thought the photo of Audrey Hepburn was beautiful! And coincidently, while I walked past by an odd little variety store the other day, I found this amazing postcard of Audrey. It is exactly the same photo! I think I will make a pretty nice Maximum card out of this.

Most of Yousuf's portraits are in black and white, no props or decorations to distract attention from the model. The portrait of Audrey, captures the essence of Audrey's on screen personality, a sense of innocence, pureness and holiness.

Audrey is definitely one of my all time favorite actress. Sir Winston Churchill was a great historian and writer but I thought he was too much of an imperialist in heart.

Next UN issue: Endangered Spices

2008-02-05T16:21:00.003-05:00

The UNPA "Endangered Spices" is a very popular and my favorite stamp series from the UN. The series has been running into its 13th year and still going strong. I guess most collectors have a soft spot for these lovely and amazing creatures living around us. I wish we as human being could have contributed more to help them coexist amongst us.

This year, the stamps will be showing various animals from the sea. I am seeing Seals, corals, whales and sea horses. They are beautiful. Did you notice that all of the endangered spices stamps are actually painted by an artist? I don’t recall seeing any photos of any sort.

And every year, they also issue a special silk cachet envelope with one stamp from each office cancelled. I usually buy a couple and have the artist signs them.

Since this series is issued in March every year and coincides with one of our semiannual stamp shows here in New Year, the UN also provides a special hand cachet.

2008 Year of the Rat

2007-11-26T16:56:00.005-05:00

Hello readers: Just to let you know, that the year 2008 is the year of the rat in Chinese Zodiac. I know some people who are born in the year of rat and they are indeed very ambitions people.
If you are born in that year, you are welcomed to leave me your address and I will send a cover to you at the beginning of 2008.

If your countries issue Zodiac stamps, please send me a cover if you are able to, if not, it's ok with me, it's a token of friendship.

The US will issue this stamp for it's new Chinese Zodiac series in 2008. This is the first stamp in the 12-year series. I don't like the design very much because I think it lack originality. The images of red lanterns are very common in Chinese society. Yea, I am a hard to please girl. :)

The Year Of The Rat - Characteristics
1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996

People born in the Year of the Rat are noted for their charm and attraction for the opposite sex.
They work hard to achieve their goals, acquire possessions, and are likely to be perfectionists.
They are basically thrifty with money. Rat people are easily angered and love to gossip.
Their ambitions are big, and they are usually very successful.
They are most compatible with people born in the years of the Dragon, Monkey, and Ox.

washington 2006 -Russia

2007-11-18T23:25:00.001-05:00

Last year, I had the good fortune to attend a world class stamp exhibition in Washington DC. It was the first world stamp exhibition that I have ever attended at that kind of scale. The place was huge, definitely size of a football field. There were so much to see, so much to do and so little time even though I stayed there for a week. I am sure there will be more to come and that I will attend even more stamp shows in the future, but the first is always more memorable than the rest.

One of my main activities during the show was to visit all the different foreign postal administrations. I think more than 50 countries came, more or less, which was great. You know, the chance of seeing new issues from 50 countries at the same time and at face value is rare. Most of the world class stamp exhibitions only take place once every 10 years for the host country.

I stopped by the Russian postal booth because I have always liked stamps from Russia. Maybe it's because of the funny looking Russian alphabets? or whatever it is .. :) but I think Russian stamps are pretty. I asked the lady behind the booth if she can sell me stamps worth the rate of sending a letter from Russia to the USA, but the lady didn't speak English. After about 10 minutes of sign language and body gestures, I finally bought a set of stamps issued in 2001, beautiful paintings of the city of St. Petersburg. I knew it was about St. Petersburg because the lady kept saying St. Petersburg, haha... I bought the whole set thinking the postage will be enough to mail a letter from Russia to the USA but I was wrong!

A while later when I affixed all the stamps on an envelope and handing it to the lady, at the same time, another lady appeared and she spoke English and she asked me if I needed help, so I handed the letter to her instead. She looked at it and asked if I wanted to have the letter mailed from Russia and I said yes. She was like, oh no, the postage is not enough, and she took a 100 p definitive stamp and put it on the envelope. I asked her how much and she was like, it's ok, no need. I was thrilled. About a month later, I received my envelope back. It was very nice, first self-made letter from Russia. Although, to this day I still have no idea why she put a 100p stamp on the envelope, the 100 seemed very high!

Yoda - May the force be with you.

2007-11-09T00:12:00.000-05:00

2 weeks ago at our twice-a-year philatelic stamp show here in New York, a new (or not exactly new) star wars stamp had been issued. Guess who? It was our master Yoda! A funny looking, definitely old, but wise Jedi master in the famous Star Wars series. The stamps were originally issued to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the films "Star Wars" One wonders if this is such a big occasion that it deserves to be shown on stamps? I don't know, the USPS only thinks of money, so I guess it is!

The promotional postcard stamp collectors received from the organizers had a picture of Yoda. I've never created a maxicard before so I thought maybe I can make one out from this postcard since the theme matches so perfectly. It might not be a valid one, but hey, who cares. Here I come Master Yoda!

Can you see him?

Stamps from Thailand

2007-11-02T21:53:00.001-04:00

Last week I was very busy yet satisfying because I'd received my order from Thai Post! Continuing my search for postal authorities who use stamps on their philatelic orders, I found Thai Post to be the best among them. The number of stamps used on the covers is incredible. I counted 14 of them and they are complete sets! There is a recent issue of traditional Thai beetle arts, which I like very much. The silhouette of the queen is gold foiled. There were also a set of 4 showing Thai temples. Very nice cover, although I do wish that the envelope is a little smaller.

50th Anniversary of the Space Age

2007-10-09T23:53:00.001-04:00

On October 25th, 2007, the United Nations Postal Administration will issue six commemorative stamps in a mini-sheet format in the denominations of 41¢, 90¢, F.s. 1,00, F.s. 1,80, € 0,65 and € 1,15 on the theme “Space for Humanity—50th Anniversary of the Space Age”.

I think this is a really nice set of stamps. UN has not had a set with a space theme for a while, the last one I can think of right now had something to do with Mars? Quite a lot of countries are issuing stamps commemorating this achievement. Such as this cover from Sebastien, sorry Sebastien, I thought it was from Eric...Um..there seems to be a thousand Erics in France who collect stamp. :)

Postmark is quite nice isn't it? I am preparing to mail about 10 covers with the UN stamps tomorrow to collector friends. Honestly, I am sorry to my friends because I have not had time for any philatelic activity for most of this year. I am too busy... :(

I will try to take some pictures, but..I can't guarantee because I might only have 2 hours there then I need to go back to work.

Postal Administrations and Stamped Envelopes

2007-05-07T11:29:00.000-04:00

Just finished reading an interesting article by Eric regarding receiving his philatelic order packaged in an envelope with real postage stamps. The order was placed with Guinness Post. As many of you come to realize nowadays, most postal administrations simply stopped using stamps on their philatelic orders, which is a real turn down to us collectors. It is like the farmer who sells apples does not eat his own apple. I remember years ago when I used to pick up my new issue bulletins in a stamped envelopes from Hong Kong Post, and religiously cut out the stamps for my collection. Some of the stamps from that period made a long lasting impression on me, such as the jasmine tea scented stamps, the water-drop shaped stamps, the film stars stamps and all the different varieties of pictorial cancellation . I think Hong Kong post had never realized that the stamps they put on the covers were actually an extended form of advertisement and spoke more about their products than just postage.

Of the postal administrations I know that still use stamps on their envelopes are: UNPA, Portugal, Sweden, Greenland, St. Helena and now Guinness Post. There might be others out there that I didn't know about, so I hope more people will write about their experiences with the postal administrations.

I came to know about the postal administration of St. Helena because of an article written by Jimmy, another prolific blogger about stamps. This really tells you how information has been flowing around when people speaks up about the hobby. He showed a cover that he received from St. Helena when he ordered some stamps from them. I was amazed by the stamps they used on the cover so I ordered some stamps from them to try it out. Indeed my envelope came with stamps on it.

The UNPA also likes to use stamps on their orders. Most of the time, they even apply FD cancellations. Sweden doesn’t really send their stuff with stamps, but on a few occasions, I’ve gotten envelopes from them with stamps. Hope someone will talk about their experience with Sweden.

Greenland uses beautiful stamps, I love the eagle stamps they used on their international mail.

I'll post some pictures when I come back from my trip to Canada!

New issues from UN

2007-04-17T20:34:00.000-04:00

Just received my new issues bulletin from the UNPA today. In the forth coming months, we'll be seeing some really nice new issues from UN. The watercolor paintings for the “Peaceful Visions" stamps are particularly inspiring and dreamy in a way.

I especially liked the postmark because it's very artistic but simple and clean. The bulletin has mentioned a show cachet, but didn't show the image. I always liked show cachets because it's like a little enhancement to the overall presentation of the cover.

So, the Peaceful Visions stamps are in June, then what's in May? Well, it's the 2nd set of stamps from the coin and flag series. Honestly, I am not a big fan of this series because there were no creativity. I thought that the UNPA can play with it since so many countries will be represented. Oh well, you can't please everyone right? Hehe...

China's Pet dogs stamps

2007-02-10T23:03:00.001-05:00

Year 2006 was the year of dog. Dogs has traditionally been considered as human's best friend. So then, it was not surprising that China Post issued a set of 4 stamps to showcase some of the rarest and popular pet dogs in China.

The Tibetan Mastiff is a large, powerful, and well built dog but with a noble and gentle appearance . The dogs are well adapted to the climates of the Himalayas and to the harsh high mountain living. For thousands of years, it has served as guardian and protector of live stocks, homes and traveling caravans of the Tibetan people. Very little was known about them until in recent years, when having them as pets have become popular in the Western world. Today, pure Tibetan Mastiff is hard to find, but dedicated and concerned breeders continue to promote awareness for the well being these impressive dogs.

Info: American Tibetan Mastiff Association

The Pekingese dog has been a companion dog of kings and queens for centuries. They were one of the purest and oldest breed of dogs in the world due to their exclusive function as royal pets. Their appearance has hardly changed at all. Because they look like miniature lions, their name in Chinese means "the lion dog". An interesting story I found in Wikipedia is that the Empress CiXi of China liked to present these dogs to her American friends. One of them was presented to the daughter of Ted Roosevelt.

Info: Wikipedia

On the left is an old photo of a Pekingese from 1912.

They certainly know how to take good pictures of dogs back then.

Pugs are really popular as pet dogs. They have a very wrinkly face and very large eyes. They are generally small with short but stout legs and very cheerful.

Chow Chow dogs are puffy looking dogs the I really like. Their name in Chinese means "puffy lion dog", which suits them alright. They probably originated from Mongolia but I am not sure. They are also very popular pet dogs and I see them on the street all the time.

I found an articles about Chow Chow。 It says "There is a beautiful and ancient fairy-tale that says that while God painted the sky blue, he was followed by a determined Chow Chow who licked up the drops that fell with his tongue." That is the reason why Chow Chows have blue tongues. Very imaginative indeed.

Info： Chow-Chow Blog

For my concluding piece, here's a cover I received last year. Love and take care of your pets.

ShiWan Figurines

2007-02-08T01:31:00.000-05:00

On Feb 3, China post has issued a set of 2 stamps depicting ShiWan Figurines, so maybe just a little bit of our rich ceramic making history today.

Cｒｅｄｉｔ：周俊容 2 MCs for the set of ShiWan figurines

The ShiWan Kiln in present day GuangDong province, has been in business since at least before the Song Dynasty (960-1279) . Although ceramic produced from ShiWan may not be as highly regarded as the other Kilns such as the Jun, Ding, Guan, Ge, and Ru kilns, which were official kilns for the royal family, it has made it’s mark as a major branch of practical and decorative ceramic art. During the Ming and Ching dynasty (1368-1911), ShiWan ceramic has reached it’s prime due to the robust international trade in GuangDong. I believe GuangDong was one of a few commercial ports opened to foreign trade in China under the Ching Government. You may notice that many of the Chinese export ceramics sitting at various European museums nowadays were either made in GuangDong and or were once in the trade junks leaving the port of Canton.

In terms of its artis tic style, ShiWan has always had its deep roots in creating and producing ceramics for and by the ordinary commoners. The famed ShiWan ceramic figurines, a major representative kind of the kiln’s style, often depict daily routines and activities of the locals. You may see scenes of old men playing chess, people smoking pipe or drinking tea, fishermen fishing in a boat and so on.

-Ｍａｎ　ｗｉｔｈ　a

ｄｒｉｎｋｉｎｇ　ｈｕｌｕ．

To add to the artistic value of the figurines, many mythical and historical figures were produced. They are often meticulously crafted, with great attention to the smallest detail, use of thick and colorful glazes, striking contrasts and looking realistic. The fact that it’s not an official Kiln for the royal family may have contributed to ShiWan ceramic’s great flexibility as an art form and the wide range of topics it could mold itself to．　

ShiWan ceramic making is a treasure that the Chinese should continue to develope for future generations. Oh, by the way, this is also a joint issue between Macau and China.

The Stamps - China

Left: An elderly man and a young child looking for plum flowers out in the snow.

Right: Princess Zhao Jun leaving the Han Court and journeyed to the outer skirts of the country for her marriage with the XiongNu tribe leader.

HK-Butterfly FDC by Registered mail

2006-12-13T17:34:00.001-05:00

What really triggered my interest in covers is this beautiful registered butterfly FDC from Hong Kong. The water color? Art work on the left side of the cover is just fantastic. Sorry image is not good enough to reflect the true beauty of the cover.
I rarely see FDCs mailed by register mail nowadays. I would love to send my covers by register mail if not for the maddening $7.90 fee of USPS.

Another outstanding stamp blog

2006-12-10T02:45:00.000-05:00

Another outstanding stamp blog which I really enjoy reading is by Eric from France. He's also a fellow CCCC member. I will have to say he's a more active trader than I am. What I like about his blog is that his posts have content. Not only he's showing nice covers but he give you his opinions and research behind the materials he's talking about. A lot of philatelic blogs out there showed many pictures but little words. I am not complaining though because I am aways happy to see collectors from other parts of the world. I don't recall ever trading with him before. He likes a lot of things but most notably, frogs.

Hope he'll enjoy this cover.

HK-Chan Clan School and Ancestral Home

2006-12-06T13:03:00.001-05:00

Not a while ago, a stamp collector to me was strictly someone who collects only stamps.
I myself did not collect anything except stamps until recently. With the exponential growth of the internet community, I was given the opportunity to see what others are collecting and what they are doing with their collections. This opens many doors for me to decide what to do with my collecting interests.
About a year ago, I came across a forum about stamps. A collector from HK was willing to send covers to collectors who are interested on the first day of new issuance for a minimal fee to cover material and postage. I gave it a try and received some amazing covers from him. This is an official first day cover sent to me by register mail. The s/s depicts school and ancestral home built for and by the Chan clans in Canton, China.

The building was built in the 1800s and is renowned for its exquisite and lively stone carvings, woodcarvings, colorful Shi Wan pottery figurines, statues and iron plate paintings. I will sure visit the place one day.

In Search of Stamps

2006-01-16T01:53:00.000-05:00

So happy to see other collectors out there!!! :)
I've just visited the site, and I think I am going to visit often, because it's interesting and fun to read. I was even pleasantly surprised that the St.Helena post office sends their mail orders with stamps on the envelope. Nice!

In Search of Stamps

For CCCC members

2006-01-13T23:54:00.000-05:00

Hey friends from CCCC. I receive many circuits within a very short period, so I really need to keep track of stuff. If I am returning circuits late, that's because I am a little unorganized and busy with my work. Promise don't sue me and I will return covers asap with only nice stamps on as a punishment. Hehehe.... Please bear with me.Oh, by the way, come look around. Your visits and comments are always welcomed.
A small update: I've met 2 CCCC members personally at the Washington 2006 show. I was very happy to meet them.

First Post

2006-01-09T04:50:00.000-05:00

OH...Sorry, I forgot all about this blog for some reason, but I am coming back to it and will write more regularly. Ok..hehe..
Now, one of the biggest issues coming up for US collectors or ok, maybe just me, is the joint issue with UK's Royal Mail for a set of 8 stamps featuring favorite characters from children's literature in America and the UK. Oh...my...how I love children's books and illustrations. A pure joy seeing them. Let me show you the stamps..