Eye Candy - Pretty Postage

I've been reading this gorgeous book about snail mail and it has me thinking about pretty postage. There's just something so inherently delightful about a good stamp, don't you think? Whether it commemorates a special event, an influential person or even is just pretty for pretty's sake like these floral beauties, each one is like a miniature piece of art.

When I was younger, I went through a stamp collecting phase. I can distinctly remember the ritual of soaking used stamps in water, peeling off the paper backing, then drying each one before carefully placing them in a special album. I'm not sure what happened to those stamps - I've come across a small album at my mum's house, but in my memory there were more. But then again, memory is an unreliable friend.

Anyway, all that thinking got me itching to do something stamp-y. So I ordered a big pile of stamps - most of which will end up in Omiyage's next batch of surprise packs - and sat down to sort and scheme and admire. These floral designs were definitely my favourite of the bunch! I think they'll be a bit hard to part with, so I snapped these images to soften the blow.

How about you? Have you ever collected stamps? If not, do you have any other collections?