XANTHE'S
STAMP MAGAZINE

Here is another really good new issue from France! Last year France created a stamp that smelled like a croissant. Well, that was obvious quite successful so they've gone away and now created a stamp that smells of perfume! It makes sense as the stamps are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Fragonard Perfumery. Maison Fragonard is very famous and has been making perfume since 1926. It is based in the small town of Grasse in the South of France, not far from Nice. The WOPA w

France has issued another new set today. This one is the signs of the Zodiac and looks loud, colourful and... well, fun! La Poste's website explains the design: "Colorful, pop, and resolutely contemporary, the 'Zodiac' booklet reinterprets astrology through the graphic universe of Clémence Gouy , a French illustrator and art director based in Biarritz. Committed, inclusive, and passionate about representing femininity, she creates vibrant works where diversity and freedom ar

Instead of reviewing different countries' Christmas stamps individually, I thought it would be better to look at them together. I'm not going to give any lengthy reviews - I'll just make a few short comments and give a mark. Here are a few of my thoughts about the different new Christmas stamps from around the world. I've tried to cover as many of them as possible, but no doubt there will be a few countries I have missed. Great Britain I will start with our own Christmas stam

Tomorrow is Hallowe'en... so what could be better than talking about Hallowe'en stamps? I'm afraid I don't have many of them in my collection, but I had a chat with Michael Burzan on e-mail a few weeks ago and he gave me some ideas. I decided to take a look at some of the Hallowe'en stamps from around the world. Did you know that Royal Mail once created a Hallowe'en stamp? Not so long ago in fact - in 2019, as part of a set celebrating events and festivals. One of the £1.55 v

A new French stamp came out last week but it is a very unusual one. Xanthe wasn't interested in reviewing it but I definitely am! The stamp shows a picture of a butter croissant ("Croissant au beurre"). Do you like croissants? I do, and I like stamps with pictures of croissants on them although I haven't seen one before. I like the details in the picture. But even better, this stamp actually smells like a croissant! If you rub it then it will smell like a Paris bakery! Lovely