Handmade Holiday Postcards

at the National Postal Museum, Washington, DC

I recently participated in the Mail Social Club at the National Postal Museum's Byrne Education Loft.

Located on the 2nd floor, the Byrne Education Loft was a quiet and inspiring place to create during the hectic holiday season.

I especially liked the cards that many of the artists made: They took green stamps and created Christmas trees with them. I snapped this photo of Kim's card, but I secretly wanted to take a picture of them all.

The Holiday card workshop was two hours long, and the Postal Museum offered the opportunity to make unique cards for Mail Call.

I used the first hour making these special cards. (Thanks to the Postal Museum for allowing us to mail these cards through the Military Post.)

Attending the Mail Social Club at the Postal Museum brought memories of some stamps I collected in 1995.

In the 1990s I used to collect United Nations postage stamps, and in 1995, artist Ting Sao Kuang was commissioned to designed stamps commemorating the Fourth World Conference on Women that was held in Beijing, China.

Ting Shao Kuang designed six stamps and they are some of the most beautiful stamps I have ever seen. And, the United Nation's used gold leaf on some of their envelopes!

United Nation's Postal Administration bulletin, S. Coley collection

Back in 1995, the United Nations Postal Administration (Philatelic Bulletin No. 18) described his work as follows: "Mr. Ting combines ancient art customs, masterful brush strokes and calligraphic lines with vibrant colours and Western modernism to create his unique artistic style."

It seems that whenever I visit the National Postal Museum in Washington, DC, I am reminded of the historical, aesthetic, social, and cultural values of postage stamps.

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