J5303

Songbirds

Western Tanager

Collins Cover Announcement

Songbirds

Set of ten — Each Cachet Hand Painted

The largest, most detailed, most colorful hand painted songbirds in the history of United States First Day Covers

When this lovely set of stamps was announced by the U.S. Postal Service, I knew immediately that I wanted the Collins cachets to be something exceptional. And, given the individual exquisite beauty of the ten songbirds chosen for the series, my primary objective from the beginning was that the completed set would be the absolutely best of any produced by various cachetmakers. I feel that my goal was accomplished, and I now offer this stunning set of ten hand painted songbirds for your collection.

Briefly I would like to review the process I chose for this creative project. Of overwhelming importance to me was that the portrayal of each songbird be as large as possible so that each could be presented in amazing detail and in a full array of natural and stunning colors. To achieve this end result, I quickly decided to use the envelopes in vertical format. One look at the enclosed illustrations will confirm that this was the key decision and was definitely the right way to go!

Five of the new stamps are to the upper left, and with visual balance in mind, five are to the upper right. Each is tied to the envelope with the first day of issue bullseye cancellation. I chose to put the stamps at the top of the covers for two reasons. First, by the very nature of their winged and lofty activities, they should be up high. More importantly, it gave me the entire base of each envelope to artistically construct a colorful, diversified, and interesting perch for each bird. As the project progressed and each perch was chosen and completed, I was so happy that I had left that space at the bottom of each cover. It elevates the set from extremely nice to amazing.

Finally we come to the birds themselves. I don't think it is an overstatement to say that this songbird set will further enhance the reputation of Collins cachets. Each bird is illustrated in incredible detail. The feather coloring of each species was then studied to obtain just the right shades of watercolors to achieve a realistic and natural rendering. Look again at the enclosed illustrations and remember that all the details you see are hand painted on each and every individual cachet — brush stroke by precise brush stroke. The skill and time required to produce a First Day Cover set such as this truly is an example of time-honored artistic craftsmanship at its finest. In our mutual hobby, these cachets have the "WOW" factor and are simply the finest.

This superb wildlife set most probably will sell out quickly. The Harry Potter set and most recently the Circus Posters set sold out rapidly. Please order promptly to avoid disappointment. To make the set affordable for every hobby budget and to provide the time to paint the cachets, the covers will be invoiced and sent at the rate of one per month. Payment can be charged automatically each month at the time of shipment, or a monthly invoice can be paid by check or money order. Don't miss adding these gems to your collection. Much thought and effort were required to bring them into existence, and I am now proud to offer the Collins set of ten American Songbirds.