Airmail Paper Airplane Rubber Stamps

Oh, golly-gee, did it take a long time to photoshop these images.  Far longer than it should have, that's all I'm saying!  In any case, recently I took a virtual jaunt across Etsy, always more fun for me than it is for my wallet, but what are you going to do, it's Etsy?!  So I like stamps (both rubber/acrylic and postage, but in this case, the former it what we're talking about), yes, I like stamps just as much as the next person -- well, probably a little more than the next person.  I'll protect my dignity by not showing a picture of my not-so-small box of stamps.....  Hmmm, where were we?  I was looking around on Etsy, combined with the knowledge that I had recently seen a cute airmail stamp (not postage) decorating a received postcard, so I was less casually browsing and more hunting with great determination.  I digress.  The short version of this story is that I ended up buying three airmail paper airplane themed stamps and I shall review them for you here.  

First we have this lovely pink-handled paper airplane stamp by ivyPINK.  It is well crafted, I love the detail of the words along the path of the airplane and it stamps well.  You will need to press it against the ink pad a couple of times as it is a bit longer than a standard pad, but really there are no problems here.  Cute, reasonably priced (check the hyperlink above for specifics, please), does exactly what you want it to, what more could you want?  I have already used this to decorate some of my plainer stationery and it looks great.  Oh, and in my experience, shipping was super-fast.  I know we all live in different places, but this arrived very quickly.

Next is this lovely, hand-carved paper airplane by extase.  It is a little bit smaller than the first stamp, but, no surprise, I love it.  As an added bonus, you can choose to have a regular (circular) loop or heart shaped tail.  I think it is obvious which direction I went on that decision.  The reverse side of the stamp is not marked in any way, but I am going to be using this stamp a lot and I have no other stamps this size, so I don't really see that as a draw back.  This came from Canada, which for some reason always seems to take a silly length of time, but I don't hold that against the seller.  It arrived in what I would consider a reasonable amount of time, plus these are hand-made, so no complaints here.  I love the detail and simplicity of this stamp - did I just contradict myself? - and look forward to using this stamp again.  The material stains easily with the ink, but in my experience, all stamps do, so nothing to be shocked about.  It cleans up quickly.  Very happy with this purchase.

Last, but certainly not least, we have this cute, circular airmail, paper airplane stamp by FreshBakedPaperGoods.  It arrived very quickly, I have used it several times already and it is a bit smaller than the other two stamps, so I can fit it into more places (like in the message section of a postcard, yes!).  The one very slightly disappointing thing is that the first time I rinsed the ink off of the stamp, the picture on the back of the stamp faded significantly (see bottom-left image below).  This picture makes it look brighter than it is, but don't get hung up on that.  Let's be honest, you could write "Merry Christmas" there and it wouldn't change how you use and enjoy the stamp.  It stamps well, washes easily, comes in cute packaging and will brighten even the smallest bits of stationery.

All in all, I am happy with all three purchases.  I will use each of them differently as they are each unique.  I don't feel like I bought multiple of the same product in any way and I am happy to have options when it comes to professing my appreciation for airmail via rubber stamp.

If you have any questions about the stamps, please feel free to comment on this post.  I am happy to elaborate.

The French Connection by Cardcetera

Mail Call!

I'm finally back and this time with the promised review of Cardcetera's newest line of postcards, "The French Connection."  So how do I describe these postcards without sounding overwhelmingly biased? ......Well first, let me warn you, I've never "reviewed" anything before, so there's no telling which way this post may go.....fingers crossed it's nowhere strange. :)

So -- I love surprises, well, that's not entirely true, but when it comes to happy mail, yes, surprises are good.  Hmmm....well this package wasn't entirely a surprise, I had been tipped off that something might be headed my way, but the real surprise was opening it up and seeing these great postcards for the first time.  The postcards have a semi-gloss finish, so they are nice and shiny, but if you're extra picky like me, they aren't going to show icky fingerprints.  The back is cute (you can get a glimpse of it on the website or in the above picture) but not so amazing that you feel guilty for writing on it or covering it with stamps, always a good thing.  I don't need a back of postcard guilt complex.  Also, the texture is perfect for writing on.  Have you ever found an amazing postcard only to be disappointed because the ink from your favorite pen smears -- even after you delicately set it aside to dry?  Ok, maybe that's just me, but that won't be happening here -- you can put the fine tip, permanent marker away.  Then there are the pictures themselves, I do love them, I'd be lying if I said anything less, but there are a couple that stand out as my personal favorites.  First there is the appropriately titled, "Bucket of Macarons,"it is light, colorful and who doesn't love sweets?  You can click on the hyperlink of simply direct your gaze to the picture below - hint: it's the one of the right.

My other favorite, which I've conveniently buried on the bottom of the next image - what was I thinking? - is Sacre Coeur from Orsay Museum.  It is a beautiful black and white image and through the gilding you see the picturesque Sacre Coeur in the distance.

I really like these cards and am looking forward to sending them - I've been holding off because I've been too busy to blog, but as soon as I click "publish" I will be putting pen to postcard.   I hope you have enjoyed my fist-ever review.  For better images and the actual ability to purchase, please visit cardcetera.com and by the way, they are still on sale.  

Good night!

PS My comment about the back of the postcard isn't supposed to sound negative, I hope no one takes it that way.