Canada 150+ Sesquicentennial Postage Stamp Swap-Due July 31

Due date: July 31
Withdraw date: just let me know before the due date
Number of cards: 3:3 or 6:6, if more than 7 players
Number of players: 20
Media: open, with a real Canadian culture or heritage postage stamp (see details below)

July 1, 2017 marks the 150th Anniversary of the Canada becoming a nation. Before this time (+), the parts of the land we now call Canada were a collection of British colonies, before that, French colonies, and before that a few Viking settlements. Most importantly, since time immemorial, Canada has been home to Indigenous Peoples, whose life ways are a part of this land's past, present, and future.

For this swap, you will need to dig through your postage stamp stash for stamps featuring Canadian natural, cultural, or political history. Some ideas: famous people, arts and dance, history and heritage, events, political figures, folk and popular culture, entertainers, athetics, symbols, national sites and monuments, landscape, nature, historic places.. Canadian postage stamps have featured everything from Her Majesty the Queen to Mike Meyers, hockey players to opera singers, dinosaurs to beavers, war victories to haunted folk legends, pristine national parks to weird roadside attractions. Hopefully, this swap will help us all learn about the vast, strange, sometimes awful, yet wonderful nation of Canada.

Card Requirements:
1. Each card should feature at least one real Canadian heritage/culture postage stamp, what you do with the rest of the card is your choice...mixed media, extending the scene, adding quotes or fun facts all could be fun!
2. No faux stamps or copies of stamps as the main stamp. You must include a real Canadian postage stamp on the card.
3. Keep cards relatively flat, fibres should be fine, but thick or metal embellishments will be stuck in postal machines
4. All cards should be 2.5" x 3.5" with straight edges
5. Include your username, real name, and location on the back of your cards
6. Please submit only cards that you would love to receive in return!

Rules, Mailing, Swapping Out:
1. I will be swapping apparent effort for apparent effort cards
2. PM me for my address when ready to mail
3. No cards/communication by swap due date will result in NEUTRAL iTrader
4. Host cards are loved and treasured but never required to play.
5. Mailing:
Canadian players: 1 “P” ($0.85) stamp for 3 cards, 2 "P" stamps for 6 cards
US players: $1 USD for 3 cards, $2 USD for 6 cards
International players: I will cover postage for the first three international players. Other international players please send $2 USD.
6. Send a large self-addressed label or self-addressed business sized envelope for your returns
**If you send Canadian stamps as postage for returns, be sure that they have not been used (ie. No stamps that missed cancellation on another envie.)
7. Mail in Canada can take a long time. Allow 10-14 days outside of Canada, 5-7 within Canada

Example:


Who wants to play?!
Players:
0. Smallgirl
1. Spineofafish-arrived!!
2. Suzi-arrived!!
3. Jo.on.the.go-arrived!!
4. Ann_stebbing-1st international-arrived!!
x. Withdrawn
5. Vicki_Z-arrived!!
6. CastleQueen5-arrived!!
7. Nanvan-arrived!!
8. arlie707-arrived!!
9. Miss-arrived!!
x. withdrawn
10. londonont1-arrived!!
11. Canadarosebud-arrived!!
12. Fandanie-arrived!!
x. withdrawn

I'm going to check out my stamp stash and see what I have and hopefully I can join.

I hope so too!

Yay Canada, I am definitely interested if I can find suitable stamps. I'll let you know and lurk so far.

I don't think I have 3 Canada stamps as I haven't been doing this long, but I will have a look. Lurking for now.

Welcome Amapola and ann_stebbing to the lurker couch!

I'd be delighted to join this wonderful swap! Have been a stamp collector for a long time and this will be a fun way to use them. Please sign me up.

oohhh....this sounds fun! I'm sure I'll be back to officially sign up

I was trying to remember smallgirl, do you collect stamps to keep for yourself in addition to using in art, or do you just collect them to use in art?

nightowl_too said:

I was trying to remember smallgirl, do you collect stamps to keep for yourself in addition to using in art, or do you just collect them to use in art?

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A bit of both...I tend to purchase first day covers for my stamp collection and keep the occasional loose stamp I get on an envelope or through AFA. All the stamps I collected as a child I keep as a separate collection, but most other stamps I tend to use for art. I find stamps even more interesting when used in ATCs and other art, like envelopes, journals, etc.

Welcome spineofafish !

First stamp share of this swap...Acadia...Canada's Maritime provinces were once part of Acadia, French farming settlements. The Acadians were brutally deported by the British to the Thirteen Colonies and Louisiana from 1755-1764, and this event inspired Longfellow's Evangeline poem. I love the colour and design of this stamp.

You've got me going now. I've rashly put a bid in for some used stamps on ebay. If there are some Canadian ones in it and they arrive in time I may play. I only have 2 and they are the same, a wolf I think.

I went through my stash of Canada stamps, and I find that most of them are animals.
But I assume that should fit into the category of Canada nature, which you list as an option in your first post, in red.

I have three done and more started.
If these are what you have in mind, sign me up, please. Otherwise I will lurk and see what others create to assure I am on the right track.

I would like to join. Here is my first card.

I would like to join!

Is Canadian nature also included? Or just natural history in a cultural context? I may as well sign up. With all the stamps in my collection I'm sure I have several cultural theme and there is no way I will be able to resist this swap I really enjoy your stamp shares smallgirl.

nightowl_too said:

Is Canadian nature also included? Or just natural history in a cultural context? I may as well sign up. With all the stamps in my collection I'm sure I have several cultural theme and there is no way I will be able to resist this swap I really enjoy your stamp shares smallgirl.

Click to expand...

Canadian nature is most welcome! Really most Canadian stamps would work well with this swap except I guess animals and plants not native to Canada, the random holiday ones and maybe ones about international stuff...like Canada Post did a stamp for Nelson Mandela's birthday, which would not really fit.

Those Canadian nature stamps would work, Vicki Z and jo.on.the.go! I realize as I look for examples to share that the US and International Canada stamps are not as interesting as some as the ones we have as domestic P stamps (same idea as Forever stamps). I try to put interesting ones on envelopes when I do private trades. Welcome to Suzi, Vicki Z, jo.on.the.go, nightowl_too and ann_stebbing!

Yeah, if I'm mailing international to someone I know that likes stamps I try to use some of the domestic US commemoratives instead if the international stamp. I figure they probably get a ton of the same international stamp, while some of the commemoratives are more interesting and diverse.