it’s a true honour to have your work immortalised in a stamp, and somewhat of a surreal feeling too. we’ve bought the stamp and used it on postcards, but it still feels strange to think that people out there are sending postcards with it.

stamps are reserved for remarkable things, the kind that we want to collect and remember – and having postcrossing up there in that category is pretty neat. after all, how many websites have their own stamp? :)

doesn’t it make you want to visit? you should go! :)

check the interview with the artist on wired magazine for some more insight on the project. a small preview:

Wired.com: You have previously published books of letters, for example one where you sent letters with odd ideas to authorities, like asking a Swedish municipality if it could host a North American Indian tribe. Why are you so fascinated by letters?
Ericson: Sending things is a fun way to communicate, and I love the seriousness in letters. I mean, you would never receive a lawsuit by e-mail. There is something about letters, especially nowadays when they are getting more and more rare, and we’re communicating in other ways instead.

maybe some day the world will be a better place because these kids understand a bit about other cultures, can point the countries on a map and remember one or two things about them.

more about this happy class, here.

on monday i return to portugal for the christmas holidays, and i can’t wait to marvel at the blue, unphotoshoped skies of home. :)

lately, i’ve been obsessing over stationery. all kinds of small envelopes, writing tools, letter sets, stickers, postcards… i love them, i just can’t stop myself! i found a nice shop on fuzhou road called keyroad (very close to dunkin’ donuts) that is filled with korean goodness, and well, disaster ensued. some of the stuff in the picture is actually for a swap but the rest is just sitting here, waiting for an excuse to write a letter :)

speaking of recent korean discoveries, when browsing for video podcasts on itunes store, i found maangchi who makes cooking traditional korean food look fun! in small funny episodes, she will make you a master of kimchi or bibimbap. i can’t wait to try the egg side dishes, simple and yummy!

these 2nd world war “keep calm and carry on” postcards, a spin of the original poster. wise words.

(congratulations!, maybe now we can enjoy a bit of free time? :P )

anything to take our thoughts away from this cold weather. i don’t know who told us shanghai would be cold and dry in the winter but so far, it hasn’t been true. there’s cold allright, but there’s also a sort of silly rain falling every now and then, just to keep the levels of humidity high enough. our stomach might have already adapted itself to the food but our body is still struggling to understand this permanently wet new weather, with little aches here and there…

anyway, i digress. what i wanted to say was that today i got this card, sent to me from a taiwanese girl living in malaysia who spent her new year in bali:

so bali again, gently sneaking into our lifes. sounds like a good omen. :)

can the queen be put to a better use?, asks graphic designer and illustrator jamie wieck. well, apparently the answer is yes – he build a set of really cute cards where the queen stamp plays an important (and original) role.
here’s what he has to say:

“Something unique about British culture is the annual sit down after a bloating Christmas lunch to watch the Queen deliver her seasonal message on TV. Well I that, and to watch somebody die/get married/get-married-then-die on Eastenders.
Inspired by this image of annual togetherness I created a Christmas card that needed the Queen herself to complete the image – after all Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the Queen.

But for the anti-royalists amongst you I figured it was only fair that the Queen should get a comeuppance of sorts…”

check out his website for lots of other good questions.

(via oh joy!)