Tag: Finland
I am excited about the upcoming week for a number of reasons, several of which are fairly non-philatelic. Sunday the 25th marks the official beginning of the Lunar New Year, the second of three New Years which are enthusiastically celebrated in my adopted home of Phuket, Thailand. There is a Chinese clan shrine just a few steps from my front-door and I anticipate a long night of hourly fireworks explosions. This leads to about a week of New Years festivities which is immediately followed by one of my favorite local events: the annual Old Town Phuket Festival with plenty of great food and music in this UNESCO City of Gastronomy.
Continue reading “New Issues 2020: Week Four (19-25 January)”
Finland
Christmas 2019
06 November 2019
Press Release:
Virpi Pekkala’s elf stamps spread Christmas cheer
30.10.2019
On Wednesday, November 6, Posti will release Christmas stamps designed by Virpi Pekkala. The stamps feature cheerful elves, characters that are familiar to most Finns.
If anyone knows Christmas, it’s Virpi Pekkala. She has loved Christmas since childhood and created Christmas illustrations for thousands of postcards, wrapping papers, textiles and the Christmas stamps for 2003, for instance.
In this year’s Christmas stamps, elves celebrate Christmas in the traditional Finnish way, including Christmas sauna and Christmas concerts.
The stories behind the Christmas stamps
Virpi Pekkala is known for always having an idea or a story behind her illustrations. This is how she describes the Christmas stamps:
The Christmas sauna bathers stamp shows an elf family in their bathrobes going to the sauna across a twilit snowy landscape. “The father leads the way carrying a lantern and the mother follows with towels. An elf boy marches enthusiastically in the middle and holds a birch sauna whisk.”
The Christmas concert stamp depicts an elf boy and an elf girl singing to their hearts’ content. “A cat and a dog watched the performance for a while before joining the choir. The voices of the quartet can be heard far in the dusky winter evening.”
The Winter wonders stamp pictures a snowman, rabbits and the Northern Lights glowing in the sky. “It is so cold that even the snowman has a knit cap, scarf and mittens. The bunnies are not admiring the Northern Lights but staring at the snowman’s carrot nose.”
The Christmas sauna bathers stamp booklet contains 20 Christmas greeting no-value indicator stamps.
The Christmas concert stamp is a domestic no-value indicator stamp that will be issued as a 10-stamp sheet and a 5-stamp booklet.
The Winter wonders stamp sheet contains 10 international no-value indicator stamps and Priority labels.
The Snowflakes stamp is great for all winter greetings.
On November 6, Posti will also release the landscape-oriented stamp Snowflakes that is a great option for all winter greetings. The silvery stamp is designed by AD Paula Salviander. The Snowflakes stamp sheet contains 10 domestic no-value indicator stamps.
First day event at Helsinki Main Post Office on November 6, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The first day event will be organized at the Helsinki Main Post Office (Elielinaukio 2) on Wednesday, November 6, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. New stamps, first day covers and other stamp products will be on sale at the event, and visitors can get first day postmarks on their items. Virpi Pekkala and Paula Salviander will be present to sign their works from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
These stamps and other products can be purchased from Posti Online Shop.
Posti News Releases | Posti Online Shop
06 May 2020
Enchanted Forest
The 2020 Stamp Programme for Finland was announced by Posti on 17 October 2019.
From the Posti press release published on 17 October 2019:
Klaus Haapaniemi has designed a set of stamps that present an enchanted forest. The artwork featured in the stamps is part of the Polar Byzantine collection by Klaus Haapaniemi & Co. The mysterious subjects chosen for the stamps are a frozen bilberry shrub and a boreal owl with the wings of a butterfly. The Polar Byzantine collection, which is based on a lyrical story about animals, includes clothes and home decor. Enchanted Forest will be issued as a 10-stamp sheet containing two different domestic no-value indicator stamp designs.
Posti News Releases | Posti Online Shop
12 March 2020
Migratory Birds
The 2020 Stamp Programme for Finland was announced by Posti on 17 October 2019.
From the Posti press release published on 17 October 2019:
The return of migratory birds is a sure sign of spring. The stamps to be issued in March feature four migratory birds that are familiar to Finns: the Eurasian skylark, the common chaffinch, the white wagtail and the barn swallow. In the miniature sheet, the corresponding parts of an old poem that predicts the arrival of migratory birds and the coming of spring have been added for each bird. The stamps, which were designed by Oona Himanen, are simultaneously modern and nostalgic. The Birds from a Spring Poem stamp booklet contains four different domestic no-value indicator stamp designs.
Posti News Releases | Posti Online Shop
12 March 2020
Two Hearts
The 2020 Stamp Programme for Finland was announced by Posti on 17 October 2019.
From the Posti press release published on 17 October 2019:
The heart has been known as the universal symbol of love since the Middle Ages. Based on the subject, Klaus Welp designed a simple and elegant stamp featuring two hearts beating next to each other. All text on the stamp has been gilded. The Two Hearts stamp sheet contains 10 domestic no-value indicator stamps.