On Monday, March 3, Itella Posti Oy will release three new sets of stamps, containing a total of nine new designs. The 1st class stamps are ideal for brightening up an Easter greeting or adding a bit of extra style to a birthday or other greeting card. The 2nd class stamps, sold in 100-stamp rolls are particularly useful for larger mail outs.
Celebrating Easter with endearing bunny rabbit designThis year's Easter stamp features a cheerful little girl dressed as a bunny rabbit, surrounded by Easter eggs and spring flowers. The seasonal stamps are the work of Sweden-based illustrator Päivi Unenge, who is also responsible for the Valentine's day stamps from 2012. The 1st class Easter Surprise will be released as a 10-stamp sheet.
Easter is the third most popular card-sending occasion in Finland after Christmas and Valentine's Day. In 2013, Finns sent a total of 1.4 million Easter Cards. This year, the last date for posting your cards to guarantee delivery by Easter is April 15.
Illustrator Kaarina Toivanen, renowned for her many postage stamp and postcard designs, has created a booklet of five 1st class stamps ideal for marking happy occasions of all kinds. According to Toivanen, floral motifs work well for graduations, birthdays, weddings and even children's parties. Each booklet includes a set of Priority labels to match the stamps.
A series of short greetings are featured on the cover of the Congratulations! booklet, which exudes the balmy warmth of a sunny summer's day. On the back cover is a stylized bar code, also the work of Toivanen, which takes its creative cue from a summer meadow.
The 2014 edition of stamp rolls is decorated with fruit. The Fruit in the Garden stamps feature three delicious homegrown varieties: pear, apple and cherry. The designs, created by illustrator Ossi Hiekkala, also include depictions of the plants in flower. The graphic design is by Heikki Sallinen.
The fruit-themed stamps are a continuation of Hiekkala's Products of the Garden series, launched in March 2013 with a roll of stamps depicting a selection of Finnish garden berries.
The 2nd class stamps are sold in a box of 100. Itella Posti Oy launched its first roll of postage stamps in 1998 and they have grown hugely popular with customers. A total of 23 editions, featuring 59 separate designs, have been released so far.
Itella Posti Oy
Itella Communications
Technical data of Finnish stamps released on March 3, 2014 (PDF)
All stamps available for sale are featured in Posti's online shop.
