Tuesday, January 29, 2013

postage costs rise.

Postage has gone up once again...

But lets be honest, 46¢ to brighten someones day with a letter in their mailbox is nothing!


Here is the run down of the new costs of postage:

• Postcards increase by making them now 33¢

• Parcel Post is now called Standard Mail

• Letters increase by  for the first ounce making them now 46¢ and increase 20¢ for each additional ounce on regular and large letters

• Large Letters increase by  for the first ounce making them now 92¢ 

• Priority Flat Rate envelopes increase to $5.60 

• First Class Packages increase by 12¢ for the first ounce making them now $2.07

• Priority Small Flat Rate boxes increase to $5.80 

• Global Forever is $1.10 for the first ounce everywhere 


New USPS rates effective January 27, 2013

Friday, January 18, 2013

stamps: sealed with love.


Have you guys seen the new love stamps coming out this year? I literally swooned when I saw these for pre-order on usps.com! I will be buying several books of these stamps. My only question is, why were these not out when I was getting married? These would have looked great on my wedding invites.

Here is a description of the stamp from the USPS website.

Evoking the romance of a bygone era, the U.S. Postal Service 2013 Sealed with Love (Forever®) stamp expresses the joy and beauty of handwritten love letters.

The stamp art depicts an envelope fastened with an elegant wax seal. The seal, in shades of red, is a small heart enclosed inside a larger heart, both surrounded by a graceful filigree circle. The exquisite delicacy of the stamp art invites us to send our own love letters, a romantic gesture that never goes out of style.

The Victorians were ardent letter writers and believed that there was a proper way to compose letters, particularly love letters. Etiquette manuals aided Victorian romantics in penning appropriate letters to their beloveds. While these books reflected the Victorian obsession with propriety, the senders still wished to make their feelings known, and there was a precise etiquette for using sealing wax. Although today red is the color most associated with passion, in the mid-1800s, blue was the color of love, with wax of various shades denoting the degree of emotion felt by the sender.

Graphic designer Louise Fili worked with art director Derry Noyes on this stamp. Jessica Hische was the illustrator.

The Sealed with Love stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp in self-adhesive sheets of 20. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

Made in the USA.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

"Never think, because you cannot easily write a letter, that it is better not to write at all. The most awkward note that can be imagined is better than none..."
-Emily Post

a month of letters.

I am going to participate! Are you?

I think this is a great challange. For more information check out lettermo.com