How to create a maximum card in the process of mailing a postcard?

I postmarked this maximum card on 16 Sep 2010, and I mailed it in an envelope.

I postmarked this maximum card on 20 Sep 2010 and I mailed it as a postcard (no envelope):

A 98c stamp is the one with Grand Teton National Park. But I prefer here to use other stamps for the same total of 98 cents, from both sides of the postcard.

See how I created a maximum card in the process of mailing a postcard from USA to Romania?
Well, I used the concordant stamp on the picture side, and I put all the other stamps on the address side.

The picture side was glossy, so I carefully rubbed with hard dishpad, just enough to rough up the surface needed.
I also rubbed a little the glossy zazzle stamp.

The picture postcard is my custom-created postcard, printed by winkflash.com from the photo I uploaded to them.
The postmark is applied with my own MPP canceller (Mailer's Postmark Permit) #67.
The stamp is also my design.
http://www.zazzle.com/leon_iancovici_esq_romania_postage-172868310591662719?rf=238693463283865848
Anybody can do that. Only US residents can get MPP, though.
:)

After I created that design (from the stamp in the maximum card, with "3 philatelists"), new information surfaced about 2 more Gold Medallists at recent FIP Exhibitions, so the current total is 5 maximaphilists.
That will increase, in time, of course.
What will remain forever unchanged is that my friend Leon Iancovici was chronologically the 2nd in the world in this elite group.

Officially, a Zazzle stamp (= personalized stamp = personalised stamp = customized postage = P-stamp) does "not require to be postmarked", because the code is supposed to be decoded by the scanner of the Post.
But my interpretation is that it's still OK to have it postmarked on (nice, polite) demand, should the postal associate cooperate.
[Translation: THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH POSTMARKING/HANDCANCELLING A PERSONALIZED STAMP!!! - USPS should adopt THIS rule! :)]
Sometimes, I get to postmark myself with the USPS canceller, at the post counter, "under the supervision" of a nice, cooperating, open-minded postal associate.
Or, I can postmark it myself - it's easy for me to convince myself to carefully postmark it with my MPP canceller.

Notice that I wrote "ADDITIONAL POSTAGE ->" - never assume that the postal associate will flip the postcard.

Here's another example, where I didn't initially write "ADDITIONAL POSTAGE", and some unflipping postal associate has returned the postcard to me for insufficient postage!!!

It never crossed his/her mind that the missing 41 cents stamp is ALREADY on the postcard, just on the picture side, for philatelic/maximaphilic purposes.

Moreover, I already handcancelled that 41c stamp with the USPS canceller - but the postcard and the stamp were glossy, and the ink was low on the canceller. STAZ-ON would be a superior brand of ink for glossy surfaces.

So the red ink stamp above my panda stamp is barely visible. Which proves again that I could be better off postmarking with my own MPP device. I can pre-ink at will.

I have crossed out the USPS note for insufficient postage, as instructed at the second Post visit, and I resubmitted the postcard with arrows pointing to the other side.

It is never SCALING back -The Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla). Maximum card from Taiwan/ Republic of China

This is another maximum card from Taiwan/Republic of China, made specially for me, at my specific request, by my good friend Shu-i. Thank you, again! :)

She managed to professionally custom-create this postcard, as well as others for the other animal stamps that I indicated. Then she affixed the stamp and had it handcancelled at the Post Office.

I'd love to have such a philatelic partner/friend in every country in the world...:)

And I am returning the favor - I am not just requesting items. I am offering, as well.

"If you want to HAVE a friend, you have TO BE one." :)

The Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) is a very interesting animal. Read for yourself. There are 8 species of pangolins in Asia and Africa.

The keratin plates, razor-sharp, are a great armor. Sisterhood of ants, bite me!

"A pangolin (pronounced /ˈpæŋɡəlɪn/), also scaly anteater or Tenggiling, is a mammal of the order Pholidota. There is only one extant family (Manidae) and one genus (Manis) of pangolins, comprising eight species. There are also a number of extinct taxa. Pangolins have large keratin scales covering their skin and are the only mammals with this adaptation.^[2] They are found in tropical regions of Africa and Asia. The name "pangolin" derives from the Malay word pengguling("something that rolls up")."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manidae

How to raid a cathedral:

The pangolin raids a termite cathedral mound for a meal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manis

When the going gets tough, just...hang on!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pangolin's_tail.jpg

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Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

Please visit: http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/

Happy Halloween! Bram Stoker's Dracula, and more - maximum cards, circulated covers, etc.

I have created this maximum card by sending the stamped postcard (I have affixed the stamp) to the post office in Hollywood, California, ZIP code 90028.

This is the back of the first postcard.

This is a "musical" folded card, with Lugosi/Dracula's voice recording! :)

"Lugosi, the youngest of four children,^[3] was born as Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó in Lugos (at the time part of Austria–Hungary, now Lugoj in Romania), to Paula de Vojnich and István Blasko, a banker.^[4] He later based his last name on his hometown.^[3]"

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugosi}

See the stamp "Giving blood saves lives"? I thought I should use it on this cover. :)

I am one of the men in the above maximum card image. :)

These are 4 different attempted maxicards, scanned in one pass. I am still waiting for the Hollywood 90028 Post Office (Hello, Brenda J. or Postmaster!) to postmark them and return them to me, in my prepaid return envelope. Don't tell me you were sloppy enough to lose them! You did a good job in the past. :)

UPDATE: I just received those items, with courtesy postmarks from Aug. 4, inside a new Priority Mail envelope, not the envelope that I provided for return. Why the delay? Anyway, I'm glad I finally got them. Thank you! :)