[This is a post for Sunday Stamps, run by Viridian. The theme this week is Anything you wish.]
Do you like odd-shaped stamps? Have you seen these? At first sight I thought they weren't real stamps! How cool are they?
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These are the first self-adhesive non-rectangular stamps in the Netherlands, and were designed for the Youth Philately Day, issued on April 2014. The orange stamp is a egel ('hedgehog'; the word for 'stamp' in Dutch is potstzegel - I hope I get the right sense of the words!). As he needed a friend, they created the duif ('pigeon'). If you are able to read Dutch, you can find more information here.
The stamps were sent by Heleen (the Netherlands) as part of this wonderful package:
In case of you wonder who is looking at you from inside... Is this nice Dutch woman in the shape of a folded card!
By the way, I am afraid that the postal service doesn't trust us any more. They felt that they had to check the postage:
Do you like odd-shaped stamps? Have you seen these? At first sight I thought they weren't real stamps! How cool are they?
These are the first self-adhesive non-rectangular stamps in the Netherlands, and were designed for the Youth Philately Day, issued on April 2014. The orange stamp is a egel ('hedgehog'; the word for 'stamp' in Dutch is potstzegel - I hope I get the right sense of the words!). As he needed a friend, they created the duif ('pigeon'). If you are able to read Dutch, you can find more information here.
The stamps were sent by Heleen (the Netherlands) as part of this wonderful package:
In case of you wonder who is looking at you from inside... Is this nice Dutch woman in the shape of a folded card!
By the way, I am afraid that the postal service doesn't trust us any more. They felt that they had to check the postage:
Wow - what super stamps. I always wondered what Heleen looked like, now I know.
ReplyDeleteErr... Exactly like her, except for the crown, of course.
DeleteEr, you're almost right. No crown, of course, but wearing glasses (o.k., that's a kind of crown for the myopic people - however nowadays I'm putting off my glasses when reading - and writing mail! - so the photographer caught me writing postcard to the two of you).
DeleteSome other detail the photographer missed, so the picture on the card is more flattering than it should be in daily life: usually I forget to comb my hair.
:-)
Well, thank you for your kind comments, and I'm happy to see you're enjoying these stamps as much as I (and the person at the post office [who wasn't the controller, I think]) do.
And yes, I like the wordplay:
post-zegel = post (= mail) stamp;
post-egel = post hedgehog
And the postduif (post pigeon/dove) is a common bird who delivers mail :-)
I'm sure Heleen is a princess in her own right and entitled to wear that crown!
ReplyDeleteFun stamps.
Oh, of course she is. But the crown isn't very comfortable for daily life, that's what I meant. :)
DeleteThank you both for your kind comments. Your words caused me to blush!
DeleteNow that I saw those stamps I remembered I have somewhere a small bookmark with the hedgehog...now of course I just need to find him..I have a very soft spot for hedgehogs! They are so adorable! And even though I love lighthouses, today Egel and Duif win my heart :)
ReplyDeleteI also love hedgehogs :) This one is lovely.
Deleteahh the dutch have made it, they issued the ultimately cute and original stamps! and i have to say, i really like the detail of the face peeking from inside the envelope :)
ReplyDeleteMe too! It was a pleasure to receive this parcel.
DeleteI immediately got the fun wordplay- very cute!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be in Netherlands later this summer, so will have to search for these.
and, a princess probably doesn't comb her hair either - she has someone else do that for her.
Oh, you absolutely need by these!
DeleteAbout princesses' hair, probably you're right too :D
Alas nowadays most nice stamps in the Netherlands are not available in the post agencies (post offices have vanished, alas, but there are many post agencies in book/stationery stores like Bruna, Ako, and some in supermarkets). You will find some nice stamps there, but the variety of stamps is small. Therefore I order most stamps at the PostNL website (these Postduif and Postegel stamp you can find here:
Deletehttp://collectclub.postnl.nl/pages/detail/s1/10220000002076-2-21010000000080.aspx ).
And alas I always have to comb my own hair (in the morning it looks like coupe hedgehog, but gravitation does well a lot :-)
How funny that they feel they need to check. Don't machines do that?
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, a crown gets heavy after awhile
Thank you for joining in this week.
I think it isn't so easy for machines with odd packets... Luckily, some real people is still working in the postal system ;)
DeleteThanks for coming.
I think the machines might crash by some pieces of funny odd mail.
DeleteAnd I agree: there always appears a big smile on my face when my sent or received mail has got such a sticker or stamp (you should have seen my smile - from ear-to-ear - yesterday when I saw your picture of this 'postage checked' stamp :-) .
A big smile, not only because it's a lovely addition by the Mail company, but also Real Humans have got our mail in hands; by sending mail like this, we help the postal workers to keep their jobs. Because alas many good postal workers have been fired, at least in my country, due to 'economics'.
Same here. So it's good we keep challenging the postal workers, isn't it? :)
DeleteWhat a wonderful package and fun stamps.
ReplyDeleteThanks, luvlinens!
DeleteIt is getting harder to figure the total postage needed here since they started selling "forever" stamps and increasing the rates frequently.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. In Morocco we don't have "forever" stamps (or I've never seen them, at least).
Deletethe stamps are great, the Netherlands seem to issue some really original and unusual designs.
ReplyDeleteYes, they do. I'm often jealous! But luckily, I receive a lot of lovely stamps from the Netherlands.
DeleteIt is very beautiful. Did Heleen draw the picture herself?
ReplyDeleteNot this time :)
DeleteI'm a fan of shaped-stamp and this one is absolutely one of the cutest I've seen so far.
ReplyDeleteWilla @ Postage Journal
Thanks!
DeleteAh the Princess of Stamps. You could have some fun making patterns with the spiky hedgehog and plumed pigeon.
ReplyDeleteSure! Thanks for coming.
DeleteVery clever stamps - I love the play on words.
ReplyDeleteI had problems with my nail when a letter was returned to me. They said I hadn't enough postage - but there was!! Someone in the sorting office didn't know the new International Economy rate. I wasted a lot of time sorting it out and the mail was delayed by 2 weeks.
It happened some times to me. Especially with letters to Russia. I guess then don't know that postage for Russia is the same of postage to Europe, according to their rules! For instance: http://oknowmir.blogspot.com/2014/03/eva-albiol-moroccospain.html
DeleteIt's a waste of time and money, yes!