N3109

Insects & Spiders

Velvet Ant

Cover Announcement 

After viewing the spectacular and dramatic coloring of this sheet of stamps, I knew that I just had to create a set of First Day Covers that would heighten and complement their beauty. I urge everyone to look at this complete sheet of twenty stamps at the next visit to the post office. It is a beautifully done rendition of a topic that many might not have any interest in. To me, it gave immediate philatelic interest to the colorful and diverse world of insects and spiders.

There is the dreaded Black Widow Spider with its distinctive crimson-red hourglass shaped marking *  The colorful purple and gold Elderberry Longhorn Beetle * The Spinybacked Spider with its thorn-like armor plate that looks more like a seashore creature than a spider * The Monarch Caterpillar, which feeds on milkweed plants, taking in toxins that will make the eventual butterfly distasteful to birds * The resulting regal and familiar Monarch Butterfly * The Assassin Bug which hunts its prey from ambush * The Scorpion Fly with the same pincer-tipped arm of its namesake * The lovable Lady Beetle which is said to bring good luck * The Flower Fly whose body has the look of a marble mosaic * The Velvet Ant with soft red coloring and which is really a wasp in disguise * The beautiful, iridescent Dogbane Bettle * The whimsical looking Jumping Spider that hunts by leaping * These, and other equally intriguing and colorful creatures will combine to bring the hobby a truly unusual and beautiful series of First Day Covers - my individually hand painted set of twenty different cachets for insects and spiders.

I am very excited about this announcement, and I must tell you that, in my opinion, this set will be the best one produced by any cachetmaker. The watercolored artwork is spectacular and is only achievable by time-consuming hand painting. Each one of these First Day Covers will be a stunner. Don't miss them as the Collins set will become a hobby classic. I am very proud to present my Spiders and Insects set of twenty.

The U.S. Postal Service calls it a "striking collection," and l think that, as you receive each cover, you will agree with that assessment. The stamps are indeed colorful, large, and extremely well executed.

Your first cover features the infamous black widow sprder. With the bold, red hour-glass shaped marking on its lower body making it easily identifiable, this spider uses highly poisonous venom to kill its prey. The hand painted cachet is purposely simple and direct - the black widow amid its web.

Future cachets will be more intricate and colorful, although I am striving for each design in this set to be crisp and clean. Your next one will be the eastem Hercules beetle. My profile rendition of this giant insect  with its rhinoceros-like horn, is really dramatic. The males use these frontal horns to do battle over females. The armor-plated beetle stetches from one side of the cachet to the other, and I'm anxious to send it to you in your next shipment. In fact, all of the forthcoming cachets in this distinctive set are ones that you will find quite unique and different with careful detail and realistic color being the prime objectives.

As each colorful insect or spider is added to your collection, I know that you'll be glad you decided to acquire this distinctive set. The hand painted cachets will complement the excellent stamps to create an unuseal and lovely group of covers.