<3 postage stamp based mailart #1

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Group:	THE LITTLE THINGS OF THE HEART
Swap Coordinator:	UrsaMinor (contact)
Swap categories:
Number of people in swap:	3
Location:	International
Type:	Type 3: Package or craft
Last day to signup/drop:	December 15, 2015
Date items must be sent by:	January 10, 2016
Number of swap partners:	1
Description:
Have you ever made a great mailart envelope and then felt a little bummed when you notice that the picture and the colours on the stamp do not match the theme and sort of ruin the perfect ensemble? I have and I'm quite sure you have too. This time, let's do it the other way around! Get some postage stamps with pictures that inspire you. Then build your mailart around them. For example, I have stamps with garden berries, so I could easily make a garden or berry themed mailart envelope. I also have stamps with a swan, so I could make a bird themed one. Or if I go crazy with the 30 cent stamps with birch leaves, I could make a tree themed one! So, take or make any size of an envelope, a beautiful postage stamp and decorate the envelope to match the stamp. It does not need to be super artistic, this swap is open to all levels of skill and experience. Sender's choice, of course. Inside the envelope send a small flat profile based surprise to your partner (a couple of postcards, stickers, a bookmark, packet of gum, a few teabags...) along with a note with the name of the swap and your username, etc. If there is interest in this sort of swaps I could host them as a series - notice the "#1" in the title ;-)

Discussion

CarolWestcamp 11/10/2015 #

What a fun swap! I'm in!

I do have a question/concern -- since this is international, how will we go about knowing how much/many stamps to use to decorate our envie? Do we take our blank envie with goodie inside to the post office (mine is rather far away) and have the weigh it and look up cost for that country? Then buy the appropriate stamps, come back home, decorate envie, etc?

If it was USA, I would just use stamps equalling the 49 cents, but with it international, I'm not sure how to do this other than how I described above.

No matter, I'm game for this swap, and I'll see how it turns out :)

UrsaMinor 11/11/2015 #

Well, I'm in Finland so I don't know how exactly you calculate postage in the US. But here it follows weight limits. Anything up to 20 grams (~0.7 ounces) goes with the basic first class stamp which costs â‚¬1.10. With a stamp like this I could send any of those things I listed. The point is to pick something flat and lightweight to send, the main point of this swap is to send a decorated envelope.

So, it's important to know the weight limits and to have a scale. In Finland you can download a PDF file with the weight limits and costs from the post office website or use an online calculator.

CarolWestcamp 11/15/2015 #

Thanks! In the US, if you send within the US it's a flat fee for each weight band, but if you send outside the US it varies, depending upon where you send to. So us US folks will have to wait until we know our partners to know the cost and thus know what stamps to us. :) But we do have a week and a half to get the stamps and decorate our envies once partners are assigned. :)

UrsaMinor 11/21/2015 #

I'll extend the send-by date a bit, so we have more time. Also, we have a very unusual postal strike here in Finland so I don't know when things clear up.

HelloWheeze 11/22/2015 #

Aaah Finnish stamps are so pretty! And this is such a fun and inspiring idea for a swap! I think I would be interested in a series :)

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<3 postage stamp based mailart #1

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