Dear Everyone ~
Back in the summer of 2020, I debuted the Summer Stamp Sampler, a manila stock page whose 12 rows served up strips of four fab fruit stamps. Low denominations but delightful designs: 1¢ apples, 2¢ lemons, 3¢ strawberries, and 5¢ grapes. Artist John Burgoyne’s original illustrations made charming stamps, under the tasteful eye of U.S. Postal Service art director Derry Noyes.
But why was there no 4¢ stamp? We may never know, but the wait is over. Earlier this month, a luscious shipment of fresh 4¢ blueberries arrived. Artist John Burgoyne’s blueberries combine pen, ink & watercolour, and they have put a spring in our fruit sampler! And speaking of springing—or hopping—our refreshed fruit sampler also includes two rows (16 stamps in all) of the 20¢ brush rabbit by San Francisco Bay Area artist and designer Dugald Stermer. (Sadly, the artist passed away before his stamp was issued in 2021.) Alyson, my postal muse, and I consider the bunny the perfect companion to the fruits.
We've been chatting about combinations, denominations, mailing rates, etc., and here are the fruits of our philatelic musings.
Think of the fruit stamps as the postage with the mostage, as it takes many of them to make 58¢ (for a letter-size envelope, up to 6 x 9) or $1.16 (for an envelope larger than 6 x 9, even by a hair/hare). The fruits look quite delish on an envelope of almost any shade when you alternate two contrasting colourways, which you can arrange in a row or a checkerboard. Some of our favourite combos are blueberries & strawberries, and grapes & lemons. Singly, these stamps are handy (and extraordinarily inexpensive) for a multitude of embellishing missions, including gift wrapping, envelope sealing, and note affixing.
Another delightful arrangement is to create a frame by arraying the stamps along all four sides of the envelope. Here you see a Grand Carta Pura Envelope, which holds a folded notecard. Measuring 6¼ x 9, it is considered a large envelope, so requires a minimum of $1.16. If you include any enclosures, say a pair of Glimpses & Whimsies of Bari Zaki Studio postcards, then you’ll need to add 20¢ (1 bunny or several fruits) for that second ounce.
Frankly, we are big fans of overfranking, which is a real word meaning to put more postage on an envelope or parcel than it requires. (Alas, you cannot get credit for doing this, to apply against a future inadvertent instance of underfranking!) The large kraft envelope seen here measures 9 x 12, requiring $1.16 worth of postage for one ounce… but it’s delightfully likely that whatever you’re putting inside will tip the scales at more than an ounce, and it’s 1-bunny-worth (20¢) for each additional ounce.
The Fruits & Bunnies Sampler is available in two formats: either a manila stock page enveloped in a British glassine sleeve, secured with a pair of tiny Japanese-paper-covered butterfly clips, or in an origami box (2⅛ x 2⅛ x 1½) that I’ve fashioned from luscious Saint-Armand paper, with ten teeny Japanese-paper-covered butterfly clips clustered inside the orchard of stamps. If you are so inclined, you can decorate the sides of your box, as shown here!
In anticipation of Valentine’s Day, we will include a slim glassine sleeve with a row of five 10¢ pairs of pears and one 46¢ kaleidoscopic flower (loves me…loves me not).
Fruits & Bunnies Stamp Sampler
Tutti frutti, Bari