Wednesday, February 6, 2013

pieces, picking them up.

Well, hello! It's sunny out, and I woke up feeling like a normal human this morning, so I'm two for two so far. I'ma keep it light and design-y around here today, because as Kevin knows, after 4 therapy sessions a week (in various formats, with various people), I am so tired of talking about my feelings!

But I will acknowledge that today I woke up and was able to do what seemed all but impossible yesterday; wake up in the morning and not immediately become stuck inside my own head. Or as one friend said of someone she knows: "he can't get up earlier than x o'clock because he's afraid to start his day and start thinking." Exactly. Exactly. Today, I am not thinking as much and it's like the clouds parted and angels sang.

So, what to write about when you're trying not to think? STAMPS!

vintage color stamps for wedding invitations and save the dates
Images from 100 Layer Cake

I've never been a stamp collector (though I did insist my mom buy me a beach towel version of the Elvis stamp for some reason in the 90s), but recently I've been looking at stamps a lot.

Because that's what obsessive people do when they try to manage every single design aspect of a wedding. (Or maybe other people are able to just do this normally, I don't know).

vintage stamps on a wedding invitation with calligraphy
Photo and calligraphy by Lesley Yoder at LetterBe

I've been looking at posts like this on 100 Layer Cake, and I've always wondered how the heck brides got all those vintage stamps for wedding invitations and save the dates. Internet, I have found them. And it is glorious. (Special thanks to the comments section on that post.) Here's my stash so far:

rebuild health and home vintage stamp collection for wedding save the dates, invites, and bridesmaid cards
Be a doll and pretend this isn't blurry.

I can only guess that the post office HATES this trend. Don't they have to add everything up each time to make sure you have the proper amount of postage? A lot of those vintage stamps are worth 3 cents. I'm sorry, USPS. It's a small wedding. Also, sometimes we don't have any mail for days and then suddenly we have a huge stack of ALL the mail. Suspicious. Let's call it even.