Stamp Announcement 18-05: Love Flourishes Stamp

Love Flourishes Stamp

On January 18, 2018, in Phoenix, AZ, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue the Love Flourishes First-Class Mail® stamp (Forever® priced at 49 cents) in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 564700). The stamp will go on sale nationwide January 18, 2018.

Love Flourishes is the latest stamp in the popular Love series. The stamp art features a fanciful garden of colorful flowers surrounding the word “Love” written in cursive script. Hand-painted with gouache on paper by artist Anna Bond, the original art is whimsical and vibrant, at once retro and timeless. The flower garden includes stylized roses, peonies, and dahlias in pink, coral, and yellow, with pale blue-green berries and gold fronds and leaves. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamp.

Availability to Post Offices: Item 564700, Love Flourishes (Forever priced at 49 cents) Pane of 20 Stamps

Stamp Fulfillment Services (SFS) will make an automatic push distribution to Post Offices™ of a quantity to cover approximately 30 days of sales. Distribution quantities for the automatic push distribution are available by logging on to SFS Web at sfsweb.usps.gov. Post Offices may begin ordering stamps on the first-day-of-issue through SFS Web; offices must also check the amount they will receive on their automatic push distribution.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark

Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store® website at usps.com/shop, or by phone at 800-782-6724. They must affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

FDOI – Love Flourishes Stamp
USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64144-9900

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service™ will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by March 18, 2018.

How to Order First-Day Covers

The Postal Service also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic, online at usps.com/shop, or by phone at 800-782-6724. Customers may request a free issue of USA Philatelic at usps.com/philatelic, by phone at 800-782-6724, or by writing to:

U.S. Postal Service
USA Philatelic Request
PO Box 219014
Kansas City, MO 64121-9014

Philatelic Products

Philatelic products for this stamp issue are as follows:

n 564706, Press Sheet with Die-cut, $78.40.

n 564710*, Digital Color Postmark Keepsake, $11.95.

n 564716*, First-Day Cover, $0.93.

n 564721*, Digital Color Postmark, $1.64.

n 564724*, Framed Art, $39.95.

n 564730*, Ceremony Program, $6.95.

Items with an asterisk (*) will use the 128 barcode from Stamp Fulfillment Services. All other philatelic products will continue to use barcode series A, with the exception of the Yearbook and the Guide Book.

 

Issue:

Love Flourishes Stamp

Item Number:

564700

Denomination &

Type of Issue:

First-Class Mail Forever

Format:

Pane of 20 (1 design)

Series:

Love

Issue Date & City:

January 18, 2018, Phoenix, AZ 85026

Designer:

Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA

Art Director:

Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA

Typographer:

Anna Bond, Winter Park, FL

Artist:

Anna Bond, Winter Park, FL

Modeler:

Sandra Lane/Michelle Finn

Manufacturing Process:

Offset, Microprint

Printer:

Banknote Corporation of America

Printed at:

Browns Summit, NC

Press Type:

Alprinta 74

Stamps per Pane:

20

Print Quantity:

250,000,000 stamps

Paper Type:

Phosphor Tagged Paper, Overall

Adhesive Type:

Pressure-sensitive

Processed at:

Banknote Corporation of America, Browns Summit NC

Colors:

Pantone 4505, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black

Stamp Orientation:

Horizontal

Image Area (w x h):

1.05 x 0.77 in./26.67 x 19.56 mm

Overall Size (w x h):

1.19 x 0.91 in./30.23 x 23.11 mm

Full Pane Size (w x h):

5.635 x 5.425 in./143.13 x 137.80 mm

Press Sheets Size
(w x h):

22.54 x 10.85 in./572.52 x 275.59 mm

Plate Size:

320 stamps per revolution

Plate Numbers:

B followed by five (5) single digits

Marginal Markings:

Front:

Plate numbers in four corners of pane

Back:

© 2017 USPS • USPS logo • Barcode (564700) in upper right and lower left corners of pane • Promotional text
• Plate position diagram