To obtain a high-resolution image of these stamps for media use only, email roy.a.betts@usps.gov.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service today announced the new Love Ribbons Forever Stamp is on sale today at usps.com and by phone at 800-782-6724. Stamps are arriving in Post Offices over the next few days and will be sold as soon as they are available.

“We are excited to bring this colorful new stamp to our customers in time for them to mail their Valentine’s Day greeting cards and letters,” said Stamp Services Manager, Stephen Kearney. “We will continue selling the Garden of Love stamps too.” The official dedication ceremony for Love Ribbons will be held Feb. 14 in Colorado Springs, CO.

Evoking images of romance and elegance, this year's Love stamp features a graphic design of satin ribbons that spell out the word “Love” in a graceful, cursive script.

Like stamps, ribbons often adorn special packages to friends and family. Attached to floral arrangements, boxes of candy, and gifts of all kinds, ribbons beautify and embellish gestures of romance, friendship and caring. Silk, satin, taffeta and organdy ribbons often are used to enhance the beauty of bridal bouquets and invitations for weddings and other special celebrations for friends and loved ones.

Graphic designer Louise Fili worked with art director Derry Noyes on this stamp.

The Love Ribbons stamp is being issued as a Forever Stamp in self-adhesive sheets of 20. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price. At the time of issuance, the Love Ribbons stamps are being sold at a price of 45 cents each, or $9 per sheet.

Customers may view the Love Ribbons Forever Stamp, as well as many of this year’s other stamps, on Facebook at facebook.com/USPSStamps, through Twitter @USPSstamps or on the website Beyond the Perf at beyondtheperf.com/stamp-releases/2012. Beyond the Perf is the Postal Service’s online site for background on upcoming stamp subjects, first-day-of-issue events and other philatelic news.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark, Love Ribbons Forever Stamp
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at a local Post Office, at The Postal Store website at usps.com/shop or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others) and place them in larger envelopes addressed to:

Love Ribbons Stamp
Postmaster
201 E. Pikes Peak Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO 80903-9998

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes by mail. There is no charge for the postmark.
All orders must be postmarked by April 14, 2012.

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 catalog. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-782-6724 or writing to:

Information Fulfillment
Dept. 6270
U.S. Postal Service
P.O. Box 219014
Kansas City, MO 64121-9014

Philatelic Products
There are four philatelic products available for this stamp issue:

• 577261, First-Day Cover, $.89.
• 577265, Digital Color Postmark, $1.60.
• 577291, Ceremony Program, $6.95
• 577299, Cancellation Keepsake (Digital Color Postmark w/Pane), $10.95.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at http://about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.

For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional on this issue, please go to http://about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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